Broadway actress Patti Luponnie says she’s staying away from the stage

The tweet came after a week of high drama on Broadway that began when “Hudstown” cast member Lilias White called out to an audience member on Wednesday for using a caption device, which White mistakenly mistook for a mobile phone. White was highly critical of the error, and the incident sparked comparisons with LuPone’s history of confronting members of the public about using their cell phones during live performances.

However, in a joint statement with The Washington Post, Loboney, 73, said she dropped her union membership after her latest production this summer — long before the Hudstown incident last week.

“When the ‘company’ run ended last July, I knew I wouldn’t be on stage for very long,” the performer said. “And at that point, I made the decision to resign from Equity.”

Lupponi also criticized the Broadway Artists Guild, tell people She “didn’t want to give them more money,” adding that the Actors Equity Association “doesn’t support actors at all.”

She told People that the union has accepted her resignation, and she will have to agree to join again. The Actors Equity Association, which represents tens of thousands of actors and stage directors, did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Post.

This isn’t the first time LuPone has talked about leaving Broadway. In 2015, after making headlines for snatching an audience member’s mobile phone from their hands during a performance of “The Days Shows”, Luponi He told the newspaper: “This issue has so defeated me that I seriously wonder if I want to work on stage anymore.”

LuPone accused this member of the audience of texting during her performance, and her actions were praised. Similarly, a crowd applauded her for stopping mid-song during a 2009 performance of “Gypsy” for yelling at someone who was taking pictures during the show.

The use of electronic devices during theater productions has been an increasingly common complaint among performers. But last week, White, who is black, received a very different response when she accused an audience member of using a phone during her show. While the circumstances of White’s interaction with the public were different from the 2015 and 2009 Loponni confrontations, observers said the disparity in treatment represented double standard.

While LuPone was praised for her actions, White faced a wave of backlash – some so vicious that the audience member who advocated for White Appeal to people on social media To stop harassing the actress.

“Hadestown” apologized to theatergoers, but condemned the online response to White, saying in a statement to The New York Times Reactions on social media have “turned into racist, age-biased and hateful discriminatory language”.

LuPone has not commented directly on the controversy, except for referring to her name which was mentioned over the past week.

The actress has been nominated for eight Tony Awards, winning the first in 1980 for her work on “Evita”. She won her third Tony this year for her work at The Company.