Sunday, February 21, 2010
Theater Preshow Announcements Take Aim at Cellphones
NYTimes.com: "THE producer David Richenthal was at a performance of “The King and I” in the late 1990s when a cellphone rang. Its owner, sitting near him in the audience, answered. He remembers her saying, in a heavy New Yawk accent, “I can’t talk right now, the king is dying.”"
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15 comments:
This is a tough issue to tackle. I love how directors and design teams are becoming more creative and it isn't about delivering a message, but a message in a way that stimulates. This is like in the inspector general how Jed gave the pre-show announcement in a funny way that set the mood for the show, and started that energy needed for a comedy.
Although I am not for pre-show announcements, becasue not only because they disrupt the experience of theater but they turn it into a presentation, although I see the need for them. Thus they must be presented in a stimulating way to involve the audience and get them to turn off their electronics!
I think the idea that pre-show announcements detract from a show is a slightly ridiculous complaint. Movie theaters seems to be having a blast these days with varying and in some cases, movie specific pre-movie announcements that get the point across and in no way detract from the movie following them. I do think that generally theaters could do to loosen up some on the way that they deliver the pre-show announcements since like it or not, it is the first thing that the audience hears. It'd be nice if people were smart or respectful enough to just turn their phones off, but the idea that telling them to do so is detracting from the show is a ridiculous complaint when compared to how annoying a phone going off mid show can be.
I agree with Bryce. I loved the way Jed handled the pre-show announcement during Inspector General. It reminded everyone to be considerate to the actors and other audience members, without taking us out of the atmosphere of the show. Including his comments about the snow storm and the city's inability to cope with it reminded us that this play was taking place now, and informed us that this show was meant to be funny. Although it can be irritating that this has to be done, using it as part of the art, instead of a footnote, enhances the show.
I think a lot of this goes along with the lack of formality that theatre seems to be getting now. People should know that cellphones need to be turned off, especially since even movies have that notice beforehand. The public should understand that it is polite and necessary. But, when it is decided that it is important that an announcement is used, I think that there is a right and wrong way to do it. I think they should only be done cute or funny if it adds something to the show, as in the case of Inpsector, which was a perfect tie-in with the hotline. This article led me to read more about Hugh Jackman stopping during A Steady Rain. I watche the video and it was very disruptive, not just the phone, but the fact that the action stopped for almost a minute. The audience cheered him on, but I would not have enjoyed the disruption either by the phone or the reaction. I think that having the announcement is a good sacrifice to prevent things like that.
I agree with this article's sentiment that preshow announcements have become so commonplace that it's surprising people don't turn off their phones before-hand, but almost every show I attend, I see people reach for their phones to silence them only when the announcement plays, as if this show would be different. I suppose that this is a testament to the fact that these announcements are serving a purpose, and I am a fan of attempting to make them a comical thing. I also don't feel that they detract from the show at all, and would rather listen to an announcement before a show than several cell phone rings during.
When I watch the show, sometiems someone's cellphone ringing and it is so annoying especially when show goes climax. If we skip pre-show announcement because of annoy, later annoy(phone ringing during the show) will be bigger. So, I think pre-show announcement is very important. But production can make pre-announcement creatively.
It is very sad and frankly disappointing that people feel so self-important that they can't stand to turn off their cell phones, ever. It's not only an issue in theater, but live music and any other event like a class. It's unfortunate that we are so attached to our phones and must be texting and tweeting all day to feel like we have purpose. I have many experiences that were altered and/or ruined because of this.
Not only is this an issue for directors, actors, and live performers in the way of pre-show announcements, but it's an issue for lighting as well. When I went to see Britney Spears at Mellon Arena, it was incredible the surge of light that materialized when she would make her way to the other side of the round stage; everyone in the audience would become so uninterested that they pulled out their phones creating a massive blue light. Even for a show you paid for, it's really difficult to have an attention span longer than 2 minutes to resist the urge to keep your phone on.
Unbelievable. People will never learn to be considerate.
I am very glad that theaters are starting to move away from the standard disembodied voice and are trying to make the " cell phone speech" in the style of the show. This, while definitely not a perfect solution for the directors and designers, is a good compromise. It gets the information across while allowing the audience to get into the spirit of the show. Unfortunately, even after years and years of the "turn off your cell phone" speech, people still don't do it automatically. Therefore, the speech is essential if you don't want cell phones to ring during your show. There is a trade off between a single, planned interruption at the beginning than multiple, unplanned interruptions.
think that this article has a lot of valid points. The instance of the man in the front row of a show answering his phone is a prime example of the self centered nature of our society. This is theater. I performance were people are working hard to provide you with a given entertainment. The people in todays society need to be reminded of the simple courtesy of turning off your phone during a performance. I can’t understand the audacity of people who can’t be away from the world for two hours for a show. I hope it doesn’t have to come to this, but will people someday have to turn their phones in before they even enter a theater?
I think it's really important that people are respectful enough to not have their cell phones on during a show. I also think it's important that a pre show announcement is not too distracting to a production. When I went to see Dead Man's Cell Phone, the pre show sound effects were very good at getting people to turn their cell phones off, even though that's probably not what they were meant for. During the pre show cell phone effects, I saw a lot of people turning their cell phones off because they don't want to be the one who's cell phone ends up ringing. I think that it would be good if productions could try to find something that would fit in with the show that would also remind people to turn their cell phones off.
I understand the argument that is being made saying that preshow announcements can disrupt the effect of the performance. However, so can standing in line at the box office, handing your ticket to an usher, being let to your seat, watching the lights flicker at the end of intermission… To try to take the presentational aspects out of a “theatrical experience” requires much more that just writing a fitting curtain speech.
A curtain speech is (however unfortunate) just as much a hurdle to get around as the hanging bright red EXIT signs. It is just something that has to be dealt with. If it can be incorporated in an artistically pleasing way, fantastic. If not, well, then you have to deal with the extremely “detrimental to the artistic vision” event of a cell phone going off.
In general, I always think it's interesting to see how different productions incorporate a pre-show announcement into the atmosphere of the show itself, and how this announcement helps the audience transition from reality to the world of the show. However, I somewhat wish that this announcement wasn't necessary. Personally, I consider it a courtsey to the performers and the production to turn off my phone or anything else that may interrupt their work and the experience that they are attempting to provide for the audience. But even with these pre-show announcements, inevitably, someone's phone goes off in almost every performance I've been in recently. I just think it's ridiculous that audience members cannot do one simple thing to ensure that the performance is not interrupted by an annoying ringtone. I wish that the purpose pre-show announcements was to be more of an artistic transitional addition to the show, rather than a useless attempt to get people to be respectful in a theater.
This is such an annoying thing. It also reminds me of sitting in Wicked on broadway and tree girls behind me were singing along like it was the soundtrack. I did not pay however much for my ticket to hear them sing. I paid to hear Megan Hilty sing. It was so annoying. There is a lack of formality in the theatre that needs to be addressed. No matter all the different ways that the production team comes up with to tell people not to do it. There are always people that still leave on their cell phones. It is a problem and the way that Hugh Jackman addressed the audience member during the show was just hilarious.
This issue must be so frustrating for those that have to address it. You'd think that after all these years, people would turn their damn phones off. The worst is when people think that it's only the noise that's a problem, and so they text on their enormous glow-y iPhones for the duration of a performance. I definitely approve of giving a pre-show announcement in the tone of the show; it gives the reminder without necessarily sounding like it's scolding the audience.
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