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READ: Lea Salonga lashes out on theatergoers using cellphones anew

By Nherz Almo
Published October 15, 2019 6:30 PM PHT

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Lea Salonga on theatergoers using cellphone during the show, “Cellphones are fantastic but sometimes you forget that sometimes it's best to put them away.”

Lea Salonga will never get tired of calling out audiences who use their cellphones during plays and concerts.

Lea Salonga
Lea Salonga

On her Twitter account, the Tony award-winning actress calls out theatergoers who use their cellphones again.

The new recent incident seemed to have happened at the Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street show, where Lea plays the role of Mrs. Lovette.

Lea Salonga on playing a villain in 'Sweeney Todd,' "Extremely liberating, interesting, and fun."

She wrote, “And still, despite everything, there were folks using their cellphones during Sweeney Todd. I hope the earth opens up and swallows you whole, you entitled, moronic c***s.”

Lea also did not mince her words when she wrote another reminder on her Facebook account.

“If you can't stay off your phone for a few hours, do us all a favor and don't come to the theater,” Lea said.

“Not only are you a distraction to the actors, but you're also a nuisance to the other patrons sitting around you that actually want to be there.

“If you're only going to show off that you can afford it, but don't actually possess the manners, keep your arse at home.

“We've been trying so hard with the cellphone advisories on social media and in the theater.

“And even with our own unique take that happens just before the orchestral downbeat.

“Our ushers are also working hard, telling you twice to put your phone away. TWICE!

“But you're just either too dense or entitled to think that it applies to you, it seems.”

PUT THOSE AWAY.

In a recent interview with GMANetwork.com, the singer-actress strongly suggested to put cellphones away when watching the Atlantis Theatrical Entertainment production of Sweeney Todd.

She said, “Cellphones are fantastic but sometimes you forget that sometimes it's best to put them away.

“For an experience like this [Sweeney Todd], where the immersion into the environment begins 10 minutes before the show actually stars… I don't think there's gonna be a national anthem.

“The moment you enter, in 10 minutes before [the show], parang there's a moment of silence and the actors will start appearing and they will start exploring.

“There's no curtain covering the set, so the moment you walk into the performance set, you'll see the set right away.

“So, you'll already be a part of the environment.

“Then, the actors slowly come out, one by one, and become part of the environment.

“There will be a very unique way to tell people to turn their cellphones off.”

Lea further encouraged theatergoers, “The show is exciting. You will not want to touch your phone.

“Because there's so much happening, guaranteed na walang mabo-bore.

“Even if you don't always understand the language… I mean, because our accents are really thick, we're trying to make sure that we're trying to articulate everything very clearly for the sake of the audiences.

“But there's a lot of stuff that happens that I think the audiences will enjoy and they really, really have to watch or they'll miss something.”

Lea mentioned that there will be some rare cases when the audience may need to check their phones.

However, for the majority of the theatergoers, she said, “Please turn it off for a couple of hours.”

Lea assured that the audiences will be given enough time and opportunity to document their experience watching Sweeny Todd.

“Time goes by so quickly.Then, once the show is done, by all means, we will encourage you to talk about the show, you can tweet about it, Instagram it.

“I'm sure there's gonna be stuff that you can take pictures of and that you will be allowed to photograph and share with people.

“We want the audiences to completely experience the show without being disturbed or distracted.

“It's more fun to talk about it after when you get the full experience,” she concluded.