An unhinged and disruptive woman stopped Broadway’s “Death of a Saleman” Tuesday night, finally being escorted from the theater by police. It’s safe to say she was not well-liked by the audience.
The incident happened at the Hudson Theatre on 44th Street. Patrons reported on social media that she was behaving badly during Act 1 of the three-hour play, heckling and generally breaking the spell of the performance. Eventually, star Wendell Pierce tried to reason with the heckler from the foot of the stage.
“He patiently & heroically pleaded with her to leave peacefully despite her insistence that she should be carried out forcefully (she was eventually escorted out by police),” said Instagram user Rubinbooty.
Social media commenters said the woman and a companion appeared to be leaving at intermission. However, she returned full-force and allegedly issued a warning.
“A little while later she starts screaming at the top of her lungs that she wasn’t leaving and if she couldn’t see the rest of the show neither would anyone else,” said Reddit user Toss182.
Eventually, the show was stopped and Pierce, who plays Willy Loman, spoke to the woman from the stage. The woman allegedly asked for her money back, and Pierce tried to get ushers to give her cash as a way to end the disruption.
That was apparently not enough, and eventually police arrived to escort the woman out. Pierce then began Act. 2
“Death of a Salesman,” also starring Sharon D. Clarke, runs at the Hudson through Jan. 15.