Man's Explanation For Attempting To Charge Cellphone On Broadway Stage Just Another Act?
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) – It may have been the final act of a drama that's had all of Broadway talking.
It involves an audience member who climbed on stage to charge his phone.
The young man said Friday he was low on battery juice and fueled with alcohol, CBS2's Steve Langford reported.
Identifying himself as 19-year-old Nick Silvestri, the man stepped before the cameras to explain what possessed him to jump up on stage at Broadway's Booth Theatre just before a performance of the show Hand to God, to charge his phone in what turned out to be a fake outlet on the stage.
"What was I thinking? I guess I wasn't really thinking," Silvestri admitted.
Man's Explanation For Attempting To Charge Cellphone On Broadway Stage Just Another Act?
Silvestri, who said he'd had a few drinks that night, is offering his apology.
"I don't go to plays very much, and I didn't realize that the stage is considered off-limits," he said.
MORE: Patti LuPone Snatches Phone From Audience Member During Show At Lincoln Center
There have been countless questions about the incident that upstaged the show.
When asked who advised him to hold Friday's news conference, Silvestri said, "Um, I really don't … don't worry about that."
The publicity firm behind Silvestri's appearance acknowledged that it works for the producers of Hand to God, a show that features a puppet possessed by the devil, prompting some to ask if the whole thing is performance art from top to bottom.
"It was not. I can guarantee you it wasn't a stunt," Silvestri said.
Media handlers for the show called Silvestri's leap on stage an innocent act, but some may now wonder if the Hand to God kid gloves treatment might encourage copycats to get in on the act, Langford reported.
So from a fan jumping on stage to charge his phone, to a news conference put on by the show itself, will ticket sales for Hand to God finally take off?
Silvestri said he will never set foot on stage again, unless he decides to become an actor, Langford reported.
