Come on along and listen to the lullaby of Broadway: marimba ringtones; rat-a-tat texting; the shaming “shhhhh!”. Years of mounting tension over audience behaviour hit a dramatic climax this month, when a teenager clambered onto a stage to try to recharge his phone and veteran actress Patti LuPone whisked a phone away from a texting spectator, hours after performing a matinee punctuated by incoming calls. LuPone says she’s even considering quitting stage work because of the electronic onslaught.
As Broadway faces off against pocket-sized sound-and-light shows, performers and some patrons say smartphones and a hyper-connected culture are shredding the immersive experience of live theatre.
"I've just spent pretty close to a day's salary on theatre tickets – I don't want to be distracted by people turning on their phone to check the time or text," Broadway fan Robin Satty of Piscataway, New Jersey, said as she went to see the Best Play Tony-winner The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. Still, some theatre-world insiders say it's time to educate, rather than scold, a growing audience that's used to interactivity and may not be steeped in theatre etiquette.
"We have to be careful that we let people know what's appropriate without pushing them away," said Broadway producer Ken Davenport, who allowed some "tweet seats" in back rows during a performance of Godspell a few years ago. Habitués have complained about declining audience decorum since T-shirts started rubbing elbows with sports coats. But smartphones have proven especially nettlesome.
"If you're onstage, you notice every single person who's texting," said actor Will Swenson, whose Broadway credits include starring roles in Les Misérables and Hair.
"The second that a light pops on in the audience, it's impossible to not say: 'Oh yeah, I'm in a theatre and someone is out there not paying attention to my best efforts to tell a story,'" said Swenson, who recalls grabbing a video-shooting patron's phone during Hair.
Other stars, from Matthew Broderick to Frances McDormand, have briefly stopped shows in response to spectators talking on phones and shooting video. Then there was the case of actor Shia LaBeouf, who pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct last year after yelling at the performers while watching Cabaret. Cellphone use and loud conversation ranked high when ticket discounter Goldstar asked some of its six million members recently about show faux pas, though the number of people who felt texting and photo-taking were OK "if done discreetly" was in double digits.
Some theatre experts feel it’s time to lighten up about phones or risk seeming stuffy.
There are no-phone zones in churches, hospitals and courthouses, but “is that the atmosphere that we want?” asked University of North Carolina drama professor Scott Walters. The Greeks, Shakespeare and Molière wrote for loud crowds, he noted.
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Libya's Gold
UN Panel of Experts found regime secretly sold a fifth of the country's gold reserves.
The panel’s 2017 report followed a trail to West Africa where large sums of cash and gold were hidden by Abdullah Al Senussi, Qaddafi’s former intelligence chief, in 2011.
Cases filled with cash that was said to amount to $560m in 100 dollar notes, that was kept by a group of Libyans in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
A second stash was said to have been held in Accra, Ghana, inside boxes at the local offices of an international human rights organisation based in France.
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Jigra
Starring: Alia Bhatt, Vedang Raina, Manoj Pahwa, Harsh Singh
Joker: Folie a Deux
Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Lady Gaga, Brendan Gleeson
Director: Todd Phillips
Rating: 2/5
COMPANY PROFILE
Initial investment: Undisclosed
Investment stage: Series A
Investors: Core42
Current number of staff: 47
MATCH INFO
Champions League quarter-final, first leg
Tottenham Hotspur v Manchester City, Tuesday, 11pm (UAE)
Matches can be watched on BeIN Sports
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COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
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The specs
Engine: Long-range single or dual motor with 200kW or 400kW battery
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Max touring range: 620km / 590km
Price: From Dh250,000 (estimated)
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre turbo
Power: 181hp
Torque: 230Nm
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Starting price: Dh79,000
On sale: Now
THE SIXTH SENSE
Starring: Bruce Willis, Toni Collette, Hayley Joel Osment
Director: M. Night Shyamalan
Rating: 5/5