Hugh Jackman Rocks My Socks

[Grog12]

Video captures Jackman chiding cell phone offender (AP) - Yahoo! Movies

[Van]

And in a related story from The Guardian UK:


Mobiles: exeunt after St Petersburg theatre installs jammers


Fed up with the constant trilling from the stalls, Russia's oldest theatre has come up with a novel solution to the ubiquitous problem of mobile phones going off - jam the signal.
The Alexandrinsky theatre in St Petersburg last month became the first theatre company in the world to install jamming equipment, after previous attempts to get patrons to switch off their phones failed. The theatre said it was forced to introduce the measure after a ringing mobile phone wrecked a recent performance of Leo Tolstoy's The Living Corpse. The central character, Fedor Protasov, decides to kill himself after his wife accidentally marries someone else. "It was towards the end. Just as the hero was about to shoot himself someone's mobile phone started to ring," Yekaterina Slepishkova, a spokeswoman for the theatre - founded in 1756 - told the Guardian yesterday. "It was awful. We ask people to turn their phones off before every performance. But they simply don't listen.
"We turn the system on just before the performance. We switch it off during the interval and on again for the second half. So far it's been a resounding success."
During Soviet times, theatre and concert performances were received in reverent silence. Tickets were also cheap. But in recent years, Russia's traditional intelligentsia has found itself priced out of many cultural attractions, both in Moscow and St Petersburg, where tickets can cost £50 or more.
Instead it is newly affluent Russians who these days occupy the best seats in the house. Regular theatregoers complain that these moneyed newcomers are not cultured. They talk on their mobile phones, and often clap in the wrong place, they add bitterly.
"Although the technology is rather expensive our theatre accepted the costs in order to protect the artists from unpleasant surprises," director Alexander Chepurov explained.
One exasperated actor was even forced to declare: "Turn it off. I'm doing my soliloquy," he recalled
The jamming system cost £1,000. It is effective within a range of 50 metres - scrambling all mobile phone calls in the auditorium, but allowing the stage manager to communicate with actors on the green room by walkie-talkie.
So far, there have been no complaints, staff said. A second St Petersburg theatre, the Maly Drama theatre, has also introduced jamming after its attempts to get theatregoers to switch off their phones similarly failed.
"We expect our idea to be imitated elsewhere," Sergei Dmitryiv, the Alexandrinsky theatre's technical director, said. "I've had colleagues in Moscow asking how we did it. It's easy. You can buy the equipment on the internet."

[Footer]

Originally Posted by Van

And in a related story from The Guardian UK:


Mobiles: exeunt after St Petersburg theatre installs jammers


Fed up with the constant trilling from the stalls, Russia's oldest theatre has come up with a novel solution to the ubiquitous problem of mobile phones going off - jam the signal.
The Alexandrinsky theatre in St Petersburg last month became the first theatre company in the world to install jamming equipment, after previous attempts to get patrons to switch off their phones failed. The theatre said it was forced to introduce the measure after a ringing mobile phone wrecked a recent performance of Leo Tolstoy's The Living Corpse. The central character, Fedor Protasov, decides to kill himself after his wife accidentally marries someone else. "It was towards the end. Just as the hero was about to shoot himself someone's mobile phone started to ring," Yekaterina Slepishkova, a spokeswoman for the theatre - founded in 1756 - told the Guardian yesterday. "It was awful. We ask people to turn their phones off before every performance. But they simply don't listen.
"We turn the system on just before the performance. We switch it off during the interval and on again for the second half. So far it's been a resounding success."
During Soviet times, theatre and concert performances were received in reverent silence. Tickets were also cheap. But in recent years, Russia's traditional intelligentsia has found itself priced out of many cultural attractions, both in Moscow and St Petersburg, where tickets can cost £50 or more.
Instead it is newly affluent Russians who these days occupy the best seats in the house. Regular theatregoers complain that these moneyed newcomers are not cultured. They talk on their mobile phones, and often clap in the wrong place, they add bitterly.
"Although the technology is rather expensive our theatre accepted the costs in order to protect the artists from unpleasant surprises," director Alexander Chepurov explained.
One exasperated actor was even forced to declare: "Turn it off. I'm doing my soliloquy," he recalled
The jamming system cost £1,000. It is effective within a range of 50 metres - scrambling all mobile phone calls in the auditorium, but allowing the stage manager to communicate with actors on the green room by walkie-talkie.
So far, there have been no complaints, staff said. A second St Petersburg theatre, the Maly Drama theatre, has also introduced jamming after its attempts to get theatregoers to switch off their phones similarly failed.
"We expect our idea to be imitated elsewhere," Sergei Dmitryiv, the Alexandrinsky theatre's technical director, said. "I've had colleagues in Moscow asking how we did it. It's easy. You can buy the equipment on the internet."

While its a great idea, and yes you can buy the gear online... remember kids... this is a Federal Offense in the U.S.

[LightingPenguin]

Hugh Jackman = WIN

As much as breaking the fourth wall may ruin the mood of a scene, nothing ruins it more than a cell phone.

TURN OFF YOUR CELL PHONE IN A THEATRE. NO, VIBRATE IS NOT GOOD ENOUGH

[BrianWolfe]

I went to a concert Saturday night. During the Tchaikovsky 5th symphony a man 4 rows in front of me lifted his blackberry to head level and spent 20 minutes scrolling through the internet. I was in the middle of a crowded row and he was too far to reach so I had to close my eyes to enjoy the music without seeing the scrolling blue light in front of me. I wish I had been nearer or that someone else nearer had done something to stop him. I could have hit him with my program or yelled at him to stop but that would have bothered even more people. All that is my way of saying Jackman would have done the audience a better service by ignoring the rude a-hole. Even though I get a vicarious thrill from seeing someone called on the carpet. I would rather the seat was electrified and the house manger could give a good shock to anyone so rude.

[Raktor]

I've met him and had a few good chats with him and his wife - they are really genuine people, and they don't seem to be able to do anything wrong. This was another awesome move.