Bootlegs, Courtesy, and Cellphones Oh My!

• Grace Aki

Joshua Henry snatched a cell phone from a front-row patron during his performance in MCC’s ‘The Wrong Man’. He tossed it under the bleachers, the audience applauded. 

Rihanna texts Jeremy O’Harris at a performance of his play,’ Slave Play.’ 

Jarrod Spektor calls out Kanye on his phone at ‘The Cher Show’ on Twitter. 

Cell phone stories have become a part of the theatre vernacular.

Imagine you’re on a date, you’re pouring your heart out to your partner and they get out their phone. It’s rude. Now imagine you’re a performer and you’re giving your all on stage… and there in the crowd, the glow of a cellphone on a patron’s face. It’s all the same feeling, disrespect. 

Last year I got married. I’ve seen weddings captured in my friend’s Instagram stories. I went into a panic thinking about this possibility on the biggest day of my life. Imagine paying $$ for the best photography & videography teams and seeing somebody with their android taping you say your marriage vows in all the shots. You’d be mortified.

But regardless, it just feels disrespectful during such a momentous event. I decided there had to be a way to keep everyone present, however drastic. So I had my Uncle serve as a bouncer, and with make-shift sealed, name assigned bags, every guest powered down and turned over their devices. We only had a little push back, but most people were thrilled to be unplugged for 30 minutes. Everyone was dialed into us instead of their social outlets. 

What does any of this have to do with the current Broadway cellphone epidemic? I say this to say, a show is no different. Performances are special, sacred, intimate moments. For someone that is their first Broadway show, for someone that is their Broadway debut. Each show is a big deal, maybe not for everyone, but for most. As a society have to take pictures/videos of everything now. Perhaps this comes with Kardashian koulture where we have to prove everything we’re doing on our social media. And granted, we’re all culprits. I’ll be the first to admit I have to take a photo of my food before enjoying it. Documenting my life for my family and friends back home brings me so much joy. 

But, filming performances/life events should be treated differently.

Most actors are not okay with bootlegs. Rightfully so, it’s literally prohibited. When my husband made his Broadway debut, during his sophomore year of college, he got about two months with the show. The day before his debut, they announced their closing notice. This made it nearly impossible for all of his friends and family to see his Broadway debut. Somehow, a patron in the balcony took a bootleg of the show. It’s not a great quality video, however, it’s literally the only recording we have of him in the show.

Everyone else got to be in promo videos, the Tony’s, the proshot on Netflix, not him. So this bootleg, as unfortunate as it is, is precious to us. We wrestle with the fact that we hate bootlegs and people who try to tape shows. However, we treasure seeing these clips of him from the show. 

What’s the solution?

For starters, why can’t we proshot everything? Performers, crew, etc should be able to have video evidence for archival purposes that isn’t from some deep Youtube dive. Industry uses these for reels to book future jobs. Remember in high school when you could pay someone’s Dad with a video camera to tape your chorus recital?

Let’s bring that to Broadway. We have Broadway HD, but it isn’t enough. Why not professionally tape shows and create a platform for streaming? This could give actors of closed show (R.I.P. ‘Groundhog Day’) residuals just like their two show arcs on ‘Law and Order’. 

Secondly, ‘Freestyle Love Supreme’ took a note from my wedding and has a controlled phone sealed pouched. A genius answer to the phone epidemic. 7/10 performances I attend include a cellphone text or call alert during the show. Say goodbye to your great aunt’s Sex and the City ringtone alert during ‘Betrayal.’ 

At the end of the day, people are filming because they love theatre and want to relive it. It’s well-intentioned but it can’t be tolerated, it’s too distracting. 

People are texting/on their phones during shows because they’re assholes.

Let’s all just sit back, and enjoy the show.