Another cell phone story

[auntiem]

This is why I am so very glad that cell phones were barely around when I house managed - pagers were bad enough. But, the few phones that did ring you can bet that the usher was beelining it to the person and if they were talking - out they went -as in outside. Depending on their attitude, for the rest of the show. You can bet your bippie that the next time they came to a show their phone was off.

[Gurndigarn]

I automatically thought of the cleavage area.

Yeah, but you're female.

Coffee shop calls-- or other "social" gathering places-- I don't mind. Theaters, on the other hand... especially live theater...

[DesignFox]

In highschool, I was the assistant director for our musical, Godspell. Some asshole had their cell phone on during the show, and it played the Mexican Hat Dance.

It went off not once, but twice during our production. And the second time was during one of the most emotional, silent scenes. If I could have found that guy, that phone would have been lodged someplace very uncomfortable....

I still see red whenever I hear that farking song.......

I hate cell phones.

By the way...I didn't think SliceandDice meant cleavage either...

And for that scene in NYC...I'd pay the ridiculous NYC prices to see that!

[Sliceanddice]

woohoo i cause conterversy!!!!!!!!!!!
is it sad i still cant think of what you where thinking?

[Dreamstalker]

My theatre has included in our pre-show announcement for musicals that if a phone rings and the pit recognizes the ring-tone they will play along with it.

I'd pay to see just that.

Coffee shop calls-- or other "social" gathering places-- I don't mind.

I don't really mind coffeeshop calls either. It's when you get a couple businessmen trying to hold a damn conference call, and shouting to be heard over the espresso machines...oy. I haven't seen one of them yell at a counterperson for "being too loud", but I've been promised a show if I'm present when it does happen.

[SuperDan]

Mine's "Scotland the Brave". Yes, bagpipes. That would be freakin' hilarious! Where's the theatre?

http://www.cpct.biz
Shall I tell the synth player on our next musical to get their bagpipe sound ready?

If I could have found that guy, that phone would have been lodged someplace very uncomfortable....

The back seat of a Volkswagen?

I'd pay to see just that.

That can be arranged. We'd like your money.

[wagegoth]

Mine's "Scotland the Brave". Yes, bagpipes.

On my old phone, it was Scotland the Brave. Nobody used it, I'm part Scottish, perfect. Except that one day at work, a contractor was walking through and his phone rang, playing Scotland the Brave.

The latest two ringtones have been Atomic Dog and When I Come Around.

[reformedwaitress]

I have been doing theater most of my life and I have two favorite "cell phone during a show" stories.

One is when I went to see Hamlet at The Shakespeare Tavern in Georgia. It's a dinner and then show place, very intimate setting. So in the middle of Hamlet's "To be or not to be" speech, a cell phone goes off. Loudly. Hamlet stops. The person answers it and starts speaking in hushed tones. Hamlet sits. The person looks up. Hamlet goes "Oh no, continue. We can wait." The man on the cell phone got off REAL quick and the phone didn't go off again.

The other one, I was actually a part of. We did The Complete Works of Shakespeare Abridged and didn't actually make the "turn off your cell phone" announcement because the nature of that show lends itself to audience interaction. So when cell phones would go off (sometimes we even planted them or called friends we knew were in the audience from back stage), the actors would stop, adlib whatever and take the phone, placing it all the way upstage and telling the audience member they would get the phone back after the show. Usually we turned them off.

Well, one night one of my cast members forgot to turn one of them off. And it starts ringing from up on stage in the middle of one of the few decently long speeches (one of Ophelia's, during the Hamlet portion, I think the "speech" was about a minute or two, long enough for this). The actor playing Ophelia, while delivering his lines, goes to the phone, picks it up, opens it (thus answering it), brings it back to his "mark", finishes screaming the line and then slams the phone shut, turns it to vibrate and throws it back up the stage without ever missing a beat. I was FIGHTING to not laugh and the entire audience did laugh for about five minutes -- and that's not exagerating. It was lots of fun. (c: