Patti LuPone just wants you to respect the theater or 'get the f--- out'

It won't be easy, you think it's strange… but Patti LuPone will not tolerate you chin-strapping it when you're in her theater.

During a recent post-show talkback for Stephen Sondheim's Tony-nominated revival of Company, which LuPone currently stars in, the Broadway legend tore into a pair of theatergoers who refused to wear their masks properly.

"Put your mask over your nose!" LuPone shouted in footage captured and posted to Twitter, chastising the audience members. "That's why you're in the theater. That's the rule. If you don't want to follow the rules, get the f--- out!"

Photo Image Press/Shutterstock Patti LuPone in 'Company'

She continued angrily, "Who do you think you are that you do not respect the people that are sitting around you?"

One audience member was so bold as to reply, "We pay your salary." (Yeah, we're cringing too.)

LuPone then bit back, "Bull----. Chris Harper pays my salary."

"Over the course of her storied career, Patti has always had an unshakable bond with the audience, and she takes their role as seriously as her own," Harper, Company's producer, said in a statement. "She is also a fierce advocate for the entire theatrical workforce. We stand with Patti and support her efforts to keep our entire community — from patrons to ushers, cast to stage crew — safe and healthy so we can keep Broadway open."

According to a representative for Company, LuPone had repeatedly and politely asked the audience members to lift their masks so they were being worn correctly while she was appearing alongside her costars in a filmed conversation hosted by the American Theater Wing, an event that was free and open to the public.

When EW reached out to LuPone's representative, they replied, "Patti has no further comment." (Because, you know, there's nothing more she can think of to say to you.)

The Broadway diva is famous for suffering no fools when it comes to theater etiquette. She once stopping singing halfway through a performance of "Rose's Turn" in Gypsy to berate an audience member for taking photos, and she also took a moment in the middle of a performance for Shows for Days at New York's Lincoln Center to grab a theatergoer's phone directly out of their hands.

New York City lifted its mask and vaccine mandates in March, but the Broadway League has kept its own COVID-19 safety protocols for the theater industry, which includes requiring audience members to wear their masks inside the theater until May 31.

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