I have all the luck with little old ladies singing off key at the King & I, the entitled businessman who refused to stop texting during Hamilton while the do-nothing ushers ignored him & me when I complained. My personal favorite of all the repulsive behavior was the fellow next to me who picked and ate the fluids from his nose throughout an entire production. I have never been so disgusted.
11
“people who wholly submit to and enforce outdated/archaic concert rituals that require insane amounts of cultural capital to begin with are going to be completely irrelevant in about 15 years’ time.”
Oh cripes, how much cultural capital does it take to comply with the pre-show announcement that you should turn your phone off and that recording the show is illegal?
The idea that adults can't be expected to sit still and be quiet for an hour or so, and that expecting them to do so (so that everyone can hear and see what they've paid to attend) is **elitist**, seems pretty patronizing to me. "No, we can't expect adults to behave like adults!"
103
It’s a question of manners, not of race. I suppose people of all races can have good manners and hold back their selfishnesses when in public. It’s a question of respect for the other. Stop the nonsense. Cellphones cannot be permitted in a theater, movie theater, concerts, plays, operas, whatever. Stop the nonsense. Please respect the other. Audience and artist. If one thinks differently, stay home. Stop the nonsense. Are we going to let cellphones and social networks rule our lives? Are they THAT important??
72
Since this discussion has strayed from cell phone use, and expanded into “poor manners and selfish behavior in theaters, and the generational divide,” may I vent about something that happened recently? I was in a theater for a concert, and there was no assigned seating. Seats were filling quickly. An older couple had planted themselves on the end seats in a nearly empty row. I asked to get past them to reach a good seat in the middle. The man got up to let me by. The woman refused to move an inch, or even to place her legs at a slant. Both my husband and I’m had to CLIMB over her. She was not disabled, in case you are assuming that (I saw her moving just fine at the end of the concert). Just selfish and stubborn. Why would someone like that sit at the end of a row? If you hate people that much, sit in the middle where you will be left alone.
27
If you video record a concert on your phone, you won't remember it.
25
This isn't about new theatergoers or black and white. This is purely about manners and respect. These artists put in a lot of time and hard work to put up a show 8 times a week. When onstage, actors are concentrating. Most times on a lot of things. Hitting marks, cues, automated set pieces, etc. I also find it interesting that Rhianna was texting during the play but yet she had people put phones in a bag to pay attention to her concert. Can't have it both ways. I actually contacted Ms Janiak and she agreed that phones in theaters are annoying and went on to describe an incident at a show. So I have no clue why she would put out an article like that. This is all so ridiculous. Turn off your phone and watch the show. If you can't, just stay home or wait until intermission, if there is one!
45
What about having a “cell phone user” section, sorta like the old smoking sections?
15
One of the most clever retorts I've ever heard from the bothered theatre goer to the errant patron:
"Excuse me, but there's so much noise coming from that stage, I can't hear what YOU'RE saying!"!
I get the infrared headsets ever time and block out the ever increasing audible distractions!
Now, if those lovebirds would just stop cooing and parents would explain points during intermission, or on the way home, I could enjoy performances even more.
And I won't even discuss the lack of proper dressing for the opera, symphony, theatre, etc. Ay!
To quote Lerner & Loewe, "I'm glad I'm not young anymore!"!
17
i just saw Madame X and loved that I had to lock up
my phone and that everyone else did too. pics and videos of the show were promptly posted on instagram the next day. It IS ANNOYING when everyone has their phones out and it also distracts them from them from the show because they check social media during the show! I hope this becomes the norm because people cannot help themselves!
16
Filming or taking photos during live performances, irrespective of whether the event is a show or a concert, is intrusive to those seated adjacent to the person with the device. It is not possible for the person to film or take a photograph without disturbing others, and in particular the people seated in the immediate vicinity of the subject person.
I am fully entitled to appreciate what I am attending without any visual intrusion. Seeing someone raising their device and angling to get the optimum shot or video is massively destructive to how I am experiencing the event.
54
"Aging fan base"...? Have been hearing that for decades. People come to classical music older. Filming Anne-Sophie Mutter during a performance is so fundamentally disrespectful.
43
I absolutely do not want people on their phones in a theater. It is extremely distracting. The most aggravating thing is having someone do this even after the audience has been specifically instructed by the concert master not to do so (have seen this too many times).
The exception would be in a continuing education class where a guest lecturer might be polling the audience members for their choice in treatment decisions regarding a hypothetical patient in a classroom setting. Our instructors will sometimes use an app which enables the audience members to text their choice from a selection. In this instance, audiences on their phones are a desired outcome.
7
I remember a concert that I attended as a child in which Sir John Barbirolli stopped during the first movement and gave an icy cold stare to a late arrival who was disrupting the performance. Although the person did not die of shame, I do remember it over 50 years later. Consideration for those in the audience with whom you are sharing the performance is necessary. I really don't care about your Instagram brand.
20
Going to a music event, where the expectation is the audience will be quiet and listen to the performers is a simple activity. You sit there, listen, take what you can from the music, clap, and that's about it. Be present. Let the music dictate what happens within you. Spending time making recordings, videos, photos, or reading texts is counterproductive to the entire event. Put your toys away, sit, and experience the event.
42
No more plays, concerts, or movies for me. I’ve simply had my fill of the kinds of inconsiderate, disrespectful, and distracting behaviors mentioned in this article. Thank you, internet streaming services.
(True confession: as a kid, one of my buddies brought a whoopee cushion to the theater where “Dr. Zhivago” was playing. Every time “Lara’s Theme” was heard on the soundtrack, it was quickly followed by another sound. I’ve never laughed so hard in my life!)
8
@Doug, that’s terrible. But very funny.
7
Millennial here. I genuinely feel that people who use their cellphones in a theater or concert are not only annoying those around them, but also cheating themselves. People who tweet about the show they’re watching are the exception—most are just habitually checking Facebook or their email. Producers need to do a better job of communicating that a few hours of guilt-free freedom from you phone is part of the value they provide.
39
"Lily Janiak argued: “What inflames American theater about Harris’s stance isn’t that people are using cellphones in a theater, but that he’s a young black man unapologetically claiming the right to question old norms and forge new ones in a historically white institution.”
No. Wrong. What inflames me is that if I go to the theater (or a movie or a concert) I go for the experience. I don't go for the experience of watching through someone else's screen or being distracted by someone else's screen.
And that's not just "American" theater (or theater-goers), it is the same in locations the world over.
69
@Lisa, I, too, thought that statement was a crock. But so was the quoted tweet about “archaic concert rituals” and “cultural capital.” Just spouting nonsense in order to get a reaction.
24
The elitism is present all right, but not where the debate is focused. It involves being tethered to an electronic device, engineered to provoke compulsion, then produced and monetized by people who consider themselves vastly superior to the rest of us.
41
Although theater etiquette has indeed changed over the centuries, most of us, whoever we are, wherever we are, are creatures of our culture(s) at a particular moment. Noisily unwrapping gum/candy/cough drops, talking to your friend/intimate partner while a performance is ongoing, and using your cellphone for any purpose (to check messages/voicemail, or to record a theatrical performance), to my mind, show a disregard for those sitting around you. There are truly few things in my life that would prompt me to consider myself as a "moralizer", but regarding civility in the audience of a performance, I guess I must be! All of those things I mentioned above can wait until an intermission.
As for my opinion being "elitist" or perhaps an extension of my "whiteness", I really have no comment. We feel what we feel, and after considering the counter-argument, I am unconvinced.
This same thing happens at the movies. I think it's a relatively recent trend. I go fairly infrequently, maybe a few times a year; when I do, however, I notice that there's more talking during the movie, more cell phone use, etc. Going to the movies is analogous to going to the theater: if you're going to talk, use your cell phone, etc., then those around you will have a diminished experience simply because you feel entitled to disregard these norms in the name of "doing you".
Sometimes we have to put our own desires aside for the good of the group. I feel that this is one of those times.
31
It is about courtesy and respect for the performers as well as the other people attending the event. One of the great joys of attending a live performance is entering into a moment in time and being transported out of one’s head/life worries into another world. The elitist is the one who feels entitled to engage In disruptive behavior by taking a video or photo.
38
This article should have been entitled "Solipsism Glorified". Instead of condoning the behavior of people who think they are the only ones in the universe we should broadly condemn the need of some to constantly use their phones to text or photograph. The notion that the digital age requires all of us to excuse bad manners is ridiculous.
38
That's great, you want to take a photo and video of the play. Now have to look at your bright screen lighting up the dark theatre glowing in my face as I try to see around the phone you're holding up. Are people so daft they don't get it?
30
Different contexts have different rules and customs. Understanding how to adapt to the situation is how you get along in this world in a respectful manner.
In fact, it's concerning to see that this debate has been cast in racial terms by this Lily Janiak critic--her piece actually concludes with this:
"When you don’t state what your norms are, you still have norms; you’re just letting tradition — and its whiteness, its bigotry, its classism — write them for you."
Norms and customs are not racist because they are derived from the past or tradition. Norms are racist if they classify based on race (or lead to disparate outcomes based on race). Calling "tradition" racist point blank is quite a radical point of view. So radical I think most would probably gloss over it as an unintended meaning. But that's what she said. I'd prefer if the article prodded this critic a bit more to explain what the heck she is talking about.
29
I go to the theatre often, once or twice a week. Sometimes I *will* check my phone during the performance because I have personal commitments that aren’t ruled by politeness or theatre etiquette. Screen brightness down, quick glance, phone back on flight mode. There’s a way to do it. The elitist “anyone who looks at their phone should get chucked out” rubbish is so painful to read. What this type of comment actually represents is a contempt for young people, and especially for a certain “class” of people. Beyond that, there’s the attitude that people who use their phones are dumb or “not-in-the-moment.” I don’t think it’s for some people to police how other people experience, render or enjoy art.
6
The same is true of sporting events. I've had to crane my neck around fans in front of me who stand and film parts of baseball games. Usually the most tense and dramatic moments. They are not content to enjoy being in that moment, to experience its tension and thrill. They somehow feel obligated to film it, too, and ruin the moment for others.
11
This type of behavior is not open to discussion.
If I pay a concert or Show , I want to enjoy my time, and somebody his phone or something else is disrupting that joy has no place , if majority thinks so.
This is not about young people ( what is young age limit) I saw 40-50 years old or older doing this abomination.
It is just ugly,
Please do not call this white privilege, this brings the human rights very low level.
If a show or concert allowing this then who am I tell to anybody something, If they don't then respect. W are not freeloading, we paid money too.
15
When did manners become ‘off putting elitism’ ?!?
54
My God, how sad that our attention span can’t even hold for 2 hours. What do people think they are missing by always chceking their phones?
25
Just wondering who is having this “heated debate” about whether people who act like complete jerks at the theater are oppressed by “elitists” who actually respect the arts, or are just jerks.
20
Everybody with a cell phone should be put in prison...problem solved!
10
It’s about manners. Do we really want everyone to be like Donald Trump??
18
Both as a performer and concertgoer, I feel utterly desperate about how much the live-concert experience has deteriorated in the last ten years. Too many people seem to believe that they have purchased, with their ticket, not only the evening's performance but also a permanent record of it on their phones. Or perhaps it's just more important for them to be able to SHOW on social media that they were there, rather than to actually experience the performance.
The culture of constant documentation actually ACTIVELY damages performers and their work when the pressure is ALWAYS on to be flawless, because we know that every performance is being recorded somewhere in the hall for the world to see. Performers end up developing a fatal fear of less-than-perfect nights landing on YouTube, gradually losing spontaneity and a sense of freedom absolutely vital to a moving performance!
So please, if you care at all about the performing arts and artists, keep your phones off during shows. If you DON'T care, on the other hand, well –– you really should just stay home in the first place!!
49
This article discusses the impact that such a distraction has on a performer. And as a performer, I am insulted by such lack of respect from an audience member. On the other hand, what about the impact that person's distraction has on the audience member who might have paid up to $50 for a ticket to a concert? We seem to be so concerned about attracting younger audiences, yet we are told that we should not ask them to be respectful for the fellow audience member, respect for the performer, and above all, to this great music.
23
“Some suggest that an emphasis on behavioral restrictions is a form of off-putting elitism.”
Great, let’s declare all manners and norms of behavior ‘elitist’ and see how we like living in the Stone Age. We are halfway toward that goal, it seems.
22
@Samodelka - Certainly Broadway and the commercial road is fully elitist for any hit already. It was supposed to be the best 50 seats only for very particular shows when this all started with "The Producers." Now, every seat on the main floor is premium price for a hit, except maybe for the rest rooms - but maybe they'll put a Jumbotron in there and pipe in the sound if that will sell. (The technology exists. At the regional Old Globe in California, the sound from the stage is piped in live so no one misses anything, and sounded stunning in the mens room, so they're halfway there.)
Still, impose too many rules while other shows choose not to, the people who can afford those seats will say "Who needs this? I'm not paying $800 to be told what to do."
Then, don’t go. If you can’t have good manners around people who have different opinions an expectations, don’t go. Stay at home and do as you please.
11
@Freddie ‘being told what to do’ is called civilization. We all voluntarily obey these many rules every minute of our lives so that we can all live together and survive. The alternative is beastliness.
15
The one thing I pick up on when I see people filming live shows is that they miss the pleasure of actually being there enjoying the show. And what for; to show their friends or post on social media, ‘look at me - I was there’. Sad really.
12
There is nothing more annoying (i.e. worse) than going to see a show, and standing behind someone filming the show, thereby having to see the show through camera of the person filming it.
I paid money for the show, too. I did not think it would include your arm and phone and, naturally, true, true class.
24
How long, really, until someone turns their back to the stage and takes a selfie during the performance? Anything that teaches people better behavior is fine in my book!
16
I believe filming or photographing a play or a concert is bad behavior. If it takes locking up phones, I'm all for it. I'll happily turn mine over to a safe form of banning.
20
Yes, audiences were rowdy in Shakespeare's day, and people went to the opera in Mozart's day to socialize in the audience as much as to hear the music.
So what?
Respectful behavior in the theater and the classical music auditorium has evolved with increasing respect for the artists and their art. We should not abandon this to chase an elusive youth audience that probably does not exist in any significant numbers.
Rihanna bans cellphone use at her own concerts, yet she uses her phone at Jeremy O. Harris's play. This tell us only that she feels the entitlement of her stardom and that he is starstruck.
So what?
21
@csp123, Rihanna is a diva if ever there was one, so there’s your answer.
4
If you want to watch a show on your phone, stay home and I'm sure there are youtube clips that look better than what you are going to get, and let the rest of us watch the live performance without a phone in our face. What some artists have done is told the audience to take all the pictures and videos during the first song, and then put the phones away and enjoy the show, great idea for all the ones that want the rest of the world to know where they are.
7
Anyone on a phone during a performance needs to be tossed out of the venue. No exceptions.
28
A conversation between Joshua Henry and Jeremy O. Harris on this topic might be enlightening, as they are both young black men but with different reactions to the issue.
10
'Off-putting elitism'? I'm surprised that things have deteriorated to a point where an artist such as Mutter has to take direct action. However, it is reassuring seeing the vast majority of people here are as appalled as I am with these people who can't live in the present.
20
Why are common sense, manners and etiquette on trial? The world is not our oyster, manners do matter, and etiquette rules are not oppressive of black people when they follow and enforce them, no matter how hard you try to make your nonsense argument look like a reasonable one.
23
Maybe it wasn’t such a bad idea to have the Hell’s Angels provide security at concerts.
14
Is Kanye West now an arbiter of good manners?
10
Good grief - "elitism" is now the reasoning for poor manners. When I pay to see a performance I don't want to hear my neighbor singing along, or them lighting up their screen and creating a distraction for the performer or from my enjoyment of the performance.
23
Dear Jeremy O Harris:
I wonder if you’d be singing a different tune if all of the PAYING customers at your new play spent their time staring at their phones instead of engaging with your work?
10
I find it really sad that people have to live through their phones to experience a concert. Put AWAY your phones and WATCH and LISTEN.
13
Some of the complaints here are hilariously persnickety! And I thought I could be grumpy...
Sometimes the seat mates we end up, in a theater, can actually enhance the experience. I remember seeing Spamalot soon after it opened, when all of the jokes and gags were new. A very large, older man was seated in front of me. He was a sort of walking caricature of an addled, British academic or writer, sporting a rumpled cardigan and blessed with a shining, pink, bald pate encircled by wildly flyaway hair that had not seen a comb in some time. He was wide shouldered and block headed. He filled his allotted seat to the maximum, and made good use of the air rights. He blocked my view of the stage to the degree that I had to peek around him. I was well annoyed, at first. But once the performance got going, this big fellow was so full of joy and laughter that I had more fun watching him than I did the actors on stage. At one point he was so overcome with hilarity and surprise that he threw his arms into the air, uttered a resounding “Hoo! Hoo!”, and slapped his bald head over and over again, just to celebrate being alive in that very moment. It wanted to hug him. I remember that man more clearly than I do the rather silly show.
6
Art is work. Respect work. Or expect your "work" to replaced.
Oh, and we can film and replicate your work without compensation?
4
@blairga, I think you may be responding to someone else there. Or maybe you did not brother to read through the comment. Or you are just talking to yourself. Because what you said had has nothing to do with what I wrote.
5
"a desire to attract younger and more diverse audiences, and some suggest that an emphasis on behavioral restrictions is a form of off-putting elitism." So, now it's 'off-putting elitism' to tell the audience that pictures and videos and recordings are not permitted?!
Are the youth so obtuse and self-centered that they don't know any better AND (as this article suggests) shouldn't have to follow rules? As for 'diversity' and using it as an excuse to expand what the American culture demands (not a choice, follow the rules in America), UNACCEPTABLE.
I'm so sick of 'kids' believing they should all get a house out of college, which they should go to for free regardless of their talents and efforts; a group of spoiled whiny brats.
8
When the president uses his phone in an uncivil way, what is that saying to others?
5
@Baba , that the man is a fool and a danger to the country, and that he needs to be either impeached or voted out of office if we are going to survive as a nation. But I digress.
It’s better than he keeps his tiny thumbs too busy on his phone to seek out The Big Button of Armageddon.
4
Regarding "Then there was the time an actor in “The Cher Show” tweeted at Kanye West, mid-show, for using his phone. In an unforgettable defense, Mr. West later claimed he was so impressed by the musical he wanted to take notes."
But not as widely reported was that they smoothed it over by singing “The Ye of Love” to Kanye in place of “The Way of Love”
When you see a show
That you love a lot
You fall for the songs
And adore the plot.
If you need to tweet
Let fans know you’re here.
Though that’s really sweet
Do it later, dear.
On the Great White Way
We are saying" Whoa!"
Folks are not okay
With your cell phone’s glow.
But what can you do -
You’re in ecstasy!
When the act is through,
Do a tweeting spree.
Love the Ye of love!
Ye, spread your love!
1
FWIW, I think that people who shoot videos (or stills) during a concert or play are inconsiderate boors who not only distract the performers and the rest of the audience but also are infringing on a copyright or other proprietary privilege. Rather than berate critics of the practice as elitist, ban it in all venues unless advance permission is granted.
I don't want my experience of artistry spoiled by the intrusion of cellphone addicts who don't want to experience events but spend all their time recording it
One hopes that Yondr will not be necessary if prominent notice of a ban is given.
10
In these of Trump, nothing is out of bounds. Get rid of him or get used to all behavior becoming increasingly intolerable.
4
@voyageurx--this has nothing to do with trump. This is younger, liberal, elitists who promote activism on the one hand amd privilege on the other. Trump would take your cellphone in a NY minute.
Here's a new concept: record these great performances with your eyes, ears, and your brain.
17
My husband and I attend a lot of (rock) concerts. I hate seeing people on their phones, especially in the intimacy of a theater. Just control yourself and be in the moment. I find it very disrespectful of the artists and the surrounding audience.
And no one cares about that poor footage that you post on social media!
8
Who took the video of Joshua Henry taking the phone away from the patron?
8
It's rude to have your phone out during a performance. If you are expecting a important call or text then you should have stayed home. The people who advocate for allowing phones during musicals and theatre and stringed instrument concerts just don't like being told no, so they cloak it in counterarguments six ways to Sunday. Shame. Good for Ann Sophie Mutter.
15
Banning cell phones and their use is as ridiculous these days as banning people from wearing clothes.
1
It says here that comments are moderated for civility.
Same should be true for phones.
7
“But both theater and classical music have aging fan bases and a desire to attract younger and more diverse audiences, and some suggest that an emphasis on behavioral restrictions is a form of off-putting elitism.”
Wow, I mean just Wow.
16
A cell phone went off in the back of the hall during one of the most sublime moments of a Mahler symphony even though for the most part the audience was well behaved (in an European capital). I really feel for musicians. Part of the pact an audience has with classical music performers is to give them the space to create their magic. That also calls for a certain amount of discipline - to sit quietly - and even some self-effacement. But then, in that moment of collective listening, there is the sense of shared concentration, and a kind of magic. I fear that will be lost.
16
Imagine two versions of the same concert:
1. No phones allowed. Only entrants are those who bought their tickets because they heard of the artist through 20th century means: print ads, commercial recordings, hard copy newspaper review of a previous performance, etc.
2. Phones allowed. Only entrants are those who bought their tickets because they saw a youtube or facebook clip of the artist posted by a previous fan, or downloaded a (basically free) mp3 stream, etc.
Which concert would be better attended? Which would be attended at all?
1
@Ron--and which concert would you prefer to be at? I know my answer Richard.
2
It's not merely rude to film or talk on the phone during a performance.
It's a failure to live in the moment. If you're always busy recording your life, you're not living it. I get that you want to have a memory. But you can't have retention for what you failed to pay attention to. -- thegamesmenplay.com
9
I've read only a dozen of the comments and I am heartened, even joyful, to see that so many are of my old-fashioned mind in a manner. But it's more than Emily Post or Amy Vanderbilt etiquette for Pete's sake. People, regardless of age, should ABSORB the moment---not chronicle it! Carpe diem--not carpe digital. Share pics of your food. OK. That's between you and your fork. But leave actors, musicians and the other members of the audience to their devices metaphorically as you stash your device literally. That should be the code of conduct.
16
Phones ringing in theaters, texting, talking out loud in either a movie theater or at a play is our new national curses. I really don't understand why everyone has to be in touch all the time. Do they really think they are so important that they must always check their phones? Going to the movies and the theater has become a nightmarish problem. It certainly makes me think twice about where I'm going to see a film. Yes some theaters and audiences are worse than others.
13
I went to see a Dave Chappelle live performance recently. All members of the audience had to either leave their smartphone in the car or they put a lock on the smartphone so you could not record the show. I wish more performers had this requirement of their audiences.
19
I wrote an earlier comment about locking phone pouches being used at some events.
That information is in the article but I missed it because I was looking at my phone.
7
Read the comments posted and an overwhelming majority agree on how audiences should comport themselves at a performance. I hope the playwrite, Jeremy O. Harris is also reading them.
9
Basic courtesy is not "elitism." Please, do insist in some "behavioral restrictions." Or maybe I'll just bring my pajamas to the next concert I attend and decide to change in my seat in the middle of the performance.
19
The core issue is that half the people are addicted to their phones, and the other half are appalled by the people addicted to their phones. That's about where humanity stands in the 21st century. What an accomplishment.
18
Being a musician and Impresario I’ve seen this debate from many angles. Couple of issues:
1) We go into a hall to see a real time offering of the years of practice the artists have put into their studies of the art presented. Why shouldn’t they expect a degree of courtesy during their performance?
2) The event presenters are under a constant pressure to get “bums in the seat” to be able to afford the production costs. I can recall in the late 1980’s symphony groups marketing like: Singles Night: find your nights date at a pre-show reception. Standards have relaxed as our culture morphed.
3) Another example of how right Marshall McLuhan was – the medium is the message. Today’s cellular technology is an extension of our nervous system and as Nicholas Carr argued in The Shallows – it’s doing something to our brain and we need these tools to be able to remember the event, let alone whether we enjoyed it (put your emoji here)!
4) Like it or not, when you buy a ticket it has terms and conditions on the back of the ticket. Using that ticket indicates you agree to the terms. These are not common domain spaces, but private events.
5) Finally, as a musician and wanna-be conductor I spend over a hundred dollars for the art and to learn from world-class artists. Why should I have to be burdened with someone’s distracting behaviour?
It would be nice to see programming for the hoi polloi and programming for the snotty elitists. That way we wouldn’t be having this discussion.
11
Locking phone pouches are now being used at some theaters and comedy clubs.
Patrons put their phones in the devices and can't use them during a performance.
Some teachers also use them.
People need rules and boundaries to be enforced.
12
One person in an auditorium interrupts a performance with their phone, everyone claps and congratulates when they're removed and you think that should be debated? Not everything is debatable.
There are some things that are not allowed because they are considered grossly rude. This is one of them.
26
A society where people think they are more interesting than performers who worked hard to master their art, than others enjoying that art, is a bunch of self-centered barbarians with no education nor respect. Everybody wants to be a star without having done anything to become one. No, people, it's not the way it works. To become a somebody you have to do more than just being yourself, especially when you behave as rude children. To achieve a life (or a work), you need to listen to others, respect others, learn from them, learn and practice! You will never be a star if you think you just can be one by disturbing others. Learn first, then, maybe you can talk. Discipline, hard work and respect are the keywords. This is true in all aspects of life (in society). Not all rules are significant, but those mentioned hereabove are the fundament of a good functioning society.
19
@Sonia
Yes!!
I'm not sure what your flag icons mean because they are too small on my screen. :/ Do you live somewhere where these rules are followed?
1
I take a photo of the stage/set before the show, and share it on social media...after all, the big houses provide guest WiFi. They can, and usually do, use it for their own social media.
Also, I'm a playwright, and it's illegal to record the work without permission.
Then it's Power OFF and I enjoy the unique performance of a living show that exists only between light up and lights down.
13
Hearing aids can now be paired with one's cell phone and the wearer can thus make important adjustments to should quality and volume. This is particularly important during live performance of opera and classical music. Wearers of hearing aids must be allowed to use their cell phones for this reason.
7
My husband and I are frequent theater goers, plays and the occasional musical and we always turn off our cell phones. I would say at least 8 out of 10 times shows that we attend have someone's phone goes off during the show and it is always an older person's phone. Obviously this is not restricted to young people. It is very annoying to the actors but also to the audience. I honestly don't understand why people can't go for two hours without their phone.
16
There is no more civility. Like many of the letters, I am tired of going to events where my evening is ruined by some self-absorbed phone addict who insists on checking Facebook or posting their moment on Instagram. I shared my Downton Abbey movie experience with a gentleman (?) seated next to me who played backgammon on his phone the whole time. Maybe if he had watched the movie he would have learned a few things starting with manners.
15
This behavior with smartphones is not different than its analog sibling - talking. Talking during a play or movie was/is as disruptive as taking out a smartphone and filming, photographing, texting, making/receiving calls.
Our selfishness and narcissism has found another outlet for expression. But it’s still good, old-fashioned rudeness.
14
Heard a gem a few years ago in NYC during a performance of Freud's Last Session --- a young woman in front row was using her iPhone during a climactic, intensively delivered speech by the Freud character, during which the actor inserted the directive, "Stop texting!" without missing a beat --- was surprised to hear the good doctor insist on textual suppression.
8
If artists want to allow people to film during their events that’s their right. But it’s also within the artists right to say no. Those people should be respected for the choice they make as well.
So if filming is prohibited, knock it off and enjoy the show. Why is this difficult?
13
@Mike Friedman Because so many are as addicted as if their phones were daily doses of opioids.
3
Cellphones have horrible sound recording technology. Everything is equalized. You have no sense of volume. Maybe for rock music that doesn't matter, but with a violinist like Ms. Mutter, who can make even the softest note sing out and fill a concert hall, you're losing so much fidelity that it's not worth incurring the wrath of the performer, not to mention you're fellow concert goers who have paid good money to go to the concert.
But you say you want a keepsake from the concert? Go out to the lobby at intermission, where inevitably the soloist's CDs are on sale. He or she will probably even be there to sign it for you and exchange a few words, maybe even take a picture. It's so much better, so much more respectful to everyone involved.
5
I cannot believe the first comment I write on a NYT article is about manners. Frankly, if being 56 and expecting the attention of an audience for a performance makes me "elitest" then so be it. I am tired of the lack of manners everywhere because of technology. Technology has changed many things, but not the courtesy of giving someone your attention. Dare I say it....even attention with eye contact! And, no visible device during the interaction! When I made a major purchase of large appliances last week at a big box store, the young adult had his phone out instead of completing my transaction. At a fundraising event, employees who should have been in front of the table to greet donors were behind the table and on their phones. I cannot simply let the manners thing go. Treat others the way you want to be treated. Still as basic as that.
20
if you are a parent, please start by teaching your students young, and don't send them to school with phones, because they come out in class. I can't understand why students in high school or younger needs phones. They are always out in class.
4
One of the best experiences I’ve had as an audience member is the Stars of Today Meet Stars of Tomorrow Gala (part of the Youth America Grand Prix ballet competition).
A couple thousand teens scream and cheer for the biggest names in ballet, filming and taking photos all the while (no flash, no clicks, they know how to do it properly).
Perhaps the Russians have similar experiences as home, but there is no more enjoyable way to see the greatest ballet dancers. The audience films and photographs respectfully, the dancers have a hungrier more adoring crowd than they may ever have again, no one is complaining about manners, etiquette, or elitism.
1
Personally, I think a ticket to a performance is NOT a license to record every second of it on your phone. It is a ticket to watch the performance live (PERIOD). I am tired of having peoples' cell phones waving in my view while I am trying to enjoy performances in the moment. I hate the peeps, tones, and various noises that inevitably ensue, and the incessant whispering and talking about the angles and views one is getting.
If you want a recording of a concert, buy one, but let those of us who are perfectly happy to live in the moment enjoy what we came for: a LIVE performance happening right in front of us -- without your cellphone waving in our view.
12
I have stopped going to concerts because I have no desire to watch it on the back of numerous phones in front of me. It is rude to the performers and the rest of the audience.
13
@Barry Chattillion, it must be a generational thing. Last week I attended a concert of a popular singer songwriter, in a small venue. Her music tends toward jazz, and her fan base skews older, judging from the people I saw sitting around me (aged 60) and my husband. I didn’t see a single lit screen from a cell phone for the entire concert.
2
Having to deal with people who decide to stand up in front of you and watch their favorite band/performer, or even start dancing, thereby blocking everyone else's view, is super annoying. As are ushers who don't promptly tell them to sit down.
I was nearly decapitated by the guy naxt to me who was standing and waving his right arm like a propeller to "Deacon Blues" at a Steely Dan concert a few years back. When I told him to "Stop it! You're going to hit someone!", he seemed genuinely mystified, apologized, and sat down. Only to do it again two songs later.
At least at Paul Simon's farewell concert in Philly last year, there was an area halfway back from the stage set up for people to dance. The couple next to us who just couldn't stop gyrating and waving their hands finally got the message from the rest of us and decamped to the dance floor. Another couple to my right got so fed up with their blocked view that they finally just left.
4
@hdtvpete, I agree that can ruin the experience. Worse for me is the drunkenness of people in neighboring seats. A few years ago, a drunk seated in front of me, at what should have been a very mellow concert, turned around and attacked me when I asked him to please stop talking (in your typical drunkard stage whisper) during the performance.
@Passion for Peaches, I had a rather large individual sitting in front of us at a Paul McCartney outdoor concert a few years back ...vaping incessantly, even though there were signs mounted prominently that said, "NO SMOKING."
I guess vaping doesn't count as smoking. But it is just as annoying.
1
People aren’t “distracted” by their cell phones. WE ( and I include myself ) appear to be in some form addicted to them. Some people who would record someone without permission or take pictures of a performance without permission probably feel the have some sort of entitlement to do anything they want ( we do after all live in the Trump era) and are either too clueless to realize they are infringing on what the person or group does to make a living or they do give a flip. The music industry failed to fight illegal CD ripping and this may be the logical outcome.
4
I remember when the worst thing in the theater was the person who took 15 minutes to unwrap a cough drop. It is unimaginable that people would think it is their right to use any photography, let alone flash! of a performance. I don’t think people who want to quietly and respectfully take in a performance are elitist.
8
If you are so addicted to your phone that you can't put it away for a couple of hours and politely refrain from annoying other people with your behavior, then stay home and look at your phone.
Those of us who actually have an attention span (and paid for tickets to see a performance) find this phone stuff very distracting. Why does anyone really think it's OK to do this, especially when they've been requested not to? So they can post it and impress other people that they went someplace? For pity's sake. Grow up.
14
I saw the New Pornographers last week at the Vic Theater. I took out my phone to take a picture and security was right there busting me and the guy next to me. I kept it away the rest of the night. Earlier in the year I saw Neko Case (solo) at the same theater and there were signs everywhere saying if you took out your phone during the concert you would be removed. I didn't see any signs this time or any announcements... so I unfortunately made a mistake! A few other people recorded a pic or two w/o getting caught, but honestly it was great to watch a show without seeing in through a phone.
4
cody12 - You got what you deserved. The fact that there were no signs forbidding pictures is no justification. The default is that no phones are allowed, and deep down you knew that.
4
When the reunited Misfits first started doing reunion shows in big arenas they made everyone lock their phone in a pouch that you kept on you. It was refreshing to see a show with no phones in your face. It was also fun to watch people actually communicate in between bands.
4
Re: “Patti LuPone famously seized a phone from a patron at an Off Broadway show.”
Didn’t Patti more famously stop a Broadway musical to yell at a person in the back for taking pictures?
3
"One dissenter argued on Twitter that “people who wholly submit to and enforce outdated/archaic concert rituals that require insane amounts of cultural capital to begin with are going to be completely irrelevant in about 15 years’ time.”
What the heck does that even mean? "Cultural capital"? Turning everything into capital of some sort ("human capital") is bad enough as we are not all subjects of corporate culture and our thoughts, abilities and talents are not "owned" by some "superior" force (such as the twit of this tweet).
If not filming someone (against the rules of the house, as stated on the website, in the program, and requested before the concert begins) requires "insane amounts of cultural capital", then the twit clearly should not come to such an event; we don't want them to suffer because the stress of "submitting"/s/
While I might be dead (and thus "irrelevant") in 15 years, this is not the case with many of the musicians in the orchestra I attend regularly, and is not the case with my daughter who is not a regular concert goer but who understands the value of a performers.
Perhaps the tweeter will give us all some of his creations for free (assuming he has any). I think it is archaic for banks to charge interest to us peons as it isn't even their currency and the digital currency is just a bunch of 0's and 1's. That is just some archaic ritual.
Anne-Sophie Mutter would have had my standing ovation for this action as well as for her wonderful performances.
12
When I was in high school art class I made a oil-pastel that a few other students thought about. Soon, almost perfect renditions began to crop up. Some done in oil-pastels, some in oil paints, some in watercolors, some in pencil, ink or charcoal.
I was very unhappy about it.
My teacher at the time told me: "Imitation is the best form of flattery. It means someone has heard you."
That didn't help at the minute I was raging. I mean my teacher hung up all the copies or inspired works of many of the students along with mine. I was not pleased. When I got my work back I tore it into tiny shreds and threw it into the wind.
I was stupid.
No one has to be the best to be some one of substance. It is quite possible that the original won't be the best or won't make history. But originals influence and influence causes change, and change must come to explorers or there will be no explorers. Without inspiration, nothing ever changes. Lacking acceptance of change is a dead end in evolution. Perhaps the evolution of an art-form. Think of art nouveau that had such tightly woven rules of behavior it couldn't last because it had no where to go, it couldn't leave its cage.
Intellectual property only had value when companies began claiming their employees' thoughts belonged not to the employee but to the company. Think about that for a minute. What if Einstein's boss had claimed ownership of the paper Einstein wrote?
1
@Susannah Allanic This is not about, or primarily about, copyright. It's about consciousness, addiction and consideration for others in public spaces.
5
@AY Oh! I missed that entirely. Who's consciousness? Addiction to what? Finally, consideration for whom or what in the social media age and Real-Life TV. Everything seems to be a public space. But then, humanity has always has, as a species, never recognized privacy as anything other than an important symptom that acts as foreshadow ill-intended deeds.
1
Bummer. Classical audiences, at least, usually know how to behave, having been raised properly.
3
I am a teacher and, in my courses, I take on cultural appropriation, access to power and agency by the historically-marginalized, and white supremacy in its many forms. In short, I am quick to support those who truly are challenging antiquated formulations of power and privilege.
That is not what is happening here. Openly disturbing those sitting next to you isn't being subversive. It's being obnoxious and narcissistic. Obviously so. And it is undermining some forms of art at the core, like stand up comedy (one of the most democratic art forms of all, by the way). Comics feel they can no longer workshop their material. They are accused of "repeating material" because some in the audience already saw a youtube clip of it. Dave Chappelle does not allow phones in his shows for that reason. Someone call Dave Chappelle a puppet for white supremacy. Go ahead...
The only elitism I see here is in others who cannot be bothered to oblige by a basic level of courtesy.
20
Well, if decency is too much asking to the young or the spoiled famous why not allowing people to wear perfume also? Who cares if people may get an asthma attack, or start coughing...
When in Rome ... When in the temple... When in the theater... When in the school....
1
Buying a film or tv series, to keep and rewatch, is ubiquitous. Maybe that’s what the young woman 3 seats to the right of me thought she had purchased with her Aladdin ticket, at a Washington DC performance some months ago.
As the lights dimmed and the orchestra began she hoisted her phone in her left hand, elbowed steadied on her left seatrest.
When the two women to my right realized this woman was preparing to film the entire performance, they rightly piped up in protest. Muted howls of defense came from the defender. I caught “..but I saved up to buy this ticket!”
Eventually - and I mean fully minutes into the first act - decorum won and the phone came down.
I wonder if the woman actually bothered to enjoy the show, or just fumed her way through it? Did she think she’d received her money’s worth?
6
One of the many reasons I don't go to theaters, concerts, or other gatherings of people is having to watch a concert through the screen of a bunch of phones held up in front of me. But, I have seen just as many annoying things that concert goers do thinking its fun but maybe not so much fun for the group in the back. Below is a link to one of my favorite bands playing live. It would be awesome if it wasn't for one insane person with their "LED umbrella" in the front. Not only is the "LED umbrella" a distraction but they can't even keep time.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwq7de09FoU
1
Phones and circus manners have killed public art and entertainment. So now you stay home and stream and during the program check email a few dozen times and start googling reviews to confirm your latest ongoing impression.
Art is not possible in a world of useless information and endless self-exposure.
6
The shows are to blame because heaven forbid they ostracize a future sale. Put a $500 fine in the “terms of use” for ticket sites if a phone is used during performance. Then announce it before the show, loud and clear. Then enforce it through the seat number. Problem solved. You can’t even go to a movie anymore without the distraction of a cell phone. The best part of the whole problem is that these fools don’t even understand the point of entertainment: escapism. They need to drag their sorry lives into everything.
7
bravo ms mutter. she said it all.
3
So Rihanna uses Yondr pouches at her shows to keep people off their phones but sees no issue is tweeting while at the theatre... After being late to the show and delaying the start time!
I wasn't aware we'd changed the spelling of hypocrisy to R I H A N N A
14
Use of mobile phones during performances is very disruptive and utterly annoying. To prevent this obnoxious antisocial behavior make a clear announcement before each performance and introduce hefty fines (minimum $1000) and if repeated black list anybody breaking these rules.
6
The phone! One of the most intrusive objects in a theater. And now a selfish blowback about entitlement? As a performer I witness total disregard from the public just how awful, distracting, disrespectful and ultimately jolting to every performer is that object aimed at our faces or illuminating repeatedly during a performance? This isn't about your right or elitism...it's about your arrogant need to show the world where you are and what you're privileged to see. Put the phone down. Be polite. Period.
Now there's novel idea in today's wold!
12
Before theaters were strict about not seating latecomers, I remember Victor Spinetti shamed latecomers to "Oh What a Lovely War" by stopping the entire show and welcoming the latecomers, telling them to take their time, settle down, are you sure you're all right? before starting the show again.
Word got around and people stopped coming in late. Maybe a performer needs to try something like this--"Would you like me to come to the edge of the stage so you can photograph me better? Are you sure?" etc.
Yes, it's just rude to act as though the show is solely for you. It isn't elitist or old fashioned. Stay home and watch a TV show and videotape that.
5
I want to live in a world where respect and civility reign. Beam me back Scotty. 1930 should do it.
5
Joshua’s Haney may have good timing, but grabbing someone’s phone — a piece of personal property that might be quite expensive — and throwing in on the ground, is a step too far. He should have taken it and handed it off to an usher or someone in the stage crew, and then the owner would know the phone was safe and he or she could retrieve it at the end of the performance. Instead, that member of the audience was either stuck sitting there fretting that the phone might be damaged, or trying to get to the phone without making too much of a scene.
Which raises the question: isn’t this the responsibility of an usher or other theater employee? It’s not for the performers to police the audience.
Respect goes both ways. It’s wrong for someone to record a performance when they have been told not to. But it’s also wrong to react to that in the way my third grade teacher reacted to kids playing with things she didn’t approve of. She’d snatch it from you, publicly shame you, and them drop your treasure into her desk drawer. And you’d never see it again.
@Passion for Peaches - Nope, I have no concern at all for this guy's property. Serves him right to have to wonder where his phone went and how he'd get it back.
And this was on stage seating, where I doubt that ushers roam. This guy was sitting only a few feet from the performers, so respect certainly wasn't going from him to them.
15
@PM, doesn’t matter where the seating is. You don’t grab and (potentially) destroy someone’s property. Two wrongs do not make a right. The correct reaction to someone who is acting like a jerk is not to be a bigger jerk.
@Passion for Peaches
A person who attempts to make a bootleg recording, even for private use, should know they may risk confiscation of their recording device.
Isn't the risk part of the thrill? Or do contemporary pilferers believe they're entitled to get away with it? Because they have an expensive phone or something? How square is that!
2
Context isn't everything, but it counts for a lot. Every genre, every venue has its own etiquette. What is acceptable and perhaps even expected at one event might very well be totally inappropriate in another. Is it really that hard to figure out that what is ok at an arena concert isn't appropriate in a concert hall where where every little sound can be heard? If someone is new to a particular venue or type of performance is it really that hard to take your cues from those around you? I've given a lot of thought to this over the years and one problem is that some people are there for the performance while others are there for the event. Think about it.
We need to keep our best behaviour during a performance due to show respect for the artists and other spectators! Is that simple.
3
I was at the show that Rihanna attended. The show is already over long with no intermission and then we waited over 20 minutes for her to arrive. Talk about privilege run amok.
13
Using a phone is simply wrong at a concert or at the local movie theater. I do not want others to stay home; I merely ask that they observe established standards of etiquette. That is not asking much.
5
I regularly attend music and theatre performances of different genres . If it's allowed, I will often take a quick photo or short video, although I try to be discreet and not distracting to the performers or audience. But when it's not permitted, and this is always clearly stated on programs and before performances, I follow the rules. I'm not sure why this is such a problem for people, or why it should be considered "elitist". The venues, or the performers, have the right to set the rules.
1
On Saturday night I attended a concert where an elderly woman sitting next to me spent the entire show on her phone - either scrolling instagram and facebook or taking the occasional photo of the show. We were in the front row. It was incredibly distracting and, as the performers must have been able to see her face illuminated by the blue glow, disrespectful to the performers. Given her age I can't ascribe her behaviour to the "new gen", but rather see it as sign of how distracted we have collectively become in this age of screen shots, series on demand, likes etc
6
I took my phone out once during a live performance, and it was wrong of me to do. That being said, I would NEVER think to record someone else’s performance. I’m appalled at how regularly I see people using phones during live performances or at artistic events. Situation can matter, but to call putting a phone away during a performance a “white privilege” issue is just ridiculous. People should be fully present and give performers their full attention! Casts and crews work so hard to create art, put your phone away and give them undivided attention. Oh, and stop distracting people around you.
This is not just for young folk: at a recent podcast taping I was at that featured an older audience, I saw several people on their phones. We need to break our digital addiction, let’s start by turning off our phones in performance venues.
8
If the future of live classical music is an audience of people unwilling to experience a concert without their phones, then you can count me out. If that attitude is elitist, well... if the shoe fits, then I'll wear it.
17
I'm sure others have posted more eloquently, but put your phone away if for no other reason. the person behind you would rather watch the stage and not your screen. If there was a way to do this unobtrusively, great. But there isnt.
3
I do a fair amount of public speaking and presentations at trade shows and technical conferences. Attendees will often pull out cameras and cell phones to shoot videos of my PowerPoint slides or even videos that are playing.
Okay, that's one way of taking notes, but the devil in me decided during one talk to stop abruptly and pull out a large camera I had hidden in the lectern, and start taking pictures of them while they were taking pictures of the screen. (Shades of the Marx Brothers!)
The whole thing was theater of the absurd. It did surprise quite a few people sitting in the front rows, though.
6
Quoting from the article:
"Some observers suggest that the restrictions on audience behavior are snobbish, elitist, or even manifestations of white privilege."
It's a sorry day when manners and consideration can be construed as some manifestation of white privilege.
And, to bring up issues related to the rowdy audiences of Shakespeare's time is to miss the point that many behaviors that were acceptable in Shakespeare's time are not considered acceptable today - belief in fairies, witches, ghosts, magic, superstitious rites. Many in Shakespearean audiences were rowdy from drinking and it was acceptable to hurl ridicule and abuse, with foul language, and rotten food at the actors. Similarly, the actors could hurl comments - even vile ones - out at members of the audience.
Behavior is something that adapts to a situation. To yell, jump, and text at a loud rock concert is not similarly appropriate at a classical concert where the gentle nuances of a flute, violin, or any instrument require deep concentration, without distraction, from the player and the listener.
16
The theater has phone problems? You can't go to Mass without hearing a phone ring. Not even to 630am daily Mass where you'd think people who are serious and sincere about their attendence would have figured out how to use the 'vibrate' setting.
4
I could write a small essay on what I loathe in an audience. It can be summed up by saying that it is not about you. It is about what is on stage. Besides the crime of cell phone use, I would add:
- Fanning oneself. Movement distracts. Hot flashes are no excuse.
- Applauding the moment an orchestral piece ends. Wait for the conductor to drop their hands or baton.
- Screaming bravo to hear ones own voice.
- Leaving before final bows.
- Hanging ones coat over the seat back, leading it to drape on the legs of the person behind you.
- Spilling out to the next seat, including overly broad shoulders whether due to height or weight.
- Body odor and fragrances.
I am sure I am missing some. Basically we in the audience are sharing the experience of the show. But the performance should remain on stage.
5
@Sad reality
Standing or dancing for an entire concert.
Explaining the show to your seat mate.
1
@Sad reality — I’ll help your list:
— Singing along.
— Arriving late so that you have to climb over people.
— Leaning over someone’s occupied seat at intermission in order to talk to someone behind said occupied seat. (But I guess that’s better than doing so during the performance.)
— Taking all day to unwrap a candy, thinking you’re being less noisy by taking your time.
— Making comments during the show, especially if it’s a play.
2
Abiding by requests to turn OFF your phones and put them away, is an act of RESPECT for those who are performing, and for those who manage the performance. If you have a ticket and sit in a seat, or stand in Standing Room, you are automatically OBLIGED to follow the rules...no...you cannot do just anything you feel like doing in a theater, while a performance is going on. It is as simple as that. Sorry children...just because you want to do something does not mean you can do it. Play by grown-ups rules, hard as that may be....or get taken to the door. and the street after being photographed by theater security personnel. And, BRAVO for performers who stop their performance or continue it, while seizing the offending phones.
13
Ms. Mutter takes a stand once again. I remember reading many years ago about the buzz she created in Washington by actually starting a concert at precisely the official time, 8 p.m. Believe it or not, this was controversial to some concert-goers, who were used to having a few extra minutes to take their seats.
5
As an actor, I'm against any unauthorized recording, audio or video, during a performance. Here, we have an APPROVED video of Henry singing and dephoning by Jonathan Frank/Reel Time Video Productions [sic]: "Reel Time Video Production specializes in the filming, editing, and creation of Publicity Materials for live theatrical productions." I do not know at what distance to the stage RTVP places cameras, or if they or their operators are visible to the audience. But one variable to consider is whether audiences see video being shot and figure, "It must be OK at this show." Then there's, "I went to a show recently where everyone was asked to have their phones on and text/Instagram during the performance." [I've been to those, at least for indie/experimental theater.] For now, as preferences may vary from show to show, venue to venue, rules might well be posted in big print (&, I hope, several languages) outside every entrance to the seating area -- don't rely on patrons reading a notice in the program -- and an announcement made (or projected). The cost of disruptive behavior should be preestablished as likely ejection -- even if that's not always going to be practicable.
1
There is some irony in my enjoying this video of an actor seizing a phone from a rude theater patron. I see from the video credit that it was filmed by a company that "specializes in the filming, editing, and creation of Publicity Materials for live theatrical productions."
So I get the difference. One was invited to videotape, I assume in a manner that did not disrupt the enjoyable viewing by their neighbors in the next seat, and the seized phone owner was not, and presumingly was annoying both actors and patrons.
In a darkened movie or live theater, the bright light of the phone of that neurosurgeon sitting next to me, checking to make sure there are no important texts calling the doctor to a life-saving emergency surgery, is always disruptive and rude. (What could be That important?)
And the other commenters are right. The culprits are not always younger viewers. Inconsiderate rude people willing to impose themselves on our collective experience, are present in every generation.
Equivocating on this subject to me is like saying there are good people on both sides.
4
There is phone blocking technology for theaters that will stop all incoming and outgoing calls. Theaters should install it and use it during performances. Then put a sign at the door that cell phones warning everyone that cell phone will not work beyond this point. Entrance into the theaters means acceptance of this policy.
This technology may not stop the videographers. But videotaping a live performance is a violation of copyright, with huge fines.
Cell jammers are illegal under federal law. Surely it's an overreaction to stop improper manners by committing a felony.
2
Well I’m totally against mobile phone use in live theatre. The light and the movement of a man’s mobile phone next to me during a play was driving me insane. Thank goodness the usher told him to put it away. I’d hate to think how distracting mobile use must be to the performers. It’s different if the lights are softly up and you’re at a performance where digital action is expected - like a forum. And I’m a total digital diva who is umbilically attached to my phone. So if I can keep my phone packed away, so can you.
5
As a substitute teacher I often have to tell students to put away a phone. These children are having to learn a bit of etiquette and social norms. Adults know better but we have all been distracted by inappropriate behavior. Great to see the herd respond!
The word you are searching for is decorum, and behaving in accordance to an establish norm for the patrons. Any reasons to justify breaking behavioral norms are completely invalid.
8
Going to the theater, symphony, opera, or a movie means the expectation of being transported into another reality beyond one's own life. Using a cell phone in any fashion means intruding one's own life to the disruption of that desired alternate reality for all those in their proximity, as well as the performers...and though they are completely unaware, also to the users themselves since their own distraction keeps them from being completely immersed in the magic of the moment.
It is everyone's loss whenever a cell phone is utilized.
6
I attended the Paul Simon farewell tour a couple of years ago. Everyone was snapping photos during the concert. But then again, the concert was in a huge indoor arena and no one, including Paul Simon, seemed to care,.
1
How sad--that good manners, consideration for others and, especially, respect for the performers is now considered "elitist"!
10
How ironic - and typical of her- that Madonna was using her phone during Hamilton but now insists audiences at her performances keep theirs locked up. I doubt she'd see the double standard.
8
When you pay for a performance, you are entitled to enjoy it. those who feel compelled to infringe on your time and distract the artists are lacking in simple good manners, courtesy, and consideration for others. At a rock concert, you behave differently than at a classical performance at the Met. Respect the artists and others.
7
I am a certified theatre instructor currently teaching drama and arts integration at a K-5 elementary school in a Title 1 district. Prior to this, I taught drama to Pre-K through 8th graders at a private school in a local affluent community for 8 years.
One of the first things I continuously model and teach all my students, regardless of age, developmental level, or demographics, is audience etiquette. Learning how to be present and "in the moment" isn't just something performers need to master. It has nothing to do with race, wealth, privilege, or "changing times." It's basic listening skills and common courtesy to not disrupt others around you during a live performance. End of story.
17
people are addicted to their devices, and somehow feel entitled to work them out and use them at any time. We have not collectively decided to allow people who are addicted to cigarettes to whip them out and smoke them in theaters and concerts simply because it would be elitist to restrict the audience to those who can refrain from smoking for the length of a performance. Why would we treat these devices any differently? As an audience member, I cannot enjoy the performance when other people have their screens on and their devices active. Public performance is a collective act and we need to be able to create a space in which people understand and respect that collective experience.
12
I wonder about this sort of thing in my classroom as well. When I am lecturing a lot of students photograph the board. I understand this helps them with their note-taking, but it makes me self-conscious. Am I in those pictures? Where will they end up?
8
This is about being polite and considerate of others, not elitist rules of etiquette. If young people can’t handle that, then maybe they shouldn’t attend live performances.
13
Is it elitist when Chris Rock and Dave Chappelle ask audience members to use Yonder to lock phones during their performances? The threat of keeping young people away is less than the threat of keeping other people way. I am struck by how much theaters accommodate people's demand to eat and drink during a play. They can't wait until the intermission? I had a special evening ruined by a group of intoxicated young people who arrived twenty minutes late, continued to drink, and commented throughout the entire performance about "how great" it was. When a couple of people signalled to keep their voices down they began to use obscenities and kick the seats in front of them. I'm never going to pay big bucks to go to this house again. The house let them in late and the house fed them and gave them alcohol. My evening wasn't as bad as a friend's birthday outing at the Chicago Theater, when an intoxicated patron threw up on her.
7
Is it elitist when Chris Rock and Dave Chappelle ask audience members to use Yonder to lock phones during their performances? The threat of keeping young people away is less than the threat of keeping other people way. I am struck by how much theaters accommodate people's demand to eat and drink during a play. They can't wait until the intermission? I had a special evening ruined by a group of intoxicated young people who arrived twenty minutes late, continued to drink, and commented throughout the entire performance about "how great" it was. When a couple of people signalled to keep their voices down they began to use obscenities and kick the seats in front of them. I'm never going to pay big bucks to go to this house again. The house let them in late and the house fed them and gave them alcohol.
1
@KJones : I read recently in this newspaper that ushers in some London theaters are wearing body cameras so they can identify patrons - primarily packs of young drunks, mostly with "hen" and stag parties - whose behavior has become so objectionable that they have to be thrown out. The cameras document repeated instances of rowdiness and belligerence during a performance, as well as fights and threats to ushers, so theaters can defend their decisions to eject if necessary. Who needs people like this in any public place, much less in a theater where civilized people come to enjoy a performance?
5
This is absolute rubbish--the notion that manners and proper behavior in a theater is something that must die out in the face of childish people who can't stop filming and sharing everything they do, and that somehow etiquette is something only the "older" generations do and it doesn't apply today. And people in the arts who wring their hands and say that perhaps we have to adapt are spineless.
You don't need to dumb down etiquette for people who could perfectly well follow the rules and stop being so self-centered for five seconds if you enforced the rules. Not only is using your phone and filming every blessed thing a distraction to the performers but it is also distracting and spoils the show for people around you. It is hard to enjoy a show when little lit-up screens are flaring around you and all this arm motion is going on.
We really, really don't need this nonsense added to the ranks of the existing rude people who talk and whisper during shows, open their noisy wrappers, and decide that they really just cannot possibly stop coughing.
13
I love it!!!!! I did the same 20 years ago in a London theater when the woman in front of me was not able to pick up TWO consecutive calls..... her cell phone must still be somewhere under the radiator in the lobby....
1
"Off-putting elitism" - oh, please spare me. Common decency is not elitism. Note the word "common." Think about it.
21
I think what hasn’t been mentioned is how distracting it is to the audience when the person beside you or in front of you has their arm out and their phone pointed to the stage. I paid to see the performance not someone record the performance.
As far as it being outdated etiquette? If people practiced etiquette more we wouldn’t be having these issues. Etiquette isn’t a way to oppress but is a guideline for everyone on how to conduct themselves in certain social situations. We have a society that is into celebrating everyone as a special snowflake with little regard to how their specialness effects the larger group.
I think the most obvious answer is to ask yourself if you would be okay if someone recorded you doing your job without your permission? And does what I’m doing distract from the main purpose of why we are all together be it a movie, wedding, concert or religious service. Self awareness is a beautiful thing.
9
It all started to go south when theatre and opera venues decided to ditch their dress codes. And it's only gotten worse from there.
4
@CooperS agreed. And let people in after the show started.
I was seeing Wicked in Chicago when a couple was allowed in late.
Not only were they 15-20 minutes late but they brought wooden bead chair covers which took several minutes to arrange in the darkened theater.
2
I don't know how many coughs, burps and inappropriate laughing I swallowed at performances because I realized it was rude. My phone appliance is muted the minute after I show my ticket. It's really not that hard.
4
Back in my younger days when dinosaurs roamed the earth and rock concerts were big and raucous, you would get guys obnoxiously putting their girlfriends on their shoulders, fully blocking the view of those behind them. We always carried pennies in our pockets for just such an occasion, and would pelt them from behind until they relented and she got down, at which point we would stop and let them enjoy the concert. It worked great when they had no idea who was doing it and therefore would feel like the whole audience was against them. Childish? Sure. But highly effective. I suppose you can't do this at a Broadway show, unfortunately.
8
As someone who attends rock shows and opera and everything in between, I hate what cell phone culture has done to music. Not only is it theft, it affects the experience for the rest of the audience. Take the tall guy holding his phone over his head, who stood two rows in front of me for Mark Knopfler’s whole show. Take George Thorogood, who prioritized posing for photos all night long over playing well. your phones until the encore — although I do like holding up a light without burning my fingers.
3
What would be most helpful to change behavior is if house staff would help police the cell phone users during shows, at intermission or after shows. It seems like all the policing is left up to audience members sitting in the vicinity of the offender or to the performers themselves. This is unacceptable and isn't as effective (at least audience member policing) at changing behavior. I have witnessed countless audience members get into it over cell phone use with no support from ushers, and personally I have had to ask people next to and in front of me to put their phones away when ushers could have intervened to support. The house staff needs to take this burden away from audience members and performers by enforcing their own rules and creating a culture and atmosphere where everyone can enjoy the show.
10
I work as an usher in live theatre. It is not always possible to see people surreptitiously using their phones, unless we march up and down the aisles to police it, which would obviously be distracting. Believe me though, it is most satisfying catching them.
As for photography, I don't know why they bother. Anything further back than the 2nd row is going to be a garbage photo anyway
1
Much the way that Napster led to services like iTunes and Spotify, I suspect that someone will come up to a tech solution for this problem, as well. People want immediate access to content from their favorite artists so that they can live (or re-live) experiences that are meaningful to them.
Maybe I'm only going to get to see my favorite artist one time and I want something to allow me to relive that experience. Maybe they never put out DVDs or make it to my hometown where I can enjoy the experience. I've also often wondered why hit Broadway shows aren't filmed for the millions of people that would love to see them but will never get the opportunity. I'd gladly pay for a Netflix-like service that allowed me to see on-demand performances of my favorite shows.
The practice is annoying, but it comes out of love for the artist. Instead of decrying the end of humanity, maybe we can pour all this rancor into a win-win solution that benefits both parties!
1
@Josie - No it does not come out of love for the artist. The artists hate it. Do you show your love by doing things that people hate? It comes out of self-absorption, narcissism, and the inability to live in the moment. It's all about posting to social media and getting "likes."
5
Suggesting all artists hate it is absolutely inaccurate. Some bands encourage it, reposting on their IG account pics and vids shot by audience members during a performance. It’s an inexpensive way for them to generate buzz. And bring their “live” music to the masses. Concerts are expensive and not everyone can afford the price of admission.
1
In general, it’s impolite to video or photograph someone without permission. It’s also impolite to post or share a photo of someone without permission. That said, there are many exceptions which prove the rule.
1
It seems to me that it is the fact that even with today's camera phones, it is visible and distracting to performers and to the audience that filming is going on. But there is already easily available technology that will record entire performances unnoticeably. As this continues, the age in which live performers can reasonably expect to intervene to prevent being recorded will soon be over.
In fact, it's over already, it's just that many or most performers and audience members don't know it yet.
O.K. All right, already. I will only ride my e-scooter during intermission.
3
I can't believe there even is a discussion about this. I take my 15 year old to the theater all the time. I have taught him not to use his phone during that time. We both shut our phones and put them away. It's really that simple. This has nothing to do with age. It is simply manners.
18
With the advances in technology, don't understand why cell phones can't be rendered unusable during certain performances? And sure, there will be those who say, 'What about an emergency?' If one has a sick relative, on the brink of death, don't go to the theatre. If an emergency occurs, most shows have intermissions for one to check. Claiming rude behavior is about elitism or racism is pure claptrap, a defense meant to muddy any discussion.
11
I've never seen a good photo or video clip of a stage event in my social media feeds. Ever. No matter how good somebody's seats are. People flip right passed. Let it go. Enjoy the show. And let your neighbors enjoy it too.
2
Easy solution, have ushers forcibly remove the person and give them a lifetime ban. Don't warn them or let them explain, treat it like they started yelling slurs or threw a bottle at an umpire. It would only be necessary a few times before the rest of the theater community got the message.
6
A chamber music concert at Saint-Chapelle in Paris was ruined for me because of the dozens of cell phones recording in front of us. What happened to just listening, just being in the beautiful chapel? It was horrific, the rudeness and entitlement of people recording it. And in my experience, it is happening all over....ruining the live concert experience.
9
@Sophia323 : And probably those people who filmed it never took the time to watch what they filmed.
People do not know how to be in the moment and filming takes that possibility away. Sad.
5
This has also been happening at museums. Just yesterday, in fact, at our local contemporary museum, three separate people stood in front of the rest of us to take photos or even video (!), blocking our views. At a recent Avett Brothers concert, people in the first several rows had their cell phones up the entire time. I kept hoping Scott or Seth would stop the show and admonish these ingrates. Maybe next time.
4
@Left Coast Thank you for your exclamation point. Even before the cell-phone era, I watched a man with a huge video camera filming the major Cezanne exhibit at the Tate Gallery. I remember thinking to myself: he'll never see it.
Meanwhile, as usual, the New Yorker cartoons have the best social analysis. A gallery employee describes the audio accompaniment to a gallery show. And also offers pre-video'd videos, so one needn't attend the showing at all!
"Some observers suggest that the restrictions on audience behavior are snobbish, elitist, or even manifestations of white privilege."
Being a minority myself, I have first-hand experience of white privilege working against me—some subtle, some not so much. But PLEASE, (and I hate that I am speaking a right-wing phrase, but) stop it with making everything race-related, such that the real race discussions get watered down.
This is not about race. I hate people using phones in the theater regardless of race, gender, identity, etc.. The bright lights are annoying, distracting, and downright disrespectful. I make big sacrifices on my budget to have my family attend theater events, and I won't have it destroyed by this abhorrent behavior.
27
This column is written from the perspective of the performers and I certainly am on the performers' side, but the annoyance level is just as high among the rest of us in the audience. Is there anything more annoying than the person in front of you lifting up their cell phone directly in your line of sight just so they get a clear shot for their previous little video? How about the obnoxious glow of their screen destroying the darkness in front of you that is necessary for optimal viewing? I am 100% in favor of those lock bags for cell phones, and kicking out people who make videos. And for those people (like parents out on a date night) who feel the need to be reachable by a babysitter in case of emergency; give the sitter the phone number of the theater, and an usher will come get you in an emergency. The bottom line is that the people using their phones in these settings do so only out of a sense of narcissistic entitlement, and we should have no sympathy for them.
12
@Jim good luck getting a number to get an actual person at any theater these days.
This falls under the category of "first world problems". I hope everyone who has been hurt by these horrible transgressions gets help overcoming their deep trauma.
2
Every one is allowed their opinion. Mine is that if you're filming, you are not someone who appreciates the actual experience, and are therefor, a total poser.
6
I am nearly 65 and have been attending live theater for over 40 years, and I can tell you that rude behavior knows no age category. From older folks talking during performances to people of all ages using their phones to record performances or chat with their friends, it appears that the ability to concentrate has gone out the window, as have manners when it comes to disturbing one's fellow patrons. Look folks, you are not at home in your living rooms. Sit still, shut up or stay home. If you have ever seen the play, Below the Belt, you may be able to share the emotion I felt when a character runs down the aisle with his phone ringing. Had I been closer I might not have been able to resist the urge to trip him. So hats off to cast members who berate these miscreants and to ushers who remove them from the sight and hearing of folks who are able to behave themselves for an hour or two.
9
The argument that performers, venues, or the arts in general need to change to accommodate “modernity” is absurd. What is the point of live performance if its inherent magic, that it exists in that moment for the audience, is destroyed by that audience? Just cause some inconsiderate rude jerk decides that they are so important as to use a phone during a performance, for whatever reason, does not mean we all want to or should. The majority of people do not. We should simply reject these people and their behavior. Otherwise what is the point?
5
"Some observers suggest that the restrictions on audience behavior are snobbish, elitist, or even manifestations of white privilege." Rude behavior and bumper sticker labels (like white privilege, elite and woke) have gotten so ubiquitous and absurd, it is laughable.
5
I am appalled that Lily Janiak would feel compelled to inject racism needlessly into this discussion. It’s not ‘theatre traditionalists’ who object to such behavior, it’s anyone with a common sense of respect for the people who created a show and the people who spend hard-earned money to attend a show who would actually like to concentrate on what they are seeing/hearing. It’s not OK to hold a curtain because a celeb is running late. It makes no difference who is texting/filming/talking on phone...rudeness has no color.
11
Simple courtesy and consideration of others seems to be gone. These are not elitist or old folk's issues, they are the basis of civilized society. Any concert we have attended this summer had a view cluttered with cell phones raised, distracting and annoying all those behind. I don't like to go to the movies anymore because of the annoying people on their phones in a darkened theater, shining a mini spotlight away from the screen. Or the worst was the woman with an IPAD filming the play. Seriously???? It is enough to make one just huddle in and binge Netflix.
4
In an Age where society seems to be circling the drain, and good manners are as scarce as buffalo - I applaud these performers for taking the action that they did.
Most performances that I have been to begin with a request to the Audience to turn off their phones. That means; "turn off your phone". No ringing. No talking. No pictures.
That is a pretty simple request, yet the human ego with a smart phone in hand gets this rush of power, and feels absolutely justified to yell; "Me First !!!"
Well, may their smart phone be "plucked" away, and out of their reach until the Curtain comes down.
Bravo, Mr. Henry ! Bravo, Ms. Mutter ! Encore !!!
7
"Off-putting elitism," is bribing your child in a college that's above their abilities.
This conversation is about simple manners and consideration for others, something that we all should have learned in Kindergarden.
6
Holding the curtain for a billionaire celebrity doesn't make you a rule breaking man of the people. It makes you an elitist sycophant who values the accolades of celebrities more than the majority of the audience who respected you enough to arrive on time. Disrespecting an entire theater of people for the benefit of one person who didn't care enough about your production to arrive on time isn't worthy of applause.
17
If Rihanna is your idol, then we've got bigger problems than a cell phone.
8
It's astounding that there are Wokesters calling the anti-cell phone voices "elite" or even, laughably, "white privilege". As if being selfish and rude has a specific class or color.
10
Mutter hit on it precisely. When you are breaking the performer’s concentration in front of an entire audience, it is time for you to leave. Leave them their space and let them entertain us.
5
Its distracting, to others and to yourself. I eventually stopped recording my kids school orchestra concerts because, one, i rarely watched them afterwards anyway, and two, i preferred to actually experience the performance in front of me, rather than through the screen of my phone.
4
The members of the original “Me” generation are now physically mature adults. Clearly they have not left their solipsism behind. They learned few social boundaries as kids. That translates into a remarkable belief that their adult needs require no justification other than that immediate gratification is their supreme ethical principle.
As children, texting at dinner, in church, and in class was accepted or at least was behavior that went undisciplined. We should not be shocked, then, to find as adults they brook no restrictions on continuing their childish behavior.
Soon we may read reports of some self-entitled man-child tweeting commentary about hisn instant opinion of the eulogies at some friends funeral.
Clearly all sense of traditional propriety, decorum and good manners died long ago. As the “Me” generation would tell us: “... duhhh, just get over it”.
2
“I’m not interested in policing anyone’s relationship to watching a play ESPECIALLY someone who isn’t a part of the regular theatergoing crowd,” he said on Twitter.
Does he mean the people who reliably buy tickets to support his art?
Mr. Harris is getting what he wished for...there is a bootleg of his show on the internet.
10
I remember going to concerts when there was no such thing as a cell phone. Can you imagine? The portability of a phone was define by the length of the cord attached to the wall. But the instruments are all the same. They are playing violins that are older than your great, great grand maw.
4
Do the manners of consideration for others no longer count. How is that now seen as white privilege rather than universal graciousness?
7
The very idea of even trying to find a way to incorporate phones into the theatre is abhorrent. It feels like god forbid anyone should be chastised for their behavior. No, instead the chastisers are the ones who need to acquiesce. We seem to have passed by the day when we can reasonably expect things like class, manners, decorum, professionalism, or just about anything at all that might slightly challenge the millennials to have to do anything against their will.
5
I suggest that the venues who don't want cell phone interference block cell phone signals.
4
@Satyaban They already do that but such blockers don't affect the phone's camera.
3
@Satyaban--agree. But that wont stop video or photo recording.
I’ve never used my phone during a live performance except for one time—during a play where the theater acoustics weren’t great, the actors used Afrikaner accents, and mostly spoke towards the opposite side from where I was sitting. During intermission, I logged into Amazon & bought & download the electronic playbook so that I could follow the dialogue. I lowered my screen brightness & hid my phone as well as I could. At the end of the play, 1 actor shot me a look & a smile —I was in a side, front row—& nodded his head. Don’t know if he was aware of why I was using the phone, but at least he didn’t seem to be upset.
There is no, “battle over who belongs, and who gets to set the rules.” The artist gets to set the rules.
Most artists struggle to make a living doing their art, whether its performance or not. They deserve the opportunity to monetize it, and therefore attempt to make a living, as they see fit.
If that offends anyone in the audience, then the artist is the one taking the risk that the audience will disappear and reduces the artists’ income. The choice is one only the artist is entitled to make. A painting, though, is different from a concert, in that once sold, the choice then moves from the artist to the new owner of the painting: hang it in your bedroom, or at the mall. In the same vein, a recording of a song or a book becomes, to an extent, the property of the purchaser. Even then, however, the artist (or someone to whom the artist consigns it) manages the use via explicit terms via the copyright.
To whatever degree that the performance or artwork determines the representation of the art, the control belongs, as much as possible, to the artist.
“Belonging,” by the way, is a useless issue. Some people are rich, most aren’t, and that reality isn’t likely to change much. Besides, the whole notion of privilege tends to be a sign of privilege itself, since those struggling to get by have other survival concerns to occupy their day-to-day thinking and likely don’t waste much thought on who is allowed to see a particular artwork or performance.
1
If the performer say, quite clearly, that filming and phone use are allowed: fine. When the performer says, quite clearly, that filming and phone use are not allowed: why do (some) people feel entitled to do it anyway.
At a venue we attend regularly, there is an announcement from the stage that filming/recording is not allowed, and to turn off digital devices. Yet at least one phone rings at every performance, and -- since we sit halfway back in the space -- we can see all the camera phones taking pictures. It is disruptive and reeks of "rules don't apply to me." How about a little common courtesy, if following explicit rules isn't your thing.
12
I stand with the artists — video taping is stealing intellectual property, be it the performers or the theaters, texting or talking on the phone is rude and disruptive. And all of the above infringes on overall audience. Turn it off, enjoy the show.
7
As a former House Manager, it was the job of the ushers and house manager to take the phone. Before cell phones, with video and photo capability, I and my staff seized many cameras. The performer has a copyright on his image and his art as an actor, musician, or dancer. The pre-show announcement to the audience should make it crystal clear no photos and no recording or your device will be confiscated.
13
If we continue to surrender our culture to the sentiments and entitled demands of young people, who have only begun to figure out what it takes to be a functioning member of civilization, we are lost.
4
@Nadia - It's not just young people. It's about entitlement, not age. Recently at a football game I attended the older guy (early 60s maybe) in front of me answered his phone and began a loud conversation during the National Anthem. And it wasn't an emergency call. People didn't say anything during the anthem because they didn't want to be obnoxious themselves, but as soon as the anthem was over, this guy got an loud earful from a dozen people around him until he angrily cut off his call.
7
@Jim
Thanks Jim. I completely agree. Entitlement is pervasive in the US.
I was referring to the demeaning compromises that the performing arts are willing to focus on getting younger audiences in the seats. Too often this is at the expense of the organization's subscribers and donors. But if this is a worn out paradigm, so be it.
At least at a football game the surrounding attendees felt free to scold the yahoo. Maybe we need more of that concert hall/theater so the performers don't have take charge.
Cell phone use during a performance for purposes of recording is, as your article notes, either against stated rules or flatly illegal. Use of a phone for texting, or worse, the ring of a phone breaking the silence of a dramatic moment in the theater indicates a lack of respect for performers and fellow audience members. It is also, simply, rude.
But now we have a new perspective. Criticism of cell phone use in the theater is a manifestation of white privilege. Can gender issues be far behind?
Ask me why I voted for Donald Trump.
2
@PoppaeaSabina - So... you voted for Trump because you lament the demise of public civility? Yeah, that makes sense.
9
@Jim--because trump is the only one who refuses to let the inmates run the asylum. Look at how pelosi has allowed the squad to virtually take over the house. And how warren and other candidates have acquiesced to their ridiculous policies that have already been seen to be ruinous in europe. And none of the dems are willing to stand up to them because they are too afraid.
1
My mother is in a nursing home and in hospice. I am her only immediate family and her health care proxy. The social worker at the home asked that I notify the home if I get on an airplane because I will not then be reachable by phone.
I don't go to the theater, but I attend movies, meetings, and religious services. If I feel the phone buzzing, I am going to look at it and answer it if it's the home.
2
@Ellen
There are exceptions to every rule. This article is about people who text or video out of selfishness.
2
@Ellen - My mother was in a nursing home for two years and never during that time was I arrogant enough to assume I could start a phone conversation in a theater. If you see it's the home, let it go to voice mail, immediately exit your seat, and call them back from the lobby. Because if you take the call next to me you won't be able to hear it anyway, over me repeatedly telling you in your other ear to get off the phone.
10
I don't think she meant to imply she would answer the call at her seat. But some of the solutions that have been discussed involve locking phones away entirely or jamming reception. That's a problem for many people. One needn't have a relative on death's door. Even as a run-of-the-mill parent, I am uncomfortable in situations, when I know someone watching my child truly cannot reach me. (I would never dream of filming a live performance.)
1
Is this about opinion, or prejudice, or age?
No. Ask a neuroscientist about the effect of the the cell phone light and the finger movements of those texting. Our brains have evolved to be distracted by such things, so that we're aware of threats from predators.
There's nothing complicated about this. Put away those phones.
13
Please turning off the ring tone and not taking a phone video is about respect for live performers. Period and end of discussion.
13
Put your phone down and enjoy the show or the people you are having dinner with or any number of other situations. What is so difficult about that?
13
[[One dissenter argued on Twitter that “people who wholly submit to and enforce outdated/archaic concert rituals that require insane amounts of cultural capital to begin with are going to be completely irrelevant in about 15 years’ time.”]]
No. The polar ice caps will be gone, but we'll still have plenty of lawyers and bouncers in 15 years.
5
The irony of Madonna and Rihanna requiring locked-up phones at their concerts but felt totally entitled to text themselves during another's performance.
Though I have an issue with Madonna's hypocrisy (nothing new), I did enjoy her 4+ hour show (that included the 2 hour lateness), primarily for the fact that I was witnessing an historical event: A phone free show!!!! It was heaven.
Let's bring civility back people! Live your authentic life, not your virtual hyped one.
13
Older people elitism? Or Younger ones entitlement?
12
Movie theaters don't allow filming either, and nobody is calling them elitist.
9
Reading these comments makes me hopeful.
8
@Applegirl
I wish I were as hopeful. I doubt the people who are doing these things at the theatre/concerts read
NYT. Those of us incensed by these acts are the ones reading the article and commenting!
5
Be forewarned, if you sit next to me at the theater and use your phone I will do everything in my power to make you regret your selfish choice!
21
I think it is being polite, these people are working, how many of those taking the pictures would welcome being filmed when they are at work?
4
“One dissenter argued on Twitter that ‘people who wholly submit to and enforce outdated/archaic concert rituals that require insane amounts of cultural capital to begin with are going to be completely irrelevant in about 15 years’ time.’ ”
How snotty! The ability of the “dissenter” to sling phrases like “cultural capital”, and his/her claim that politeness will become irrelevant, is a faux-sophisticated attempt to divert attention from the merits of the discussion.
Some people think they have “rights” that supercede or otherwise invalidate the rights of others. As the old saw has it, “The rights of your fist end at the tip of my nose.” Is that “elitist” (horrors!)?
12
BAN non-emergency phone calls from bathrooms, especially in cubicles right next to me.
NO DARN PRIVACY...........PLEEEEEZ.
OK I'm over it. Phew!!!!
-----------------------------------------------
Additionally, we must all learn to be POLITE and sweet--especially at the theater. TURN OFF THE PHONES or other mechanical gizmos, except for emergencies.
2
What about the person filming him as he took the guy's phone?
1
Curious if it was an audience member who filmed the video at the top of the article.
1
@Warren
Video credit to Jonathan Frank of Reel Time Video Productions, whom I assume was contracted to film the play.
4
It’s a sad day when simple courteous behavior, behavior that acknowledges you are not the center of the universe, is called out as “elitist.”
17
Did she learn, or is it ok for her, not anyone else?
- Lin-Manuel Miranda declined to greet Madonna backstage because she was texting during “Hamilton,”
- Both Madonna and Rihanna have used Yondr to create phone-free spaces at their own events
6
You do not use your cellphone during a performance
1. How rude do you think you are entitled to be towards others
2. How dare you steal the intellectual property of another for your personal pleasure? Can I borrow your significant other for my personal pleasure or perhaps you will buy me dinner because I think you can afford it?
3 If I am so important that I cannot be out of touch with others for a few hours, maybe I am worthy of of a private performance - free
4 This is not elitist; don’t try to rationalize it as such. You were brought up by wolves, act like a wolf and should be treated to embarrassing reprimands until you get the joke. It’s not about you and your sense of entitlement demanded by you from others. Behave your self
13
@Martin Perry Unfair to wolves! Their packs have strictly enforced rules, and pups are brought up to understand and accept them. True, but just kidding.
The attempt to racialize this issue is simply pathetic. Clearly these are petulant children who aren’t used to hearing the word “no”.
22
If you are so important that you can't be away from a cellphone for 90 minutes, stay put in you crisis-center bunker.
16
Yes, ... I'm on the gray side of the great divide that is "endangering" institutions like Bway theater (even OB and OOB) and classical music institutions.
But this reminds me of Trump's "there were good people on both sides" or TV News trying for an equal number of Dem. & Rep. guests, facts and fact-checking be damned.
People used to spit wherever and whenever they wanted. Dogs, of course, were "somebody else's problem." And then a combination of pressures from without and a little shaming and common sense ... and what was once the norm ceased to be.
And yes, I think a phone going off during Betrayal (just twice when I attended) is THAT BAD.
Pandering to truly inconsiderate, self-centered people is NOT the answer. The irony - at a Madonna concert, one must surrender one's phone, ... but she uses her during a perf. of HAMILTON?!
One last analogy - the MTA is struggling with how to "message" fare-paying. Is PLEASE! appropriate in this context?
Same thing here. Drivers are MANDATED to stop at red lights, and most of them do. I would not want to be at a performance where the person next to me was merely *advised* that cell-phone use *might* disturb the person sitting next to one. (And NO WAY would "young people" who have a problem with such rules improve the finances of venues where their current patrons - yes, older, deeper-pocketed and not brain-damaged by great inventions like Twitter & Instagram - are very much their life's blood!)
5
It's all about me and what I want. Why should I care about anyone else? SAD.
6
Michael M
Being rude has no defense. Not knowing any better is a cheap argument. I am sure there was a tinge of feeling something is wrong occurred. Please listen to your better angels.
3
Definitely punish it.
4
If you think it takes an "insane amount of cultural capital" to not look at your phone for a couple of hours, you've lost the plot completely. Time to go back to your mom's basement and save your words for Reddit.
9
@V77 Exactly what is an "insane amount of cultural capital" and what does it have to do with filming something with your cell phone?
2
Just wondering: where did the clip posted to the Times article come from? Was there an official recording of the play as well, or was it from some other illicit smartphone video?
1
Here’s a simple lesson for people of all ages.....”Sometimes you just don’t get to do what you want to do. Deal with it”.
10
What? No mention of the Grateful Dead model? You even did an article on this 4 years ago.
https://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/06/arts/music/tapers-at-the-grateful-dead-concerts-spread-the-audio-sacrament.html
https://archive.org/details/GratefulDead
Obnoxious people will find a way, with or without a phone. A trio of drunks were behind me at a Mamet play with Pacino on stage, chatting and dipping into their plastic bags for candy. I finally called them out, one of them responded, "Really?" and luckily a handful of others turned around and gave them hell. Not a phone to be seen, but still... disruption. I'll applaud any on stage performer who stops to point our basic human courtesy. The lame argument this article puts forth in defending the other side is a laugh.
7
If you are so wedded to your phone that you cannot be without it for a few hours, just stay home. You are sick.
12
Bravo Anne-Sophie! I don't think there is anything more obnoxious than people 'seeing' an event (or art installation) with a phone in front of their face. I have watched people in the greatest museums of the world come marching up to a major work, be it a painting, a sculpture, historical icon or whatever and not even pause long enough to look at it...but recording it on their 'device'. It's as if they can appreciate it more when replaying it on a 4" screen than seeing it in person! One cannot get but a fraction of the beauty in the performance of an artist such as Ms. Mutter through the "eyes" and "ears" of a cellphone. Put the damned thing away and be in the moment!
7
I was appalled when a woman next to me at the Dallas Opera was scrolling through her phone during the performance. I told her to turn it off, and she said, "it's not bothering you."
The light from the phone certainly was bothering me.
What does following the rules have to do with manifestations of white privilege? It is rude and distracting for people to be waiving around alternative light sources. Many of these productions spend resources on the lighting design, and the effect is completely foiled if people who don't want to follow the rules won't put their phones down.
I just don't get it: Don't people believe in courtesy, community, and karma anymore? Don't ruin it for everyone else. How hard is that?
13
Regarding the argument that modern audiences brought up on pop concerts think that it's okay to film and talk during performances: It's really simple. Different events and venues have different expectations for audience behavior. Venues with stricter codes of conduct will usually announce it loud and clear at the very beginning: "Please silence your phones," "No video or photographs." If you're unclear on how to act, pay attention to those suggestions. And as a matter of respect, FOLLOW THEM.
9
Sitting next to or behind someone who is filming a performance
is incredibly distracting to other members of the audience. I was at a play recently where the ushers went around to make certain everyone put their phones away. It was very nice.
8
Right on, Sophie Mutter! The disregard for the right of patrons who wish to enjoy performances without the interference (yes, that's what it is) of cellphone use is nothing less than the tyranny of the rude. We are not entitled to use our phones during performances just because we have them. Musicians, actors, and dancers need to be able to concentrate on what they are doing so that they can offer us, the listeners and spectators, the experience we have paid to enjoy. This is one of the reasons theaters and concert halls request that cellphones be turned off during performances. Why can't we restrain ourselves from using our cellphones for a couple of hours so that the performers can perform? Let's stop justifying what is simply bad behavior.
10
From reading the comments here, at least four arguments emerge against cell phone use during performances, especially to make recordings: 1. it is distracting to performers, 2. it is distracting to audience members, 3. it signals a lack of engagement with or indifference to the performance, and 4. it is intellectual property theft.
None of these arguments is in the least elitist, unless common courtesy and respect for the law have now somehow become elitist. Any one of these arguments is sufficient justification to regulate or outright ban what has become all too common, and not just in the performing arts.
As a photographer, I see people routinely taking phone photos of original photographs while visiting galleries or during exhibitions. Many of these phone photos later appear on social media. Asked to stop, many people object because they fail to understand how this practice violates intellectual property rights, is a discourtesy to the original photographer, and undercuts the already fragile market for photographic art.
I don't understand this behavior and when exhibiting my work, stipulate that it may not be photo- or video-graphed without my explicit permission. I see no reason performing artists shouldn't do the same. Whatever the level, it's our art, after all.
16
There is a reason for concert etiquette: entering and leaving only before and after the performance, at intermission, or between movements if necessary; waiting until the conductor’s arms are lowered before clapping; refraining from talking, even whispering and “silencing all electronic devices” as the announcer reminds us. To get the most out of it, classical music demands intense listening and focus. Tickets are often expensive because the artists are extraordinary, representing years of mastery and performing experience. Can’t people wait for a couple of hours between text-messages, twitter checks or news about Trump debacles? No one is forced to attend, and if you do, please obey the rules. I refer you to professional golf or tennis restrictions on photography and noise; or the Amtrak quiet car. Silence is undervalued.
11
Each year when I purchase my symphony and chamber music subscription, I asked to be seated away from two types of attendees: people who snore and people who continuously unwrap hard candy.
So far, I have changed my seats every year.
2
"...some suggest that an emphasis on behavioral restrictions is a form of off-putting elitism."
Manners are now elitism? The flip side of this coin I guess is:
"Whatever I want, whenever I want it, is my human right. Your rights do not count."
12
I find it a bit bizzare the arguement that because concerrt etiquite was supposedly less restrictive in the past means that the current request for relative quiet in concert halls and theaters is primarily the result of "elitest" and "racist" social standards. Comparing the experience of performance artforms in the present is entirely different from those of previous ages with new cultural standards, alterations in the spaces performed in, costs of admission, acoustics, and so much more, so those arguing that use of technology in spaces where many artists specifically request they not be used is directly disrespectful of those artists and degrading to those "non-elites" who supposedly use their phones because they are such.
While there is definitely an elitist issue with much performance art, this is more in regards to cost of attendance and production, not the disregard for standardized courtesy, which is significantly more common in my own experience among those considered "elite", whatever that is supposed to mean in this context, most likely old and white.
5
I was sitting with friends in the Conductor's Circle, which is behind the Philadelphia Orchestra (a great place to sit to watch the action!) and a guy sitting ahead and a little to the right of me whipped out his big ol' iPad and started ordering stuff on Amazon! I waited till the brief musical piece was over, and asked him to put the pad away, please, as it was in my line of vision when watching the Orchestra. To his credit, he agreed. And two people sitting nearby thanked me. It was a great concert.
5
Good for Anne-Sophie! It almost feels like a crime against humanity, to be so close to a LIVE performance of such a sublime piece of musical perfection as Beethoven's violin concerto played by THE MASTER and LIVING LEGEND that is Anne-Sophie Mutter - only to fiddle around with an iPhone to try and capture the impossible to capture - the miracle that is a live performance. Only 9/11 prevented me from experiencing a once in a lifetime performance of this concerto with Anne-Sophie with the NYPO - Brahms Requiem was appropriately substituted, and yet ...
How much will the iPhone videographer enjoy the recording she obtained of the first movement compared to having the memories of a focused listening experience of the full piece? I still remember a beautifully perfect performance by Itzhak Perlman of the Tchaikovsky violin concerto with the Rochester Philharmonic decades ago, and cannot imagine losing that experience to reviewing a poorly made video substitute of that concert.
3
Get a grip and just sit still for a little while!! I find it distracting when the person next to me is recording or taking photos and I paid for not only the seat but the right to enjoy the concert without some infantile activity, including ongoing talking and texting. If you feel the need to take notes, bring the old, out of date pencil and tiny notebook.
5
What I marvel over is the notion that somehow the cellphones are a "new modality" for the enjoyment of theater. What an absurd idea, a modality that takes you out of the theater and into a conversation with your babysitter or uber driver and distracts those around you as well. A modality that through recording violates the rights of the actors and artists to their own work. Those trying to justify the use of devices are merely trying to justify their own inability to think of anything but themselves. It's not old-fashioned to object to digital interruptions; it's humane.
10
I think it’s interesting and not discussed in the article that while both Madonna and Rihanna gathered up cell phones for their respective shows, they felt entitled to use them at other shows. Hmmm...
9
To the Twitter user who argued that “people who wholly submit to and enforce outdated/archaic concert rituals that require insane amounts of cultural capital to begin with are going to be completely irrelevant in about 15 years’ time” -- this is the famous bandwagon fallacy. What the crowd decides because it doesn't want to be told what to do can never be equated with what is right.
7
Who gets to set the rules? The house sets the rules, the performers set the rules. The house is invested in providing a seamless, distraction free show for the entire audience. The performers are WORKING, and need to be able to concentrate. People who quibble about this are not aware of how difficult a job it is to be a performer. It takes a tremendous amount of work, time and study to make a performance look effortless. I assure you , it is not effortless! Have some respect and self control, please!
8
Some years ago my wife directed a solo performance by one-time bank robber-now tv writer Joe Loya at the theater company Thick Description. On opening night, Loya invited a handful of people who in all probability had never been to live theater before. The theater itself was tiny, so when one of the invited "outsiders" took a call in the balcony and had a conversation, everyone in the house knew about it. We laughed afterword that no one asked him to stop, agreeing that there were two reasons: first, because Loya's performance spoke to the guy differently than it did most of the audience and the company was glad to have him; second, because the look he gave those who turned to look at him - to put it mildly - could have killed. The show went on, no one was hurt, and the truth is that bringing in "non-traditional" (non-white, not wealthy) audiences into the theater is a far bigger challenge than cell phones.
Punish. If not just for wasting money in this economy. I recently watched a young woman standing in an $94 spot (before taxes and fees) who watched an entire concert through her phone. A couple of concerts and you could just buy really good surround sound and hit YouTube.
But at least she was interested in the concert, I guess? Unlike paying to sit in the dark and browse social media. My niece does that for free nightly. It only bothers me. And only spiritually.
Luddites unite!
2
A few years ago I attended a Mayer Hawthorne show. After a couple of songs (and lots of cell phone photos were taken) he stopped and in a good natured way told the audience that he and the band would pose air guitar style for some photos after which he asked that the phones go away for good.
The audience complied and when the photo session was over, the phones went away for good and a dance party broke out!
Young people are people too and when concerns are raised in a courteous way, they respond likewise. The show was great and the audience shared the experience as it was meant to be experienced.
Bravo, Mayer!
3
@Azul en Tejas - Concerns should never have had to be raised. Before every performance the ground rules (no phones) are announced. The young people in question are indeed people, but they are also rude people. They knew from the outset that what they were doing was not permitted. The performer dealt with this in a good natured way, but that does not erase the fact that the audience should have never taken out their phones in the first place.
2
I stopped going to the movies years ago to avoid a violent confrontation with people who disregard courtesy and good manners; talking on the phone, playing video games while in front of them, a movie plays, one that other patrons have paid to watch.
I don't want to think what I would do if, after paying a small fortune to a Broadway show, or any other show, some twit takes out a phone for whatever reason, and disrupts the spectacle.
Theaters and like venues are NOT people's living rooms. The sooner people understand that, the sooner they'll avoid a scene that will likely turn out bad for them.
12
While I would never do so in a setting like the theater, I have taken pictures and video during concerts. With all the strobe lights, big screens and such, I'm hard pressed to believe that it distracts an artist 50+ feet away.
As for why, I do it for the same reason you take pictures at special occasions, to have a concrete remembrance of something that is very special to me. Do you just want to "be in the moment" at your wedding or do you want pictures to remember it by?
That said, I video only one song (because it is true that you're not really seeing the show through that tiny screen), but I'm not bothered by people who do more. If they want to pay hundreds of dollars to have a lousy view of the show, why should I care? Also, in most venues, the stage is elevated above the floor seats. So their phone is no more in my way than they are. If I can deal with people singing off key in my ear, spilling their beer at my feet and, worst of all standing/dancing when everyone else is sitting, a 5" phone screen is the least of my worries.
I also admit watching other's videos online. There are vast swaths of the world that will never enjoy a visit from their favorite artists and plenty of them don't release DVDs. But for those grainy videos, you may never see a live performance. Is it theft? Maybe. But I submit that it keeps my love for the artist alive and results in me buying a lot more of their materials when they are available. I think they benefit in the end.
@Josie Recording a performance without permission is theft. Not "maybe" or "who's to say". Your ticket to a performance does not entitle you to record the performance.
1
Please don't turn everything into a "white privilege" issue.
This is so tiresome.
Artists concentrate on their performances and have a right not to be distracted, or to have their material recorded and used without permission. Certainly recording artists are not all happy with streaming services policies,and they have a right to complain.
Audience members have a right to sit in a space and not be distracted by the blazing white screen of a cell phone.
This is all simple polite behavior in public so that people can enjoy themselves.
11
There is such a thing as violation of copyright. If you are illegally recording any concert of any kind, you are violating someone's copyright. And if the concert is being recorded for CD or DVD or later broacast, there is an agreement between artist and recording company. That does not include the rude and greedy individuals who thinks the rules do not apply to them. Don't try the 'digital age' argument. An agreement is an agreement. When cell phones first emerged, managements in all kinds of concert halls posted requests for people to turn the things off during concerts and plays. And some churches even asked their parishoners to do the same. You wouldn't think they would have to ask, but some people are so self-important that they are certain they MUST answer the obnoxious little ring. TURN THEM OFF OR STAY HOME! Thank you for your co-operation.
3
I am 60 years old, and have been attending theater and concerts for decades. Audiences have not evolved for the better, and I have seen some appalling things.
At a matinee a few years back, a family in front of me enjoyed a picnic of fried chicken throughout the first act. To speak up about it would have been at one’s peril.
Another memorable theatergoer crinkled their way through a bag of sunflower seeds, leaving spewing shells all over the floor and well into the aisle.
That theaters sell candy is, I guess, understandable, though it seems to fly in the face of requests not to crinkle wrappers. I remember a woman in front of me at a show who shook her M&Ms out of the box one at a time.
And the racket that can be raised by repeatedly squeezing an empty water bottle is unbearable.
But the phones, of course, are the worst. Three women in front of me fixated on their phones virtually the entire performance. Why were they even there?
Along with an ignorance of basic etiquette, I find people unfamiliar with the practice of whispering, or simply unwilling to do it. Sometimes one needs to say something to one’s companion, of course, but do it under your breath.
And don’t get me started on people who drag children to shows that children could not possibly have any interest in. Why do these children always wind up behind me I wonder?
6
Many professional musicians have mentioned that looking into a crowd holding up cameras changes the way they play. They don’t experiment, play or riff and improvise as freely as they would if every minute of a tour or show, etc, is going to end up on YouTube. Audiences are actually doing themselves a disservice and boxing the performers and artists into a corner.
The thing that kills me is that people complain about ticket prices and then watch a concert, or whatever, through a small screen.
9
If live events produced and distributed their own video and audio recordings, perhaps there'd be less incentive for shakey bootleg videos.
Does anyone think such recordings would dent ticket sales for Hamilton, Turandot, or the Boss?
1
Will the artists be compensated? Because that is a major issue. It is not as easy as you think.
4
@LCW And do you understand that it's not just the performers who would require compensation? All of the orchestra musicians, as well as the composers, etc., would require a contract that was vetted by each of their unions and that would pay a certain rate and, depending on the artist, residuals after the fact. So it's not just "losing ticket sales" and "releasing a video." It's a very costly venture to do so in many cases.
5
I am with ALL performers who are offended by cell phone usage while they are on stage. It affects the performers & other audience goers who actually engage in appropriate behavior silence their phones & put them away. Even opening a phone in a darkened theater to check email is a disturbance to those nearby as the light is a distraction.
I am particularly with Lin-Manuel Miranda who was annoyed with Madonna for her cell phone usage while he was performing Hamilton, a show I have waited years to see. I finally did last month. Lucky me despite $200 plus to do so. It was fantastic. Lin-Manuel Miranda is a creative genius despite I didn't see him as Alexander Hamilton.
A woman & her son sat next to me front center orchestra. She was seeing the show for a second time but not with her grown adult husband as in the past. No, it was with her 6 year old son. You read that right! Six years old to a show that ran over 2 &1/2 hours and is filled with words, many words and more words in rapid succession.
I kept my mouth shut & put up with the child's fidgeting & eating & talking & as if sitting on a sofa at home with his loud outbursts e.g. "Oh, that's over the top" to King George's arrival on stage.
I kept my mouth shut until Act 2 when his fidgeting became kicking his left foot into the right side of my body.
And the mother didn't seem to think there was anything wrong with this scenario. It was all about him and her.
When at a performance, you are NOT home alone.
12
The rules of etiquette that I was raised on no-longer apply. Beside the phones in the theatre I was stunned at the phones being used by the casket.
3
The article raises an important contemporary challenge for the performing arts, but it misses a critical issue: how brightly-lit screens are disruptive to other audience members sitting nearby. It's extremely hard to focus on the performer/event when you have a brightly-lit screen right in front of you! Yes, it may be rude, even illegal, to be taking pictures or filming the performer, but it's disrespectful of others around you. Attending live performances is a "group" experience, and we should be respectful of that.
10
Isn't "giving in" and just accepting an egregious problem how we really got to where are right now?
Just saying the word "No" should not default a reaction to evoke elitism, racism or class-ism.
8
Where have we gone. I could remember when concert goers listened with reverence and silence except the coughs between movements.
At times the great Sir Thomas Beechman would put down his baton cross his arms and turned towards the soloist during a cadenza listening like the audience in awe.
5
I sympathize with the performers who are distracted. As someone who goes to a lot of live rock/Americana shows, even I can get distracted by the dozens or hundreds of people watching the show through their phone. I appreciate artists who suggest being in the moment and putting the phones away. I don't mind the occasional artist like Jack White or my local comedy club who seal phones up for the duration of the performance, but I'm old, and it puts young people into withdrawal to not have their phones. Jack White shamed one who complained on Instagram, but I don't think that's the right response.
The venues and shows I go to generally have policies that allow cell phone photography and video, but not photography with good cameras. If they don't, I don't take pictures. But generally, I want a few photographs to remember the evening, and then to put my phone away and enjoy the show. I'm glad to read seemingly happy old hippie John Sebastian pausing a rambling story to ream me out for - like much of the audience, taking a few pictures of him, because he was distracted, and calling me "Mr. iPhone" was a lot less nasty than some performers, though I won't be listening to his music again. There's a better understanding of etiquette in classical music and dance. But all that's needed anywhere are norms and rules. It's easy to enforce sealing up phones and seems easy for most performers to just get over their use. Just decide, artists/venues. Don't act out.
Certain lame academic fantasies are reported in the responses given in the article. Such as this: "“It’s turned into a battle over who belongs, and who gets to set the rules," and “Everyone goes into the theater thinking their own personal vision of what theater should be like is clearly the right one,” followed by ".. in Shakespeare’s time patrons were famously rowdy."
To take the last point first, Shakespearean rowdiness was not illegal recording, or the sound of pop-up videos, or phones ringing. It was idle chatter in the standing-room area, and it was both expected and tolerated. Which brings us to the first assertion in the article, about "this is all about personal ideas of theater." The convention at the Globe was to play over the chatter. That's the opposite to a "personal idea," it's a public artistic convention. Some academics are less literate in the substance of this problems than they think they are.
6
@Tara Sorry for mis-typing the word 'problem'. I also wanted to add one distinction, on the problem of cat-calls. Back to Shakespeare's plays. They're considered "late medieval" in their staging, and were only moved into 'amphitheaters' late in Shakespeare's career. So Shakespeare's work was based on the interactive theater of medieval times; Miracle plays performed as mountings in squares or country fairs. In the latter, there was boisterous interaction between the player and the spectator. As I've said, it was all 'conventional'.
2
@Tara And I'm also willing to bet that the theatregoers in Shakespeare's time weren't paying $400 or $500 a ticket for good seats either.
3
One of the big questions here is about how times have changed, and how people view live performances. The Dead understood that, that performances are unique things, and allowed bootlegs in 'taping sections'..and it didn't hurt them one bit, their concerts sold out, their albums did well despite being a non album band. That wouldn't work with more modest venues, but maybe the concert halls and artists and the stage hands and unions have to wake up and realize that people's expectations have changed. Perhaps as part of the ticket price (which in case anyone hasn't noticed, have gone through the roof, literally) people could download a video recording of the concert, to have as a memory. The typical argument against this is it isn't fair to the artists, the stagehands, etc, etc with their hands out, but that world has passed, that killer "live album" or DVD video is a thing of the past. Broadway is really horrible, how many performances by legendary casts are not available, why not have a recording of the original cast made available once the run is done? I disupute that having a recording would hurt road companies and regional theater doing it, people still go to live performances and will continue to. It isn't competition, it is opening up a new market...but alas, the management and artists and agents live in the past. This is especially true in classical music and I have direct exposure to that with my son, they still think this is the 1920's and 30's.
Why would anyone pay to see a live performance and then spend the time on their phone? Not much different than people strolling through an art exhibition taking a picture of every picture on the wall and never looking with their eye at what's on the wall. I guess to prove that they were there.
9
At a Bob Dylan concert I attended last year, an announcement was made before the show. Anyone caught recording or photographing the concert would be immediately escorted to the exit and removed from the building. I didn't see one cell phone light all night. Delightful.
20
If being polite and respectful is equated with being elite, then I’m proud to be an elitist.
35
A play is one thing, but a concert? Those are noisy affairs, with mobs of fans. A cell phone is not a problem.
Depends on the concert. Rock, maybe. Classical, with pauses, rests, movements, solos, etc.? All it takes is the unfortunate timing of an incoming call to ruin a performance for the musician as well as for the patrons. Same with theater, with voice inflections, pauses, etc.
All these excuses to avoid the easiest, most basic, and most polite solution: Put. The. Phones. Away. They don’t need to be an obtrusive annoyance everywhere.
I’d really hate to see ushers being a conspicuous presence in the aisles, but that may well be where we’re headed because of the blatant selfishness of some of us.
7
A mob? At a classical concert? Hardly.
If the behavior or audience members distracts a performer from doing his/her best, then that behavior does a disservice to the act they have paid to see and, of course, to the rest of the audience. The performers should set the standards that allow the to do their best work.
8
Things have gotten way out of hand. At an oldies concert in a theater in Worcester, the woman next to me put her phone on speaker and live streamed it for whomever was on the other end. She provided a running commentary, with such trenchant comments as "Oh look, they are wearing blue tuxedos!" When I asked her to turn off the phone or at minimum stop conversing, she angrily refused. What is a patron to do? I told an usher (elderly volunteer) about it at the intermission, but she did nothing. Next time, I'll ask for a refund. Perhaps that will get management's attention.
23
@Nancy Menzel, next time this happens demand to speak with the house manager. The house manager is a front-of-house position for almost all live performances -- theater, concerts, dance, etc. The house manager is responsible for ensuring that everything in front of the curtain remains conducive to the performance, and that includes unruly, disruptive and rude audience members. Ushers are rarely empowered to deal with these problems.
3
Patrons seated near me in a dark Broadway theater or at the cinema often take out their phones to see what time it is, for heaven's sake! The resulting bright flash in my peripheral vision jars my experience and is insulting and thoughtless to everyone nearby. Since some people habitually check the time by looking at a bright phone, a ban is unfortunately the best way to ensure this does not happen.
13
Debate? What debate? There is no debate.
Just because some people do the indefensible and then defend it, or have their apologists, that does not create a debate, which by its nature suggests that there is something to be said for both sides, as if the matter is to be put before a body that will settle the matter.
In this case the matter is already settled. There is nothing to be said for the one side. Nothing. So there is no debate.
13
Filming a performance is theft and it is distracting to the performers. Period. There is no excuse for filming or for taking still pictures during a performance. Texting, even quietly and un -noticeably, is rude whether you're Rhianna or anyone else - although not illegal or distracting, While social norms are changing, there is no reason for people to be texting during a live performance- wait for intermission. It's rude and possibly distracting to the performers who are working hard to provide the entire audience with a quality performance.
7
Texting is not unnoticeable.
5
Respect. The new American ethos not only allows but rewards people for showing lack of respect for others...for art..for music...for anything. I was first jarred into that awareness years ago while attending a high school production during which ear-splitting screams by the teen audience were actually encouraged during any moment when a cast member (not the focal actor) did any movement that took the attention away from the principal performer. The audience, who had likely paid good money to 'enjoy' a performance didn't have a chance. That practice has become the norm.
Now the ubiquitous use of devices has all but destroyed any semblance of peace and enjoyment once a critical part of the 'theater experience'. It has permeated the entire culture and added to the vulgarization of American life in general.
No monitors of grace and good manners. The poor ushers at the beautiful and elegant Disney Concert Hall in L.A. have all they can do to see that audience members are keeping their phones quiet and tucked away during performances. Just being in a balcony seat and looking down and seeing a sea of lighted phones is appalling and an insult to the artists.
All, just another lowering of the bar for civility. I see no improvement for that dilemma. Hi-tech has brought with it a down side that I fear far outweighs any up-side to our lives.Respect.
7
I was just at a show (all of 90 minutes long) on Saturday where a middle aged woman had her cellphone out midway through the show with the screen lit up and distracting me and others around her. People don't even realize that anything that lights up is disrupting to other people around you. If you can't live without a cellphone for up to 90 minutes don't go to a show or movie etc.
8
The whole point of a live performance is to experience the performer performing. The audience is not there to document anything. The audience is there to experience. There's word for it-catharsis. That's the point. For someone to pull a phone out to record is distracting and therefore obnoxious, and it's antithetical to the whole reason for being there. If this is elitist, so be it.
7
I think there are two issues being conflated here. One is changing norms, such as whether or not it is rude to be on your phone in the theater. It was once rude. I still think it is. But it may not be in years to come.
That is a different issue from filming an artist's work without their permission. That is the theft of intellectual property, and it's also an unethical invasion that there is no reason for them to expect. It's plain wrong, and is a matter of ethics, not norms.
4
Not using your cell phone at a paid performance should be extended to children's school performances. I'm old enough to remember parents using cumbersome video cameras; lined up along the sides of the audiences to record their children. Back then, no one would think of raising those monstrosities in the middle of an audience, obstructing views. Just because an iPad or cell phone is smaller, doesn't make it any less obstructive.
4
@Molly Bloom the smaller size actually does make it less obstructive, by definition.
To go to a play or a concert and not give your undivided attention to the performers is rude, boorish, and disrespectful. Why go? Why go to the expense of a ticket if you can’t stop fiddling with your electronic toys for a couple of hours, or wait until intermission?
To me this shows just how much our basic civility and attention spans have collapsed since the advent of all this terrific gadgetry, and there is really no excuse for it.
There is no experience quite like seeing live theater or hearing live music. It is a shame that some perfer to look into their smartphone screens, or use them to interfere with everyone else’s enjoyment of the show, not to mention the artists’ craft.
Bravo to those who call out such behavior.
7
I would really appreciate phone-free days (or hours) at museums. I cannot begin to say how many times I have tried to view a piece of art, just to have a line of people waiting to take their picture WITH the art. I have actually asked people to wait a minute before taking their selfie.
9
If somebody falls asleep and misses out on an artistic performance, that doesn't really affect others.
If that individual starts snoring, disrupting the experience for other attendees, that crosses a line.
Holding up that phone and videoing is as bad as snoring.
6
One of my most enjoyable show experiences was when a jazz band took the melody of an audience member’s ringtone and started riffing on it.
9
Bravo!
1
What about stealing the New York Times? Should I find a way to hack past your paywall? Are we allowed to do that? Perhaps I should cancel my subscription and read the paper on the sidewalk in front of them homes of my neighbors who get it delivered. That way I can ruin their experience while satisfying my own needs.
5
"Turn. It. Off!" ~Book of Mormon
2
Disrupting others' enjoyment of a performance can take many forms: noisy wrappers, talking, putting your arm around someone and putting your heads together, and of course, cell phone use. It all falls under one umbrella, however: complete disregard for those around you. This comes from not being taught this as a child. Thinking about how your behavior affects others is a learned skill, like not chewing with your mouth open.
678
@Sue V I've never heard anyone complain about putting heads together or arm around someone. How is that disruptive?
9
When two people are conjoined in the seats in front of you at the theatre, your line of sight to the stage or screen is often impeded. If the couple move a lot— head resting on another’s shoulder for 10 seconds, then up again, then back again, this becomes its own show—-a big distraction to the person in the row behind. Hold one another’s hands. Squeeze them, but please sit as still as possible and concentrate on the performance. It’s a social contract to allow all in the theatre their best experience which usually means, sit quietly and enjoy. Applaud and discuss with your seat mates when the show is over.
93
@Frank Grassi - The placement of seats is often staggered so that the sight lines run in between the seats. A couple putting their heads together in front of you blocks that sight line. You are lucky that this has never happened to you. If you do it yourself, please stop.
106
It's absurd for people to frame rules against using cellphones during performances as young mold-breakers v. old fogies.
Whatever age you are, and whatever your cultural norms might be, depriving those around you of a distraction-free environment to watch the performance they've paid money and traveled to see, is gross misbehavior that is rightly condemned.
if you're sitting anywhere within any of my sight-lines of the performers, using your cell phone will distract me and wreck my enjoyment. I insist you don't do that - and if you object you're abandoning timeless rules of respect for others, not striking out into some brave new frontier of personal freedom.
9
Ive been to several performances of different types (music, comedy) in the past year where patrons had to put their phones in signal blocking bags. It was fantastic and imho should be the standard. Common courtesy is obviously no longer common so we'll have to force it. On the same topic, when your at a concert *any concert* please be quiet!
5
Public shaming and ejection of the offenders can go a long way in minimizing the rudeness. Stricter enforcement is needed for serious productions where a no-camera order is given.
As for Lily Janiak's argument, it is absurd.
13
Pushback from those who call etiquette elitist are missing the point. It's about respect for the artists. As Ms. Mutter describes, it's distracting and can take a performer out of the moment. I'm surprised more performers aren't grabbing phones from clueless audience members.
8
"... to attract younger and more diverse audiences, and some suggest that an emphasis on behavioral restrictions is a form of off-putting elitism."
What rubbish.
Good manners do NOT go out of style. Why are you giving these young folks a pass on good manners for the opportunity to engage them?
"Behavioural restrictions?"
You mean, permission to behave badly?
Throw the bums out.
18
I don’t go to a live performance to watch the small phone screen filming it held up in my line of sight. As you know it’s difficult to tear your eyes away from a screen, and a constant battle to watch the live performance. I shouldn’t have to do that battle when I’m paying for a live performance. It’s unfair to performers and audience. People can follow rules, it won’t kill them.
11
I find it amazing that anyone would think younger concertgoers will stay away if they’re not allowed to use cellphones during a performance. Who decided that boorish behavior among young people is suddenly acceptable? If they choose to disrupt a concert with such rudeness, they should be ejected immediately. Bravo to those artists who try to maintain some dignity and decorum in this unruly era.
13
People using phones in performances is rude to other audience members and to the performers, and I agree that no matter the venue it distracts the audience member doing it. I kind of like where they tell people to take pictures during the curtain call or the like, to have a momento (sorry, but the argument that taking pictures is a security threat is just plain laughable; more likely the venue wants to sell pictures to make money, which is ridiculous in of itself, for a lot of reasons). I agree this is basic manners, not elitism. I will add that one of the ironies of this situation is that those who most strongly talk about the rudeness, how the new generations are spoiled, etc, are guilty of far worse. Go to a classical concert and you often hear candy wrappers being unwrapped, or older members of the audience talking loudly, saying "what, what?" when someone else whispers to them (in of itself rude), or (I am not kidding, at a violin concerto being performed at Carnegie Hall, someone loudly saying in quiet moment "this guy is not Heifetz!"). In a form where people are concerned about the next generation, people with kids walk in and you can see laser gazes from other audience members, just waiting for the kid to do something wrong, and loudly proclaiming at the end of the performance "those kids ruined the performance for me"....and i am sure they were just little angels when they were small *snort*).
1
Elitism? White privilege? No. It’s simply respect for the performers and the rest of the audience.
10
The price of the ticket entitles you to attend the performance, not record it.
Given the price of tickets, I don't want my evening ruined, by the annoying "entitled" rude person using a phone sitting near me.
9
Wanting people to keep their phones away while at the theatre is a manifestation of white privilege? How absurd. Some people just don’t like to be blinded by the blue-light screen next to them while they’re watching a show from a dimly lit seat.
5
Texting during performances and meetings is the new smoking - it only takes one to affect all.
3
What a pathetic society we have become. No longer do group rules matter (and I consider myself a "rule-breaker" but never when it's rude to other people,at a private event, etc.).
What matters is appeasing every individual's "feelings" so they do not get them hurt.
And the comment about it being about "white privilege?" I am rarely at a loss for words but....
4
If making rules about not annoying the performer is snobbery, then I'm a snob. Been one my whole life I suppose because talking, rattling snack bags, and noisy children infuriate me when watching any performance.
3
Hire a company to provide a lock up pouch for all phones. If patrons want to use their phones then they must go to the lobby to get them unlocked. I've been to several performances that used this.
3
And what about the poor person that has to sit next to the person on their cell phone--whether its Rihanna texting, or someone filming. Its distracting and really diminishes the experience of the viewer. Its basically saying my right to use my device in any way I see fit trumps your right to enjoy the show in relative peace and quiet. Oh whoops, I accidentally spilled my drink on your phone! SO sorry!
7
The last Cirque du Soleil show I attended was ruined for me by the woman who held her cell phone in my line of vision for virtually the entire performance. The next time I’ll be saying something.
I am a Millennial. Turn off your phone. If you can't go a few hours without using it, seek help.
9
OK, so you want to document your experience, share it on social media, and maybe brag about it a bit. All very normal.
But is that all you want? It's so puny. It's so small and forgettable.
Is that all you know how to do? Has no-one taught you how to access and enjoy something that transcends yourself?
Talk about the tyranny of low expectations!
That's true oppression.
4
[[“It’s turned into a battle over who belongs, and who gets to set the rules,” said Kirsty Sedgman.]]
The owner of the venue, or the person leasing it for the night, gets to set the rules. That is not new.
Museums forbid flash photography. You can't bring alcohol into a baseball stadium.
Years ago, I was at a performance in a small venue and I noticed a guy had set up a recording device in a bag at his feet with a directional mic pointed at the stage.
On the one hand, you could say, "What's the harm? He's a fan preserving the music." On the other hand, you could say, "He's a thief infringing on the artist's right to present the music the way he sees fit."
In the modern context, if it says anywhere on your ticket or in the user agreement you accept when you buy an electronic ticket or anywhere in the venue that photos and videos are not permitted then that's the end of the discussion.
Grow up.
2
Can they give Joshua Henry a Tony for the most graceful containment of idiotic audience misbehavior? And all without literally missing a note. THAT is star quality.
4
Last night I went to see Sankai Juku a fringe dance troupe out of Japan. On both sides of me 2 students began to text. I had to ask them both to stop. One complied the other needed a little more persuasion. Both young people never focused on what was happening in front of them. It was like they needed their crack. We are facing a generation of neanderthals when culture takes a back seat to a phone.
3
While we're talking about phone use, can we also talk about eating and loud crinkling wrappers during a play? Why do people have to eat at all times, wherever they go? What's so hard about waiting for intermission?
4
Most of us have a reasonable sense of decency, of what is reasonable behavior in settings like a theater, and a wish to not impinge on other's rights to enjoy a shared experience.
Then there are those who are rude, entitled and believe only their whims and desires matter, you're well being means nothing.
Hopefully banning cell phones and any other arrogant forms of disruption will survive and be the norm. Those who believe no norms apply to them can stay home.
371
@dre And, who - exactly - are "most of us". Beware of thinking you know the answer to that question.
A heated debate? It's hard for me to believe that there are people out there who have no problem recording or texting or answering a call while watching a perfomance. Those actors and dancers and singers and musicians WORK HARD to give us beautiful, talented hours of entertainment. There is no excuse, NONE, to have a device in any mode but off. If you are a physician on call, you really shouldn't be there, but put it on vibrate.
It's just like the movies now. I don't go to them in theatres anymore. Talking, beeping, ringing, buzzing. I'll wait til i can stream it in my home, thank you. But you can't do that at a play or concert. Bravo to any talented artist who confronts the inconsiderate, and frankly selfish and ignorant perpetrator.
2
As an actor in mostly intimate off Broadway theaters, I could see deep into the house. A person who had fallen asleep was distracting, embarrassing and disappointing.
A person texting was just plain awful, because unlike the person who had fallen asleep, this person on the phone was intentionally removing themselves from the space.
When a person walks into the theater, a compact is made: for the next 90-120 minutes, we’ll share the same air and be fully invested in what is happening at every moment, with as few barriers as possible.
That fourth wall is not a border, it’s a bridge. Put down your phones and be there.
632
@NYLAkid I completely agree with you. As a teacher in a small college with class rooms that hold about 30 students, I truly understand what you are saying. I do my best teaching (or "performing") when I can feel the energy of an engaged class. If I see someone sleeping or on a phone while I am teaching, I have to avoid looking at that part of the room in order to keep my energy up, in order to keep my teaching enthusiastic and engaging. I wish more people understood how much better the lecture, or lesson, or performance is when they are meeting the presenter with their full attention. It is, as you said, a bridge between presenter and audience. That engaged, positive energy generated from the class or audience literally leads to a better experience for all involved.
37
@NYLAkid
"this person on the phone was intentionally removing themselves from the space."
Agree, and This person is also ruining the experience for everyone seated near them, intentionally or not. Everyone who paid to see the show, not this person's phone.
43
@NYLAkid
I feel this so much. I'm a tour guide and the same applies to sleeping people (although tourists often overplan and exhaust themselves far beyond what they should) as well as texters. Both very much kill the mood. With texters, though, I find that this behavior is contagious. If one person pulls out their phone and texts, they give everyone else permission to do the same. I'll often see groups where no one checks their phones (and we have a blast) and where nearly every person keeps hanging back from our group while they refresh, text, etc. It so diminishes the experience.
24
Not just about courtesy to others, also about "courtesy" towards oneself: Don't you want to experience something deeply, maybe absorb a new slant on an old subject. Let go your preconceptions, daily concerns and self promotions so you can maybe take in something new, maybe even towards the point of transformation, towards understanding an otherness.
This kind of empathy would seem to require listening. Which is perhaps why the obsession of people with their phones is so enraging. Not only have they robbed my experience of the ostensible event, they have also severed my engagement with them as audience members, humans, as together we might have formed a kind of ruminating collective unconscious.
5
I've noticed on telecasts of New Year's Eve concerts in Europe, audience members with their screens lit up. It seems to be worldwide now.
(But anyone old like me can also remember school plays, graduations, confirmations, etc. where there were always parents in the aisles with their big noisy cameras. Rudeness, selfishness, stupidity, etc. are not new.)
@Pecan
You are comparing apples to oranges. A ceremony held for your child is not the same as an artist performance which is suppose to transcend you to another emotional state.
2
As a New Yorker struggling to survive on SSDI, when I pay an exorbitant amount to see a performance, I don't want to see the light of a cell phone or a watch or even hear color commentary. I just want to see the actors, musicians and dancers. It isn't old norms or elitism. It's just good manners for patrons and the performers. All theatres should use Yondr.
2
I used to frequent a local theater where they they booked many top tier entertainers. Gradually over the years more and more people in the audience started filming the performance. Holding their phones high over their heads makes it impossible to ignore them. Its impossible to enjoy the concert with all these jerks feeling it necessary to record rather than enjoy the concert in the moment. This venue used to make an announcement prior to the performance for people to turn off their phones but stopped. When I called management about the issue I was told that the performers like the free publicity. Apparently they think these people will show the video to people who will then want to go as well. Seems ridiculous to me. I used to attend4-5 concerts a year but now have eliminated that venue from my activity list. I could not enjoy the concerts and only felt annoyed instead of having an enjoyable evening.
4
I applauded Art Garfunkel stopping a show to chastise a women waving a cell phone in a darkened theatre. It's distracting to the performers, AND distracting to the audience!
6
I was seated next to a woman who was texting during the play. It was so distracting, theater seats are so so snug there is no avoidance, my glares didn’t work. When I have the chance to see a performance, I think I have the right to be enthralled, not angry at the self-centered behavior of those around me.
5
Texting while driving is illegal because IT’S A DISTRACTION! How is it possible to appreciate and participate in the sublime with a cell phone between you and the performance. Not possible people! There is nothing Better than LEAVING MY CELL
PHONE IN THE CAR when I go to a movie or a show or a yoga class, or a walk in the woods....
2
That anyone would suggest that good manners and proper behavior are relics of a bygone era is the stuff of nonsense, as is any suggestion that young people must be accommodated lest they find behavioral restrictions off-putting. Let them stay away if so, please. Etiquette is ageless; there is nothing elitist about it. It is how we navigate the world. Disregard it in your personal or professional life at your peril.
630
@NH
Etiquette is ageless, for everyone; its not always the young ones who ignore it.
18
@NH Surely you understand the lengths that theatre etiquette has changed over the last 400 years, yes? Ageless it is not!
1
@NH Etiquette, well mannered, consideration to others, and showing the intelligence is regarded or even discriminated as an off-putting elite thing these days.
Trying to be better a bad thing? What have parents been teaching to the kids?
12
I paid $280 for my husband and I to see Neil Young. I had waited 40 years to see him. I didn’t pay to watch it through the medium of the woman’s phone as she sat in front of me filming the whole thing. I asked her politely to please put it away. The result was a mouthful of abuse from her and her partner. She was eventually shamed into it by others around us.
I really don’t see the point of it. Badly shot, too far away, poor sound and so on. Wait for a DVD or download and just revel in the live experience. Oh, and don’t be so selfish.
783
@Lizzie and then they post the miserably bad video on Facebook . . . "See?? I was THERE!!" Ugh.
58
Yep. And no one in social media cares about the video or is going to watch it. They might as well just post that they’re at the show and put the phone away.
31
t@Lizzie You are so right. Selfish interferences with others enjoyment, and simply to prove that they were there.
It's a version of the folks who go to see famous artworks and take their own pictures, blocking anyone from actually seeing the art.
I had a similar experience trying to watch one of the shows on the Lady Gaga/Tony Bennett tour. In that case, add to the phones the annoyance of having the couple with them loud and drunk to boot. It was an enormous disappointment at a high price. The worst experience ever at a concert.
It wasn't in NYC. I like to think that in NY they would have been dragged out,with the audience cheering.
I don't buy that this has to do with ages and different generational expectations. It has to do with the toleration of an extremely self centered, antisocial relationship to the world. ( we could blame Trump, or just understand that he is a kind of avatar for the selfish).
35
I appreciate the "archaic" rules - I really get tired of people obsessing over their phones, filming, or texting their friends during any kind of performance, it detracts from everyone's experience. Occasionally glancing at your phone, writing notes, etc, seems acceptable; but filming and the light from the phone screen are huge distractions. Learn some manners, people.
3
I was recently in the audience of an off-Broadway show where the couple in front of me brought their child, I'm guessing around 6-7 years old, and actually gave her a cell phone to play with when she got bored!
From an audience perspective, I don't care if people are taping the performance. but it is intolerable if they hold their phones up in my line of sight or have the screens lit up. That's as much a problem in a movie as in a live performance.
From a performer's perspective, the intellectual property concerns seem spurious. Fans will watch the video on YouTube, but what true fan is going to skip a concert or fall to buy the commercial recording in favor of a shaky, low quality bootleg?
As to the performer being distracted, if they can tune out coughing, nose blowing, etc., why is a silent recording device a big deal (as long as it's not being brandished at the performer or lit up)?
2
@JB
A cough is not a recording that can be played back on You Tube and possibly edited and manipulated.
Using a cell phone during a performance is a distraction and irritant to nearby audience members, to say nothing of the performers. People do it just to broadcast "look where I am!." If you need to prove that you attended an event, post a photo of your ticket.
8
The younger generation learns from their parents, so for all of those complaining about the use of mobile phones or tablets at theatres, look at how you're training your own kids. I was at a theatre in London in 2017 and someone used their phone to snap a photo of the set prior to the show - the usher was upon them immediately and insisted on the photos being deleted due to copyright rules.
My kids are now in their early 20s and they understand that it is inappropriate to use their phones at theatres - as musicians and performers, they also realize how distracting it is to be on stage and have audience members using their phones.
People need to learn how to live in the moment and experience live events as a shared experience rather than something they record to revisit later - it's not the same.
5
My wife and I were having breakfast the other morning in a European downtown restaurant when I turned to see two young diners recording the actions of our entire row of patrons on a cellphone set atop a small tripod. I complained to the server and she shut down the operation immediately. We need to combat such boorish behavior aggressively and I commend the artists who struggle to preserve some sense of dignity and decorum.
20
This shouldn't be a conversation about elitism or "millennials" or whatever. The rules of the theater are that there is to be no filming. Those are the rules. You stop at stop signs, you keep your phone off at performances, same thing.
15
Those are rules set by aging Boomers used to the absence of phones in all aspects of life. Classical music, operas and traditional theatre are dying and WILL die out unless they learn to set aside their pride and adapt to new audiences.
1
@Sam
I doubt it. People who appreciate music will not agree with those who are addicted to smart phones.
9
@Sam Using cell phones during a performance is incredibly distracting to me (in the audience). Some "rules" whether they are set by "aging" Boomers (or by whoever) are necessary to have a civilized society that respects others. (I'm sure you'll next question what is "civilized" and who sets the definition.) These "rules" should not be automatically shot down just because they were not "set" by 20 somethings.
5
Concert halls and theaters are private property. Just because a person bought a ticket does not give them a right to take videos or sound recordings. That's well established privacy law, so it is more than just a matter of manners. The purchased ticket is a legal contract. Read the small print on it.
As for classical music concerts, those are usually not general admission. The people can be identified by their seat number. It would be simple to ban video takers from ever attending another concert at that venue, or assign them bad seats, slash their tires in the parking garage. The digital age works both ways. We know who you are. We know where you live. The artists can sue such people and that would make their concert going experience very expensive for them if they have to hire a lawyer and appear in court.
3
I went to hear my son play at a Carnegie Mellon University Pre-College program a few summers ago. The director of the program came out to welcome us, and gave the audience a 15 minute dissertation about phone use during performances. Basically, he said that when you buy a ticket to a performance, you have a contract with the people on stage. It is your responsibility to honor the hours and hours of work they put in to entertain you by not interrupting them, or by causing other audience members to become distracted by your phone use. I thought it was an excellent way to frame the conversation and it has stuck with me.
30
It's not about "outdated/archaic concert rituals". It's about showing respect to the performers and other audience members. As a student who has attended University classes I can't say how annoying and distracting it is to sit behind someone who decides their thousands of dollars is better spent on snapchat than listening to the lecture. A darkened theatre would be even worse - I'm there to experience a performance, not stare at the light on your phone. Save everyone around you the exasperation and enjoy the moment, instead of focusing on making a video/photo you'll never look at again.
20
I think people ought to be aware and respect the cultural choices they make.
I am 65, I don't go to "formal" theater and symphony events any more because I understand that everyone has to keep deadly quiet and not take pix. I go to hyper-local heavy metal and punk events in dive bars because you are EXPECTED to shout, be noisy, take pix, videos, yell... and I enjoy that experience way more.
I don't go to golf tournaments any more, I know you are expected to keep deadly quiet when the guy is hitting the little ball... so I go to giant slalom and downhill events when I can because you are EXPECTED to make noise, use cowbells and be rowdy as the person is hurtling downhill at 80 mph on skis.
Not saying one is superior to the other, what I think is that a person has to be aware of their cultural choices and not annoy everyone around him/her.
5
Hmmm: “people who wholly submit to and enforce outdated/archaic concert rituals that require insane amounts of cultural capital to begin with are going to be completely irrelevant in about 15 years’ time.”
I would say this:
1. Courtesy and respect for the artist and for others in the audience is not archaic, and if it becomes outdated, then every cultural event will simply fall apart...as will any notion of a civil society.
2. The "rules" do not require much "cultural capital" at all. The Golden Rule covers a lot of it...and to assume somehow that people of very modest means, as was my family, cannot gain that "cultural capital" is the true elitism. What an insult.
If we cannot show our respect for the mastery, artistry, and sheer, sweaty hard work of those who perform for us, and we cannot be courteous to and respectful of our fellow audience members, who are we?
We are not young, hip, cool, and modern, that's for sure.
We are just dreadfully selfish and rude.
23
I have attended NY Philharmonic concerts for years. I guess I'm part of that aging audience. Listening to this music is very special to me and I try to immerse myself in the experience. To have cell phones, not just going off, but filming, is disruptive and disrespectful not only to the artists but to the audience who are pulled out of the music by the very distracting bright screen that just lit up in my peripheral vision. So I don't think this is elitist or anachronistic to want others to put their phones away at least until intermission or after the performance.
7
As a person of color who has worked in the theater for forty years, I do not see this as a challenge to "white" norms of etiquette. The cultural angle is there though, in the obvious conflict between what forms the values and codes that shape our interactions during certain kinds of live performance, vs. the values and codes that shape them in other situations. Those referred to (derogatorily) as groundlings during Shakespeare's times were just as raucous during a play as they were during a public execution. Times have evolved in both areas of public spectacle, but nobody is arguing for the return of public hangings because they would make a great opportunity for a selfie or a viral video. Educating people about when is appropriate to take out your phone to snap, text, or record and when it is not, and why, is clearly needed and should be a focus moving forward, as some are already doing. A conversation about how to relate to performers in a live environment and in the company of a larger audience, when you have only seen them before on a flat screen and in the privacy of home, wouldn't hurt. Assuming that those who do it are not fully aware of the impact of their actions on performers and patrons is right, and that they are, but don't care, is wrong.
6
Be in the moment and enjoy it. When someone is recording a show, she's not actually experiencing it. And it is disrespectful to the performers and other audience members.
14
@Helen Wheels
Exactly right. That is the essence of performing arts and that is why listening to violin being played is a challenging activity. The person in question sounded to me a tourist type from non-English speaking place as her poor English was reported.
1
@Rather not being here
I dunno about being a "tourist type"; more than likely she was a product of our US education.
3
If younger people are behaving badly, then they need to have their bad behavior pointed out to them. Just because they are young is no excuse for tolerating them. Why can't playbills carry notices to the effect that if somebody uses a smart phone during a performance, it will be confiscated? For thousands of years, people have watched performances without interruption, and nobody has suffered for it!
5
It sounds like the article (and many commenters) believe that it's the younger generations using their phones inappropriately ("if we want to attract younger generations to this kind of art, maybe we have to change the norms and let them use their phones," type of stuff.) To the contrary, I find that people of all ages (maybe even especially baby boomers) can be boorish and clueless with their phones. And people of all ages know how to be respectful, and desire the break from technology. I find the ubiquitous insistence on generational differences to be very tedious.
6
Sorry, but I pay a lot of money to see a performance. I am paying to see the artist and/or their work. If the artist or myself is distracted by another audience member recording or texting, they are stealing from both of us, as I am not getting my money's worth and it is illegal to record an artist.
29
Robert Fripp of King Crimson has had a zero-tolerance policy regarding using cel phones at his concerts ever since they were a thing. He's relented slightly lately, telling audiences (in a pre-show recorded announcement) to hold off taking pictures until the show is over and they see bassist Tony Levin pull out his camera to photograph the audience. In the same pre-show announcement he beseeches the audience to "use your ears for the audio and your eyes for the viddie."
6
Other issues aside, the light from cell phones or tablets distracts not only people around the user, but in many theaters all the way to the back row.
The other thing about cell phone use is that it’s selfish, Me Generation behavior, counterposed to seeing oneself as thinking about the compromises often necessary to share the world with those around them.
22
It boggles the mind that there was even a hint of of an argument in favor of the boors who use smart phones (or even leave them turned on) at live theatre events (and don't get me started about movie theatres). I've given up on movies at theatre. Who needs the aggravation?
21
The other day I flew from NYC to Pittsburgh during a late evening flight. After a long week and a long day I was tired and looking forward to shutting my eyes for the short flight. But then, amazingly, the man sitting behind me pulled out his phone and started watching TV shows without headphones...for the entire flight.
While this clearly was not the theater, I'm not sure why this behavior is tolerated. The entitlement, rudeness, and general thickheadedness of so many people is mind boggling. Sounds travel, there are other people sitting around, and why must everyone be entertained with the little noisemakers in our pockets at all times?
23
@Daniel Savino I'm curious - why did YOU tolerate it? Did you ask him to stop? Did you call the flight attendant? Did you complain to the airline? Maybe you did and just didn't say so in your comment, but if not ... well, then, you're part of the problem. Until people stand up for basic manners and consideration, other people will continue to behave this way.
1
@Sara You have a good point but when in that position I need to weigh the pros and cons of confrontation. What if in mid flight the man becomes irate and combative? He is sitting directly behind me. Or I need to consider if I can just tolerate it for 58 minutes in the air. It's not really that long.
I do completely disagree that someone is my position is part of the problem. This isn't an example of an egregious crime, but your suggestion is victim blaming.
6
I don't actually care if another audience member isn't paying attention to a performance the same way I pay attention. Everyone has his or her own way of experiencing art. BUT nobody should damage my chosen way to experience a performance, and turning on little flashlights or speakers all over the theater is horribly distracting and changes the performance I'm trying to watch / listen to. If I can only afford a balcony seat, why should the privileged orchestra patrons be allowed to pollute the darkness Between me and the stage with their phone screens? If there's a way to use the phone without emitting either sound or light, then go for it-- I don't care. If not-- go watch TV and quit wasting my expensive ticket.
20
i feel sorry for people who feel they have to live through a 4" screen instead of living in the moment. phones are a distraction for performers and audiences alike.
may i also say perfume is an assault on other's senses sitting in close quarters. if you feel you must, wear only enough for your partner to smell when up close, very close, but preferably none at all.
16
@scootter1956
Living in the moment. Exactly.
As a society- we should not ignore or adapt to rudeness in order to appease the younger generations, or any generations for that matter. Rude is rude.
47
If you can’t give a few hours of your time to give complete attention to a gifted performer(s) you don’t belong in the theater. And as for claims that it’s elitist or excludes people, since when did requiring manners exclude anyone. It is simply rude not to give full attention to a performer, someone talking to you, a teacher, etc. I love my phone but I can put it down for the time it takes to enjoy an accomplished performance.
49
@Alison : My sentiments exactly. I'm now an old geezer myself, but ever since I've been attending concerts as a young person(meaning classical music, theatre, ballet) I've been enraged by people who couldn't understand that most of us did not pay good bucks to hear and watch them rather than the performance. I particularly remember two little old ladies, such as I am now, at a symphony concert 50 years ago who were quite put out that I objected to their conversation and crackling of candy wrappers. All generations have been guilty of this sort of behavior, but it is worse now that more people have become incredibly insensitive to others around them, including the artist on stage.
8
@Alison Chomping on candy and crackling papers is not to be encouraged in the theater but sometimes the momentary sound made from unwrapping a throat lozenge or cough drop is preferable to hearing prolonged bouts of coughing. The coughing is not often the result of being sick, in which case you should stay home, but of air conditioning, dry air, dusty air or perfume.
I sat next to a member of The Sound Squad at a subscription I had. This self appointed monitor was much more annoying and ridiculous than any candy wrapper.
1
I think most people (including actors) wouldn't mind if there was some way to do this inconspicuously in a theater environment, but the simple fact is that there isn't. Theaters are darkened during performances which means that the audience side of the cell phone typically shows a screen lit-up bright white within a black border. Having this bright blotch bobbing around is highly distracting to everyone sitting in the theater behind the person filming. It ruins enjoyment of the performance by disrupting one's eyes ability to focus well on the stage.
Further, people filming like this, or taking photos are often moving their heads and arms and hands as they adjust their cell phones. These movements are highly distracting, to both performers and audience.
Anyone who really insists on recording should affix inconspicuously to their clothing a miniature spy camera with a wired, on/off switch they can run down their sleeve to their hand folded in their lap. This way, at least if the recording is illegal, the person won't be disrupting everyone else in theater.
The most unfair thing, again, is the unfair, uncompensated "taking" of the experience of every sitting around the person filming, including that of the actors, who prefer to play to an audience experiencing their performance.
20
Manners are not acts of the powerful keeping the downtrodden in place. Manners are behaviors a civilized society expects from each of its members. Manners are a two-way street of civility.
Nobody is forcing you to have manners, but if you choose to break that social contract, don't be surprised when the usher asks you to leave or nobody wants to be with you.
63
Turn the cell phones off or lose them!
Cell phone use during a performance is right up there with people talking loudly during a performance, chewing gum, unwrapping the candies, putting their feet up on the seat in front of them, wrapping themselves around both arm rests--and I could go onl Such rude behavior is distracting to surrounding audience members and performers. Cheers to the artists for saying "no" . Good manners are not for "stuffy old folks" or "geeky young folks"--they are ageless.
29
@Mary Comfort It has become ridiculous; so many pictures I see of the presidential candidates at campaign events, for example, shows them standing in front of a sea of hands containing cell phones raised above their heads. Also, I noticed while watching recent MLB playoff games that a lot of spectators in the stands appear to be watching the games through the tiny screens of their phones - presumably while recording - instead of experiencing the action with their unfiltered eyes. I imagine peoples' need to post every moment of their lives on Facebook has a lot to do with this behavior.
7
Brava. If the artists indicate their boundaries (we thank them profoundly for having to interrupt what they work so hard to do), then staff keep taking the offenders out, and the audience cat calls the offenders, then the message of people need to be civil may permeate more minds.
Good manners help hold society and civilization together, especially in the time of personal arrogance or ignorance.
2
We paid for our tickets. Digital devices are extensions of our selves. Artists should be proud we want to keep their art and memorialize it. And if we like them that much, we'd even buy their material. Yes yes it is their intellectual property, but we consume what they create, and digitizing their output is the new way of consumption.
1
@Pierre Dupin What you paid for is to experience a performance, not the permission to do whatever you want. Using your phone during a performance is distracting not only to the performers, but to those audience members around you who also paid for their ticket, and have a right to enjoy the performance undisturbed. Please show a modicum of respect for others.
25
@Pierre Dupin Manners are not outdated. Younger people who are attached to their devices every second are selfish in the max to believe this new lifestyle precludes manners and consideration in concerts unless performers offer moments to use them. There are many styles of concerts and there are many kinds of performances. Many performances are moments of relief and escape from daily life and have always been meant to be so. Cell phone use ruins this purpose. Admittedly, I would expect cell phone use in loud, hugely attended youthful music concerts. Absolutely not appropriate in all others.
12
@Pierre Dupin
Maybe you shouln't buy tickets for events where recording is disallowed, if it means leaving behind a too important extension of your consumer-self.
Maybe you should take the artists' word if they say something is distracting rather than flattering. Show them this level of respect, even if you think they should be immune to all distraction. Allow them to do their best for the rest of us.
10
I get distracted by people using cell phones during a concert for ..whatever. Then I lose the sense of beauty that can come from a performance.
18
One of the things that I find most annoying at rock concerts is having people in front of me with their phones for the whole show. Though it can be a nice effect and many artists now expects lights from phones in the air instead of lighters, it can break the intimacy of shows at smaller venues.
And with today's ticket prices, for the life of me, I don't know how someone can live an entire concert through their phone screen when it's right there in front of them.
That being said, I've enjoyed some amazing fan footage of shows I wish I had been at and now look back at when I was a kid, and how wild it was to get your hand on a bootleg VHS of some show you missed. I often find myself wondering if when camcorders got smaller, fans were allowed to tape shows, would that have grown a band's audience. Maybe not without youtube.
As recently as 2010 I remember not being allowed into a show at SXSW (Austin, TX) because I had a camcorder on me which hadn't been a problem at any other venue during the festival and I had used mainly for our band shows and those of our colleagues. Must have been an artist request.
But I'm torn also because we live in a different era, and people expect to record what they want.
As a performer myself, I'm sometimes dumbfounded when I'm playing and people start recording. It makes me nervous but it also makes me up my game. It does make me lose my concentration sometimes... and if I make a mistake ..well, there it is, hope they don't upload that. Hehe
2
Yes! That little grab speaks volumes, and my guess is that it will have an impact on cellphone etiquette. I live in Guanajuato, Mexico, where every October we have the Cervantino.
It is the largest international cultural festival in Latin America and our yearly opportunity to get a culture-fix without leaving the city. And yet, there are those who want to show their Facebook or Twitter friends every meal and every bit of entertainment they can afford, distracting the rest of us while making fools of themselves.
My hat's off to you, Mr. Henry!
14
I was recently on stage in a Thornton Wilder play when, during my monologue, a cell phone in the audience began to ring incessantly. The production was in a small black box theater.
The play is divided into three acts. Despite a pre-show request to turn off cellphones, patrons would check their emails and texts during the intermissions and forget to turn them off again. My concentration was thrown off the tracks. Nearly blew it.
I’m a cell phone lover, but I don’t buy the argument that actors don’t understand our youth. We do. We just request a modicum of respect devoid of distractions.
18
I was attending a play about 20 years ago, and a person in the front row decided to put his feet up on the stage as he watched. Without missing a beat, one of the actors said loudly as an offside between lines "Get your feet off my stage." There is a video of a Kiss concert on Youtube where someone holds a laser beam (the kind used for powerpoint presentations) on Peter Criss' forehead as he sings "Beth", much to the anger of the band. I would find it very disruptive if the person next to me had their phone screen lit as I was trying to watch a play or listen to a symphony (although less so at a rock concert). At first glance, these seem to me to be acts that disrespect the artist and the audience. However, I am over 50 and perhaps out of touch with what is acceptable to younger audiences. Since not everyone agrees, it seems the best approach is for the performer(s) to establish the rules of device use prior to any live performance and audience members should be expected to adhere to them. If I do not agree with those rules, I can leave, as can anyone else.
7
There is more to it than the rights of the artist. Most plays are copyrighted. Filming a performance is against the law. And when those videos show up on social media, the theater can be held responsible. You may think that Broadway producers can absorb the fines, but they can't - it affects their ability to produce the next show. Community theaters have it even worse. They operate on shoestring budgets and would struggle to pay the fine. The arts in general suffer when people selfishly film performances.
16
The concept of going to a venue to watch a concert, play, festival or other performance will eventually go the way of the buggy whip. All performances will be shown on cable or streamed on a pay per view basis. Why deal with overpriced parking, traffic jams, and problematic audiences when you can watch from the comfort of your own home? I watched the free (!!) live stream of the Newport Jazz Festival this summer and found it preferable to my past experiences of traveling To Rhode Island, securing a hotel and dealing with on-site logistics before the first note of music sounded.
@Lynn in DC
I disagree, the live experience is still very different, and people are going to go to the shows if they allow streaming or allow audiences to download videos of a performance (FYI, I suspect the Newport Jazz Festival made money on the free streams, either someone paid them to stream it, or as is common, the stream has advertising). Live performances when recorded is not the same as being there, the sound is not the same, and interaction with the performer in non existent on a recording..on the other hand, for people who can't attend a performance, for people who are curious but have never gone, having recordings can be a gateway to live performances. The problem right now is for artists and agents artists and the like they live in the past, where they think they are going to retain control and decide what gets out and what doesn't, and they see video recordings as a threat, rather than an opportunity. People blame the live streaming of Opera on decline in going to the opera, but from what I understand sales of live tickets are pretty much showing the trend they did before live performances; La Scala is still heavily attended, the NY Met Opera is pretty much getting the same ticket sales or show declines that were happening before video.
@Lynn in DC - doesn't sound like you're here, there, everywhere...sounds like you're sitting in your living room and likely to stay that way.
There is value in actually being at an event, rather than watching it on TV.
3
It's a live performance. The experience is meant to be a communion of sorts with an audience and the performers. When someone films it disturbs everyone. The performance is violated when the listening, and the attention is crushed. It's rude and unfair to steal attention from the performance as if you were the most important entity in attendance, by filming it. Everyone knows you're doing it. All the people around you and the performers on the stage. Lyrics are missed, words, plot points. And what will you do with the video? Post it? Just to show your friends how cool you are? I don't think it's elitist to say to attendees be considerate. Give some thought to the experience you are entering into before you decide to make yourself more important than the event itself.
35
What exactly is to be debated? Does anybody enjoy seeing somebody’s smartphone screen lit up during a movie, or at a play?
46
I'm a volunteer usher for my city's performing arts organization. Our policies on phone use vary according to the wishes of the performers and the policy is explained at the beginning of each show. A major issue not noted in this story is how phone use, especially in a darkened theater, affects other patrons. It is not merely disrespectful of the artists to film or text during their performance, but of other patrons seated near the phone user. The bright phone screen can destroy the magic of the performance-- magic that requires the audience to suspend their workaday reality-- and can also block other's views of the stage. Why can't we all submit to the unmediated pleasure of experiencing the show directly (especially after paying for the privilege) instead of through the artificial eyes of a device?
35
The only thing an artist owns is his or her skill at their art. When someone uses a phone to record a performance, they are, in effect, stealing the artist’s work.
In addition, they are distracting the rest of the audience from concentrating on the performance, essentially stealing from each member of the audience.
Our society has drifted into an era where nothing is scared, rules don't work - they are just ignored. Since these individuals have placed their desires above the rest of the audience, they deserve to be treated as special.
The photographing or recording of a performance is illegal, but justice needs to fit the crime. I would recommend that the law allows the seizure of device in question. Then be completely wiped of all information - including backups on phone carriers’ databases and, just to be sure, remove and destroy all sim and data cards.
That will erase the millennial smirk faster than a punch to the gut.
27
@William
Thanks William for this profound post. You really said it all.
1
Live productions, of any kind, should be personal recording device free.
Require ticket purchasers to understand that they cannot bring any recording device into the venue, and if they do it will be confiscated for the duration of the show.
How? Use airport boday scanners.
17
The other night I went to see some friends perform at the Guilford Arts festival weekend. They expressed in no uncertain terms that it was OK to record or film.
I have seen two shows recently, one at Bowery Ballroom and one at Williamsburg Music Hall, and in both cases they made a point of encouraging recording BUT don't mess up someone else's view.
Whether raucous or quiet, these are intimate moments for performers, a vulnerability if you will, and if they don't give you permission, either the performer or the venue, then the least that should happen is that you be ejected. They do worse to people who yell objectionable things at a Trump rally...would you label them as being elitist?
9
Two true stories.
It’s important to make certain that this brouhaha is seen as a courtesy and manners thing, not an us (younger) versus them (older) thing.
I’m 38, and I am utterly appalled at the rudeness I see from ticket-holders in theaters, both at cinemas and drama stages.
However, this is actually an age-old problem. Here’s how it was solved not that long ago.
True story #1: The only persons who actually needed to be contacted at a movie theater or a stage theater were doctors or high-ranking police officials (local, state, or federal).
These doctors (especially obstetricians) and policemen gave their seat location to the box office. They almost always sat in an aisle seat. The phone number of the venue was provided to the relevant hospital or police agency, and if they were needed, a theater employee quietly walked down the aisle and let the doctor or cop know they had a call.
True story #2: During a performance of the musical “Coco,” which opened on Broadway in 1969, star Katharine Hepburn stopped mid-scene because a woman snapped a photograph using a Kodak Instamatic flash camera. The flash angered Hepburn and disturbed the audience. She had the woman removed. Then the musical continued. Problem solved.
48
I agree. It's across the age spectrum.
13
If you can't abide by the house rules that have existed in the theater since the advent of mass-accessible technology, you don't belong there. If a heart surgeon or head of state can figure out how to delegate authority for the 90 minutes or so required for participation in the communal experience necessary for all to enjoy the singular magic, so can Madonna. Or any other fool. End of story.
23
It has nothing to do with privilege (white or otherwise) but everything to do with respect and politesse. Filming, photographing, recording or texting is intrusive and gets in the way of others' enjoyment and it's a major distraction for those on stage. It's just rude and it doesn't matter who does it--Rihanna, who likely enjoyed comp tickets or the average shmo in Row D. Put your phones away! Please! The show is not about you.
50
@Susan: The most blatant example of privilege is mentioned in the article: the playwright apparently being delighted that Rihanna sent him a text during his no-intermission play, when - most likely - "the average shmo in Row D" might have been ejected for whipping out a phone and doing the same.
5
@Olenska Agreed!
2
This isn't the comment I had anticipated making, but after reading the other comments I feel it needs to be said. This behavior cuts across generational, political and ethnic lines. Anyone who attends public performances knows that you can't generalize about who is doing it, because every sort of person is doing it. And it's got nothing to do with Trump. I loathe him as much as anyone, but blaming him for every thing in life that we don't like just diminishes the impact of the very real and serious issues surrounding him.
17
I think the people texting during shows are actually the elitist ones. Good for you that you spend hundreds of dollars on tickets and feel still so casual about it that you can text your friends over some of the most amazing talent in the country.
32
I'm an artist and photographer, not a performer, but have a related experience. I was involved in a music scene years ago and took a lot of photos; that scene ended up being well-known and influential. As a result I still occasionally make money granting reproduction rights for publication. I was part of a discussion at a major museum and during this talk my photos were projected behind us. Many of the photos used for this had never been published or seen publicly. The museum had a 'no photos' policy but didn't enforce it; during the discussion I saw people taking photos of the screen, including someone who spent the entire talk in back, carefully framing the screen on their phone -- effectively stealing my work. I'd very much like to know what that person planned to do with my photos.
17
I am very sympathetic to the distraction performers suffer when audience members use their phones for any purpose during a performance. It takes a lot of concentration to sing, play an instrument, dance, or act and the skills and talents of performers need to be respected.
But this "whatever works for me" attitude which underlies such boorish behavior also distracts for fellow audience members. There's something about other people's screens that is just so mesmerizing that I can't concentrate on the performance. Kudos to performers who call out audience members for detracting from the experience of both performers and the audience.
30
Bruce Springsteen has it right. Have it stated beforehand that the performers will remain on stage after the performance to allow photos. It’s a superb way of thanking the audience for their support, and leaves no excuse for using the phones during the performance.
16
If someone is recording a concert or performance, that is effectively robbing a service. I've paid money to attend a show; someone viewing it second-hand has not.
13
As a music journalist, I often tweet during concerts and may take a photo or two (video only occasionally) to keep my followers informed and also to help me keep a record of the show for a future review. But I am always as discreet as the occasion demands and if there is a prohibition against photos, I follow that absolutely.
3
@Jeremy Shatan and I am sure you first ask everyone in the seats around and behind you if they will mind the brief but repeated distractions you will be causing during the performance, correct?
3
@Jeremy Shatan I guarantee you are not as discreet as you think. It’s distracting to those around you when your screen lights up in a darkened theater.
3
The argument that patrons and performers are elitist for wanting to watch or perform a show without intrusion from others is laughable. The elitist is the patron who thinks his or her desires are more important than anyone else’s. Yes, in Shakespeare’s time the crowds were rowdy. The Elizabethans also drew and quartered as punishment, dipped offenders in boiling oil and staked heads on London’s gate. Returning to Olde England is hardly a good argument for preserving individual freedom.
55
I volunteer as a theater usher, at a venue where the lights stay on, the theater is small, and the acoustics are fabulous...no amplifiers needed, no mic. The issue of audience members taking photos and/or videos has been a growing question for some time now. My personal feeling on photos is that, while the space is beautiful and the show is fascinating, the distraction is extremely rude to other audience members. If I bought a ticket to a show it was NOT to watch you take photos! Our theater allows photos before and after the performance, since the venue is gorgeous and of course there's a publicity benefit to the theater if the pictures are then posted on social media.
The sad part about this? Why do we buy tickets? Do we go to enjoy the skill we're seeing or simply to brag about being someplace and create envy in our friends (ridiculous as that may seem)? What do audience members miss by focusing (!) on their camera and photos, while the magic of the performance, which should be adding to our own memory banks, is being stored in the cloud instead? Put away the camera. See and hear what you've paid to enjoy, in the company of the people who are sharing it with you.
26
Good manners to patrons and respect to performers aside, I've never understood why people record something instead of fully experiencing and remembering it. The really mystifying one is people that record on their phones at an event that is being professionally recorded for broadcast. It's as though these people do not really exist, and cannot fully live, so caught up are they in the superficial drives of their own egos and insecurities. I gave up on live events and movies years ago because of it.
18
Explicit in the purchase of a ticket is the agreement to abide by the rules of the venue. Nobody makes anyone go to an event so get over it and follow the rules or, go somewhere where you can make your own rules.
13
The Grateful Dead famously allowed (encouraged) audience recordings of their shows, and it turned out to be one of the greatest marketing strategies of all time.
3
@Kevin
Good for them. Where performers and/or the venue make distraction-free experience of the performance the priority, people should respect that code of conduct.
With phones going off, people in the aisles doing interpretive dancing, people around me singing along (without being invited to) or just having loud conversations with their friends, live venues have become something to be avoided. It is so sad that people have no respect for the performers nor for the audience.
This obnoxious behavior is not limited to young people. Maybe theaters need to post rules of etiquette at the entrances and then enforce them. They would gain more ticket buyers than they would lose.
10
@Susan
I would like to say that in my experience, going to see a band that attracts a younger audience is far more respectful than people in their 50's and 60's. They clap like a Geiger counter, sing like they are being tickled at the same time and don't even get me started about people trying to drink like they did back in the day.
People my age are the worst.
1
I wear hearing aids, and if a theater has an assistive listening device that will work with my hearing aids I use it. I adjust my hearing aids through an app on my phone, but can't adjust the volume until the show starts. I explain this to people sitting around me so they will know that I will only have my phone out for the time it takes to make the adjustment. Everyone is always gracious about it.
While I understand why artists and theaters want to take away patrons cell phones, I am concerned that for people who wear hearing aids this will be one more hurdle. At many theaters the people working the counter where you get the assistive listening devices do not know how they work, or the differences between the devices. I don't look forward to trying to explain to a harried manager (and they are always harried before a show starts) why I need to keep my phone.
6
Good manners are based in respect for each other. Good manners show that we are considerate of the other person’s feelings.
Well, that says it all about the state of our society and how we feel about each other does it not?
Good manners are simply civilized behavior and we seem unable to be civilized to each other!
11
The comment by Ms. Mutter about people recording rather than experiencing the music goes to the core for me of a disturbing cultural or even psychological exchange. It seems the perception now is that if you don't show everybody in your social media orbit that you were somewhere fabulous having such an oh-so-good-time, then it wasn't a legitimate expereince. The desire to convince everyone you're living the life seems more important now than the deisre to open oneself up to an experience and revel in the beauty of the moment.
17
Back in the seventies - I worked at an usher at Carnegie Hall for a few years --
Printed on the main page of every program was a warning --
"The use of photographic and sound recording equipment is strictly forbidden by law. Violators will have their equipment confiscated, be ejected from the theater, and be subject to prosecution."
On a few occasions we would notice a patron hiding one of those primitive portable cassette recorders on the laps under their coats --
We would notify house management or security - and the offender would be quietly and swiftly removed - while having to surrender all his audio tapes --
There is still an underground market of scratchy, bad-sounding "pirate" tapes of performances by Maria Callas, Montserrat Caballé et al -- which zealous opera fand still covet so they can "wait for the high note" --
But really -- isn't the whole point of attending a live event to experience the performance - to just sit there and be absorbed by the art -- ?
I was sitting in the balcony at the Met Opera in 1973 for the legendary Vickers/Nilsson performance or "Tristan" -- and my memory of that evening is as vivid today as it was forty-six years ago --
I'm so glad my attention was completely directed towards what was going on onstage - rather than having to pay attention to my phone...
19
I am an actor and playwright.
If phone use during a performance is acceptable, why stop there? Why shouldn't an audience member go onstage, or recite the text along with the actors?
The whole point of live performance is for audience and performer to meet, and the way that happens is by both being truly present and in the moment. Please receive the gift we're giving you, as we receive and honor the gift of your presence.
872
@Mia Paschal I am reminded of Richard Burton
talking about one of his performances as "Hamlet' in the London theatre. In the front row was Sir Winston Churchill - who had the text in front of him, and was reading along -aloud - with Burton. I believe Burton let it ride....
4
@Mia Paschal Gift?
Um, people are PAYING you to see you. That's not a gift.
3
@Randy L. I think she means that the play itself is a gift.
27
Despite my age (60), I enjoy quite a few musicians also enjoyed by young people. If I'm spending $60-100 on a concert, I want to see the artist, not hundreds of phones being held up to film the concert.
I've been attending the New York Film Festival for thirty or more years. For the first time, this year, screenings are marred by dozens of film-goers using their phones during films. It seems to me that cinema, theater, opera and concerts are immersive experiences. If you need to use your device, you probably don't need to be attending these events.
16
Would Mr Harris be so quick to allow patrons texting during his show if they were not celerities. If the entire audience could keep their phone on and constantly texting, emailing, etc. the audience would be a glowing mess of distractions. The incident only confirms the double standards allowed for the famous. There are two sets of rules in our society. One for the famous and wealthy and another for the rest of us.
708
Yes! It would be awesome if a whole audience tested this "tolerance"!
19
Rihanna and Madonna limit phone use at their own concerts yet feel free to text during other performances? Makes your point, doesn’t it?
187
@john g Whch is why I love Lin-Manuel Miranda for snubbing texting Madonna backstage at Hamilton - he reciprocated her lack of respect, particularly odious coming from a performer.
109
"...some suggest that an emphasis on behavioral restrictions is a form of off-putting elitism."
Seriously, our already too crude society now thinks that asking for simple consideration for the performers and others in the audience is "off-putting elitism"? What (yet another) perfect example of our smug self-righteousness. If I want to do something, I should be able to do it, whenever and wherever, right? Ridiculous.
It's not just the performer impacted, but audience members as well. I'm sure many of us have been at shows and had a person in front of us holding up their phone for repeated pictures and video and blocking our view.
Inconsiderate rudeness is too prevalent in our society, and it's about time that we collectively take a stand on it.
1086
@George S Phone screens at shows are so distracting, especially in small venues. However, that mention in the article about crowds being rowdy during Shakespeare's time reminded me of that scene in Dangerous Liaisons when Glenn Close's character tells the Uma Thurman character about Keanu Reeves's that he is one of those rare eccentrics that actually comes to the opera to listen to the music.
17
@George S
Also, let's consider the definition of the root word.
e·lite
/əˈlēt,āˈlēt/
noun
1. a select group that is superior in terms of ability or qualities to the rest of a group or society.
19
@George S
Well said. A classical concert is no more elitist than a football game or a wrestlemania event where etiquette there is, ... well, different. Indeed, the latter encourages rudeness from the stage (ring).
12
The cell phone issue is simply an extension of a general lack of decorum seen everywhere from restaurants to movie theaters to concerts and live theater. "Manners" went out of style for most group activities. Age doesn't matter. Rock concert? Sure, click away, but all other arts performances, put it away and concentrate on the "event" in front of you.
10
This article didn't mention how distracting the light and picture on a cell phone is to audience members next to and behind them. This is part of why cell phone use is also banned at movie theaters. We're not talking about an elitist issue here.
74
@Lori yes! This has even happened to me at the Met.
As a theater- and concert-goer, I find it distracting if people around me are using their phones to film or text. It's unfortunate that in this age we are so focused on preserving an event for future viewing that we neglect to fully experience it in the moment. Moreover, it is disrespectful and obviously distracting to the performers who are doing their best to be in the moment and deliver an outstanding performance.
25
I saw a teenager walk by my house recently. The birds were singing, the sky was blue, leaves were rustling, and she was oblivious to it all as she ambled along staring into her cell phone. Looking at what? - Twitter? Instagram? Hairstyles? She would not have noticed had a bigfoot been sunning himself on the neighbor's lawn. And that is the one of the problems with cell phone use at music performances, plays, museums, or other experiences that are curated to captivate us. We don't experience anything fully when we divide our attention between the 4-dimensional reality of our true existence and the keyhole meta-reality provided by cell phones. These cursed devices are not only a distraction for performers and other people, they deprive their users of deep and profound experiences.
19
Take a few quick pictures; film a few short clips to remember the show. That's fine. Everyone does it (even when the venue prohibits it).
But literally not one person wants to watch an entire concert, play, musical, or other performance through your cell phone screen when they are sitting or standing behind you.
6
@Dan S No, not everyone does that. I don't. If we want to curtail this idea that recording everything on your personal cell is ok, small exceptions cannot be tolerated. Its just a slippery slope. If hundreds or thousands of audience members have their phones out to "film a few short clips" its as distracting as everyone just holding up their phone during the entire performance. I think its so refreshing to go to an event NOT expecting to see multiple people recording the show.
6
@Dan S -
No, it’s not “fine”, and, no, not everyone does it.
3
@Dan S Or at any other time, really.
I recently was playing a recital. In the middle of the Franck Sonata in a quiet spot, I heard my own playing being played back. Someone in the audience was checking his/her phone to make sure that the recording was successful. That's over the line. I don't really mind if they record my performances for their personal memory but playing it back loud during my performance? Not a few seconds, but I actually had to stop and wait for it to stop. it was almost a minute
19
Is it so complicated for theatre and concerts goers to respect the actors and musicians on stage in an intimate setting for such a very limited moment of time?
Sorry, but there are too many reasons why it is wrong to use one's phone in these spaces. And yet, I can find but just one reason why one would; and that would be to exercise a purely selfish act which only benefits the phone user, not the actors, musicians, nor others in the venue.
I cannot imagine that this could be refuted with any post-modernist spin. It is not about race, gender or social standing, it is above all about respect for the artists,
33
But consider where classical arts are headed: death.
The art form itself, while alive (for now) with some of the most spectacular music it has ever created, refuses to progress with its population. Ticket sales are universally in decline, and a new population of audience members is not materializing fast enough. Instead of a healthy economy of patrons, we have a place where the white glare of cellphone screens is vastly outnumbered by the white hair of its patrons.
For the art form to survive, it MUST adapt to the times. This is nothing new, music historians tell us we've seen this plenty of times before. But before, we did not live in an age of immediate overreaction and outsized reach of those that do not grasp a nuanced discussion.
The article notes that some orgs are embracing change - Philadelphia, Boston, the Met - and it should not be a surprise that these places are where classical art is thriving. The younger audience encouraged to come back for more; versus being shamed and never returning.
There's a reason the Social Media Nights that my colleagues and I put on when we worked in the arts were so successful. They let the art connect with a new audience on their level, removing artificial barriers and changing to where society is today vs 50 years ago. Our posts reached 10,000+ people each. That's more than most arts orgs see in patrons in an entire year.
In product management we have a saying: evolve or die. The classical scene must evolve.materializing
2
@Adam H. Could not disagree more. The day little bright screens are encouraged at concerts is the day I stay home. There’s something to be said for mandating different behaviors in different venues.
33
@Adam H.
Evolve so your art form no longer exists? THAT is very short sighted.
4
This is a distraction for the performer, and often more so for the audience seated near the offender.
The youth feel entitled to do whatever they want. I find that they have exceedingly short attention spans - in no doubt reinforced by the infinite supply of short subject material of the web.
But remember that genetically they are no different than previous generations, it's just a matter of instituting proper behavior.
14
@John I wouldn't throw just the youth under the bus here. I've been in theaters where people who were my elders were using their phones the whole time (I'm middle aged). The lack of enforcement of use (plus just general talking) is one reason I rarely go to theater events anymore.
10
@John
This problem is not limited to youth.
You do not ever have to see another concert play or anything else if you do not like the rules. Some people may need to keep their phone on for emergencies, to me that should be ok but then they should be aware of the circumstances and step out if they have to take a call. common courtesy is not so common i guess.
14
I wonder if one way to deal with it is to install “black box” signal disrupters at theatres, schools, etc?? It doesn’t address the rudeness but it would at least provide a technical disincentive for those who cannot control themselves.
9
@David S.
They are illegal.
We often go to regional theater, comedy clubs and all sorts of pop and folk and blues concerts. Every venue and every artist has rules and restrictions about recording and photography. I learned my lesson years ago at a Bob Dylan and Paul Simon show at a large amphitheater when my 35 mm camera was confiscated after two warnings. Rules are made for many reasons. Artists should not be subject to the whims of audience members.
12
@Paul Schatz
I wonder why you needed a second warning.
2
Smartphones present the user with a ‘processed’ experience. One might as well download a concert or play from iTunes. It’s truly a pointless pursuit, leave alone the annoyance, disregard and lack of respect for other patrons and performers alike.
13
So the playwright makes 799 people wait because one person texted him that she was too important to be there on time?
21
My husband wears hearing aids. Early during a concert he has to adjust the volume through an app on his phone. This is different from an audience member who lifts up a phone during a performance to take a photo or video. I find such behavior distracting, annoying and rude, especially if the person lifts up the phone in the row in front of me, into my line of vision. This has happened on several occasions.
I don’t think that this is a matter of young audiences v older ones. It’s not an issue of culture, but one of common courtesy.
20
I attend live music concerts regularly, often in General Admission areas (no seating). Increasingly, the prevalence of people holding phones over their heads for prolonged periods (several minutes) has really interferes with my ability to view and enjoy the performance I paid for. It’s middled-aged folks as much as young people, by the way. They seem completely oblivious to the fact that they are (1) blocking the view of people behind (2) not actually watching the concert because they are looking at their screen (3) the quality of their video is pretty awful (shaky, blurry, tilted, etc)
Why are they doing it? They are decreasing their own enjoyment, not being truly present, and being rude to others.
The last straw for me was the recent Duran Duran show in Las Vegas. People were pushing to get their phones in a better position, and holding their arms (with phones) above their heads for entire songs. No more $50 tickets for live music concerts for me. It’s unfortunate and I wish more artists stood up for no-video concerts (I understand fans want to take a photo or two— fine! It’s the prolonged video-taking with one or both arms over their head that is so inconsiderate.)
20
@Ginny Warner - You hit the nail on the head with this one. Come to one of our middle school concerts. Unless you sit up front, the odds are good your view will be at least partially obstructed by someone holding up a phone or tablet to record the performance. It's even worse when the house lights are down as then the phone doesn't even have to be held up to be a distraction to people further back. Are these people really so oblivious to their impact on others, or are they so self-centered that the don't care?
11
@Ginny Warner
It’s amazing how oblivious we’ve become even in daily life. I frequently, for example, encounter people in the grocery store who will stop their cart dead center in the middle of an aisle, often with their heads down staring at (of course) a cell phone, or just looking at items on the shelf...so wrapped up in themselves that it doesn’t seem to occur to them others are present and are being blocked.
18
It's an addiction. People don't know how to be alone, still, silent without some kind of distraction for their overworked and overstimulated selves. It's extremely annoying when someone in front or next to you has their glaring screen on during a show. Theaters should enforce their no phones policies ever more, stating that anyone caught filming, texting, or snapping will have their phone or themselves removed.
Don't coddle this behavior.
25
The cellphone/smartphone is, overall for our society, a nightmare. Whether intruding in live performances, simple conversations in the park, or the classroom it is NEGATIVE energy. Learn to recognize it for what it is.
Rarely does it enhance the natural world (including human) around it. Mostly it creates friction.
9
Turn off your phones! I went to see the Moscow Ballet and the light coming off this guys phone two seats down from me, not to mention his murmuring during the entire show, was so distracting it ruined the experience. I’m 31 and most of my friends don’t go to a theatre shows. They think they’re stuffy and pretentious. simply uninterested, or complain about ticket prices. Theatre is most certainly a splurge for me so when I go, I don’t want to be distracted by someone’s phone light. It’s not meant to be part of the show.
50
I have had the privilege of seeing countless phenomenal Broadway shows. There are some I could watch over and over, and wouldn't it be nice to have a video of each show?
However, theater-going is an experience. Each night has its own nuance. I much prefer to be captivated by the actors and music onstage, rather than whether I have the actor playing Evan in focus. So, the phone stays in my bag until the curtain call, when I snap a few photos for lovely mementos. Having a no-phone zone enhances everyone's enjoyment of the show, and is respectful of theatergoers who've paid through the nose to get those seats, and actors who are performing their hearts out night after night.
The opposite case in point:
Last summer, the woman in front of me at a musical was not only on her phone, but FaceTiming. Not even being asked to put her phone away - repeatedly - convinced her to put away the phone. Distracting, to say the least. Rude? Absolutely. Appalling, really.
19
The thoughtlessness of the audience goer who engages this kind of behavior is no different that the person who wanders off a trail to get that”shot” in an environmental sensitive area. I can imagine some of the great conductors in the past holding up a concert and shaming the offender.
13
Cell phones at Concerts:
Just because you can does not mean you should.
Children are trained to be respectful at formal functions, it is part of their growth and part of parenting. So, for those phone users at classical concerts, just for once put it away. Put it away when you are driving, when you are with interacting with another person, in a classroom, lecture hall, at your dentist, doctor, or shrink. Is it so hard? As to manners and audience changes and audience expectations, well, children have unrealistic expectations as well and they have to be taught what is respectful and what is not. So, grow up and put away the phones.
15
It should be up to the performers and the theater. If younger audiences don't like it- stay home and watch Youtube
11
@Dave S. How is this about young people? Kanye West is 42, Madonna is 61. Most of the other examples given are unnamed people who could've been any age. I'm not convinced that younger people are any less polite than the other generations in the audience. I rarely meet a boomer who knows proper phone etiquette.
5
The collective consciousness of an audience, all tuned in together to a performance, is a powerful and transcendent experience, but one that is easily disrupted by the glow of a screen in one's line of vision.
So if showing respect for others in a shared communal experience is "off-putting elitism" we are all poorer for it.
30
I used to be an absolute concert and theater maven--attending as much and as often as I could. There is nothing like the live experience.
But tickets are expensive, and it's frustrating to go and be faced with people in the audience calling attention away from the stage with their phones. Particularly in any dimly-lit, intense moments of theater craft. Why would you want to wreck that experience for others in the audience, just because means YOU get some great shot to post on instagram.
I don't want to be the person who drags the president into every discussion, but this seems to me to be another symptom--from the left, as he is from the right--that one's personal desires trump everyone else's rights. Theater and concerts are common spaces and it's slightly shocking to me that asking others to respect the experience the artists have created is considered "elite" or a manifestation of white privilege (!)
Watching a performer stop to ask people in the audience to respect the performance can be cathartic -- but it comes at the expense of the experience one paid to see.
I'm interested in these Yondr concerts at the white light festival. Maybe I'll be tempted back.
16
I guess it is so easy to spot leftists. They’re the ones who use their phone to take pictures.
There is really no room for debate here. Cell phones are an annoyance to others who have paid substantial money for a distraction free performance. If performers or producers want to change this contract to draw a younger crowd let them require video cameras with real view finders that don't spew obnoxious light all around them. The staggering sense of entitlement that emanates from people who choose to use their devices during performances is simply behavior emblematic of the self involved times we live in.
42
Just to take a quick lateral shift here, let's not forget the folks - some of whom may be coming from thousands of miles away - to visit museums like MOMA and The Metropolitan who wander from image to image taking photos of each on their smart phones and then quickly move on to the next. The average museum visitor reportedly spends around 5 seconds looking at a painting before moving on. Chuck in taking a photo and the looking time goes down to about a second. Does anyone really believe you can take in everything going on in a Rembrandt portrait in 1 second, much less 5? This is like collecting book covers and pretending that you have actually read something. It is not quite as bad as the busloads of elderly Japanese tourists whose day consisted of having their group photos taken with The Louvre or Colosseum in the background , getting back on the bus and actually never going into any of these iconic monuments, but it is extremely annoying and a waste.
10
The Grateful Dead took an entirely different approach to tapers and filmers— they roped them off and let them do their thing. Most of this occurred before the internet, but they still allow those tapes to be shared, and it has only increased their popularity and revenue.
I for one would not do it— I can record the show or enjoy it. I can't do both.
7
Read Digital Minimalism. As a patron, i find myself really distracted when someone uses their phone during a performance to record or take a picture. There are plenty of really good videos of most any performance one could imagine on YouTube. Sitting in a performance taking one tells me that what's most important isn't being in the performance now, but the memory of having been in the performance then. Maybe i'm overstating this, but it seems culturally, we are losing our ability to simply be right now, and fully appreciate what we're privileged to see.
21
Cell phone usage is both distracting to the performers and the audience members. It continually shocks me to see people unfazed texting away or filming video repeatedly during a show. Oftentimes their screen light will be on the brightest setting possible. I have no problem tapping them on the shoulder and saying something. A show is an immersive experience and phones should not be a part of it.
17
First: aside from the inconsideration of undermining a performance, here's a corrollary thought: when are all these folks who are so busy videoing their lives going to find the time to pause living in the present and watch all their reruns?
Second, a personal dilemma: I now use hearing aids which are controlled by my cell phone. Sometimes during a concert or especially a play, I have to turn on the phone to adjust the volume or tone controls. It takes only a few seconds, but if I am to enjoy or even comprehend the audio aspect of the performance I have paid for, I have to do it. You see the problem (and you do indeed see it, although I try to be as inconspicuous and brief as possible); I have yet to find a viable solution.
3
People who insist on disturbing the performance, the artist and the other audience members, should be removed and embarrassed in front of everyone. (Like at the Mutter concert.) Unfortunately, the immediate experience of the art is lost, ruined by people who don't care about experiencing it anyway. Everyone, absolutely everyone, knows full well not to do that.
17
While I appreciate the cultural shift that arts institutions are caught in, unless a performer invites audience participation, interacting with a device during a pay-to-see performance is inappropriate. Not only have I sat next to people photographing and videotaping, I've been neighbors to people catching up on email, posting to social media, and phoning their car service. Violators are all ages. It's a low bar to measure performance success simply by seats sold--and an act of desperation to woo an audience on any terms.
13
This is sooo not an issue of old vs. young, stuffy vs. relaxed, or luddite/conventional vs. high-tech/contemporary. It's an issue of courtesy vs. mannerlessness and community benefit vs. individual selfishness.
When you're but one member of a larger audience, your behavior affects those around you, as theirs affects you. Everyone attends an event expecting to be drawn into what's happening onstage. No one in the audience has the right to devalue his fellow spectators' experience by putting him/herself in their field of vision, or by distracting the performers from delivering their best work. Which is why there's always been an expectation of mutual courtesy among event-goers.
No one pays admission hoping to be diverted from the event for which he/she purchased a ticket. The day you buy every seat in the house and leave them all empty except for the one you sit in, AND secure the performers' permission to record them in action, is the day you can have your phone turned on. If you can't live within those parameters, abide the pre-show announcement to power off your electronics, or otherwise contribute your part of maintaining the social contract, please stay home.
88
It comes down to tolerance by the venues and businesses hosting these events and services. Movie theaters, broadway, concerts, airplanes, public transport... venues and businesses where people congregate have become a nightmare of rude manners and lack of situationally appropriate social etiquette. Manners and etiquette may seem quaint, but they are necessary in creating a tolerable daily experience in our increasingly intolerant, overpopulated world. Making the audience or public responsible for correcting others’ rude behavior is not the answer. It must be the responsibility of the business holding the event (or offering the service) to ensure civility and remove individuals who are defiantly uncivil.
17
Missing in this article is the effect the use of phones for texting or filming has on other audience members.
As someone who does not use her phone during a live performance, it is more than annoying when someone nearby is doing so: the glare from the phone can cut across the dark, and depending where the person trying to take a video is, I have had to shift in my seat because the darn phone is blocking my view. [As a reminder, critics don't use their phones during a performance, and they are actually there to observe, critique, and write about the experience later. ]
I think it's a no-brainer about texting and taking videos during a performance [dance, theatrical, musical]: when others may be impacted, both onstage and/or in the audience, deep-six the phone.
28
I am heartened to hear about Mr. Henry and Ms. Mutter; horrified to hear about Madonna and Rihanna.
If a venue announces phones may not be used during a performance, then the patron must abide; this is about about common sense and courtesy.
The advent of technological communication has ushered in an era of addictive usage and rapidly diminishing courtesy and common sense.
Used to be you could take a walk in the woods and listen to the sounds of the singing birds and the rustling trees...now you have to listen to the details of a stranger's personal life or their musical choice.
Used to be when you pulled into a busy parking lot and someone got into their car they would then pull out...now they take whatever time they need to check their phone.
Used to be when you entered the grocery store or coffee shop you could connect with folks...now you're looking at a dozen people staring into their phones.
Used to be you could drive around town with a reasonable expectation of safety, now you occupy the road with people looking at their phones...even while driving on the highway.
Used to be folks treated those who are serving them - cashiers, baristas, tellers, clerks - with a modicum of kindness and consideration...now those serving others are ignored or waved off.
The cost of disconnecting from common sense and courtesy? Connection, authentic friendship, creativity, well-being, opportunities for genuine intimacy...the very essence of our humanity.
48
@Kelly Grace Smith, I agree: other performers, no matter the level of celebrity, interrupting another artist's performance and worse, expecting a reply, is absolutely inappropriate. My respect for both Madonna and Rihanna has just dropped several notches.
14
I was in a Starbucks in midtown Manhattan. Everyone in line used their phone as a shield against interaction with a stranger.
I yelled, “it is rude to not acknowledge and thank the person who is serving you.”
I then saw a miracle; twenty people in line put their phones away and thanked the wait staff. It is apparent that a large percentage of our population have lost simple social skills, so remind them; otherwise we lose the social network.
70
Oh, this is MARVELOUS! I thought I was the only one who did these types of things. I drive with a bullhorn so that when the light turns green I can say ‘Get off your phones folks, the light is green!’. Traffic always moves better after.
13
@Roxy Schaefer Roxy, you are my hero!
3
#Brilliant
3
In Shanghai at thebOriental Concert Hall, ushers with signs saying not to use cellphones during the classical music concert walking up and down the aisles. During the concert constant flashes of light burst like fireflies arond the hall. Seated next to me and around me the glow of phones in the dark as people were editing their photos and not listening to the music. It was the most distracting concert I had ever been to. I closed my eyes to listen undistracted. If this is normal in mainland China, then they are truly peasant barbarians that newly arrived in the middle class.
6
A a Metropolitan Opera performance of Rigoletto last spring, a young woman sitting next to me continued to turn her phone off and on during the first act. When I made a comment during the intermission, her mother rushed to her defense, explaining that she was "looking up the libretto." Of course, the Met has subtitles right on the seat in front of those we're sitting in. The mother also explained that her daughter was "learning," as in learning how to behave in a performance. The young woman looked to be about 17 or 18 years old. What more can you say?
18
@larochelle2 -- Seniors do that, too. It's not just the young. We have become uncivilized, unconcerned with the needs of our fellow humans. It's dog eat dog. I'm glad I'm old, and still use my napkin.
18
While not a regular concert or play attendee I would guess that the level of precision required by a violinist or a musical singer where the audience is watching every note or word, is much higher than a free form pop or rock concert where the performers interact with the audience much more. As many comments describe, phone use can throw off the concentration of the performer off ruining it for the rest of us. So different performance types would require different rules. I believe the majority of young people willing to go to a performance would get this. Always outliers though.
5
@JRH, many "free form pop or rock" concerts require the same level of concentration and intensity as classical concerts. I attend both and have performed in both. A jammin' bar band wants interaction; a virtuoso performance in any style in a concert setting requires a commitment to appreciation. (Please also note: yelling out the artist's name in a quiet portion of a rock concert is distracting to both the artist and the audience. And yes, the artist already knows their own name!)
4
Interesting that the articles has no discussion about how annoying and distracting the use of cell phones are to the audience members around the cell phone user. Surely audience members have the right to pay for a performance and see and hear it without beeps, clicks, lights and bells around them. Unlike DVR at home, we only get to see and hear the performance once.
26
All would be well if every person felt compelled to observe the same reasonable rules, while considering the needs of those around them. But, tRump has taught everyone to ignore the interests of everybody else. It's just me, me, me. This kind of situation could be avoided if everyone would just take some personal responsibility. Rules make it easier, and more peaceful, to live in a civilized society. We are not very civilized anymore, are we? How do we go back?
10
I don't understand this. How is it "elitist" to expect people to give their undivided attention to a performance that actors, writers, singers, musicians, etc. have worked very hard to produce for just 1.5-2 hrs? Especially with all of the studies of how addicted we are to our phones these days, you'd think that people would take the opportunity to do a momentary detox.
34
Exactly. Using elitism as an excuse for selfishness and theft is a preposterous excuse and needs to be called out
9
@Sooz
Obnoxious millennials think they discovered everything and don’t like being told they haven’t. They are the most boorish, most inconsiderate generation in centuries.
3
We stopped going to concerts and many theater performances in our city due to these types of behaviors, including talking during a play as if viewing it in the home den. While season ticket holders we were told we could move our seats. So move the people who are behaving, not the rude attendees. We stopped going, and the arts groups have been inundating us with calls begging us to renew. Nope; ask the friends of the guy with the phone. If you reward bad behavior, that’s what you’re going to get; I had been warning theater groups about this for years to no avail. I’m sure the people with the cell phones will be happy to buy a full season’s tickets plus give you a nice donation to boot. I know I won’t be doing it any more.
16
“… some suggest that an emphasis on behavioral restrictions is a form of off-putting elitism.”
Thanks for President Trump’s take on this.
12
Hats off to Joshua Henry for what he did, but Rihanna is not important.
Why can't people just sit quietly for a few hours and enjoy an art form. There's nothing on that phone more important at that moment.
What I read here is more of a generational shift of the 'me, me, me's' and I do what I want. Sad.
12
Count me among the old fogies who support a total ban. Live art should involve a full experiential immersion, and should not be an occasion for one to use a device to record an aspect of it for posting on social media. On the performers’ side, these devices are extremely disruptive and impinge on one’s ability to concentrate on producing precisely what one is there for. In the case of dance, which I’ve performed, they can be downright dangerous as dancers rely on proprioception for all sorts of technical feats and require the illusion of the fourth wall to achieve them. The paradigmatic case is spotting, a technical skill that allows dancers to spin through multiple turns. Any flashing or lighted screen might disrupt spotting and consequently disrupt, not just a sequence of pirouettes, but even a dancer’s balance and that could be quite detrimental to their health, well being, and even future.
BTW, am I the only one to find it hypocritical for Madonna and Rihanna to ban devices from their concerts but feel free to use them in others’?
71
This story is written from the perspective of the artist, but as an audience member, not wanting those next to me to use a cell phone has nothing remotely to do with elitist privilege. I just don't want to be distracted from a performance by the light of your screen. It's a symptom of our self-centered society to pull out a phone in the middle of a communal experience.
77
Ok, this sums it up. "One dissenter argued on Twitter that “people who wholly submit to and enforce outdated/archaic concert rituals that require insane amounts of cultural capital to begin with are going to be completely irrelevant in about 15 years’ time.”" If he feels that the people who run the show and perform in the show should not set the rules then he is free not to go, or wait 15 year. Simple. When one pays a lot of money and takes hours out of their life to attend a performance, they should ne there for the total experience, if not stay home, watch it on TV or netflix. Easy solution for what appears to be a bunch of spoiled entited children. If this is the case then let's bring smoking back to public places, not enforce dress codes in upscale restaraunts because hey, its all about ME.
25
The only thing "off putting" and "elitist" about these incidents are those idiots who think their busy, self-absorbed lives are so much more important than the lives of the patrons around them or the artists who work so hard to provide a high-quality, distraction-free performance. I applaud Annie Sophie-Mutter, Patti Lupone, Joshua Henry, Madonna--and all those artists who refuse to let arrogant and entitled patrons (i.e. thieves) who think a professional play or concert is no different from their kid's soccer game or dance recital.
46
It's not privilege. It's called manners.
193
Since when is good manners elitism? Too many people walk around with their faces buried in their electronics. Fine. But in theaters, whether a concert or play, these people and their devices are distracting. And they're stealing, pure and simple. If insisting that they disconnect from the matrix for a few hours results in the loss of their patronage, they won't be missed.
35
With very few exceptions, I now avoid live performances and movie theaters because people no longer know how to behave in public.
"Look at me!" culture is making public spaces intolerable, even in natural settings, where vapid, boring Instagrammers and "influencers" stomp on nature and destroy habitat for attention.
That's why I snicker every time one of them gets too close to the edge of a cliff for the perfect selfie.
19
Both Madonna and Rihanna have banned phones at their own performances, but have no qualms about filming other shows? That, my friends, is elitism.
134
@Ms. Pea
I believe Madonna is banned for life from all Alamo Drafthouse Cinemas for using her phone and not stopping during a movie. She was thrown out of the theater.
18
This article attributes recording to younger generations, but when I'm at places like Lincoln Center, I see mostly boomers doing the filming and picture taken. I've caught my own mother making videos, and when I confront her about this behavior, she shrugs and says, "I'm 70. I'll record if I want to." ::head desk::
17
Two things I learned today about the type of theatre maker Jeremy Harris is:
1. He holds the curtain for his idol - shamelessly detaining the audience - though his idol doesn’t care enough about the show to be on time despite apparently having Harris’ number.
2. His idol is a pop star.
It’s up to the performer whether they feel like tolerating video. The example of the onstage-seated offender is particular because it was a distraction for the audience as well: not cool.
Also irritating is the entitlement of the notion that “outdated/archaic” conventions designed to reduce distraction for ticket buyers should be ignored to accommodate incidental hand-held technology. Just keep it in your pocket, Jack.
58
It seems to me that if you are attending a performance, your attention (and your eyes) should be on the stage, not on your phone.
32
What an utterly vulgar society we have become. Few things punctuate this reality more than cell phones. They are in my face every time I step out my door. During my long bus commute, I have to listen to my self-absorbed fellow passengers air their dirty laundry with friends on the phone. I can't walk down the street without constantly having to side step cell phone zombies (what could possibly be so absorbing!?). The drivers on the road are swerving in their lanes because god forbid they should have to wait a couple minutes before safely sharing their (likely) irrelevant thoughts with someone. And now I'm told it's "elitist" to ask that people but these devices away during theater events? News flash to those who agree with this sentiment: I didn't go to the theater to watch you or your phone. Dig deep and dredge up just a tiny fraction of consideration for those around you. Please?
155
@Shelby Thank you. I agree with you 100%. In NYC, you can add to the list, the zombies who stop at the bottom of escalators, getting on or off subways, or inside elevators. They have zero consideration that what they are doing is rude and even dangerous. I can't do anything about those blocking my way, but I have been known to start singing off key or humming loudly when someone insists on carrying on a loud cell phone conversation in an elevator. They give me dirty looks, as if what they're doing is absolutely OK. I miss the pre cell phones days.
14
@Miriam When I was a kid, our phone was a wooden box with a cast iron crank. Not kidding. Phone calls were private affairs, and when people were on the phone, one would give them space and privacy. When people walked the streets, they would meet each other's eyes, smile, nod. They would look around and take in their environment. I, too, miss these days. I'm no luddite, and I understand that technology serves a function in our world. But the cell phone situation is clearly out of hand and has been for a long time.
9
So far, every school performance my elementary school age daughter has performed in has been ruined by parents holding their cell phones up in the air and blocking the view of people behind them.
61
@T SB That's why you gotta send a grandparent early to reserve the front row
5
@T SB Amen. I have noticed that the once or twice I wanted to record our grandson - in our home or in the car (someone not me driving) his behavior changes when he realizes he is being filmed. He was just 1 when I first noticed this. He became constrained and I immediately turnd off the phone and reminded myself - be totally present with him! and I am a rare photog/video-er. Fims and theaters can have phone friendly performances if they like but I don't want to see or hear it when I am enjoying a performance. Not to mention intellectual prop issues. Another drift toward the lowest common denominator across society. Manners are not elitist. Sorry to have lived to see them becoming less and less displayed in public, hnever mind ridicules. Predates this prez but surely is encouraged by the celebration of his coarse selfishness.
6
@T SB
There is an answer to that, with recording technology being so cheap, ask a parent volunteer with a Zoom or similar device to record it, and make the digital recording available to parents on a site like drop box. One person recording all the performances isn't distraction and the cost of recording the performance and uploading it to a web site or drop box is pretty minimal.
7
To the major discomfort of my husband, I've confronted phone users in movie theaters. The phone light is so distracting that I can't focus on the screen. Two weeks ago a man was talking on his phone during the movie. He had a jacket over his head (how could he see the movie?) thinking no one could hear him let alone see that annoying light. I went to the seat behind him and asked asked him if he was on the phone. He immediately left. Theater management should ask the offender to leave. If they don't, they can expect more of us exasperated patrons to do their job. Maybe if the offenders are confronted on the spot, they will think about it next time they are tempted to pull out their phone. But, then, again, their addiction might overrule common sense.
58
@Roselyn Unfortunately, in some states (AZ included, I think), you can get shot for making a polite request, by a fellow moviegoer who is a "good guy (or gal)" packing concealed heat.
7
@Roselyn
Since he had his jacket over his head and left immediately when you told him he was distracting you, I think he was attempting to be polite, and his call might really have been urgent.
Rules have exceptions for true emergencies. He might have been talking to someone with a health issue, an emotional problem, or a loved one who had been in an accident.
@Concerned Citizen
To me it sounds as though the call could have been a true emergency.
I attended a live performance Sunday afternoon. A voice came over the loudspeaker asking patrons to “please” turn off all cell phones, “please” refrain from taking flash photos — and that videotaping of any kind was prohibited. In spite of that, I still saw a few spots of lights (cell phones) throughout the performance. It’s sad that we live in a time when people cannot follow basic rules and behave in a courteous fashion in public. It’s sad that people cannot be “present” and enjoy a couple of hours off the grid, also known as escapism. It’s sad that they feel a greater need to capture the moment for their “followers” — all for the purpose of “likes”.
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@Alish WWhen management doesn't follow through by confronting offenders, they might as well not announce. So tired of no follow through by managers etc.
23
@Lynn .... in a theatre with 200 or as many as 1000+ patrons — and during a live performance — it should not be upon management or ushers to be tasked with running through the aisles checking the offenders. While it would be nice, what’s nicer is common courtesy.
4
@Alish I hate all the "please" part of this sort of thing. Should I also "please not smoke a cigarette" and "please not defecate on the floor" and "please not commit violent acts in the theatre"? There is no please. You follow the rule or you get punished -- simple.
Punishment should at a minimum here be ejected from the show and possibly banned for life.
5
Going to the movies used to be one of my favorite activities. Used to. Now, I'm lucky if I see one movie without someone playing on their phone, with the blinding light distracting me from the movie. Live theater of any kind is even more of an immersive experience. Seriously, people, can't you put your phones away for two hours of your life and enjoy a movie, a concert, or a performance?
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@Dominic
Older people who should know better are the worst at talking during a film. I'm unconcerned if it sounds sexist but middle-aged or older women are the absolute worst. They often talk to each other throughout the show.
I will ask them politely to be quiet once or twice. After that, I will sometimes reluctantly explain that we are not in their living room.
I have acquaintances that do this and I will no longer go to any movie with them.
I still love going to the movies but it's not the younger generations that are the rudest. Not even close. It's older folks who absolutely should know better.
3
Imagine the scene: Bonnie Raitt at the Frankfurt Oper. Lights turned down low and she began the opening of “I can’t make you love me,” one of the most mournful songs I know. Some guy sitting in the front jumped up and walked to the edge of the stage, positioned his phone and snapped a photo with the flash on.
Ms Raitt was so startled, she walked off. From my vantage I could see her shaking her head and someone comforting her. She was clearly upset.
Mood was wrecked for a sold-out crowd but one guy got his photo.
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@Mozart
"One guy" should have been ejected from the theater for all to see.
43
@Mozart
I was hoping to hear someone walked off. I'm very sorry it happened to her.
Why should any artist accept these working conditions?
10
I am definitely planning on bringing my film camera with the flash to the next performance that I attend.
Really. We are so Trumped that everyone has forgotten the "floodgate" rule.
7
@HT Good idea. But sit in the front row and turn around and take shots of the audience. Maybe the amateur videographers will take the hint.
"Off-putting elitism"? If one is so important that they can't possibly miss an incoming text message, email or phone call they should demur from attending the event.
Recording the event you're attending without permission of the venue or artist? Don't do it. It's not difficult to figure out, unless you can't think of anyone but yourself.
105
If texting and filming during a performance only impacted the phone user it would be one thing. Clearly it impacts the performers, and that's unacceptable. And the glaring light of your phone also disturbs all the audience members around and behind you. I don't go to live performances to look at a screen, I go to escape them. And that includes YOUR screen. Shows should have clear policies, and enforce them so those purchasing very expensive tickets can know in advance if audience members are allowed to use phones, and if not the prohibition should be strictly enforced. I've seen people text and record at performances, and one particularly heinous person ANSWERED her ringing phone during play. Rhianna was totally out of line, both in holding up a whole theatre of ticket holders by being late, and especially by lacking the courtesy and attention span to sit through the whole play before texting the author.
159
So, Madonna and Rihanna think it's okay to text during someone else's performance, but if it's their own concert, the rules change. This is about human decency, and American society seems to be losing its grasp on that. Issues of decency, respect, consideration, et cetera, for others are timeless. The defense of phone use during performances is self-serving and immature. No one should tolerate it.
358
We’re becoming a nation of narcissists: it’s all about me.
15
@Nancy
Madonna is way out there. She gives up sight in one eye with a phony eye patch, so she will be noticed more, and uses the patch as ad space for her new show. She's pretty awesome, but wow.
1
Counterpoint: get off your phone and actually remember a show you saw instead of posting a video of a show you didn't see...ironically because you were too busy recording a video of said show. Of course, I'd make that argument at just about any event so maybe I'm one of the olds.
Other point: cell phones, or at least ones that make noise during a show, aren't always a young person's problem. I'm a regular theater goer, and EVERY show has a phone go off no matter how cute or blunt the "turn off your phones" message is before the curtain goes up. 90% of the time it's an someone in the 60+ crowd. I don't think that's some sort of millennial generation issue. It's a boomers-don't-understand-their-tech issue. If I asked my dad to turn off his device right now, 50/50 chance he'd do it correctly.
45
"“people who wholly submit to and enforce outdated/archaic concert rituals that require insane amounts of cultural capital to begin with are going to be completely irrelevant in about 15 years’ time.”
Translation from the jargon-laden original:
"We expect to be able to do whatever we want with our phones--anytime, anywhere, no matter if it violates the intellectual property or personal rights of performers, other artists, or fellow patrons--because...well, we want to. The old fogeys who insist on enforcing these outdated rules will be gone soon, and freedom will reign."
Except, it won't. Because creators of cultural content who happen to be millenials will want the same kinds of protections.
179
I wish those who subscribe to this view would then stay away from theatre, classical and opera performances for the next 15 years. They will not be missed.
47
Nonsense. The performance isn't about you and your "friends" and if you're filming you're not paying attention and honoring the work of the artist and the openness of the audience. I was a theater manager many years ago and we were trained to take away cameras in the audience. We also ejected people when necessary. In a serious performance I would do it again in a heartbeat. Please don't buy a ticket to performances that you only want to film or discuss, art will survive.
13
Oh, please. I have so many reactions to this piece but I would most like to point out that, regarding Ms Janiak's remarks, that this problem has been growing for a decade and effects performances and audiences of all backgrounds.
As far as Mr Harris' reaction goes, it applied to a current superstar whom he *idolizes*. He "held the curtain" for her! (The very same superstar locks up the cell phones of those who come to see her.) How inclusive is this deal- can some nice couple from Hoboken get the curtain held because the PATH train had a slow down? How will he react when the common folk in the audience is made up of 30% or more looking not at the stage but at their phones: filming, texting or playing Flappy Dunk.
Lots older white people are offenders of the worst order and I wish there were a legion of Patti LuPone's and Joshua Henry's out there, defending the common ticket holder.
98
@Howard Exactly. What is "elitism" if not holding the curtain for a celebrity and celebrating her breaking of rules because she's famous? Why should we be surprised if every narcissist tries to show off that they can get away with it?
2
Smart phones have dumbed down the public which gets dumber by the day. There are so many activities it conflicts with one must wonder why the non Smart phone public puts up with the unwelcome intrusions.
31
Lily Janiak in the SF Chronicle: "What inflames American theater about Harris’s stance isn’t that people are using cellphones in a theater, but that he’s a young black man unapologetically claiming the right to question old norms and forge new ones in a historically white institution."
What elitist nonsense! There is no monolithic race-based 'inflammation' that Lily can point to. Most of the reaction to Harris's stance has to do with the fact that he was fine with inconveniencing EVERYBODY in the theater on behalf of an entitled, self-centered elite, Rihanna, who happens to be his self-proclaimed "idol". Silly, but Lily seems not to have noticed that most everybody in the building - actors, staff, audience - is there precisely for the purpose of seeing this "young black man unapologetically claiming the right to question old norms" through his work, 'Slave Play'.
166
Well said.
19
It is truly ridiculous to think that banning cell phones or protesting cell phone behavior is elitist.
304
"the critic Lily Janiak argued: 'What inflames American theater about Harris’s stance isn’t that people are using cellphones in a theater, but that he’s a young black man unapologetically claiming the right to question old norms and forge new ones in a historically white institution.'"
If 99% of the people disapprove of the behavior, you're not "forging new norms," you're simply being disrespectful to everyone around you. Bringing race into this is absurd. If Harris or others want mobile phones to be part of the "experience," then they could announce as much at the start of the show, and then everyone can be on the same page - for THAT show only.
121
@RPJ
And better yet, announce it before one buys a ticket. It would be interesting to see how many would opt for a "no-cell phone" show rather than a "feel free to text, record, etc." show. I have a feeling that even those who opted for the latter would end up less than happy attending a show with everyone recording and texting.
4
These people's parents must have been asleep when they were supposed to be teaching them courtesy. No, means No, for certain behavior, yet these people are apparently of the opinion that the rules don't apply to them, Their parents should have smacked them once or twice for all of our benefits, because we now have to try coexist with their rudeness.
26
I’ve been to a lot of concerts over this last year from Gorillaz, to Paul McCartney & Billie Eilish and every one of the performers has asked the audience to put down their phones and, in the case of Sir Paul, he asked that we experience it first hand, not through our devices, but he did have a request for
Our phones later. He later asked that we all turn on the flashlights, á la modern day lighters, to light up the stadium, with a magical glow for several songs.
It’s rude of patrons, who usually lift them
Over their heads for the best “view” while blocking others behind them.
31
Since cell phones are allowed at theaters, the next time I go to the theater and see someone on their cell phone, I will respond by pulling out a cigarette and asking the cell phone user "Got a light??
42
Funny! Reminds me of Steve Martin, who used to say that when someone asked him, "Mind if I smoke?", he'd reply, "Mind if I fart?".
6
Entitlement.
Putting aside any legal or ticket rule prohibitions on cell phone use, the problem is your entitlement to use your cell phone with its white screen impacts my entitlement to peacefully enjoy the performance.
That's why you should not so it: because it's rude. It is nothing to do with privilege or exclusion. It is how we behave in crowded PUBLIC spaces so that we don't fight each other.
You have every right to do what you like in private, but your right to swing your metaphorical fist ends just before it hits my nose.
263
There is no debate. Turn your phone off and enjoy the show. It is selfish and distracting to use a phone during a performance and gravely disrespectful to the performers.
215
It is also very distracting to other audience members in a darkened theater to have a glowing screen assault your dark adapted eyes, while you are trying to watch and listen to the artists on stage. At a Cincinnati Symphony concert last year, a man in the row in front of us had the score to the piece being played open on his phone! If you want to watch a concert on video, stay home and watch one on TV.....
83
One of the last live shows that I had the patience to sit through was spent watching the people in front of me texting restaurants for dinner reservations and yakking through the whole show. The next show marred by a fellow who stood smack in front of us with his phone recording every last minute on his phone. It is selfish and inconsiderate, period.
90
My husband is both an actor/singer and a frequent play- and concertgoer, and he points out something that your article barely touches upon: that not only can the performers onstage clearly see (and have their concentration broken by) what the audience is doing, but so can other audience members.
We can't even begin to enumerate the times when we've been sitting in the audience, focusing on a particularly intense moment in a play/musical/concert, and are suddenly distracted by a strange glow next to or in front of us. It immediately takes us "out" of the performance, breaking the spell and ruining the moment.
Yes, in Shakespeare's day, audiences were rowdy, but for the past two hundred or so years they haven't been, and I think there's a reason we've changed. It's a sign of respect and of maturity. It's a sign of cooperation and empathy, and given the current state of the world at large, we ought not to backtrack now.
People need to learn the value of a communal experience, and that the experience of those around you is affected by what others do. If you want to sit and text or chat during a performance, by all means stay home and talk to your television. But don't do it sitting next to me. I want to focus on what's ON the stage.
462
@Amanda T I paid $300 apiece for Hamilton tickets and a woman across the aisle spoke throughout the entire play, translating into Spanish for her grandmother. Our society had a good run.
9
@Amanda T This! I've had arguments with people over their glowing screens. They seem to think it's OK to text if they are bored during the show. It's not! If you are bored, leave.
It's bad enough that one can no longer go to rock concerts for the sea of screens blocking the view of the stage. Or that it's impossible to see a famous site because so many people are holding up their tablets!
At moments like these I am reminded of the Louis CK sketch about the parents filming kids' performances to post them on social media, instead of actually watching them. "Those kids are dancing for no one!"
8
As a college theater director, I welcomed audiences at each performance and explained that making videos and taking photos during performances was prohibited, the former for copyright reasons, and the latter because it distracted both the actors and fellow audience members. I suggested that they turn off their phones or set them “ to stun,” which always drew a laugh. Then I waited. People almost always obliged.
The point is, audiences need to be educated about theater ( and other performance) etiquette. The rules exist for good reasons, and when people understand the reasons, most comply — unless they feel terminally entitled to be boorish.
108
@Jane Ummm - don't know what your experiences have been: I've seen a few B'dway plays and attended a performance of "Wicked" in London and before every single one, just before the lights were dimmed, the exact message you deliver to your audiences - including the reasons for the prohibition - was delivered. In fact before the start of Patrick Stewart's one-man "A Christmas Carol" we were even asked to unwrap hard candy before the start, to avoid any distracting noise. So unfortunately there are too many who answer to your final assessment. There are no excuses for this type of behavior.
9
And what happens when someone does not comply and surreptitiously start filming later in the show?
2
@Jane
Let me assure you Jane, that every show I attended this year had such an announcement. Its been been a standard for years now.
They have become so common, that I've seen then performed by actors in character, or written into the show.
4
So much of what people complain about as "politically correct" behavior is just really courtesy. It's simply impolite to distract a performer, or to film her/her performance and then put it on You Tube or somewhere. Intellectual property theft is stealing. People don't or can't accept that, but it is. It's hard to understand and accept that simply being polite has become such a battlefield. I don't even go to the movies anymore. It's nothing but a room full of talking, chewing people on the phone or texting. I might as well be on the bus, it's so noisy. Call me "elite" if you like, but I just wish we could all stop being so selfish and start being more considerate of each other. Seems simple, but apparently not.
186
@MissPea
Agreed. How manners themselves became “elitist” is mind-boggling. Emily Post, when asked why manner matter, once said something to the effect that having good manners is the most basic way to acknowledge the humanity of others.
22
How very sad to see this. For heaven's sake, enjoy the moment at events and put your cell phones away.
40
Van Gogh was kicked out of a Paris concert for bringing in an easel and doing a watercolor of the pianist.
11
@RonRich As well he should have been. Just as rude then as video-recording the concert would be today.
9
@RonRich
Best comment! Thanks for the chuckle.
2
It's not just classical or B'way - it seems even Madonna doesn't want cell phones at her concerts. She has gone so far as to require people to lock up their phones in secure pouches when they enter the theater. Clearly phones should not be used during a performance. If you absolutely must use your phone (you're a doctor on call or something) leave your seat and go to the lobby. Your movement will be a problem and cause a disruption but not as much as the glaring of a screen or worse, actually speaking.
24
I really don’t care about violating artists’ intellectual rights when it comes to filming or recording performances. However, I do care about the distraction that it causes me, a patron, when someone chats, eats, uses a cellphone or yells fire in a crowded theater. There are certain rules of decorum that we must all follow. No exceptions.
10
@Mike "I really don’t care about violating artists’ intellectual rights when it comes to filming or recording performances."
Have you ever walked in someone else's shoes?
56
@Mike Unfortunately I have to say that I feel your attitude is not that much different than that of the people using their phones during a performance. It is about your experience, not the others in attendance and certainly not the performers.
35
@Mike
I'm not surprised.
Every tech millionaire I know has sent me illegal copies of CDs, as gifts. Every one of them went straight into the garbage.
People steal from artists because they are jealous of artists. It is that simple.
It's disappointing to read that rudeness is now be re-framed as personal prerogative. Should we allow theater goers to take phone calls as well? Or, carry on conversations? Why not let them bring in buckets of food too? We wouldn't need these rules, or demonstrative acts (like Mr. Henry's) if people just knew how to behave like adults. Sigh.
422
@g. harlan , re: "buckets of food," this is why I refuse to go to movies where they have waiter service at the seats. Someone put their time and effort in creating a story and bringing it to the screen; I want to watch that, not some waiter delivering your smelly food. Eat before or after, please. Thank you.
34
@g. harlan
Sounds like the city bus!
4
Kirsty Sedgman: "It’s turned into a battle over who belongs, and who gets to set the rules."
Nope. The rules have already been set by the presenters - artist and venue - and serve to protect the artistic experience of the most people involved: performer and a large majority of the audience. Likewise, the only ones who belong there are those who've paid - often dearly - for that experience.
Of course, there are those few artists who might welcome recording, as the Grateful Dead did for decades, and audience members who feel strongly that their particular artistic experience is enhanced by recording or other other cellphone uses. The problem is twofold, though: recording constitutes the theft of intellectual property - it's stealing, folks!; and, the act of using a phone is distracting to performers and nearby audience members.
143
No use of mobile phones during indoor performances of any kind should be sllowd. Ever. A play, an opera, a ballet is not a rock concert where phones are welcome.
The playwright supporting the text was one hundred percent wrong. Is his life so empty and shallow that he gets giddy over a text from Rhianna? What gives the rude and arrogant Rhianna the right to disrupt the performance for those around her? Even a dimmed phone is annoying.
Isn’t there a signal of some sort that blocks cellular phones from functioning indoors? If there is, it’s time to start adding them to the auditorium part of all venues.
221
@Carmela Sanford
There is blocking technology like that, some venues have done it (and folks, before talking about 'emergency calls', like a baby sitter calling parents out at an event, etc, the venues generally have a number where someone with an emergency could be contacted. I also will add that at any event it is likely very few people who need that kind of cell pphone access.
That won't stop people from recording, though, but it would stop texting and the like.
11
From my view from an orchestra pit, I'm always amused by patrons who, in spite of being reminded before the top of the show that recording devices are not allowed, sit with a phone in front of their face recording that best part of the show. Will that video clip be as impactful later, instead of relishing the memory of the live experience that was right in front of them and that they totally missed? Don't think that we as performers are flattered by your disregard of us trying to effect you on a live, personal level.
211
What is the most upsetting thing in all of this is that the selfishness of people is completely realized with this behavior of texting and filming with no regard to other individuals around you. I blame the parents on this, and more likely it is because they exhibit the same behavior or think that whatever their spawn does is just so cute and create. It is demonstratively telling that there is a belief from these people who act this way that their immediate self-gratification, "I can do what I want, when I want" cannot be denied or inhibited, even at the costs of doing something illegal or prohibited, such as filming a live performance and taking photographs, when it has been made clear you cannot do it. Galling and repugnant behavior not to mention intruding on those around you to get a chance to enjoy the performance WITHOUT distraction.
63
@Patrick
If you really think parents haven’t taught their kids that this is rude behavior, you have never parented a member of the digital generation.
3
…. back in the days -- snippets of filmed ballet performances -- always illegal -- might preserve a magical moment... and I personally regret that more isn't recorded or archived. (Isn't it interesting how complicated this issue is.)
but a MIKED performance of a classical concert or opera??? Whaaaat?
@Auntie Mame
Almost all classical performances are recorded, it is why they have the microphones you see over the stage. Likewise, opera performances are recorded, if for anything quality control (much like football teams look at game film) from what I know, and of course they simulcast performances these days.
3
In a darkened venue where all the lighting is on the stage I find the bright phone screen of someone in front of me, held up to video the stage (against the rules of the venue and/or artists) to be a distraction. In a concert with bright lights flashing all over along with loud music and many bright phone screens held up to record (against the rules of the venue and/or artists) I don't. I think if the artists on stage don't want to be recorded then ticket sales can have a box we check as we purchase stating we agree to lock up our phones as we enter the venue....or they can offer those of us distracted by the bright lights the option to attend on phone free days so that those who are addicted to that light won't be forced to endure withdrawal pangs for 2 hours.
61
maybe Artists should take a page out of the Greatful Dead playbook, by encouraging recording, their personal legacies will last forever albeit with less financial gain.
1
@Dave
Being at a Grateful Dead concert is a different experience than being at a dramatic performance or similar performance, where the audience is quiet, even hushed, as the show unfolds. Why should people who paid for the experience instead have to experience upraised hands with phones in their field of view, the repeated sound of artificial phone shutter clicks or the phone lights/screen lights utterly distracting them and ruining the show?
206
Nobody likes phones out at Dead shows either. They literally have people following them around recording them with professional gear and giving it away for free, just listen to that later!
4
@Dave Jerry is spinning in his grave.
3