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Does Broadway need a breather from bad behavior?

The last few years have seen a rising tension over misplaced manners in theater shows, with the most recent incidents involving a teenager who climbed onstage to charge his phone during a performance and star Patti LuPone snatching a cellphone from a texting spectator鈥檚 hands.

The issue is one of etiquette in an age of constant connectivity. While some performers and patrons say that smartphones and perpetual networking are the ruin of live theater鈥檚 immersive experience, others are calling for a more open perspective that seeks to educate, rather than berate, an audience for whom interactivity takes precedence over theater decorum.

鈥淲e have to be very careful that we let people know what鈥檚 appropriate without pushing them away,鈥� said Broadway producer Ken Davenport, who allowed some 鈥渢weet seats鈥� 鈥� areas where audience members can follow a play-by-play thread and share their comments on a show 鈥� in back rows during a performance of 鈥淕odspell鈥� a few years ago.

As the age-old medium of theater struggles to catch up to the rapid pace of technological change, it鈥檚 no surprise that the standards of courtesy fail to stay in stride.

鈥淐hange in etiquette usually comes slowly, just as changes come slowly in the dictionary,鈥� Amy Vanderbilt wrote in her book on manners, published in 1957.

In addition, 鈥渢echnology has scrambled the lines between public and private,鈥� which in turn has 鈥渇undamentally changed how we expect people to behave in social spaces once governed by sometimes elaborate rules,鈥� Washington Post art critic Philip Kennicott wrote聽earlier this year.

鈥淭he nature of those rules 鈥� are they simply the arbitrary residue of class and snobbery, or are they pragmatic guidelines for ensuring everyone can hear, see and enjoy the experience? 鈥� continue unabated, but with a twist,鈥� he continued.

Lewis Friedland, a University of Wisconsin sociology and communications professor, calls it an 鈥渆rosion in people鈥檚 norms of public space.鈥�

The result is a cadre of actors and long-time theatergoers vexed with the habits of the perpetually plugged-in audience, and particularly with the ever-present smartphone.

鈥淚f you鈥檙e onstage, you notice every single person who鈥檚 texting,鈥� Will Swenson, who has starred in such classics as 鈥淟es Mis茅rables鈥� and 鈥淗air,鈥� told The Associated Press.

鈥淭he second that a light pops on in the audience, it鈥檚 impossible to not say, 鈥極h, yeah, I鈥檓 in a theater, and someone is out there not paying attention to my best efforts to tell a story,鈥� 鈥� he added.

Yet the advent of the digital age has also been a boon to Broadway. Shows on the Great White Way attracted a record 13.1 million patrons last season, up 7.3 percent from the year before 鈥� and part of that has to do with the theater industry鈥檚 efforts to reach out to new fans through social media.

鈥淎 show like 鈥楴ewsies鈥� was built completely off of social media, and that鈥檚 why it was so successful,鈥� Disney theatrical producer Tom Schumacher told WABC-TV New York. 鈥淲ithin one day of announcing that 鈥楴ewsies鈥� had come to Broadway, we had 85,000 Facebook friends.鈥�

So while newcomers may not know the rules聽despite advisories, some in the industry say it may be time to lighten up 鈥� a little 鈥� around theater etiquette.

鈥淲e don鈥檛 want people thinking, 鈥業鈥檝e got to memorize a bunch of rules,鈥� 鈥� Goldstar CEO Jim McCarthy said. 鈥淭here is one: Don鈥檛 ruin it for everybody else.鈥�

This report contains material from the Associated Press.