Cynthia Erivo channeled Elphaba by fighting for what was right earlier this week, this time defying the fourth wall of her one-woman show of Dracula in London.
The day after participating in the London marathon, Erivo put on her two-hour show, featuring a cast of 23 characters all performed by the former Wicked actor. The last thing she needed was for someone to disrespect her mid-performance by causing a disturbance in the audience.
But that's unfortunately exactly what she received from one member of the audience during her April 27 performance, when she noticed someone filming in the audience and paused her act to address it.
Filming in movie theaters and at stage productions is expressly forbidden, not just because of copyright infringement, but also because of how the screens can ruin the atmospheric experience of the show and can even interfere with certain technologies, like speaking systems.
Sitting in the upper section, TikToker @jesusontour_ recorded a short clip of Erivo addressing the situation, which led to a brief intermission in the show.
The TikToker wrote:
"not Cynthia Erivo clocking someone filming in the audience during Dracula and stopping the whole show..."
You can watch the moment here:
In the comments section, a TikToker who was also at the show chimed in, sharing what they witnessed.
Allegedly, the person recording was a young woman attending the show with her younger sister. The screen brightness was noticeable and distracting to the attendees around her, which is likely what allowed Erivo to see her from the stage in the first place.
When Erivo confronted the woman, she asked if she was recording, and the woman simply said, "Sorry." The show was then paused for ten minutes, during which the ushers escorted the young woman out alone before coming back to also remove her sister from the audience.
@jesusontour_/TikTok
Some agreed with Erivo's take that the theater needed to be respected.
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Others compared Erivo to Patti LuPone, who once yelled at a photographer during her production of Gypsy, telling him to "stop taking photos" mid-performance.
@jesusontour_/TikTok
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It might seem over-the-top to some that the show was stopped, or that anyone is worried about people recording in the audience, but these rules are implemented in creative spaces for a reason.
In a production like Dracula, where pre-recorded clips and audios are being used to assist in her one-woman performance, the use of cell phones could actually hinder the effectiveness and stop the whole show without Erivo doing it herself.
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