A Beeper Becomes a Real Showstopper

Here’s a dramatic pause born in the Electronic Age. Mary Rynders of Glendale attended a recent performance of Noel Coward’s “Design for Living” during which actor Art Manke felt compelled twice to stop the show. Reason: A beeper sounding off in the audience.

On the second occasion, when the device wouldn’t shut up, Manke pointed out the suspected section and a young woman reached into her purse and . . . well, what do you know?

One wonders if some spectators have been unduly influenced by the name of the Glendale theater. The play is appearing at A Noise Within.

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THE WORLD OF FASHION IS GETTING STRANGER: After receiving a note from L.L. Bean, Mrs. Mickey Miller Regal of Idyllwild wonders how one can make a silk nightgown out of a dog seat belt harness? (see accompanying).

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EVEN WORSE THAN A RINGING BEEPER: A reader sent us a shot of a notice on the wall of a women’s restroom in a San Gabriel Valley building that really needs unisex restrooms (see photo).

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IN THE AGE OF SEQUELS: “My friend and I were looking for the movie ‘Impromptu’ at a video store,” writes Lupe Rangel of L.A. “When we failed to find it, we asked a young clerk if she could find it. After a long absence, the clerk finally appeared and said she couldn’t find ‘Impromptu’ and promptly added, ‘Was there an ‘Imprompt 1’? “

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CUSTOMERS SAY THE DARNDEST THINGS TOO: Dana Insana recalls the woman who came into the department store where she worked and “tried to return a blouse that she had purchased three years before. When I asked the reason for the return, she said that she ‘couldn’t wear it anymore because it shrunk in the closet.’ ”

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TO LIVE AND DRIVE IN L.A.: Seldom have I read a more accurate description of traffic rites in L.A. than this passage:

“A strange psychological frenzy takes hold of normal citizens when they get behind the wheels of their cars. They fight for position, scramble from lane to lane for the slightest advantage and swear or glare at each other as they wait for signal changes.”

It was written by Matt Weinstock in his book “My L.A.”

Published in 1947.

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SPEAK, WITNESS! SPEAK!: The Sierra Madre News’ police log listed these two items in a whiny drama:

* “5:57 a.m.: In the 300 block of East Sierra Madre Boulevard, a barking dog was reported. The responding officer was unable to locate the dog.”

* “6:37 a.m.: The same resident reported the same dog as above. When informed that she would need to give a specific address where the dog was, the resident replied, ‘As long as I’m being disturbed, so will you.’ ”

miscelLAny:

The owners of a house that has been for sale for several weeks in Long Beach have relaxed the usual do-not-disturb-tenant warning on the sign. But only just a little. Their sign says: “You may look through window.”

Steve Harvey can be reached by phone at (213) 237-7083, by fax at (213) 237-4712, by e-mail at steve.harvey@latimes.com and by mail at Metro, L.A. Times, Times Mirror Square, L.A. 90053.