The next time you buy tickets to see famed stage actress Patti LuPone in a show, just leave your cell phone at home.
The Tony and Grammy award winner delivered her exit line during her performance of Shows for Days at the Lincoln Center Wednesday night and then walked up to a woman in the audience at the end of the second row and snatched her phone from her hands.
According to several audience members, the woman had been texting throughout the show. New York City long ago passed an ordinance banning cellphones from theaters, but that hasn’t stopped many from bringing their devices – and using them – during shows.
Lupone admittedly has a low tolerance for audience members using electronic devices during shows. In 2008, Lupone stopped a performance of Gypsy in mid-song because an audience member was snapping photos.
“When a phone goes off or when (an) LED screen can be seen in the dark, it ruins the experience for everyone else – the majority of the audience at that performance and the actors on stage,” LuPone said in a statement issued Thursday and reported on Playbill.com. “I am so defeated by this issue that I seriously question whether I want to work on stage anymore. Now I’m putting battle gear on over my costume to marshall the audience as well as perform.”
The New York Times reported the phone was returned after the show. She also gave a lively interview for the story that was done in Q and A format.
Some in the audience tweeted about the incident in support of LuPone and did so after the show was over.
Source: ars technica
