Michael Sheen on entrance applause

[new_philosophy_girl]

Posted: 4/24/07 at 9:59am

I enjoyed reading this article in yesterday's Post about Sheen. I couldn't help but agree with is thoughts on entrance applause...anyone else agree??

http://www.nypost.com/seven/04232007/entertainment/theater/scripts__not_names__add_sheen_to_roles_theater_barbara_hoffman.htm

[Kringas]

Posted: 4/24/07 at 10:06am

No, not really. I don't think applause, whether entrance or after a particularly well performed monologue, is inappropriate or an antiquated convention.

[C is for Company]

Posted: 4/24/07 at 10:10am

I'd agree under certain circumstances, such as in plays I would not do the entrance applause. However, certain moments in musicals really scream for it and I'd find to be appropriate. It all really depends on the atmosphere I think.

[keen on kean]

Posted: 4/24/07 at 10:51am

Interesting question. In The Coast of Utopia, the audiences seem to be fairly restrained about applause, but in Part One, Billy Crudup was applauded after an amazing monologue. It was well deserved, spontaneous, and frankly it appears that Stoppard wrote it in a such a way that, if properly delivered, was sure to elicit that response. None of the actors got "entrance applause" but some of the scenery did!

Edited for typos -
Updated On: 4/24/07 at 10:51 AM

[philcrosby]

Posted: 4/24/07 at 11:02am

Applause is no more inappropriate -- if genuine -- than laughing or crying. The audience is an active participant in the theater and, if they are properly engaged, will demonstrate it.

I would much rather hear entrance applause than people slurping on Big Gulps, eating nachos, or talking incessantly on cell phones.

[bjh2114]

Posted: 4/24/07 at 11:24am

I very much agree with Sheen about unwarranted entrance applause. If someone makes a spectacular entrance that involves something special (a la Jane Krakowski in NINE), then sure, go ahead and applaud. However, I don't think that someone deserves applause just because they walk on stage, before having done anything. Like I HATE that people used to clap for Sutton Foster IN THE MIDDLE OF THE SONG "FANCY DRESS" when she came on stage during Drowsy. It interrupts everything. Another example, anytime a "star" from another medium replaces someone on Broadway. For instance, I hate that Fantasia now gets entrance applause in The Color Purple when LaChanze was never awarded applause prior to winning the Tony. People only applaud for some kind of title, not for quality. That upsets me.

[jpbran]

Posted: 4/24/07 at 11:26am

Kinda funny him insulting U.S. audiences ("Never!" he says. "We've moved out of the 18th century") when British theater is the home of pantomime traditions of audience participation, such as booing villains and calling out suggestions. (kinda kidding with that... but when I saw Judi Dench on-stage there, people clapped at her entrance)

And visits to West End theaters are always a shock-- they serve ice cream! So you get to hear wrappers and napkins throughout...

[kec]

Posted: 4/24/07 at 12:30pm

"And visits to West End theaters are always a shock-- they serve ice cream! So you get to hear wrappers and napkins throughout..."

Wrappers? The ice cream is served in a small cup, easily finished by the end of the interval. I have yet to hear anyone scraping the bottom of the cup during a performance.

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 4/24/07 at 12:35pm

He tends to come off a bit pretentious in print interviews. I think applause is always welcome as long as it is organic, when I saw Donna Murphy in FOLLIES at Encores! I could not keep myself from giving her an entrance applause, I couldn't keep myself from clapping the second I saw her do her pose during "Beautiful Girls," nor could I keep myself from applauding after her final line "You bet your ass." Applause is such a way for the audience to interact not only with the actors on stage but with one another. And it wasn't necessary for Sheen to insult American audiences.

[algy]

Posted: 4/24/07 at 1:04pm

I'm with you Kec, I've never heard any disturbance because of the sale of ice cream in the interval.

I do get cranky with inappropriate applause though...

[jpbran]

Posted: 4/24/07 at 1:22pm

Maybe it's different at different theaters (and yes, I shouldn't have intimated ALL theaters), but they were selling little "dove bar"-esque things in wrappers that were pretty obnoxious.

And after thinking back on some trips to Broadway and Chicago theaters, I DEFINITELY keep the U.S. at the top of distracting audiences.

[jordangirl]

Posted: 4/24/07 at 1:26pm

His whole attitude towwards American audiences has me tempted to do a student ticket again and sit on my hands the whole time. Or pointedly NOT clap for him even at curtain.

[joshy]

Posted: 4/24/07 at 1:32pm

I agree with him about entrance applause. It's ridiculous. What is the person being clapped for? Showing up for work? Their existence? I find it pretty embarassing. The only times I've heard entrance applause here in London was Wicked with Idina Menzel, which was a pretty nauseating experience overall, and Judi Dench in Hay Fever, which was understandable - people were just so excited to see her.

[jordangirl]

Posted: 4/24/07 at 1:35pm

"and Judi Dench in Hay Fever, which was understandable - people were just so excited to see her."

Which is kind of the POINT of entrance applause. People are excited to see the stars they've come to see perform. I agree it's not always appropriate, but it can also be worked around...something which should have been evident during previews when ostensibly they're refining. A simple realization that "Oh, they're obviously going to applaud here so let's alter the beats."

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 4/24/07 at 1:55pm

Okay, how could someone not applaud as soon as the lights deem after intermission in GREY GARDENS and we see Little Edie step out of the ruined mansion and say "Oh, hi"???? I mean, seriously, he is being a bit too snobby.

[LimelightMike]

Posted: 4/24/07 at 2:04pm

I can remember once instance where I was performing in a production of SIDE SHOW (as 'The Boss') -- I made my entrance in "Come Look at the Freaks" on a turntable which rose from underneath the stage. The house lights went down, total darkness. Spot hits the turntable (as its being lifted to the surface), and BAM! The audience bursts into applause. It was surreal. They were started by 'my friends and family', but didn't expect the entire place to go bonkers. It was a rush ... especially because I gave my all during that number. I feel that entrance applause depend solely on a) the talent and b) the atmosphere at the given time.

[Fosse76]

Posted: 4/24/07 at 2:05pm

"and Judi Dench in Hay Fever, which was understandable - people were just so excited to see her."

So people can't be excited to see Idina Menzel (or whoever), but they can be to see Judi Dench??

[joshy]

Posted: 4/24/07 at 4:18pm

"So people can't be excited to see Idina Menzel (or whoever), but they can be to see Judi Dench??"

Well, the applause for Judi Dench was a polite burst which lasted a few seconds and was based on a body of stunning work built up through her life time.

The applause for Idina was wild, psychotic, with screaming that went on for a while, into a song. It was based on, I dunno, Wicked.

I think this is just a cultural difference, really. He's used to how it is here in London where something has to be done to get applause. So he must find it pretty annoying to be trying to get on with his job and have to wait for people to stop clapping. I mean, standing ovations are still very rare here, where you pretty much have to suck not to get one in New York.

[bjh2114]

Posted: 4/24/07 at 4:38pm

Ray, that's my point if you read my post above. In the case of Little Edie, that entrance itself deserves applause, no matter who does it. It's absolutely spectacular with the costume and the accent. However, if Christine Ebersole were to walk on stage with a normal dress on and speak without an accent, I would not applaud, for all she has done is walk on stage. (This isn't really an example of entrance applause anyway because she has been on stage prior to this during the show, but you get the point).

[Eastwickian]

Posted: 4/25/07 at 6:45am

Not a particular fan of entrance applause either - beyond massaging a star's ego, I don't really see why it would be necessary. Surely their is suffcient time to show appreciation for the actor at either the curtain call or at the end of a song? And I'm with Joshy on the applause in Wicked - it was distracting and a little frightening...

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 7/1/07 at 12:10am

Enter Acting, Pursued by Applause - NY Times
The New York Times - July 1st, 2007
By ZACHARY PINCUS-ROTH

LAST spring, the cast of “The Drowsy Chaperone” found a mysterious sign taped to a backstage television monitor. The letters “TN” were followed by a series of tally marks that grew by one every night. Later, “TW” appeared, followed by more tally marks.

The actress Beth Leavel eventually learned that the crew had been charting the number of nights the audience applauded her entrance after her Tony nomination and, later, her Tony win. On Nov. 1, after 11 and 99 tallies respectively, she took the sign home as a birthday gift.

Entrance applause, the seemingly obligatory practice of clapping at the first glimpse of movie stars or Tony-honored performers, is an odd thing. While it provides a sense of communion between performer and audience, and an ego boost, it can also be disruptive to the show.

“ ‘That damn, damn entrance hand’ — you hear that much more often than ‘How are we going to get an entrance hand here?’ ” said Doug Hughes, director of the current revival of “Inherit the Wind” with Christopher Plummer and Brian Dennehy. “There’s something wonderful, by the same token, about an audience saying to a performer, ‘We’re thrilled to see you, we’re on your side, we wish you well.’ ”

Frank Langella, fresh from winning a Tony for “Frost/Nixon,” said he had mixed feelings about the phenomenon. “In the best of all possible worlds it really would be wonderful if there were no entrance applause and even no applause within a show,” he said. “But it’s part of the enthusiasm of American audiences.”

Most objections tend to come from directors. “Almost every good director I know doesn’t want it,” the producer Emanuel Azenberg said. “The whole rhythm of the play has to stop.”

Much of the applause goes to Hollywood celebrities, like Julia Roberts or Denzel Washington, when they make a rare foray into live theater, but it is not limited to them. In “Curtains” David Hyde Pierce, best known for his role on “Frasier,” certainly gets it, but so do some of his Broadway veteran castmates, like Debra Monk and Karen Ziemba.

An entrance hand can signal that a performer has finally reached a certain threshold of recognition, as it did for Ms. Leavel, or for Kelli O’Hara, who started tearing up when she first got entrance applause after her 2005 Tony nomination for “The Light in the Piazza.” Ms. O’Hara said she was nervous about leaving that show for “The Pajama Game,” to play opposite Harry Connick Jr., but felt validated when she got entrance applause in previews: “I could do my work instead of having to prove myself.”

Sometimes entrance hands reflect the staging as much as the performer. In “Legally Blonde” the relatively unknown Laura Bell Bundy got applause even before her Tony nomination, partly because she is first seen grandly rising to the stage in a big pink box.

Read on...
Enter Acting, Pursued by Applause - NY Times

[Fosse76]

Posted: 7/1/07 at 12:38am

Maybe he was just jealous because he doesn't receive the applause. And you know these actors who "don't like it" are totally lying.

[everythingtaboo]

Posted: 7/1/07 at 12:51am

I'm sure actors appreciate the applause, but I'm sure the more professional of them appreciate even more the fact that applause takes the audience out of the mind of the show, which is the purpose of being there in the first place.

And let's face it, the NYT sums it up nicely why most of the people around you are clapping: "One feels a giddy sense of accomplishment, he said, for having made it into the same room as Kevin Spacey."

[Fosse76]

Posted: 7/1/07 at 11:42am

"'One feels a giddy sense of accomplishment, he said, for having made it into the same room as Kevin Spacey.'"

Personally, I'd feel a sense of punishment.

[EdmundOG]

Posted: 7/1/07 at 11:43am

I got Mid-Show applause once. I was playing Harding in "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest", and at one point he has a serious freakout that begins with him defending Nurse Ratched and ends with him calling her a bitch. And I don't want to brag, but I was good. So the audience clapped. On the one hand, I felt gratified that they liked me, but at the same time, the show needed to move. I can see both sides of it.