“In the month of September, electronic distractions occurred at more shows reviewed by this critic in New York, Chicago and Wisconsin than performances that remained unscarred,” writes Chris Jones in Tuesday’s (10/1) Chicago Tribune. “On Broadway, the hip-hop improv show ‘Freestyle Love Supreme’ … has brought to Broadway a weapon that has been around for a couple of years … the Yondr pouch.… As you reached your row, you were told to turn off your phone or put it on silent and insert it to a glove-like pouch. You keep your phone but you cannot turn it back on without unlocking the pouch, which uses a simple mechanism not unlike the security tags you find in clothing stores.… At the end of the show, ushers show up and quickly unlock the devices.… I was very impressed by how fast and non-invasive the whole process turned out to be…. The pouches are surely more easily acceptable at a show without an intermission; had there been a break, anxious people would have been hassling ushers to get them opened.” New York’s Lincoln Center will offer free Yondr pouches for audience members at its Oct. 19-Nov. 24 White Light Festival.
Posted October 7, 2019
