Are you a non-applauder?- Page 2

[Playbilly]

Posted: 5/10/12 at 5:50pm

If the audience is obliged to applaud and give a standing ovation, then it should be the performers' obligation to come by the stage door and sign every autograph and take every picture -- with enthusiasm and politeness. Nyaaa...the audience paid the get a performance. Anything more is extra. If I sat through a performance, anything more is extra.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 5/10/12 at 6:01pm

Middle-aged and mezzanine. It would use too much oxygen to clap. And who wants to die in the City Center mezzanine?

[yankeefan7]

Posted: 5/10/12 at 6:11pm

hushpuppy - while I may find it different like you, guess to each their own. I will tell you something even stranger. Years ago, my daughters were in a performance arts HS. One of the big events of the year was the spring ballet performance. My daughter's best friend had the lead and was a wonderful dancer. We sat next to her parents during the final performance and they never applauded the whole night even during the curtain call. As everyone was standing and applauding, they remained seated and then left. Trust me, their daughter was fantastic that night and I always wondered what she thought of her parents lack of reaction since they were in the 3rd row.

[Gaveston2]

Posted: 5/10/12 at 6:18pm

I think applause may be roughly compared to tipping: unless you are physically impaired then some minimal response should be considered obligatory. Lack of applause actually changes the flow and energy of the show and affects everyone's experience.

That's not to say anyone has to go wild over a mediocre performance, but not applauding because you're in your own little world "feeling the emotion" (whatever that means) is a good argument for staying home in front of the TV or with a book.

"It's really quite simple--you applaud when you feel the impulse to, you don't when you don't. Anything else is being fake and 'doing it because it's the thing to do.'"

It's participating in a communal art form and following the conventions of that form. It's no more "fake" than wiping your nose on a tissue instead of your shirt sleeve. Opera uses a different set of conventions and applause is considered inappropriate in some churches (but not in others); one should follow the conventions appropriate to any individual event.

That's not to say you must join in on entrance applause for a performer you don't recognize or shout "Bravo" when you think a number stinks. And there may be rare occasions when one withholds applause because one finds a number actually offensive. But some general sense of mutual participation should be brought whenever one attends the theater; sometimes the spectator's contribution is silent attention, sometimes it's applause. Most viewers can figure this out, but an 11-year-old may need to be taught.

[explorer]

Posted: 5/10/12 at 6:25pm

There is nothing like the sound of applause!

[dramamama611]

Posted: 5/10/12 at 6:32pm

Tipping is never obligatory.

[My Oh My]

Posted: 5/10/12 at 6:36pm

Is it just me, or does anyone else find that the older they get, the more inclined they are to not applaud at every "applause break" and cue?

It's not about age or physical inability, but more about just experiencing enough to know what it is you want to give and when giving it is appropriate. For example, the usual applause occurred at a recent performance of Miss Saigon after a song and I reluctantly did two faint hand claps and felt immediately silly for having done so--I wasn't feeling it but tradition and courtesy has it that you have to do that at awkward silences. Baloney.

I'd have just followed along blindly back when I was a kid or in my teens and had experienced only a smattering of shows.

Updated On: 5/10/12 at 06:36 PM

[Gaveston2]

Posted: 5/10/12 at 6:38pm

Tipping is never obligatory.

It is if you think people who work deserve to earn a living.

****

My Oh My, sometimes in life you get what you pay for. Follow convention and applaud politely after the first few numbers of MISS SAIGON and you may get better performances later in the evening than you will get if you sit on your hands.

Actors aren't robots. Not quite yet, anyway.

Updated On: 5/10/12 at 06:38 PM

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 5/10/12 at 7:12pm

I have huge hands and clap very loudly.

I'm very proud of that fact.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 5/10/12 at 7:18pm

I think people that rely on tips, should give service worthy of one.

And really? We have to EARN a good performance? I really thought it was the other way around.

[SNAFU]

Posted: 5/10/12 at 7:29pm

People on stage get paid whether I applaud or not. My clapping does NOT effect their paycheck. If I am tipping at a restaraunt where the waiter/waitress is earning less then minimum wage then my tip does matter.
I only applaude at what I enjoy, if I don't, then tough luck! Applauding (standing O's also) means nothing if you do it for everything!

[cordialcherry]

Posted: 5/10/12 at 7:32pm

One of my friends never applauds. The first time we saw Next to Normal she didn't applaud at all during the first act, so I thought she hated it until she told me otherwise at intermission. She will give a standing ovation at the end of a show though.

[SNAFU]

Posted: 5/10/12 at 7:34pm

Ha! I didn't applaud during the entire show and walked out never once clapping. Yep, I hated that show!

[mc1227]

Posted: 5/10/12 at 7:38pm

I really can't stand people who sit at a show and do not applaud at all. I would prefer that they just leave at intermission if they are not enjoying the show. The only thing I can't stand more than that are people who leave during curtain calls. There's a propriety that when people are on a stage performing for you for two hours, you can at least wait the 2 minutes and let them get their props from the audience. I enjoy the curtain call moments for actors since I feel they deserve that consideration. Their paycheck has nothing to do with anything. It's the lost art of respect.

[Gaveston2]

Posted: 5/10/12 at 7:52pm

SNAFU, I deliberately wrote that the comparison to tipping was a "rough" one. (Though withholding applause may affect a performance and that, in turn, may ultimately affect livelihoods; but of course the connection is not a direct one.)

But the point is that, like tipping, the convention in Western cultures is that people applaud at various times (depending on the medium). People who refuse to follow the conventions needn't be shot in the public square, but neither do they need to congratulate themselves for failing to uphold their part of the bargain.

If you think a show is really poor, then by all means withhold your applause. (Though I would still say polite applause is due to skilled performers stuck in a badly written piece.)

But if the choice is simply to sit on one's hands while waiting for a showstopper, one is apt to have a long (and well-deserved) wait.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 5/10/12 at 7:55pm

But why would someone's non action change your evening? They should stay home, because you don't like it?

[Gaveston2]

Posted: 5/10/12 at 8:07pm

I'm not literally barring anyone from the theater, dramamama. However would that be enforced, anyway?

I'm just saying that if you want a quiet, private experience, we have media designed to achieve that. Live theater is an interactive, communal experience that doesn't work unless both parties (cast and audience) fulfill their functions.

The performance of FOLLIES I saw on Tuesday was a perfect example. An enthusiastic (but not artificially so) audience fed an excellent cast, and both sides of the footlights were the better for it. The actors were professionals and I'm sure they could have performed adequately to an empty house, but their joy at the audience's reaction was palpable and a pleasure to behold.

[PianoMann]

Posted: 5/10/12 at 8:16pm

As a performer, I can absolutely attest to the impact applause from the audience has on the performers on stage. Of course, you don't expect every song to get tremendous applause, but the energy from the audience can really drive the performers to give a better performance - not because they feel like they're being adequately rewarded, but because the energy becomes tangible and translates into the performance.

One of the most memorable experiences I've had in the theater recently was the closing performance of Follies - when the drum roll to the Prologue began and the audience thundered, it brought such an energy to the house! The extended applause had a noticeable impact on the performers as well, especially after Who's That Woman, in which Terri White began to tear up and huddled with the other women on stage. While this would be inappropriate at each and every performance, it's an example of just how powerful an effect the audience's response can be!

[dramamama611]

Posted: 5/10/12 at 8:22pm

I'm not arguing those ideas, at all. It's the expectation that an audience member should be required to applaud that I have trouble with. ESPECIALLY since the very large majority does applaud, for those that choose not to (for ANY of the reasons brought up here) it should not be an affront to anyone. The (maybe) 10 people in an audience of even only 800 have no impact on the whole.

As I said, I almost always DO applaud, I just don't care if others choose not to.

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 5/10/12 at 8:32pm

"The performance of FOLLIES I saw on Tuesday was a perfect example. An enthusiastic (but not artificially so) audience fed an excellent cast, and both sides of the footlights were the better for it. The actors were professionals and I'm sure they could have performed adequately to an empty house, but their joy at the audience's reaction was palpable and a pleasure to behold."

Amen! You could see that the actors were soaking it all in, and loved every second of it.

[Gaveston2]

Posted: 5/10/12 at 9:00pm

As I said, I almost always DO applaud, I just don't care if others choose not to.

You're right, dramamama. If 10 people sit on their hands, it doesn't really affect anything. I don't believe anybody has suggested we hunt for non-applauders and assault them.

But I thought we were discussing the conventions of musical theater and the principles behind those conventions. For the first page or so of this thread, it seemed that non-applauders were patting themselves on the back--for what, I don't know.

As you know, most musical numbers in American musicals are staged with some sort of expectation of applause at the end. To fail to at least applaud politely leaves the performers in a very awkward position. This isn't to say we should reward mediocrity with undue praise. But why would we leave a performer in the embarrassing position of holding for applause that never comes?

If the non-applauders don't want to do their share, so be it. There are slackers in every group endeavor.

[Playbilly]

Posted: 5/10/12 at 9:03pm

Entrance applauds seems obnoxious to me. I get the reason - appreciation of previous work, but still...

When Joel Grey walked out and WAITED for his entrance applause in Wicked before beginning his scene, i was offented. His presumption colored my entire reaction to his performance.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 5/10/12 at 9:14pm

There was a bit of animosity from a few posters about their ire over non-applauders -- that I just felt needed to be addressed. But I suppose they didn't outnumber the back patters, as it were.

As I mentioned, my son doesn't -- and he certainly has had applauders as role models (myself and his big sister) and he and I have discussed it -- it somehow ruins the moment for him. He applauds fully at curtain calls, and tries to 'make up for it' then.

[FANtomFollies]

Posted: 5/10/12 at 9:41pm

what i find more disturbing than not applauding is the trend of ALL shows getting a standing ovation. I don't stand unless a show really is above-and-beyond.

[Gaveston2]

Posted: 5/10/12 at 9:45pm

Re your son, dramamama, you've taught him the convention. If he chooses to follow a different convention, it isn't a crime and I don't think he needs to be forced into compliance. I'm sorry if I seemed to elevate this issue to a felony. It quite obviously is not.

The reason I compared applause to tipping is because my understanding of tipping is that if the food gets to you while reasonably warm, you tip the server 10%. If the service is good, 15%. Exceptional service (or in large cities such as NYC or LA) leads you to double the tax or estimate 20%.

Likewise, I think if performers get through a number, they deserve polite applause. More enthusiastic applause if they are good. Cheers if they are great, etc.

Obviously, the standards are subjective, so not everyone will agree on the same meal or performance.