Hugh Jackman vs. The Ringing Cell Phone
Filed under: Fandom, Daniel Craig, Fan Rant, Trailers and Clips
Is there anything more annoying than a cell phone ringing in the middle of a movie theater? Yes, there is! A cell phone ringing in the middle of a live play! As you undoubtedly know, Hugh Jackman and Daniel Craig are currently treading the boards in A Steady Rain, a gritty Chicago cop drama that just kicked off on Broadway. Now, when you decide to spend the money and see a once-in-a-lifetime performance, you can either give it your full intention and see how genius creates a legend, or you can leave your cell phone on so your friends can call you and find out if Craig's wearing his Bond swimtrunks.
Some jackass decided to do the latter. Perhaps he or she had a death wish to be ripped apart by the bulging muscles that make up Craig and Jackman, or maybe they thought no one would notice if it kept ringing, and ringing, and ringing. Luckily for the idiot, Jackman was a class act. Luckily for the audience, he didn't even break character and practically made it part of the performance. (I would have preferred seeing Craig and Jackman rip the person apart with their bare hands, but I like violence, and the possibility that one or both would have torn their shirt off in doing so.) Check out the video below the jump for a good laugh.
I'd kill to see this play (Gritty 1970s cop drama! Chicago! Hugh Jackman! It's all of my favorite things!) and the fact that some moron has the time, access, and money to just ruin it with a cell phone really irks me. I'm thinking it might be time to require phones be coat-checked before entering a theater, be it at your multiplex or on the Great White Way, because it seems few can be trusted to actually turn them off.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
9-29-2009 @ 4:16PM
cablebfg said...
By your description I was thinking it would be more in character, but this is a classy move by both Craig and Jackman.
A film, you can see again usually on DVD or whatever and the price of admission isnt as much. But to ruin the sanctity of a play (which often costs quite a bit and isnt the same on a DVD or theater as it is live) is pretty ridiculous.
Why do people fail to use technology etiquette? Do you REALLY have such an extraordinary and demanding life that you can't turn off your cell phone or leave it behind for a few hours?
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9-29-2009 @ 4:42PM
Rivndellelf said...
Wow. This article is sooooo different from the one I just got done reading about this. I found it on Yahoo's main page. It didn't link to the video and made Jackman sound more annoyed about it and kinda more of a jerk.
After seeing the video, your article is definitely the more accurate of the two... Way to go.
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9-29-2009 @ 10:05PM
Juice said...
Jackman and Craig are awesome. They couldve been serious dicks if they wanted, but gave that sorry jerk another shot at turning off his phone and continueing the play. The fact that Jackman had to ask more than once is whats amazing.
Im suprised after the second request from Hugh someone in the crowd didnt punch the guy in the nuts. I wouldve.
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9-29-2009 @ 11:01PM
Kate said...
I concur with Juice. Whoever thinks it's a good idea to leave their cell phone on during a play and the phone goes off and they don't turn it off, deserves to be punched in the nuts/kicked in the vagina. I'm absolutely mortified about this and I haven't been to a Broadway show in ages.
Has there been any discussion about putting signal blockers in theaters? I remember reading somewhere that someone got a stuck tampon over that because it infringed on their "civil rights" to be a complete and utter tool, but I don't know why it isn't implemented everywhere. I can't even get a signal in my apartment. Why not block theaters?
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10-02-2009 @ 8:15AM
C.A. said...
Mainly for doctors that are on call. The main thing is most are intelligent enough to use a silent mode and then step out quietly in case of emergency.
As far as the clip goes, very classy act guys! That's nearly unforgivable and they handled it like champs!
9-29-2009 @ 11:13PM
Marty said...
I will be in New York in mid-November so does anyone know if this play will be on then?
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10-05-2009 @ 10:27AM
Prhime said...
it is running until december
9-30-2009 @ 2:13AM
YouFaceTheTick said...
Funny video.
Actually, some of us do have jobs that demand we keep our phones with us. I would never have my ringer on but then again I would still have it on vibrate in my hand because my job demands that I answer what they deem as important messages within 30 minutes - that's 24/7. It's not pleasant but I have a job, it pays better than most of the population make and I'm sadly tethered to my phone night and day.
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9-30-2009 @ 1:51PM
Kevin said...
I agree with your sentiment Tick, even if I don't get why you'd throw in the "I make more money than you do" comment (don't really see why thats relevant, but whatever makes you feel big I guess). The issue with this guy was that it kept happening. We all make mistakes, so if you forget to turn off the ringer than its annoying, but not terrible. Letting it ring over and over again takes it to a different level. Pretty obnoxious. Maybe this guy had a job that demanded he have his phone on him at all time but doesn't pay enough for him to be able to afford a phone with vibrate. Who knows.
9-30-2009 @ 10:39PM
eileen said...
The night we went to see the play someone decided to have their own conversation and Jackman stopped and said" If you have something that important to talk about maybe you want to share it with the audience"? Are you sure your done, I wouldn't want to interrupt you? Ok, shit where was I and went right back into character
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10-02-2009 @ 2:15PM
Jeff said...
Reminds me of a great audio play written by Charlie Kaufman and produced by the Coen brothers. It's a trippy play within a play within a play in which Meryl Streep plays a more bitchy version of herself and freaks out about cell phones and "hope, leaving our lives. Hope...leaving the theatre." It's an hour long, but listening to it is truly a transformative experience that I highly recommend. Download here: http://huffduffer.com/brandtkurowski/1056
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10-06-2009 @ 1:15PM
Holly said...
I was in a play where the person not only left their phone on, but answered it and talked once it rung! I wasn't on stage at the time, we heard about down in the green room. They were escorted out, I'm happy to say.
In a movie theatre is bad enough, but how self absorbed do you have to be to do that with live theatre?!
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