Today’s public service announcement comes from Broadway diva Patti LuPone, who was filmed giving an audience member a dressing-down over their mask wearing.
The moment was captured by another theatergoer and posted to Twitter, where it quickly went viral.
During a talkback panel following a performance of LuPone’s hit musical Company, the star noticed the audience member improperly masked.
“Put your mask over your nose, that’s why you’re in the theater,” said LuPone, who battled Covid-19 earlier this year.
How about we take this to the next level?
Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
She continued: “That is the rule. If you don’t want to follow the rule, get the f–k out!”
As the audience cheered in approval, LuPone added: “Who do you think you are? That you do not respect the people that are sitting around you!”
without further ado… ms. patti lupone pic.twitter.com/rEBB7nfXQ2
— hen (@themascsinger) May 11, 2022
Related: Inside Matt Doyle’s unapologetically gay, Tony-nominated performance in ‘Company’
The maskless woman in the crowd was not swayed. “I pay your salary!” she yelled back.
“Bulls–t! Chris Harper pays my salary!” LuPone responded, referencing the name of Company’s producer.
This isn’t the first time LuPone has lashed out at a disrespectful audience member from the stage. In 2015, she approached a texting theatergoer during a performance of the play Shows for Days and grabbed their cellphone.
“We work hard on stage to create a world that is being totally destroyed by a few rude, self-absorbed and inconsiderate audience members who are controlled by their phones,” she told Playbill afterwards.
During a performance of Gypsy in 2009, LuPone berated an audience member for taking a photo of the show. We can only imagine what she’d say to the person who leaked those nudes of Jesse Williams earlier this week.
Here’s how her masking exchange played out on Twitter:
i’m sorry but imagine being so horribly entitled that you decide to fight PATTI LUPONE about it
— sarah jae (@sarahjaeleiber) May 11, 2022
Good morning to Patti LuPone, who said what every service employee has wanted to say for the last 2 years.
— rae ? (@rachael_lizzzz) May 11, 2022
Fun fact: an obscure NYC law states that Patti LuPone is allowed to kill one person a year with her bare hands.
— AVC (@annevclark) May 11, 2022
My favorite bit from this new Patti LuPone “who do you think you are” saga is when the woman getting yelled at feebly answers “I’m your patron” like it’s 19th century Paris and she’s a marquess deigning to take in some theater, lmao go back to Ohio
— angelina. (@whyangelinawhy) May 11, 2022
I'd much rather be punched in the face in front of (or by) patti lupone than to be remembered in history as the motherfucker who was rude to her for being asked to act like a reasonable person during a pandemic
— frankie ? (@zeglian) May 11, 2022
Between the Jesse Williams thing and the Patti LuPone thing, Broadway audiences are off the fucking rails this week.
— David Gordon (@MrDavidGordon) May 11, 2022
If Patti LuPone told me to "get the fuck out" I would exit whatever establishment we are in, walk to the nearest river, jump in, and never be seen again.
— Lauren Pokedoff (@LaurenPokedoff) May 11, 2022
i was gonna go to bed but then i learned patti lupone cussed out an audience member for not wearing a mask correctly and suddenly i have enough energy to lead an army into battle for her
— milanovich ? (@lizovich) May 11, 2022
Jim
Patti is a diva but her behavior was correct.
decampbell
“Patti is a diva AND her behavior was correct.”
There, I fixed it for you.
G R
Nope, sorry. Why can she and the rest of NYC dine at a restaurant or go to a movie theater and not have to wear a mask but at a Broadway theater it’s required? WHY? Is the air somehow different at AMC Lincoln Square but not at the Bernard Jacobs Theater?? Both things can’t be true.
jfabz
@GR Because each theater is a private business and they can make up any rule they want. By buying their ticket, you agree to those rules. So get off your high horse.
MISTERJETT
@GR if you can’t follow the rules like the rest of the world, stay home.
shaunpaul1234
Oh really!!
One question???
Why dosent she require th people on stage to wear a mask????
Hypocritical!!
dbmcvey
@shaunpaul1234 The people onstage are tested daily. If one of them tests positive they can’t go on. In some cases the entire show has had to close.
Would you, as an audience member want to be required to take a test before you enter the theater?
Bosch
@shaunpaul
Your abuse of punctuation is a dead giveaway.
Ste211
Let me fix that for you: Patti is a diva AND her behavior was correct. 🙂
Jimsie
She’s a working professional and her behavior was not only correct, but potentially life-saving. What became of the troll whom she confronted?
Jaquelope
@Jimsie : You can call her a troll if you want, but I believe that most everyone else would call her “Karen”, and Patti showed a lot of anti-Karen energy. Kudos to her.
Ste211
Great minds…
Jimsie
So, did security come and eject the woman? “I pay your salary”?? My question is, why was such an individual at a Patti LuPone concert to begin with? Sounds like a plant to deliberately upset the show. Or some clueless out-of-towner from Arizona. Why doesn’t this story provide information on how the confrontation ended?
Kangol2
The entitled, selfish theatergoer wasn’t at a Patti LuPone concert, they went to see Company, the revived Stephen Sondheim musical now playing on Broadway. She stars in it but she’s only one of a number of actors performing. BTW, I highly recommend it!
TimberWolf
I admire her to be correct, mask up, especially for those who battled and overcame Covid. we get it, once you had it, you are more cautious, however, NYC the rules apply to those who are pardoned. The heckling of an audience member shouldn’t be the responsibility of actress. or stage actors to stop and address rudeness. Theater and stage manager should exit the audience member out , end of story
yes, LuPone is hard and direct, has a reputation for such comments but in the end , respect her as every audience member paid for that seat , respect the fans and stay quiet. mask up
Jaquelope
Maybe it’s not her responsibility, but that doesn’t mean she can’t do it anyway. Maybe she shouldn’t have *had* to, but that doesn’t mean she can’t do it on her own, at her own volition. Someone needed to put the Karen in her place, so she took the initiative.
End of story.
AndyHat
Broadway stopped doing vax checks at the door as of May 1, and suddenly we have all these reports of bad audience behavior…
ShiningSex
they still require masks, so what’s the problem? masks hurt you?
Bosch
I think Andy is saying there is a positive correlation between anti-vaxxers and bad behaviour.
Bengali
I am thrilled that Patti let this audience member have it. While some of you are stating that management should have handled it, Patti had the best view. Hopefully the stupid bit*ch was removed…better yet…DRAGGED OUT.
People still don’t get it. Covid isn’t gone. It’s not at pandemic proportions and casing are rising substantially.
FYI – I think the management should have crazy-glued the mask to the stupid patron’s face. Members of GOP (I guarantee “blondie” is one) simply don’t give a fu*k about the safety of others.
I lost my uncle yesterday after his two month battle with covid and the issues that arose due to the infection. A 90 year old man who only had one prescription medication prior to covid – and that was for cholesterol. After his first covid hospital stay he was on eleven medications. He succumbed early Monday morning. Devastating. We’ve lost a million in this country and over 15 million total around the world.
We’re supposed to care about each other. Clearly Republicans don’t.
Kangol2
I love Patti LuPone, I love her response, and I love Company!
G R
I LOVE Patti but she’s full of shit. Unless she (and EVERYONE else out there) wears a mask EVERYWHERE they go, and they do not dine in a restaurant/go to a bar/lounge then this is bullshit. I guaranfuc*ingtee that Patti dines out publicly where not only is there no longer a vaccine passport requirement, but there is NO MASK requirement.
HOW is this any different?? One can go to a movie theater and not have to wear a mask but at a Broadway theater a mask is required?? You need a mask at the her show but not afterwards at Sardi’s?? And by making the theater tkt purchase we ALL pay the actors salaries indirectly, that’s why some plays close…no ticket sales.
She’s being ridiculous.
shaunpaul1234
AGREE 1000%
Just a progressive’s need to PREACHINGLY-CONDESCENDING & ILLOGICAL!!
dbmcvey
B.S. You have no idea whether Patti wears masks in restaurants. But, the point is, the rule in the theatre is wear a mask. When you are in a theatre you are in close proximity to all the people around you. If you can’t wear a mask for 2-3 hours don’t go to the theatre.
And no, a single ticket buyer does not pay the salary of the actors.
white-queer-african
@shaunpaul1235, or whatever your latest screenname is. Just STFU because you first agree, click-bait and then spew BS. Sad and weak as Cam will say. AND I AM NOT CAM!
ShiningSex
Hey genius. if a place requires it, LISTEN or go somewhere else. Let us not forget Covid is still here and killing people you moron!
McSteve
The terms of the theater are spelled out very clearly when you buy the ticket and you must agree to those terms. You are also sent email reminders right before you go reminding you again of the terms and what you agreed to. If you don’t want to accept the terms, don’t go or wait until the rules are changed to your liking. Why are you allowed to hold up your cell phone and video some live events but not others…because the establishment has set their own rules.
butchqueen
Go lick elevator buttons, ya HOOOORE!
Bosch
@GR I think you need to go to truth social, those guys will appreciate a conspiracy nut like you WAY more than we do.
JClark
You’re so right. I like to pleasure myself in public. It’s not a problem at the gay movie house in my town, but I get kicked out when I try it at the community theater. HOW is this any different?
Mister P
I believe the unions representing the actors and stagehands require the masks
ShiningSex
Hey anti-maskers. Go f*ck yourself!
If a place doesn’t require it…FINE. If a place does and you don’t want to follow RULES, go elsewhere and shut the f*ck up!!!
People are still dying. Your shallow inconvience is not worth another person’s life.
butchqueen
Do you wanna make out?
G R
Boo hoo, another fool that thinks Fauci walks on water
Bosch
@GR Fauci didn’t invent facemasks you america-centric dummy. Not sure if you noticed this pandemic was a global thing?
ShiningSex
Also, when she said “We Pay your salary” or whatever idiotic thing she said exactly is false.
Ticket sales don’t pay the actors, the backers do. If ticket sales are slow, actors are not told they are not going to get paid or less pay. The loss is on the producers/backers. People need education!
shaunpaul1234
Right, but without ticket payers, backers or not, th play folds, so yes, ticket sales “indirectly”, pay salaries, etc….
butchqueen
Agreed! Seldom do ticket payers cover salaries. I’ve been on the board of directors of a performing arts organization for 20 years. If it wasn’t for grant writers like me, the arts would have sunk when the GOP tried to wrench it from our grasp!
G R
All you fools defending Patti (and wrongfully assuming that she goes out in a mask) I’ve seen her dining out 3x over the past few months, NO MASK. And NOT my point, I was referring to the ridiculous incongruity of all this mask foolishness: not in a movie theater/restaurant/airplane but in a Broadway house? I’m not against anyone wearing one that wants to, but why should I be forced to? That hypocrisy then calls into question the efficacy of masks. If you’re wearing one, how does my not wearing one matter…
And I’m fully vaccinated and boosted so save the comments!
brian6767
Thank YOU!! Look at how close those 6 women are sitting by each other! And not one is wearing a mask! She’s a hypocritical a$$!
dbmcvey
The theater requires masks. You know that when you get the ticket and when you go to the theater.
These restaurants don’t require masks and why are you stalking Patti Lupone?
If the owners of the movie theaters and restaurants cared about the health of their employees–who, unlike Broadway theaters probably don’t have unions, they would require masks as well.
Being vaccinated doesn’t make you smart, and if you have to resort to name calling you’ve lost.
shaunpaul1234
EXACTLY!! Right-on-the-Money!!
The theatre can require
The person had one ON!!
Just not on their damn Nose!!
??U Parti!! Just GT-OVER URSELF!!
But, thts most progressives, Preachy, Etc…
One cn feel they r entitled to b a DIVA, but, tht dosent give u liscense to b an ASSHOLE!!
JClark
Sure, Jan. Are you stalking the woman?
dbmcvey
You do realize the only one backing you up is Trumpist shaunpaul1234. Maybe you should rethink if this is the hill you want to die on.
Bosch
Wêêêh! Rules hurt my feelings!
Bosch
Hmmm… Since you still don’t seem to know, after 2 years of this crap….
” If you’re wearing one, how does my not wearing one matter…”
Because YOUR mask protects others from the droplets of YOUR vile breath. Dumbass.
FridM
HATE her either way!!! I see her Covid brain is in full force…Maybe the woman sneezed in her direction to reinfect…hopefully it sticks this time!!!
dbmcvey
You hate her. No one cares what you think.
jt1990
Poor Patti would lose her mind (if she ever had it) here in Florida! We know those masks are great for identifying Biden voters, but not very effective at stopping a virus. Now if Libtards would strap a muzzle over their mouths, we could at least stop the spread of bull$hit!
Bosch
You sure are up late on a weekday for someone who pretends to be an adult in the US.
Paulie P
You must be this tall to ride this ride…not that tall you don’t ride.
No shoes, no shirt no service…… show up with no shoes or shirt you get no service.
“Buckle up for safety”… pulled over by a cop. Do you know why I pulled you over, no seatbelt. Fined.
Wear a mask during the duration of this performance. YOU WEAR THE MASK.
jt1990
Paulie P Was Miss Patti wearing her mask the whole time? Doesn’t appear so from the video. As far as Lestists are concerned, rules are for peasants only.
WayDifferent
“Let them eat cake!”. Lol
WayDifferent
Phyllis Hyman grabbed cellphones from front row concert attendee’s back in the late 80’s and early 90’s. She also spoke on one of the grabbed phones to the attendee’s girlfriend…..who obviously wasn’t there. She also told another to find his seat and sit his ass down after he was obviously trying to steal the show.
bsg1967
The Trump era, his near re-election and COVID have confirmed to me that people are generally disapointing.