Ring Ring, Who's the Ding-a-ling?

A fun Broadway news day... including this ditty, ganked from Page Six:

June 2, 2006 -- Richard Griffiths finally had enough when the first act of the Wednesday matinee of "The History Boys" was interrupted for a fourth time by a ringing cellphone. "I cannot tolerate this anymore. I cannot compete with electronic devices," he told the audience. "You were asked nicely to turn off your phones. You were told it was against the law. I'm going to walk off and start the scene again. If this happens again, I will end the show." A witness said all four phones were in the same row and apparently in the same family. "At intermission, a manager ran down the aisle to throw them out," we're told. No rings were heard in the second act.

It's really repulsive. It's a terrible thought that actors have to contend with every day at every performance, and whether Griffiths was correct in his approach or not is not the issue (here and now anyway). Now, don't get me wrong, I have a mobile phone and have used it daily since December 2003. It's a brilliant invention, but the stupidity of the human race has turned it into a brilliant annoyance. How can someone presume it's OK to let a phone ring during a LIVE SHOW? Christ.

Man in Chair is right (terribly paraphrased with love): and then they have the nerve to answer during the show. "Oh hi! What are you doing? I'm ruining the moment." "Oh I couldn't get out tonight so I thought I'd ruin the moment by proxy." At least back then [1920s] they didn't have cell phones to ruin the moment. Although I'm sure they had something ... bugles, maybe.

ALSO MAKING HEADLINES today is the West End mounting of SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE which is doing terrificly well and has extended through September 2.

Playbill.com goes backstage with Sutton Foster at the Marquis Theatre last Wednesday [the video is a big file, just let it load in the background while you're reading back issues of this blog ... but for all the love of turkey, stick around to see the interviews with the rest of the cast backstage before the matinee, they're brilliant and similar to a little video mi amigos y yo made back in the day]. Thank goodness we finally learn why she's been wearing those bandages on her knee [the splits]. "Some people can see it, but I don't really care because I don't have bruises and that's better in the long run," she explains. And you know what, I'm glad they did this video interview because I have now come to respect Ms Foster SO incredibly much more. I didn't care for her in Drowsy at all, but seeing the difference between her character and her real self is a relief. What I didn't like was the character... all ego and glamour, but that's exactly what she was supposed to be. HOW STUPID AM I? I should know better. I should know better, and I didn't, and I apologize to Ms Foster. Apologies all around.