Have you ever Booed in the theatre? Would you?

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Have you ever Booed in the theatre? Would you?

Posted: 8/7/11 at 11:10am

http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/08/04/theater-talkback-is-it-fair-to-jeer/?ref=theater

great article.
Booing is clearly allowed in Opera... would you do it in the theatre?

everyone works so hard in so many ways,... but does it warrant a dismissive gesture from audiences?

If people automatically give standing O's nowadays....why not the opposite?

Based on the article;
Of all the theatre you've ever seen Broadway & Off,... which ONE deserves the Standing O? Which ONE deserves the Boo?

Updated On: 8/7/11 at 11:10 AM

Have you ever Booed in the theatre? Would you?

Posted: 8/7/11 at 11:16am

I never boo, but often refrain from applauding if the performance does not deserve it.

A recent example: last week I saw Les Miserables with tenor Alfie Boe as Jean Valjean. Given his performance in the 25th anniversary production and not insignificant TV presence in the UK, the audience went nuts at every breath he took. After his big numbers, the place erupted. Personally, I felt that his performance was mediocre as Valjeans go and definitely not deserving of the reaction it got. Both in response to the audience and in response to Boe, I gave only a few cursory claps before waiting for the performance to continue.

So that's what I do. Wish I was more like Statler and Waldorf though.

Updated On: 8/7/11 at 11:16 AM

Have you ever Booed in the theatre? Would you?

Posted: 8/7/11 at 11:20am

Yeah,.. I only applaud the performers I enjoyed. And remain seated if need be.

I've never been to an opera where the audience wails in boos.
That must be weird/awkward.

If I had to choose one in recent memory:
Standing O: A Little Night Music
Boo: Priscilla

Updated On: 8/7/11 at 11:20 AM

Have you ever Booed in the theatre? Would you?

Posted: 8/7/11 at 11:39am

No, I have not,nor will I boo a perfomance. It's tacky and disrespectful.

I do withold applauding and I seldom give standing ovations.

Likewise, I leave crappy tips if the service is bad.

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.

Have you ever Booed in the theatre? Would you?

Posted: 8/7/11 at 12:04pm

I'm with everyone, I would never boo, just hold applause.

The exact opposite.... When I was at Catch Me if You Can last week, the audience went nuts when everyone danced in unison, and twice when there was a key change. Aaron Tveit's last song (not the finale) received a standing applause - the audience looked like it was applauding Rose's Turn. It was crazy.

"I've never encountered such religiously, you know, loyal fans as Broadway musical theater fans. It's amazing." --Allison Janney

Have you ever Booed in the theatre? Would you?

Posted: 8/7/11 at 12:10pm

I don't really think it's appropriate to make any sort of noise (booing, cheering, etc) in the middle of a number.

I too, rarely do standing ovations and don't always clap after every song...only if it seems warranted

Have you ever Booed in the theatre? Would you?

Posted: 8/7/11 at 12:11pm

Booing at opera has become completely political. Take the Alagna scandal. He sang his aria very well (as is evidenced by the chorus of "bravos" he received) but was booed by a small clique based on some comments he'd made and the fact that some didn't want him singing that role (Radames in AIDA) at La Scala. It had almost nothing to do with his actual performance.

I've seen brilliant productions and performances booed at opera houses across the country. It calls more attention on the person booing than anyone else. And to answer the question: I've never booed, nor will I ever. If I'm displeased with a performance, I simply do not clap.

"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

Have you ever Booed in the theatre? Would you?

Posted: 8/7/11 at 12:14pm

I would never boo in the theatre. That's a level of disrespect I would never stoop to. I have, however, stalwartly refused to applaud after a number (Little Miss Sunshine's number about bulimia, anyone?) or stand for curtain call and applaud/cheer.

Have you ever Booed in the theatre? Would you?

Posted: 8/7/11 at 12:20pm

Never. That's just plain rude and disrespectful. I always applaud, sometimes with a little more enthusiasm of course, but putting on a show takes so much effort that even if I don't particularly enjoy it I think the cast deserves some sort of recognition.
Refrain from applauding if you really dislike it but never boo.

#10

Have you ever Booed in the theatre? Would you?

Posted: 8/7/11 at 12:25pm

The only time booing is acceptable in theatre is when it is a show clearly aimed towards children, and when it is at the villain of the piece. I played quite a few baddies and I knew I was doing my job when the kids would start booing.

David walked into the valley With a stone clutched in his hand He was only a boy But he knew someone must take a stand There will always be a valley Always mountains one must scale There will always be perilous waters Which someone must sail -Into the Fire Scarlet Pimpernel

#11

Have you ever Booed in the theatre? Would you?

Posted: 8/7/11 at 12:35pm

I do the same as most of you- I would never boo, but I don't always applaud and rarely give standing ovations. It can feel really weird when you're pretty much the only person sitting during curtain call, but did Wonderland really deserve a standing ovation?

#12

Have you ever Booed in the theatre? Would you?

Posted: 8/7/11 at 12:37pm

I have booed in the theatre. As a kid, to Captain Hook.

Not sure if I'd do it to show displeasure for the performance, unless someone did something truly heinous like deliberately try to harm another person.

"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

#13

Have you ever Booed in the theatre? Would you?

Posted: 8/7/11 at 12:44pm

AC126748, you might want to listen to him sing it again. He is consistently sharp - sometimes by a whole step or even more - on every high note he hits (Celeste AiiiiDAAAA). I've seen him sing beautifully before, but this just was not up to par. The cognoscenti that sit up in the upper balcony at La Scala are somewhat infamous for their vocal approval or disapproval of different singers.

Booing video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AxyBxbGF-Qg&feature=related

Full aria with alternate performance applause superimposed over the boos: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UR28e5vasTs&feature=related

Personally, I think it's non-Kosher to boo the performers (unless they absolutely mutilate the material beyond comprehension), so I'll just hold my applause. It can be very awkward being the lone boo-er after all. I very lightly applauded Patti LuPone during her Gypsy bow (3 claps or so). I did the same for Sean Combs in A Raisin in the Sun. My mom actually booed both of them.

I still have respect for performers who do the work and present us something, regardless of whether it's good or bad.

-There's the muddle in the middle. There's the puddle where the poodle did the piddle."

#14

Have you ever Booed in the theatre? Would you?

Posted: 8/7/11 at 1:17pm

He's sharp in places and the Bb isn't perfect--but considering the fact that many tenors don't even attempt the Bb when singing this aria, I'm willing to cut him some slack. I've heard it sung much worse. Alagna made comments about La Scala prior to the prima and I've always believed that much of the boos coming from the loggione were in response to that, in addition to the imprecise singing.

There has always been something a little too perfect/star-is-born about the understudy being thrown on in jeans. To begin, Palombi wasn't even Alagna's official understudy; his official understudy, Walter Fraccaro, was not only backstage but in costume (because Alagna hadn't sung well at the first performance and it was assumed he might cancel). Palombi said that he was "thrown on stage," whereas people who were backstage that night claim that he not only wasn't, but that he pushed his way out on stage as Fraccaro was preparing to make his entrance in order to replace Alagna. I've always wondered if there was some connection between Palombi and the booing, but that's just the conspiracy theorist in me.

In short, having heard the performance many times, I don't think it warranted the reaction it received. In fact, I think I've only seen one opera where a performance was so tragic that the booing seemed justified. And when Alagna sang Radames at the Met the following year, he was spectacular.

Just my $0.02

Updated On: 8/7/11 at 01:17 PM

#15

Have you ever Booed in the theatre? Would you?

Posted: 8/7/11 at 1:51pm

I personally wouldn't, I think it's disrespectful and ignorant of the work that had just been put out by the performer, but I won't stand if I didn't like their performance.

#16

Have you ever Booed in the theatre? Would you?

Posted: 8/7/11 at 1:56pm

Only if it were a melodrama and appropriate.

I have refrained from standing at shows where everybody stands automatically (at least on Broadway), and I have "limited" my applause. I usually offer at least a symbolic "golf clap" to show I appreciated their efforts trying, even if they didn't succeed. I haven't actually "sat on my hands" though. That would be as far as I could see myself going though, and I would have to be somehow "insulted" by their performance to do that.

But booing is too aggressive a response. Again, unless it's melodrama or vaudeville, where it was expected.

"Jaws is the Citizen Kane of movies."

blocked: logan2, Diamonds3, Hamilton22

Updated On: 8/7/11 at 01:56 PM

#17

Have you ever Booed in the theatre? Would you?

Posted: 8/7/11 at 2:06pm

Only if I somehow ended up in one of Charlie Sheen's "Torpedo Of Truth" shows.

....but the world goes 'round

#18

Have you ever Booed in the theatre? Would you?

Posted: 8/7/11 at 3:26pm

I don't see anything to be gained by it.

#19

Have you ever Booed in the theatre? Would you?

Posted: 8/7/11 at 3:44pm

Booing a performance really is unbearably tacky in my view.

I do try to avoid standing ovations for shows that simply don't deserve it. Half of the time I think the audience is congratulating themselves for sitting still and having enough money for a seat. But when I'm the only one NOT standing, I feel like such an asshole.

I really should be used to that feeling by now, I suppose.

#20

Have you ever Booed in the theatre? Would you?

Posted: 8/7/11 at 4:08pm

I have booed five times in the theatre. The last time was last summer after watching a dreadful production of Long Day's Journey Into Night with William Hurt. He mumbled through the whole show. I should have left at intermission.

#21

Have you ever Booed in the theatre? Would you?

Posted: 8/7/11 at 5:21pm

It's interesting that the Europeans are more in favour of this than Americans, but they do seem to reserve their wrsth for when it's merited. I had the questionable luck to see a production of Strauss' THE BAT in Germany some years ago, in which the hard-working cast was saddled with one of the most unbelievable "concepts" ever: putting the opera in 30s Berlin, with the third act taking place in (I swear) a concentration camp. The performers certainly gave it their all, and the audience appreciated that -- but when the director/designer team came on stage for their bows, I thought the audience was going to tear them apart. As it was, they had to leave by a back door, so as not to incur the audience's wrath at the stage door.

And I'm okay with that, TTTT. It's not the performers who warrant the boos, generally speaking, so much as the "wow, wouldnt it be cool if we did *this*" directors and designers. And I *have* booed those people, happily so, on occasion.

http://docandraider.com

#22

Have you ever Booed in the theatre? Would you?

Posted: 8/7/11 at 5:24pm

I think the greater question for all of us is have you ever pooed in a theatre.

"Jaws is the Citizen Kane of movies."

blocked: logan2, Diamonds3, Hamilton22

#23

Have you ever Booed in the theatre? Would you?

Posted: 8/7/11 at 5:27pm

except at a Pantomime (do you have Pantos in America???) no I haven't and would not! Not only would I be embarrased to be sat their booing, but its also disrespectful, regardless of the quality of performance, the actor has put alot of time and work into the show and that should be acknowledged, if nothing else!!!

#24

Have you ever Booed in the theatre? Would you?

Posted: 8/7/11 at 5:27pm

And here I should think the more relevant question would be "Have you ever scrooed in a theatre..."

And yes.

http://docandraider.com

#25

Have you ever Booed in the theatre? Would you?

Posted: 8/7/11 at 5:37pm

^ For the win!

"Jaws is the Citizen Kane of movies."

blocked: logan2, Diamonds3, Hamilton22

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