Topic: Have you ever had a bad cell phone experience in the theater?

Have you ever had a bad cell phone experience in the theater? - 11:53AM on 4/08/2009

Have you ever had a bad cell phone experience in the theater? Share it!

RE: Have you ever had a bad cell phone experience in the theater? - 7:39AM on 4/09/2009

Yes! In the revival of Sweeney Todd the cast had been directed to freeze whenever a cell phone rang and not to resume the play until it stopped. This person was sitting right up front and his phone kept ringing and ringing. I guess he was trying to pretend it wasn't his. Finally, Patti Lupone glared right at him and said, "So answer it."

RE: Have you ever had a bad cell phone experience in the theater? - 9:44AM on 4/09/2009

I wouldn't say a BAD cell phone experience, but several years ago during the revival of "The Music Man", during one of the most tender moments of "There were bells on the hill, but I never heard them ringing..." Yes! A cell phone started "ringing!" The actors stayed completely focused, but the audience was trying to control their giggling.

RE: Have you ever had a bad cell phone experience in the theater? - 12:30PM on 4/09/2009

Oh yes, and I am very embarrassed to say that I was the cause of the cell phone disturbance. I was seeing an amazing production of LOVE! VALOUR! COMPASSION! at Berkshire Theatre Festival. It was a very dramatic moment in the play and the audience was dead quiet. And then... my phone goes off at full volume with my ringtone... Queen's Fat Bottomed Girl. Mortified!

Edited on: 4/09/2009 - 12:30PM

RE: Have you ever had a bad cell phone experience in the theater? - 2:20PM on 4/09/2009

Once I was attending Man of la Mancha. During the death scene, someone's cell phone rang witht he 1812 Overture. The mood definitely wa broken. The only thing saving the performance was the cell phone went off on the Mezzanine. THe cast did not hear it. I checked at the stage door after the performance.
Another time, the woman next to me, when her cell phone rang, answered it and carried on a conversation. She was in an aisle seat. When I complained, she said she had to tell her children where she was and when she would be home. The conversation took at least three monutes.
Most recently I was in a darken theater when the man next to me answered hios blackberry. The light from the panel was very distracting.Thank goodness it was almost intermssion when I complained. Thank goodness he closed the blackberry for the rest of the performance.