Broadway legend Patti LuPone’s ongoing war against audience members using phones during performances, culminating in her snatching a texting audience member’s phone mid-performance in 2015 and becoming a folk hero to theater professionals.
The Queen Has Spoken
On July 8, 2015, during a performance of “Shows for Days” at Lincoln Center, Patti LuPone stopped mid-scene, walked into the audience, and physically took a phone from a texting audience member. The incident went viral, with theater community overwhelmingly siding with LuPone.
LuPone had been vocal about phone usage for years, but this action elevated her to patron saint of theater etiquette. She regularly advocized for stricter enforcement, jamming cell signals in theaters, and publicly shaming phone users.
In a 2019 incident during “Company,” she stopped a performance to have a photographer removed from the audience. Her zero-tolerance stance made her both beloved (by performers and theater purists) and controversial (by those who felt her reactions were performative or class-based gatekeeping).
The debate around phones in theaters intensified through the 2010s as smartphones became ubiquitous. LuPone represented the old guard fighting for theater’s sacredness; critics argued her hostility alienated younger, diverse audiences trying to engage with theater for the first time.
During pandemic Zoom theater, LuPone’s phone war felt quaint - but when Broadway reopened 2021, phone usage battles resumed, with LuPone still leading the charge.