On Thursday night, I attended the Penn State School of Theatre's production of Bat Boy: The Musical. I was appalled to see what some students consider to be acceptable behavior while attending a live performance.

There was not a single scene in the whole show where at least one person sitting around me was not talking. The individuals were not even whispering, they were talking loudly. And turn off the cell phones! The outside world will survive without you for two and a half hours.

Thankfully (and somewhat surprisingly), nobody's cell phone actually rang during the performance, but I noticed several people constantly sending and receiving text messages.

This behavior is beyond rude, and absolutely needs to stop. It is rude to the actors and musicians who have been in rehearsal for weeks and weeks to present the show, and it is distracting to your fellow audience members, many of whom actually care about watching the show and hearing what is being said on stage.

It really is not difficult to sit quietly and watch a show for a couple of hours. Heck, you don't even have to stay quiet: laugh, clap.

Do not however, talk or play with your cell phone. If you're unable to do this, stick to events at the Jordan Center or Beaver Stadium, but don't bring your discourtesy into theatres and concert halls.