Abstract
This chapter discusses the ways in which cell phone technology has impacted the behaviors of audiences within the context of live performances of musical theatre. It first provides a brief overview of the history of cell phone use in the United States before moving on to a series of case studies involving audience misbehavior facilitated by, and unique to, this technology. A fundamental tension is found between conceptions of community as imagined on musical theatre stages as opposed to those created by cell phone use.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Bibliography
Brantley, Ben. “Review: ‘Privacy,’ a Play That Urges You to Keep Your Smartphone On.” New York Times (July 18, 2016), http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/19/theater/review-privacy-a-play-that-urges-you-to-keep-your-smartphone-on.html.
Burland, Karen, and Stephanie Pitts. “Prelude.” In Coughing and Clapping: Investigating Audience Experience, edited by Burland and Pitts, 1–6. New York: Routledge, 2014.
Campbell, Scott. “Perceptions of Cell Phone Use in Public: The Roles of Individualism, Collectivism, and the Focus of the Setting.” Communication Reports 21, no. 2 (2008): 70–81.
Carrillo, Sarah. “Theater Etiquette Pet Peeve?” (July 8, 2015), http://sellingout.com/whats-the-biggest-theater-etiquette-pet-peeve/.
———. “Theater Etiquette Conundrum: Phone Off or On Vibrate?” (July 15, 2015), http://sellingout.com/theater-etiquette-conundrum-phone-off-or-on-vibrate/.
———. “Theater Etiquette Conundrum: Obey House Rules?” (July 29, 2015), http://sellingout.com/theater-etiquette-conundrum-obey-house-rules/.
“Cell Phones and Theatre Etiquette” (September 3, 2015), https://storify.com/howlround/cell-phones-theatre-e.
Clement, Olivia. “Are Avenue Q’s Bad Idea Bears Behind the Controversial AT&T Ads?” Playbill Online (October 5, 2015), http://www.playbill.com/article/are-avenue-qs-bad-idea-bears-behind-the-controversial-at-t-ads-com-365815.
David Savran, Broadway as Global Brand. Journal of Contemporary Drama in English 5 (1).
de Souza e Silva, Adriana. “Interfaces of Hybrid Spaces.” In The Cell Phone Reader: Essays in Social Transformation, edited by Anandam P. Kavoori and Noah Arceneaux, 19–44. New York: Peter Lang Publishing, 2006.
Diehl, Kristin, Alixandra Barasch, and Gal Zauberman. “How Taking Photos Increases Enjoyment of Experiences.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 111, no. 2 (2016): 119–40.
Divabehavior, “Patti Lupone stops ‘Gypsy’ mid-show to yell at a photographer” (October 11, 2009), https://youtu.be/WruzPfJ9Rys.
Forlano, Laura. “Cell Phone Ban.” Gotham Gazette (February 28, 2003), http://www.gothamgazette.com/index.php/open-government/1733-cell-phone-ban.
Gans, Andrew. “Stanley Stucci Admonishes Audience During Aug. 14 Frankie and Johnny Performance” Playbill Online (August 15, 2002), http://www.playbill.com/article/stanley-tucci-admonishes-audience-during-aug-14-frankie-johnny-performance-com-107695.
Gilbert, Sophie. “Can Benedict Cumberbatch Save Theater from Cellphones?” The Atlantic (August 11, 2015), http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2015/08/can-benedict-cumberbatch-save-theater-from-cellphones/401042/.
Gioia, Michael. “AT&T Advertisements, Promoting Phone Use in the Theatre, Continue; Watch the Video.” Playbill Online (September 21, 2015), http://www.playbill.com/article/at-t-advertisements-promoting-phone-use-in-the-theatre-continue-watch-the-video-com-363330.
Goldman, John J. “NYC Votes to Curb Annoying Use of Cell Phones.” Los Angeles Times (February 13, 2003), http://articles.latimes.com/2003/feb/13/nation/na-cellban13.
Hanson, Jarice. 24/7: How Cell Phones and the Internet Change the Way We Live, Work, and Play. Westport, CT: Praeger, 2007.
Hassoun, Dan. “Engaging Distractions: Regulating Second-Screen Use in the Theatre.” Cinema Journal 55, no. 2 (2016): 89–111.
Heim, Caroline. Audience as Performer: The Changing Role of Theatre Audiences in the Twenty-First Century. New York, Routledge, 2016.
Itzkoff, Dave. “Another Show-Stopping Moment (Not the Good Kind) From Patti LuPone.” New York Times ArtsBeat online (June 22, 2009), http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/06/22/another-show-stopping-moment-not-the-good-kind-from-patti-lupone/.
———. “Rose’s Turn: Patti LuPone Responds to ArtsBeat.” New York Times ArtsBeat online (June 23, 2009), http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/06/23/roses-turn-patti-lupone-responds-to-artsbeat/.
Katz, James, and Jing Wang. “Cell Phone Culture.” MIT Communications Forum (November 17, 2005), http://web.mit.edu/comm-forum/forums/cell_phone_culture.htm.
Law, Alex, Wallace McNeish, and Linda Gray. “Base Station Fears: The Paradox of Mobile Geography.” Geography 88, no. 4 (2003): 320–30.
Levine, Lawrence. Highbrow/Lowbrow: The Emergence of Cultural Hierarchy in America. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1988.
Lewis, Peter H. “Smaller, Lighter, Stronger, Cheaper.” New York Times online edition (July 21, 1992), http://www.nytimes.com/1992/07/21/science/personal-computers-smaller-lighter-stronger-cheaper.html.
Louie, Elaine. “If the Phone Had a Cord, You Could Strangle the User.” New York Times (September 30, 1999), http://www.nytimes.com/1999/09/30/garden/design-notebook-if-the-phone-had-a-cord-you-could-strangle-the-user.html.
MacDonald, Laura. “The Sound of Musicals in China,” American Theatre, (April 25, 2017), http://www.americantheatre.org/2017/04/25/the-sound-of-musicals-in-china/.
MacDonald, Laura and William Everett, ed. The Palgrave Handbook of Musical Theatre Producers. London: Palgrave MacMillan, 2017.
McKinley, Jesse and Nichole M. Christian. “Hark, Hark, That Tweet is No Lark. It’s Illegal,” New York Times (February 13, 2003), http://www.nytimes.com/2003/02/13/nyregion/hark-hark-that-tweet-is-no-lark-it-s-illegal.html.
McMillin, Scott. The Musical as Drama. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2007.
Middlekauff, Tracey and Josh Brustein. “Issue of the Week: Cell Phones.” Gotham Gazette (October 21, 2002), http://www.gothamgazette.com/iotw/cellphones/.
“Mobile Technology Fact Sheet.” (December 27, 2013; updated, December 2014), http://www.pewinternet.org/fact-sheets/mobile-technology-fact-sheet/.
Myerson, George. Heidegger, Habermas and the Mobile Phone. London: Icon Books, 2001.
Neal, Rome. “Cell Phone Battle Turns Bitter” (August 6, 2003), http://www.cbsnews.com/news/cell-phone-battle-turns-bitter/.
Nickerson, Robert C., Henri Isaac, and Brenda Mak. “A multi-national study of attitudes about mobile phone use in social settings.” International Journal of Mobile Communications 6, no. 5 (2008): 541–63.
Pinchot, Jamie, Karen Paullet, and Daniel Rota. “How Mobile Technology is Changing Our Culture.” Journal of Information Systems Applied Research 3, no. 1519. (April 2011): 1–10.
Rainie, Lee, and Kathryn Zickurh. “Americans’ Views on Cell Phone Etiquette” (August 26, 2015), http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/08/26/chapter-3-when-it-is-acceptable-or-not-to-use-cellphones-in-public-spaces/.
Rebellato, Dan. “Booing,” Contemporary Theatre Review, 23, no. 1. (February 2013): 10–15.
———. Theatre and Globalization. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2009.
Reeves, Hope. “Despite Cellphone Ban in Theaters, Dialing Continues.” New York Times (September 13, 2004), http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/13/nyregion/despite-cellphone-ban-in-theaters-dialing-continues.html.
Samuel, Alicia. “Let it Ring One More Time! Turn off Your Damn Cell Phone” (May 26, 2016), http://broadwayblack.com/turn-off-your-damn-phone/.
Schechner, Richard. Environmental Theatre. 2nd ed. New York: Applause Books, 1994.
Schulze, Daniel. “The Passive Gaze and Hyper-Immunized Spectators: The Politics of Theatrical Live Broadcasting” Journal of Contemporary Drama in English 3, no. 2 (November 2015): 315–326.
Simonson, Robert. “Things that go Chirp in the Night.” Playbill Online (February 2, 2007), http://www.playbill.com/article/things-that-go-chirp-in-the-night-com-138150.
———. “In Case You Missed It: Did Something Happen with a Cell Phone?” Playbill Online (July 10, 2015), http://www.playbill.com/article/in-case-you-missed-it-did-something-happen-with-a-cell-phone-com-353059.
Swift, Elizabeth. “What do Audiences Do? Negotiating the Possible Worlds of Participatory Theatre,” Journal of Contemporary Drama in English 4, no. 1. (May 2016): 134–149.
Thomas, Kyle A. “Theatre in a Mobile World: Critiquing Convention and Calling for Innovation” (June 3, 2015), http://howlround.com/theatre-in-a-mobile-world-critiquing-convention-and-calling-for-innovation.
Thomson, Kristin, Kristen Purcell, and Lee Rainie. “Arts Organizations and Digital Technologies” (January 4, 2013), http://www.pewinternet.org/2013/01/04/section-6-overall-impact-of-technology-on-the-arts/.
Viagas, Robert. “Audience Member Tries to Use Stage Outlet to Charge Phone at Hand to God.” Playbill Online (July 6, 2015), http://www.playbill.com/article/audience-member-tries-to-use-stage-outlet-to-charge-phone-at-hand-to-god-com-352658.
Wallis, David. “Noises Off: A Muzzle for Cell Phones.” New York Times (April 11, 1999), http://www.nytimes.com/1999/04/11/business/business-noises-off-a-muzzle-for-cell-phones.htm.
Wolf, Stacy. “Musical Theatre Studies,” The Journal of American Drama and Theatre 28, no 1 (Winter 2016): http://jadtjournal.org/2016/03/23/musical-theatre-studies.
_______. “Theater Etiquette Conundrum: Are Photos Ok?” (July 23, 2015), https://sellingout.com/theater-etiquette-conundrum-are-photos-ok/.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2017 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Edney, K. (2017). Let’s Misbehave: Cell Phone Technology and Audience Behaviors. In: Hillman-McCord, J. (eds) iBroadway. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-64876-7_5
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-64876-7_5
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-64875-0
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-64876-7
eBook Packages: Literature, Cultural and Media StudiesLiterature, Cultural and Media Studies (R0)