Audience noise has to be one of my biggest pet peeves. At a recent concert in New York, I had to literally stare down a pair of old ladies who wouldn't stop talking and rustling their programs. Some 30 seconds passed and I received not a look of embarrassment from the two, but one of annoyance(!)
Do we allow our rights to be violated (photgraphy, filming and audio taping of performances is illegal) or tolerate rudeness by members of the audience who feel they have the right to sit in a dark theater, texting or checking their e-mail while the light from their screens distract both performers and the audience alike? Or, should I stand up for my rights as a performer as well as the audiences I perform for? And do you think I’m alone in this? Ask any performer on Broadway right now about their level of frustration with this issue. Ask the actor in “Hair” who recently grabbed a camera out of an audience member’s hand and threw it across the stage. Or ask the two Queens in “Mary Stuart” (Harriet Walter and Janet McTeer) how they react to it.
Thank god someone is saying this. And if has to be anyone, I'm glad it's someone who doesn't hesitate to eject people like this from the theater:
