Yesterday after months of waiting, I was lucky enough to go see She Loves Me. Starring the incomparable Laura Benanti and Zachary Levi, I have been a fan of both for such a long time and have been waiting for the moment to see this show after rave reviews. The show was a complete delight and I couldn’t have been happier I got to see Laura in this role because she kills/slays/destroys her performance and is giving us a show to remember long after we leave the theater.
Everything was so incredible until, the moment came where Laura as Amalia has her most vulnerable moment of the show in my opinion when she sings “Will He Like Me?” a cellphone, went off ringing near the center orchestra. Now what I don’t understand, like at all is how people can’t leave the real world behind for two hours and enjoy whats being performed in front of them. These people work tirelessly, hours on end rehearsing and perfecting their craft and art. We should be able to and have the decency to give them the respect they so truly deserve and be in the present moment with them.
There were two more rings and at this point I was mortified and I really felt bad until in true fashion, Benanti who for a fact doesn’t take anyone’s shit of any kind stopped her performance and goes very calmly “Ill wait”. The orchestra stops, you could have heard a freakin’ pin drop BUT NO YOU HEARD ANOTHER RING. As soon as the person finally figured it out (like really shut the thing off) she picked up where she left off singing what was one of the best songs in the show in my opinion. She handled this with grace and professionalism, if it were me in her position I would have pulled a Lupone and shattered the phone to bits sorry not sorry.
This is SUUUUCH a pressing issue and problem in the theater community with the audience I wish I could say this was the first time I heard a phone go off while a show was going on. the real question here is W H Y would you dish out hundreds of dollars to see a show and not just enjoy it. Shut your phone off, watch what you paid for and be respectful of these artists they have eyes they’re not blind they can SEE you believe it or not fidgeting with your phone, opening a bag of chips or whatever.
I applaud Laura wholeheartedly, she is an incredible performer and I am so lucky that I had gotten the chance to see this show before the run ends (July 10th get tickets #Shamelessplug), let this be a lesson (apparently it needs to be now and thats sad) SHUT IT OFF. Live without technology for two whole hours I know its probably scary but I promise you’re not missing anything you won’t see later on.
So thank you and I say brava to you Laura, you’re a true star.
Did She Like It? 