New York Blog

Truly terrifying.

Some dude got LuPwned.

LuPwned...that's funny. Just think what she would have done to the dude with the tape recorder, had she caught him! How 'bout them eggrolls, Mr. Goldstone?

FABULOUS!!! Just fabulous!!! More people need to stand up for what's right rather than silently take what's wrong. Brava, Patti!

What a lot of people don't know is that the poor picture-taking fool was dragged backstage and after the show, Patti KICKED HIS ASS. She's a street fighter, baby.

Wow, that scared me, even from the safety of my desk in Tennessee. LuPwned, indeed!

While the picture taking may have been a distraction for Ms LuPone, her tirade destroyed the mood for the entire audience. She's too seasoned a performer to get that worked up. Ethel Merman would never have pulled such a stunt. She'd just sing louder!

Ethel Merman would have kept on singing but had the picture taker's legs broken after the show! She was a tough old broad!

Is this what gets you gay boys all excited?

So... Flash photography, bad. Bootlegging a recording of a Broadway show & putting it on YouTube, good?

Whether you like her performance or not, I'm glad she did what she did! Yes, it disrupted the show, but so did the repeated flashes (that probably would have continued if nothing had been done). I recently saw "Wicked" and WISH they had escorted a flash photographer out of the theatre. If the ushers or house management can't take care of it, then someone has to - otherwise that horrible behavior will continue. A flash in a dark theatre is VERY distracting to audience and performers alike - I even hate seeing the screens of phone and cameras - it is distracting! PLEASE, just turn them off for a few hours and focus on the performance in front of you (that most people paid A LOT of money to see!). Why common courtesy is so difficult for some, I'll never understand. (But I'll bet that "flasher" won't be doing that again...nor will the other people in the audience that night.)

Fantastic! And completely justifiable! I really HATE IT when people can't comply with simple requests! The A#@holes had it coming!

She's a pig. A self-centered, unprofessional, and ungracious pig who let down 1300 people for the act of one.

Whatever happened to class?

This ain't Turkey Lurky Time, Hot Honey Rag, or even The Carousel Waltz. This is Rose's Turn. One person. No one's en pointe, no one's doing cartwheels.

Patti, now that you're out of work and have a little time, look up the following words in the dictionary: professionalism, gracious, and dignity.

Wonder what she'll do when they STOP taking her picture?

I was in that audience too. Nervous audience? Bunk? We were on our feet with a standing ovation for her throwing this clod out. It isn't just distracting to actors, it is actually dangerous to have flash photography occur during a performance. This audience was given two separate reminders about recordings and to turn off devices. Yet there's always someone that thinks the rules don't apply to them. Bravo Patty. And, you absolutely nailed MAMA Rose that night. Ethel, who?

Oy, if as many people who say they were at that performance were actually there, the show would still be running.

I don't believe Gail.

Bravo Patti!! Face it people - society is out of control. Most people think they are so important that the rules apply to everyone else but them - and they can do whatever they damn well please! There were TWO announcements and numerous signs stating NO PICTURES. What part of that don't people understand?

That is HILARIOUS! I worship her now! 8 years of theatre and I wanted to do the same thing on numerous occasions! Go Patti!

I WAS WITH GAIL TOO!! And you were there. And YOU were there!!

Zzzzzzzz

You, MIcheal Musto ought to be ashamed of yourself. I've seen the show, she's great and had every right to respond. the fools with cameras, tape recorders and phones are the ones who should be publicly humiliated. I wish more actors would go ahead and shame those fools who let phones ring etc. Tim.

I've been in Patti's situation -- during a performance a few years ago, some schmuck sitting not five feet in front of me snapped a flash right in my face. Trust me, it's not only disrespectful, it's distracting and downright dangerous (imagine having to stumble around in the near-dark on a stage filled with obstacles while blinded by a flash).

I've been playing the clip of Patti over and over, and I keep smiling and thanking the heavens that someone FINALLY gave these rude people the spanking they deserve.

She made 1599 people pay for the act of 1. There are 1600 seats in the St. James and she let EVERYBODY wait because of the act of one person.

She's a fool, a tool, and an out-of-control ego-centric maniac.

Nice try, Tom.You reveal yourself to be a frenzied and unapologetic Lupone apologist.

You write, "If you're going to come down on one preformer for stopping a show, come down on all of them...."

Patti came down on EVERYONE in the theatre that night for the act of one person. And this is GYPSY, not The Producers (which spoofs the theatre and breaks the fourth wall). GYPSY is the King Lear of musical theatre, not a light operetta. Her choice in that moment broke the fourth wall and turned Rose's Turn into Patti's Turn.

What a disappointment for folks who had been looking forward to seeing the show complete.

"You get before the show has started that your favorite uncle died at dawn You're broken hearted, but you go on." A wise man wrote those words -- or some reasonable facsimilie thereof. Patti chose not to go on -- and for what? Not a flash or even the presumed red lights of a camera. No, for her own ego. She wasn't going en pointe, she wasn't dancing a pas de deux.

She allowed her wild and unchecked ego to take over. And she should be ashamed of herself. She owes everyone in that theatre a public apology.

I have enjoyed every Lupone performance I have seen, from Evita (three times!) to Master Class (three times!). But her behavior is simply inexcusable.

Color Me Disappointed and Rose,

I am sorry you read my response and saw only "blind devotion" and a "frenzied and unapologetic Lupone apologist" in me causing my credibility to be "robbed".

Maybe I should have been CLEARER when I wrote my response. I assumed, which I now see I shouldn't have, that since this situation is about Ms. LuPone, that my comments would be looked at for this particular situation, they weren't. So allow me to correct myself by saying I would have said the same thing had it been any other actor on that stage.

I DID think I was clear in stating that this whole thing would NOT have happened if that IDIOT in the audience hadn't been taking pictures with a FLASH!!!! Maybe you missed that "Color". A complete show for me is to see it without interruption of ANY kind! That means picture taking. As I did mention, that is just as much an infringement on the audience as stopping that show, in my opinion.

As for the 4th wall being broken in PRODUCERS and that it is "ok" for an actor to talk about something that isn't even period for the show....WRONG...4th wall or not, trying to make another actor on stage laugh because they are in a bad mood, at the expense of the audience, is just as bad. If you don't think that, then you don't. I personally do.

As for the apology...again, "Color" you choose to take the side of the IDIOT who was taking the picture...if he hadn't been taking it, NONE of this would even be written! HE should be publicly apologizing to the paying audience.

You are both entitled to your thoughts "Color and Rose", as is everyone else, but you both have just shown me that you side with someone who had no respect for the show he came to see, the cast, the union rules, OR the paying audience.

If that's how you want to think, then respect for your fellow man, just took a bad turn indeed.

During the past (many) years, I have come to depend upon (at least) one audience member’s cell phone ringing (and, additionally, sandwich wrappers rustling, plastic take-out containers crunching and brazen banter) during any given performance. When at a multiple-act production, ringing will occur both before *and* after intermission/s. To name only a few . . .

As an audience member of Tracy Lett’s “August: Osage County” (I had the good fortune to return a second time), during *both* performances (and during every act – there were three!) cell phones rang out. I begged Management to repeat the “turn-off” announcements, but to no avail. (FYI: Ushers and Stage Managers, alike, are outraged by these occurrences. I don’t know if policy or liabilities discourage action.) I addressed the nearby offenders, who thought it both humorous - - and their privilege! - - to maintain phones in operation-mode.

During an Off-Broadway performance of Nicky Silver’s “Three Changes”, a cell phone loudly rang . . . again, and again, and again. Intimate, dramatic action was taking place between Dylan McDermott and Aya Cash. Ms. Cash’s response was so deft (and, fortuitously, suited her character and circumstances), it took the post-performance talk-back to convince audience members of what my friend and I were already aware: The ringing phone was not scripted. (Ms. Cash’s brilliantly improvised end-of-act exit line: “And turn off your fucking cell phone!”).

Without exaggeration, I’ve not attended a single performance during which phones are not flipped open (like mini-flashlights bursting randomly throughout an audience: Imagine the distraction – and disorientation: physical and theatrical – for stage actors) in the service of obsessive text-retrieval and messaging. Why attend theatre when you can gorge and gab at home?

I have seen – and been blown-away by – Ms. Lupone’s “Gypsy”. I regret that I could not have been in attendance for this performance. But the recording of her “terrifying” act – with its thunderous applause – further reinforces my respect and awe.
You DECIMATE that Fourth Wall, Patti!

Harriet Hendlin, NYC

No one is taking the side of the guy taking the picture. NO ONE.

What is it about blind and rabid Patti apologists who can't follow a simple argument?

Yes, the photographer was wrong. But that's why w ehave house managers and ushers.

Patti was wrong because she broke the fourth wall and stopped the show for the sake of grandstanding.

No matter how you slice it, Tom, she was wrong. You can "explain" it, justify it, rationalize it, even say, "what about the other guy." But the simple fact is she disrespected the piece, her costars, AND the other 1,599 people who paid to see GYPSY.

Patti was wrong. And I am disappointed. She has such talent, but her wild, out-of-control ego remains unchecked and even lauded. You can have her. She won't get another drop of support from me. And I have seen her in every NYC appearance since EVITA.

Disappointed -

Thank you for your reply.
I agree with more than you might imagine.

I do not favor uprisings from the stage. Neither from the house. If anything productive can emerge from this "show-stopping" event - - whether deemed justified or blasphemous - - and from the discussion it's generated (here and elsewhere), i would hope (while not holding my breath) that the notion (and practice) of respect might return to our theatre audiences: This would obviate any need for hyper-vigilance on the part of management and, perhaps also, for a performer's consideration (diva or not-so-diva) to respond radically - - even regrettably - - in the face of circumstances that should never have existed in the first place.

Harriet Hendlin, NYC

I saw this production of GYPSY shorly after it opened (loved the production, thought Lupone was wonderful) and wanted to experience it once more before it closed. I had the bad luck - yes, bad luck - to be in the audience on January 10.
Ms L.'s reaction to something she saw (and which may have dusturbed a small number of people sitting near the picture-taking jerk) broke what should have been one of the great moments in that or any other musical.
Instead, she made the very poor choice to be sure that the rest of the 1000+ people in the house shared her bad experience.It was a complete turnoff to me and all the people around me (including a 10 year old girl whose parents later explained to her that what she had just seen was not acceptable behavior by anyone).
When she picked up "Rose's Turn" again, it had become just a song. Not the centerpiece of the play, not a great moment in theater. It was just a song.
I know some people loved the drama of it."That's what you get with live theater...what did you expect from her?...hey...it's theater history!" I assume these are the same people who slow down hoping to catch a sight of blood or a body in a car wreck.
I hope the next time Patti Lupone is tempted to throw a tantrum, she think harder about the rest of the audience and what we are there for, rather than one or two idiots who are ruining "her" show. Her behavior was unprofessional and sad.

She's a pig.

okay everyone who is saying shes a pig and unprofessional and she should have let house management handle it well thats your opinion and my opinion is that she had every right to do what she did the person took 2 pictures already and house management did nothing so why should she have to wait when she was obv.was being distracted and could have just handled it herself which she did i would have LOVED to be there! i hate it when people take pictures when you were told twice not to its so rude and disrespectful to everyone.

and i love her even more for what she did!