popular thinking

HOW TO GET CELLPHONES OUT OF THE CINEPLEX

That's the dilemma facing the National Association of Theatre Owners. Reports surfaced over the weekend suggesting that the cineplex group wanted to ban cell phone signals outright and petition the FCC to do so. The group backtracked from that stance somewhat on Monday when I talked to them. But the intent remains clear. And so does the dilemma -- how do you get people to stop using their cell phones during a movie (or a live performance)?

Jeff Poulos, executive director for StageSource, Boston's alliance of theater artists and producers, said "it's not illegal" to let your phone ring, or even to answer it, during a show. "It's just an incredible inconvenience." Poulos said each theater venue or group has its own creative way of making pre-show announcements to encourage audience members to turn off their phones and pagers (wait, who has a pager anymore?).

John Michael Kennedy from the Huntington Theatre Company says: "The way we handle it is the way most theaters handle it, which is to make an announcement beforehand. People forget, or don't shut off their phones. At some point in the run of each show, we'll have a phone go off in the theater. The other other audience members glare at that audience person." During one show, a cast member ad-libbed a line to reference the ringing phone.

Kennedy would like to see the cells banned. "I think it's a good idea, but I can understand the other issues of people feeling it cuts off a potential emergency," Kennedy told me. Nevertheless, he feels as though front-of-house managers can help assist an audience member if there were an actual emergency that required their attention during a show.