Here in dear old Blighty, we're rather more conservative with our standing ovations than American crowds, a fact that has been noted by audience members and performers alike, but we're still known to rise to our feet when *especially* taken with a production. However, I don't recall ever being part of a standing ovation for a straight play. Musicals, yes, much of the time. Straight plays though? Never seen it happen. Do you get standing Os for plays in the US? Or have you witnessed a standing O for a play in the West End?
No- standing ovations for plays are very very rare. I've only seen an audience-wide standing o' for one straight play in all my show-seeing on Broadway, and this was the final part (Salvage) of the Coast of Utopia marathon.
(Of course, I've been among the dozen or so standing for other shows, such as "Pillowman" and "History Boys")
"Are you sorry for civilization? I am sorry for it too." ~Coast of Utopia: Shipwreck
Moon for the Misbegotten, Deuce, Blackbird, Little Dog Laughed, Journey's End, The Scene, The Clean House, King Lear, Inherit the Wind, Radio Golf, Coast of Utopia...
Why stand?! They just talk! In musicals they talk and sing and dance! But in plays they just talk! Why stand for that! I could talk myself if I really wanted to! I could dance and sing, too, but I can't stand up and clap for myself, just clap, so I'll just talk and sit down and clap at plays and that is that!
B3TA07 - darling, you go up there, and do what Frank Langella or Vanessa Redgrave or countless other actors and actresses are doing every night. See if that's 'just talking'.
SondheimGeek: Is it slightly pathetic that you guys get to be Jedi bitches, and I'm Bitchy the Hutt?
LizzieCurry: No, you're more memorable
So far in my theatergoing career, as for straight plays, I've seen the following:
TALK RADIO - March 7, 2007 @ 2pm Center Orchestra - Row AA - Seat 106 I STOOD for Liev. Stellar performance worthy of one.
INHERIT the WIND - May 3, 2007 @ 8pm On-Stage Seating - Row BB - Seat 1 I STOOD for Brian and Christopher, and when they took notice, they both motioned to those standing in the juror's box.
FROST / NIXON - May 26, 2007 @ 8pm Center Orchestra - Row BB - Seat 107 I STOOD for Frank, Michael and Full Company bows.
JOURNEY'S END - June 5, 2007 @8pm Center Mezzanine - Row A - Seat 107 I didn't stand ... but only because I up quite high.
RADIO GOLF - June 20, 2007 @8pm Center Orchestra - Row BB - Seat 106 I STOOD for Henry Lennix and Full Company bows.
I agree in that I think we give the STANDING O a little too much.. I'm usually the one that doesn't stand if I didn't like the show... unless it would be really awful If I didn't... With Musicals people just JUMP up.. as soon as bows being.. kinda annoying.
I've stood for Coast of Utopia, The Retreat From Moscow, and Journeys End... latley
People don't always jump to their feet for musicals. When I saw Sweeney Todd, no one stood until Manoel came out (I would have stood earlier, but I was in the front row, and didn't want to be the first to stand.
I am a firm believer in serendipity- all the random pieces coming together in one wonderful moment, when suddenly you see what their purpose was all along.
This thread reminds me of my first trip to London in the 70's. Angela Lansbury had just opened in GYPSY and, of course, I attended. At the end of "Rose's Turn" I bolted up and began shouting "Bravo!"--only to find that I was the only one in the theater doing so.
While I agree we give standing ovations to just about everything on Broadway (more for our own egos demonstrating that we're SURE we got our top-dollar money's worth), I have seen Standing O's at many plays going all the way back to Torch Song Trilogy and Agnes of God, when I first starting seeing Broadway shows in the early '80s... and recently Doubt (with Cherry Jones) received a one when I saw it in L.A.
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I led the standing ovation for Christopher Plummer back in the 80's when he played Iago in Othello with James Earl Jones. I thought he had given the most amazing performance I had ever seen. I agree with best12bars (and Sondheim) that most standing ovations seem to be for the audiences gratifications that they didn't spend all that money for nothing. This also goes back to Blood Brothers touting their standing O's in their ads, so everyone probably felt they needed to get on the bandwagon.
I killed the boss, you don't think they're gonna fire me over a thing like that!!!!
The History Boys got one almost every single time I saw it (24) and the Pillowman (which I saw 6) got one over half the times. Also, Journey's End got one when I saw it.
I've been to musical performances without standing ovations. When I saw the most recent revival of OKLAHOMA at the Gershwin, there was no standing ovation, nor was one even remotely deserved.
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Ah yes. I forgot The Year of Magical Thinking. Gotten a standing O every time I've seen it.
Eve Best got standing Os the couple of times I saw Moon. The first time, most people were already standing because of Spacey, but the second only a handful stood for him, but most everyone I saw stood when Eve came out.
As for Talk Radio, I left too quickly to see. Could not get away from that quickly enough.
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LIVE THAT LESSON!!!!!!
It seems as if most people will stand for anything these days.
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Everyone who was at standing ov shows for Journey's End is so fortunate...I saw it late in March and the crowd I was with was shady, at best. A couple of people stood but it was hardly the house. One guy in front of me even fell asleep, another guy (real sex bomb) got up and left because he got splashed. I should have seen it again.