Klarinet Archive - Posting 000742.txt from 1999/08

From: Ken Wolman <Ken.Wolman@-----.com>
Subj: Re: [kl] Audience Distractions
Date: Wed, 25 Aug 1999 19:46:18 -0400

benstutzman@-----.net wrote:

> CHICAGO (AP) - Opera buffs at a performance of Verdi's "La Traviata" got
> more drama that they bargained for.
> The crackling of a candy wrapper - irritating to the finely tuned ears
> of one opera lover - brought a whispered complaint that was allegedly
> answered by a slap on the back of the head.
> That's when the police were called.

Well, that's a bit of an overreaction, but....

I was at the Met here in NY for a performance of The Queen of Spades.
This was in mid-March. In addition to the usual demonstrations of
respiratory distress from the audience, keyed to begin with Maestro
Gergiev's first downbeat (the horns should follow his beat that
closely), somewhere during the performance I heard the very loud ringing
of a cell phone from inside the auditorium. My companion and I were
aghast. There are notices all over the program that cell phones and
beepers have to be turned off or set to vibrate. But here some clown
who probably wanted to know how his junkbonds were doing had his phone
turned on full-blast. We were in Family Circle; the clown with the
phone was seated several floors down, where the noise must've been
deafening. I don't know if irate patrons cellphone-whipped the
malefactor, but I can see where such displays of discourtesy can really
push normally well-behaved people over the edge.

Ken
--
Ken Wolman dbtrader Deutsche Bank, N.A.
1251 Sixth Avenue, New York, NY 10019 212-469-6494
Teach someone to fish and you have helped them survive another day.
Teach them to surf the Net and they won't bother you for weeks.

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