The off-Broadway play "Shows for Days" a.the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater performance night on Wednesday had it's share of off stage drama, at the top of the second act, Broadway Star Patti LuPone seized a cellphone from an audience member who was texting. The incident happened just before Patti LuPone exits the scene and proceeds offstage. At the end of the performance the spectator's phone was returned.
LuPone said that she improvised her exit with the particular audience who kept on texting throughout the act. The Broadway star usually exits a performance by shaking the hand of an audience member in the front row.
Patti LuPone stated, "She was sitting in the light, so everyone could see her texting, I was shocked she didn't leave at intermission, because clearly, she was not enjoying herself," Patti said: "The interesting thing that happened was that she actually watched the play. It's ridiculous. It's so out of control now and so debilitating to actors and audiences alike. It's not my job to police them on-stage, and it's left to the actors to be the policemen. I'm put in a position I'm not hired for: Patti LuPone, cellphone bounty hunter! (Laughs.) I get a hundred bucks every time I get a cellphone!"
The matinee performance that night suffered an unintentional four separate cell-phone rings, which Patti LuPone labeled made her performance the worst day of her career onstage, because of the inconsideration of not the entire audience, but just a handful of people.
LuPone suggested about practical solutions regarding potential interruptions, LuPone stated,
"I'm defeated by this. It's not changing, it's only getting worse, and it's not worth it anymore. I'm heartbroken. If something isn't done, I will think twice before I get back on a stage again," LuPone also said: "And it's a much bigger picture - it's not theater etiquette, it's human etiquette. We're living in an isolated society, the phone controls our every move, and we've lost sight of our neighbor, the people surrounding us. And it's a microcosm when you're in the theater."
