File photo. Actress Patti LuPone performs a scene from 'Gypsy' at the 62nd Annual Tony Awards in New York, June 15, 2008. (REUTERS/Gary Hershorn)
Everything’s not coming up roses for smartphone users – at least as long as Broadway actress Patti LuPone is concerned. During a Wednesday evening performance of the play “Shows for Days” at the Lincoln Center Theater in New York City, LuPone snatched a phone away from a texting audience member. LuPone exited the stage holding the phone, reports Broadway.com.
Reports of the incident reached social media during the performance.
“Patti LuPone took someone’s phone mid-show because they were texting,” tweeted @heytravistravis Tuesday night, while @_its_about_time wrote “that time you stay for the 2nd act & watch Patti LuPone take a texting woman’s cellphone from the audienc e & walk off stage with it in hand.”
LuPone herself spoke out about the incident.
“We work hard on stage to create a world that is being totally destroyed by a few, rude, self-absorbed and inconsiderate audience members who are controlled by their phones,” she said in a statement, reports Broadway.com. “They cannot put them down. When a phone goes off or when a LED screen can be seen in the dark it ruins the experience for everyone else — the majority of the audience at that performance and the actors on stage.”
The stage legend, who once stopped mid-show during a 2008 performance of “Gypsy” on Broadway to call out a theatergoer who was taking photos, reiterated how upset she is with smartphone-using audience members.
“I am so defeated by this issue that I seriously question whether I want to work on stage anymore,” she said. “Now I’m putting battle gear on over my costume to marshal the audience as well as perform.”
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