Emotional Impact of Shows

Alright so i was just reading an interview with Kyle Dean Massey on Broadway.com(http://www.broadway.com/Kyle-Dean-Massey/broadway_news/5031005) and at the end of the article he said:
"Anyone who comes will love it by the end, but our audiences are totally with us the whole time, and it?s so rewarding to meet them after the show. The other day, there was a girl in the front row who was literally convulsing with sobs at the end, and Bobby [Spencer, who plays the father] and I just broke down. There?s a wonderful energy that goes back and forth.?

I am just wondering if there have been any shows where people have been so affected emotionally while watching it and also if there have been shows where the way it effected the audience in a way altered how you felt about the show. For example I am almost positive that the girl who he is talking about was beside me at the show when i saw it, and she was literally convulsing, it was shaking my chair! but i found having her next to me in a way took away from the way the show effected me.

I donno i know this is kind of random but just wondering.

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Updated On: 7/30/09 at 12:00 PM

I would say the shows that impacted me the most emotionally were Aida and Miss Saigon. In both cases, it was the ending.

I never saw Parade, but I was sobbing by the end of the cast recording the first time I listened to it.

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^wait a minute, Tony isn't carried off at the end of the revival production? This is my favorite musical of all time, I was hesitant to buy a ticket because of Karen Olivo's attendance, now this? I don't think I will waste my money.

I've never cried while seeing a musical. Half the time I wonder if the hysterical sobbers are doing it for the attention.

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LizzieCurry wrote "I've never cried while seeing a musical. Half the time I wonder if the hysterical sobbers are doing it for the attention."

Trust me, at age 52, I don't do much of anything 'for the attention'. But if I'm not crying by the end of a musical, to me it just wasn't a good show. It's not sadness that gets me going it's the poignancy that always moves me.

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Left Behind in Spring Awakening made me want to cry when I saw it.

When I saw Parade at SpeakEasy, I was on the edge of my seat during the trial sequence just thinking, "He didn't even do anything. Leave him alone."

When I saw Ragtime at a regional theater in Norwell, I wanted to cry after the intermission.

I'm going to see Next to Normal next month and I just know I'm gonna be a mess by the end!

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That, too, Eris. There is no connection over the destruction that the Jets and Sharks war has brought upon both gangs, and innocents like Maria (Tony, too, but he was in the gang) Aside from Karen Olivo's Anita, the whole production just left me cold.

Bettyboy, I know what you mean. And I knew what was coming in HAIR, but when Claude is being held up by the tribe and getting "shot" during "Ain't Got No" right before "The Flesh Failures", I lost it. And the reason I lost it was the way Gavin Creel sings "Ain't Got No" after each of the drumbeats/"shots". Full of pain. Even on the CD you can hear it. I tear up listening to that now.

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"I've never cried while seeing a musical. Half the time I wonder if the hysterical sobbers are doing it for the attention."


See thats what i felt like it took away a bit from the show for me (during next to normal i mean) she was just a young girl well like 17 or 18 maybe and like i said she sobbed, but then at stage door she was the one that all the cast remembered and they all gave her hugs (well she only stayed for Kyle and Bobby) so i donno. Clearly she got their attention, and i mean the show was very emotional!

Now back to the topic, its not so much crying but when i go see a show and there is an exceptional cast and one of the leads comes out i just get so excited and a little teary! haha I dont know why it happens, but it happened when i saw Angela Lansbury in Blithe Spirit, and Patti LuPone in Gypsy, and for some reason Stephanie J Block in 9 to 5.
The only time i have ever "almost" cried from sad emotion was ***SPOILER*** when at the end of Next to Normal and Gabe goes up to Dan and says "Hi Dad" that part gets me! I teared up a little!

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I tend to tear up or cry when listening to cast recordings too, either because I remember that moment when I saw the show, or I am imagining it (if I never saw it).

I usually cry during Adam's final "Mimiiiii" on the RENT OBCR, during Jenn's "they'll be no more crying...not for meeeee" on the N2N CD, and during Josh Strickland"s "Everything That I Am" and "Youll Be In My Heart" from Tarzan. I tear up at several points during "Tell Me On A Sunday" with Bernadette Peters..."you dont know meeeeeee."

Anyway, the list could go on and on. That's why a good cast recording is a wonderful thing.

I actually get choked up on some of the 9 to 5 songs. They are very heartfelt and I think that the fact that Janney can't sing well makes them more endearing as she sings songs about overcoming obstacles. It's very moving.

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Ya, I know what you mean about audience members being distracting and taking away from what is going on on stage.
However, I myself kinda lost it (as much as a grown man can I guess) in Next to Normal. I don't think I made any noise or convulsive movements, but throughout lots of it things were just hitting me right and left. I remember specfically in "The Promise" and then throughout the last two numbers. Its the only time I felt uncontrollable tears runnig down my face. Kind of embarassing after the lights came up.

One of my favorite theatrical experiences was when I saw the revival of Sunday in the Park last year. I was with a couple of my high school theatre students and my best friend and we were in the second row. We all loved the show, and I remember looking into Daniel Evans' eyes in "Finishing the Hat" and feeling something that pulled me into his struggle. Same with Jenna Russell in "We Do Not Belong Together" that kept me enthralled for the rest of the show. "Move On" got me a little tearey as I felt like they were giving me advice in my own life.
Now, what was cool about that was after the show was over, my friend went to wait in line at the bathrooms and we waited for her outside. I didn't realize the stage door was right there because no one was waiting for them, but out came Daniel Evans, and since I was waiting any way, I just thanked him for his performance. He then asked me if I was in the group on the 2nd row and thanked us for giving so much back to them as performers. He said that most people are falling asleep during the show or obviously not engaged with what was going on. He said that they could feel us understanding the show and giving our energy back to them. Michael Cumpsty and Jenna Russell then came out at separate times, asked the same question and made similar comments. It was super odd and surreal. They must have talked about it backstage or something.
Any way, did that have to do with anything? Is that what we're talking about? Sorry.

I've been listening to various West Side Story cast recordings lately, and for some reason the instrumentals during the dance breaks in America get me choked up. I think it's more of a reaction to how beautiful the music is, but then I get to thinking about what the song represents, and how we know what some of these women's lives will turn out to be. for some reason that really gets me.

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Updated On: 7/30/09 at 02:37 PM

I almost never cry at shows. That doesn't mean that I'm never really touched by a show or performance, though. I feel it inside of me when I'm really touched by something. It only happened at one show that I was really crying..

I cried at the end of "Gypsy" with Patti Lupone, but only because the battery in my digital camera went dead and I couldn't get a picture of her tossing an audience member into the orchestra pit because he burped during "Rose's Turn".