It was another example of carelessness - or worse, selfishness - in the theatre. The setting was a recent performance by Hugh Jackman and Daniel Craig in A Steady Rain on Broadway. However the blame rests not with Wolverine and 007, but rather with a member of the audience who forgot to turn off their cell phone and wound up interrupting the performance not once, but twice.
The actors tried to handle the situation as gracefully as possible. "You wanna get that?" asked a clearly frustrated Jackman after the first interruption. "Grab it. I don't care!" he continued, pacing the stage and rubbing his brow. Amazingly, the phone was simply allowed to continue ringing by the owner. "C'mon!" Jackman said after a few more rings, "Just turn it off, unless you've got a better story and wanna get up here and tell your story."
On the second interruption, Craig says flatly "Can you get that? Whoever that is, can you get it?" He's then joined by Jackman, saying "Don't be embarrassed. Just grab it. Grab your phones!"
The pair are playing Chicago policemen in the new drama by Keith Huff and both stayed relatively in character during the interruptions rather than reverting to their natural Australian and British accented speaking voices.
At both interuptions there was nervous laughter from the audiences during the pregnant pauses while the phone continued to ring, and ultimately applause in support of the two stars.
The play is a dramatic return to Broadway for Jackman, who won a Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical when he portrayed the late Peter Allen in The Boy From Oz. Craig is making his Broadway debut in this limited engagement that runs through December 6.
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