Entrance Applause - love it or hate it? — Page 4

I applaud for Chita Rivera

Has anyone else been pretty much the only person NOT to give a standing "O". I do applaud every performer even if I don't enjoy the performance. I may be a jerk but I'm not heartless. Much.

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What I hate are forced standing ovations. I need to see who I am applauding for. But if people in front of me are standing up, then I can't see. So I am forced to stand up to see who I am applauding for. I wonder how many are people are doing that. Maybe an actor is getting a standing ovation that he/she doesn't deserve. Oh horrors!

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I'm all for entrance applause, but I hate it when it isn't equally distributed...like when I saw Thoroughly Modern Millie last year and Dixie Carter came on--major applause, but then when Leslie Uggams made her entrance she got half the applause Dixie received. Personally I will applaud when any big name comes onstage, because honestly I've always thought that was theatre etiquette.

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"When I saw "Steel Magnolias," Delta Burke was out and Sally Mayes filled in. Truvy's entrance is so perfectly designed to earn Delta a huge round of applause, that it was really laughable when Sally Mayes didn't recieve any."

That's what really bothers me! Actors should be blocked to enter in character, not to enter to applause. Unless of course there are 900 customers sitting in that beauty shop.

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I hate entrance applause. The one good thing about that shower curtain in the middle of the set in THE GLASS MENAGERIE was that it allowed Jessica Lange to enter almost unnoticed.

I do wish that more shows were directed to discourage this. Even if I were a big star, I think I'd rather stay in character than be applauded for merely appearing.

Des McAnuff with "Tommy" did that very well (no stars to applaud for, I know) but the first act was so quick and seamless that there wasnt any applause until after Acid Queen when the audience erupted.

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If entrance applause breaks the fourth wall and distracts the audience/actors that much from the show, are you also annoyed when actors pause for laughter after a funny line? Would you rather the actors ignore the audiences' response and continue with the scene, and risk missing the next few lines of dialogue?

I understand that laughter is definitely more spontaneous and is usually the intent in some shows, but the "breaking the fourth wall" argument doesn't really stand up when it comes to audiences' response in these conditions.

Standing ovations, eh, it depends on the show. Usually I stand when the people in front of me stand, since I can't see anymore and you never know when someone will fall into the orchestra pit. But I have stayed sitting after shows that have just not impressed me. Yes, even when it's my little sister's middle school play.

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Updated On: 5/25/05 at 03:14 PM

I love starting a standing ovation. I've done it a couple of times just to see if I could. Such exhilaration. Such power. Such hubris.

Sometimes I stand just because my back is really hurting.

Ouch!

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LoL I started the standing ovation of "Chicago" with Brenda Braxton and Charlotte D'Amboise from the second row and my friend and I turned out to be the ONLY ones standing up! The entire cast saw us and kinda laughed when they saw that nobody else was going to stand up and they all thanked us...LoL

Heh, well it's not like I hold middle school plays up to the same standard as I do Broadway shows.

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"Has anyone else been pretty much the only person NOT to give a standing "O"."

I felt like the only person who wasn't giving a standing O to Little Women. And I was sitting in the second row on the aisle and I think Maureen McGovern gave me a dirty look.

Sometimes though I start applauding and don't even realize I'm doing it. When George Hearn entered in Wicked I guess I just had a reflex that made me jump up and applaud like mad. I looked like a fool, but he smiled and made a little nod toward me, so I was happy.

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