Theater Etiquette

It is difficult to decipher who exhibits worse etiquette in the current theatrical climate; the audience members, or the supposedly “Professional” actors on stage. Several instances in recent months have brought about some very interesting cases, presenting absolutely atrocious behavior from both audience members and stage actors alike.

Many people who attend theater, be it at the community, national, or Broadway level do indeed demonstrate proper etiquette. They show up early, do not eat or drink at their seat, remain quiet during the performance, and obey what has come to be known as the golden rule of theater etiquette: they silence all cell phones. However, many theatergoers are left without a general knowledge of typical theater conventions, and behave as though they are at sporting event or rock concert. While the rules are often unspoken (except for a NYC law requiring cell phone silencing), they have become societal norms and to break these norms is seen as the epitome of selfish and rude. Some websites dedicated to the arts have actually taken the time to compose lists of how one should behave at a theatrical performance and an example of such a list can be seen here: http://www.fineliving.com/fine/rejuvenation_essentials/article/0,,fine_1422_1327738,00.html

In late January 2009, during one of the last performances of the Broadway revival of Gypsy, Patti LuPone, two time tony winner and renowned stage “diva” literally stopped the show. Ms. LuPone, after the first few chords of what is perhaps the show’s most climatic and pivotal moment, completely broke character, turned to audience, and began to scream at an audience member who had taken a photograph during the show. A few favorite excerpts from her three minute rant are as follows: “Stop, stop, stop taking pictures right now! You heard the announcement. Who do you think you are?...Three times you took a picture! Who do you think you are? I won't continue with them taking pictures. Get them out!"

The outburst was received first with nervous laughter and shaky applause, followed by a thunderous uproar of cheers and whistles. However, it is not fully clear who is at fault of breaking theater etiquette rules. While the majority of the audience thought Ms. LuPone’s outburst was a wonderful and exciting display of putting a rude audience member in his place, many were left with the feeling that for $100+ per ticket, Ms. LuPone, however rude the audience member was being, should have continued on with the show in a professional manner and dealt with the rule-breaker after the performance.

A similar case occurred in September of this year when Australian actor Hugh Jackman stopped a preview performance of the Broadway play A Steady Rain to tell an audience member to silence a ringing phone. "You want to get that?" Jackman said (with an attempt to remain in character, although as the moment progressed he continued to lose his temper) "Grab your phone, it doesn't matter…come on, just turn it off ... we can wait. Just get the phone, don't be embarrassed. Just grab it."

Once again, it is unclear who is at greater fault. While the majority of reporters cast the audience member as the evil wrongdoer, it would seem again that however rude the audience was, that the actors should be able to continue on in a professional manner and leave such issues for house ushers and staff to deal with.

The issue of professionalism versus expected audience behavior is a longstanding conflict that never seems to result in a clear conclusion. An obvious solution would be to better enforce theater rules, and threaten any troublesome attendees with expulsion from the show, which would prevent further disruption for their fellow audience members as well as the actors on stage.

*Ironically, both LuPone and Jackman singled out an offending audience member while profusely thanking the remaining audience members for being wonderful, rule-abiding community members. However, both of their mid-performance outbursts were caught on tape and can be seen or heard at the following links:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WruzPfJ9Rys

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iE6OpSdtvz8
It appears that although one audience member was singled out, several others were waiting with recording equipment (cell phones and blackberries equipped with cameras) to take their place, which only helps to argue the etiquette case in favor of the actors*