By Bill Hirschman, FloridaTheaterOnStage.com, for SouthFloridaReporter.com, Dec. 3, 2015 – Seriously, time’s up. It’s time to take action.
It is long past time for theaters and theater patrons to come down hard on audience members who text, talk incessantly, photograph set designs, video production numbers, check messages from their daughter-in-law, unwrap candy and Christmas presents, eat entire Kentucky Fried Chicken dinners, change babies, sing along off key and other thoughtless, self-centered and disruptive behavior during a production. We won’t bore you with another litany of horror stories like we did in the piece we wrote in July (http://tinyurl.com/ofnrhrs) except to retell the most recent offense that incited this column.
Last week, Ann Marie Olson was deep into the climactic solo inGypsy at Broward Stage Door Theatre (“Mama’s talkin’ loud”) when someone’s cellphone rang. The recipient not only answered it, but then put the conversation on its speaker and proceeded to babble on for minutes.
That does it. This is a call to arms addressed to theater owners, front of house managers and we wonderful people sitting out there in the dark. Some people suggest Tasers, but I’ve got other suggestions after emailing with many of you.
