15 Golden Rules of Theatre Etiquette
15 Golden Rules of Theatre Etiquette
#115 Golden Rules of Theatre Etiquette
Posted: 7/26/09 at 12:56pm
Just came across this amusing article. It was written across the pond, and the Europeans even found a way to take a few shots at Americans during the list.
"7: Have nothing to do with standing ovations... In America such ovations have become meaningless and, if they don't occur, they indicate disapproval. We don't want them to become regular here."
Interested to hear what people have to say on some of these, like #6.
Enjoy!
Check it out.
Everywhere like such as.
#2re: 15 Golden Rules of Theatre Etiquette
Posted: 7/26/09 at 1:05pm
Number 14 makes me feel guilty 
Haha.
"It doesn't work when you lick it!"
#2re: 15 Golden Rules of Theatre Etiquette
Posted: 7/26/09 at 1:07pm
Great list - I agree with #6 except for certain exceptions. Angela Lansbury deserves entrance applause - the interchangeable actresses in Wicked DO NOT.
I also agree with standing ovations. Unless something is truly spectacular, I will not stand.
The list is great - too bad the typical, rude Broadway theatre goer won't go along with any of them.
#3re: 15 Golden Rules of Theatre Etiquette
Posted: 7/26/09 at 1:22pm^^ I will happily applaud at the interchangeable actresses in Wicked. I mean, it takes talent to walk on the stage! Haha, I have to clap and stand if everyone else is, or I just feel really left out and awkward!
"It doesn't work when you lick it!"
winston89
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/18/06
#4re: 15 Golden Rules of Theatre Etiquette
Posted: 7/26/09 at 1:26pmzoraksferal, the think is is that you don't have to stand and clap or give entrance applause every single time no matter what the people around you are doing. Yes, it does take a lot of talent to be on Broadway. But, by giving entrance applause it's your way of saying that you would reward someone for the smallest thing that needs no reward. Someone needs to be someone or doing something pretty damns special to get entrance applause as far as I'm concerned. I love Wicked I do, but I must say that I never have once applauded the 7th replacement as soon as she entered the stage. That's just craziness.
"If you try to shag my husband while I am still alive, I will shove the art of motorcycle maintenance up your rancid little Cu**. That's a good dear"
Tom Stoppard's Rock N Roll
dramamama611
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/4/07
#5re: 15 Golden Rules of Theatre Etiquette
Posted: 7/26/09 at 1:47pmHe is totally correct about the Standing Ovation problem in America. I will NOT stand unless I feel the performance was among the best I have ever seen. (Unless my kid is in it...and then it IS among the best.)
If we're not having fun, then why are we doing it?
These are DISCUSSION boards, not mutual admiration boards. Discussion only occurs when we are willing to hear what others are thinking, regardless of whether it is alignment to our own thoughts.
#6re: 15 Golden Rules of Theatre Etiquette
Posted: 7/26/09 at 1:49pmI hate entrance applause, it is completely distracting. It disrupts the flow of the performance for absolutely no reason.
#7re: 15 Golden Rules of Theatre Etiquette
Posted: 7/26/09 at 2:33pm
I probably give a standing O to maybe one out of four shows I see. But when I was in the UK, it seemed like they are even freer with them, which was surprising to me, since I'm always hearing about how stupid we Americans are to applaud.
On 6...I think there are occasions that invite and deserve exit applause or applause after a monologue; I don't think anyone should be chastised for applauding after Lucky's speech in Godot for example.
#8re: 15 Golden Rules of Theatre Etiquette
Posted: 7/26/09 at 3:17pm
But when I was in the UK, it seemed like they are even freer with them, which was surprising to me, since I'm always hearing about how stupid we Americans are to applaud.
I had the exact opposite experience. After seeing about twenty shows, I can only remember seeing standing ovations at about two of them.
I am a totally stubborn standing ovator. Everyone else can stand up around me, whatever. If it didn't deserve it, I'm not going to get up.
#9re: 15 Golden Rules of Theatre Etiquette
Posted: 7/26/09 at 3:21pmI like all of these rules, with the exception of #14. I can't help that I'm over six feet tall; no one can.
"You travel alone because other people are only there to remind you how much that hook hurts that we all bit down on. Wait for that one day we can bite free and get back out there in space where we belong, sail back over water, over skies, into space, the hook finally out of our mouths and we wander back out there in space spawning to other planets never to return hurrah to earth and we'll look back and can't even see these lives here anymore. Only the taste of blood to remind us we ever existed. The earth is small. We're gone. We're dead. We're safe."
-John Guare, Landscape of the Body
#10re: 15 Golden Rules of Theatre Etiquette
Posted: 7/26/09 at 4:15pmBest line: "You blind sod, switch it off!" I think I'll use that if I ever see someone texting during a show!
"Are you sorry for civilization? I am sorry for it too." ~Coast of Utopia: Shipwreck
bwayfan7000
Broadway Legend Joined: 3/28/09
#11re: 15 Golden Rules of Theatre Etiquette
Posted: 7/26/09 at 4:26pm
A bit over the top...do they really expect people to sit completely still the whole time? I would count as a fidgety kid, I suppose, but that's nothing I can help. And it doesn't mean I'm not enjoying the show. This was mostly funny, though.
And, for the record, I mostly stand either because others are, or because I want to get ready to leave. Though after seeing next to normal, I was the first one standing.
"Art, in itself, is an attempt to bring order out of chaos."-Stephen Sondheim
#12re: 15 Golden Rules of Theatre Etiquette
Posted: 7/26/09 at 4:33pmIt's remarkable that whoever wrote this even likes theatre at all.
-Benjamin
--http://www.benjaminadgate.com/
--http://www.benjaminadgate.com/
#13re: 15 Golden Rules of Theatre Etiquette
Posted: 7/26/09 at 4:43pm
But when I was in the UK, it seemed like they are even freer with them, which was surprising to me, since I'm always hearing about how stupid we Americans are to applaud.
At risk of sounding snobbish, standing ovations in the UK are far more common at shows that attract audiences who wouldn't normally go to the theatre. They're as meaningless here as they are there, only for different reasons. Entrance applause really hasn't caught on over here, fortunatly. To be honest I don't really like the idea of applauding an actor because they're famous when they're supposed to be in character.
#14re: 15 Golden Rules of Theatre Etiquette
Posted: 7/26/09 at 4:55pm
There's only one rule of theatre etiquette as far as I'm concerned. While the show is taking place, you sit down and you shut up. If you want to do something that contravenes either of those (like, wandering back and forth to the bar, waving your arms around, chatting with your neighbour, wearing noisy jewellery, etc), then you are a Bad Audience Member. Quiet genuine laughter or spontaneous applause for a genuinely show-stopping moment are the only allowable exceptions until curtain call, at which point you may (but should not feel compelled to) stand and cheer all you want. But until then, SIT DOWN AND SHUT UP. :3
#15re: 15 Golden Rules of Theatre Etiquette
Posted: 7/26/09 at 5:00pm
"Angela Lansbury deserves entrance applause"
Bless you, I agree. She is one of the few. I generally agree with this rule as well. On the night of a final performance certain exceptions can be made as well.
2010
Feb. 28 - Looped, Feb. 28 - Next to Normal, March 4 - Hair, March 11 - A Little Night Music, March 24 - Time Stands Still, April 6 - La Cage Aux Folles, April 10 - Anyone Can Whistle (City Center), April 10 - Looped, May 9 - Enron, May 15 - A Little Night Music, May 15 - A Behanding In Spokane, May 30 - A Behanding In Spokane, May 30 - A Little Night Music, June 20 - A Little Night Music, June 23 - Red, June 23 - Sondheim on Sondheim, July 13 - A Little Night Music, July 18 - The Grand Manner (Lincoln Center)
#16re: 15 Golden Rules of Theatre Etiquette
Posted: 7/26/09 at 5:00pmMariusPontmercy, that may well be it. The only show I really felt like giving a standing ovation to was Waiting For Godot, which was the only show that did NOT receive one.
#17re: 15 Golden Rules of Theatre Etiquette
Posted: 7/26/09 at 5:29pm
dont clap at an entrance... WTF! I guess might close then. I can understand the anding ovation but c'mon... it shows love for the actor!
Updated On: 7/26/09 at 05:29 PM
bwaylvsong
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/28/05
#18re: 15 Golden Rules of Theatre Etiquette
Posted: 7/26/09 at 5:54pm
I got entrance applause when I played the Major-General in Pirates and was really taken aback by it. It caused me to give even more of myself than I ever expected in my first performance in anything resembling a lead, and really helped me get over my nerves.
So, I disagree with what's been said about not giving entrance applause.
#19re: 15 Golden Rules of Theatre Etiquette
Posted: 7/26/09 at 6:03pm
I agree with all of them except for number 14 and the last part of number 4. I especially agree about the standing ovations and entrance applause.
With very, very few exceptions (Angela Lansbury being one of them), entrance applause is not warranted and does nothing but disrupt the show. What's the point of it? What are we applauding for? The fact the the actor/actress showed up for the performance? That they're a celebrity? If it's just to "show love for the actor" then that can be done at curtain call.
Like people already said, standing ovations are much too common these days. I'm one of those people who, if everyone else is standing, will stand up simply because I want to see the actors and don't want my view blocked.
But it's really sad when you think of the fact that golden age Broadway stars like Ethel Merman, Mary Martin, the Lunts, etc. got maybe only a few standing O's in their entire careers, but today shows like Legally Blonde, Wicked, and Shrek get them all the time.
"You drank a charm to kill John Proctor's wife! You drank a charm to kill Goody Proctor!" - Betty Parris to Abigail Williams in Arthur Miller's The Crucible
#20re: 15 Golden Rules of Theatre Etiquette
Posted: 7/26/09 at 8:38pm
I can't dance during the Mamma Mia! remix while sitting in my seat so...
"If this is going to be a Christian nation that doesn't help the poor, either we have to pretend that Jesus was just as selfish as we are, or we've got to acknowledge that He commanded us to love the poor and serve the needy without condition and then admit that we just don't want to do it." -Stephen Colbert
#21re: 15 Golden Rules of Theatre Etiquette
Posted: 7/26/09 at 8:55pm
I agree with all of it. There's absolutely no reason to give entrance applause, imho. All it does is further remove people from a show (actor included, I don't know how I'd respond to entrance applause, and I hope I never have to deal with it). And I'm extremely stingy about standing ovations, I wish they were worth what they once were.
The coughing's a hard one, but I have noticed that it is a mark of how involved people are in a show. There's no coughing when an audience is wholly involved in a performance, which suggests that it really can be avoided. And there's nothing worse than someone coughing down your neck while you're trying to watch a show.
Theatre is a safe place to do the unsafe things that need to be done.
-John Patrick Shanley
Updated On: 7/26/09 at 08:55 PM
sally1112
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/13/04
#22re: 15 Golden Rules of Theatre Etiquette
Posted: 7/26/09 at 9:01pmI disagree with the entrance applause. I have always found it to be a term of respect and honor for the actors.
#23re: 15 Golden Rules of Theatre Etiquette
Posted: 7/26/09 at 9:07pm
I actually really like entrance applause. Not only does it acknowledge an excitement, but it allows an audience to release any early pent up energy, so that they can then allow themselves to be drawn into the story. To me, it is just a quick acknowledgment of excitement which leaves the rest of the play to pass by with the fact known that we are really "with" the show.
That whole list seems to me a bit grumpy and old man-ish with a "kids today *grumble grumble*" vibe that turns me off a bit, even though I agree with some of his points.
Updated On: 7/26/09 at 09:07 PM
MamasDoin'Fine
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/28/08
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