Applause Before "Midnight Radio" in HEDWIG

I think that it is so much more powerful when it is silent. It makes that moment stick so much more, and it definitely makes the actors better.

However, I much prefer thunderous applause to a smattering. For some reason, every time I saw Andy there were maybe ten extremely loud clappers (you know the ones) who went to town.

Ive seen some people say that clapping after is an indication that the story didn't hit, but I'm not in that camp either.

My preference will always be silence, especially when the actor was particularly angry or funny that night.

Only during Darren's show and Taye's on Saturday at 2 have I ever witnessed applause after it. It's very frustrating.

What's even MORE frustrating was the girl sitting behind me, who went "No no NO DONT CLAP" in a really loud whisper. I really respect you being a fan of the show, but don't ADD to the noise by telling people not to clap? I was in the 2nd row and it was infuriating. THAT took me out of the moment.

I've actually had quite a Hedwig filled day since I found an audio of Taye from yesterday, then watched a boot of JCM. Both had applause, JCM's rather loud tbh. My first 2 times live had silence, so I had hoped that was more common, but it seems applause happens more than I would have thought.

also agree that one shouldn't add to the noise if they want silence. Dude next to me shut up pretty fast when he noticed my body language alone (death glare and crossed arms while shaking my head i believe)

Oh jeez I saw the show several times in the past year and never heard applause there. I'm seeing Taye in several weeks and hope the audience stays silent!

I'm lucky that in the hundreds of times I've seen the show there was no applause at that moment.

"I've experienced applause in that section only once - - - when Darren was still in the show.
He has a very rabid fan base and they'll applaud at the blink of the eye. LOL!"

Of the three times I saw Darren, there was only applause once toward the start of the run. There was applause after Taye's, Andrew's and Michael's at the start of their runs as well. I think it is a learned thing that the general audience (those that start to come back at least) learn as they go.

Has it always been this way, or was it a learned thing during this reincarnation?

I much prefer silence, but agree that a smattering of applause is probably the worst option. I saw JCM's last show before his knee surgery and he got a standing ovation after "Wicked Little Town Reprise"--one of I believe four that night. In that moment, it felt to me like the audience was applauding John getting through the show--the week--in that condition. I believe some people even applauded mid-song when the platform started to rise.

timisimaginary, I was also at John's last show and could have sworn there was no applause in that moment. The whole audience was on their feet, but I recall dead silence. Anyone else who was there remember?

I an trying to remember and I think there's always been silence every time I've seen the show (and that's even 3 times with Darren and his annoying fans). I think applause after that moment is inappropriate. The silence says so much more.

And let me explain, I don't think ALL Darren fans are annoying but I've experienced many that are, during all 3 times I've seen him.

Updated On: 7/27/15 at 01:48 PM

If people have witnessed applause with every actor and no applause with every actor, it has nothing to do with the actor or their fan base, but rather just the completely random compilation of people in the audience.

Also, I've witnessed two completely polar opposite reactions during Exquisite Corpse: Complete mayhem screaming applause, and pin-drop silence. I definitely prefer the silence, because I do believe the audience that night is more deeply engaged (not just 'engaged', because there's more than one way to be invested in a story, but emotionally engaged, I guess?).

I was there as well. Definitely dead silence before Midnight Radio that night. Maybe even a little longer silence than usual . It was so amazing since the whole rest of the night was so wild ! Was perfect really ..

We had one person on Thursday who wanted to clap, as well... but then they stopped, thinking they were early, but then tried clapping one or two times again.... before giving up after one quick "whoo!"

I've seen the show six times, and most of the time there were 10 seconds or so of silence right after the song, and then applause. Never cheering, but applause. While I agree that silence is very powerful, applause has never taken me out of the moment (but I get why others would be taken out of it). I think part of that is because as theatre goers, we're taught to clap at the end of songs, and especially after WLTR, I think there's the dilemma of, "I'm supposed to clap but this feels like a silent moment, what do I do?" Dead silence followed by clapping has always worked for me, but I can see how just silence would be even more effective.