Singer Patti LuPone Snatches Phone from Spectator Mid-Show for Texting

Singer and actress Patti LuPone’s performance of Shows for Days left fans talking about more than just the show Wednesday.

The 66-year-old Tony Award-winner was in the middle of the show in New York when she stopped to grab the cell phone of an audience member who had been texting, according to fellow spectators, as reported by CBS New York.

I saw Patti LuPone deliver her scene exit line tonight at Lincoln Center & SNATCH A CELL PHONE OUT OF AN AUDIENCE MEMBER'S HAND. #theatre

— CatsPolitics (@CatsPolitics) July 9, 2015

PATTI LUPONE TOOK SOMEONE'S PHONE MID-SHOW BECAUSE THEY WERE TEXTING

— Travis Amiel (@heytravistravis) July 9, 2015

According to Broadway.com, LuPone explained after the show why she had finally had enough:

We work hard on stage to create a world that is being totally destroyed by a few, rude, self-absorbed and inconsiderate audience members who are controlled by their phones.

“They cannot put them down. When a phone goes off or when a LED screen can be seen in the dark it ruins the experience for everyone else – the majority of the audience at that performance and the actor on stage,” she added. “I am so defeated by this issue that I seriously question whether I want to work on stage anymore. Now I’m putting battle gear on over my costume to marshal the audience as well as perform.”

The offender was reportedly forced to search for the device after the show, as LuPone had given it to management.