Laura Benanti chides people for not applauding- Page 9

[Jarethan]

Posted: 5/20/16 at 4:40pm

When I do to a show, I will applaud wildly if I love a number.  If I like it, I will applaud healthily.  If I don't like the number or the performance, I do not pretend that I did.  I feel that there are enough people applauding to avoid embarrassment for the performr(s) and see no reason to applaud something I didn't like. 

I have paid good money, travelled to the city, etc.  Why should I be guilted to applaud if I don't like it.  It is not like I am booing.  I am talking about individual numbers, not every one.  To me, applauds for a well done job just adds to the experience, but I am not going to pretend.

i have to admit that I rarely applauded at the Rocky numbers a few years ago because I thought the score was awful and everything sounded like filler leading up to the grand finale.  Same thing with Bullets Over Broadway.  I applauded wildly  several times during Something Rotten, but did not feel compelled to do so after a couple of mediocre numbers.  Shoot me.

[CindersGolightly]

Posted: 5/20/16 at 4:40pm

Around here, someone will ALWAYS find a last piece to beat. Even when you think there aren't any. Someone will do it.

[broadwaysfguy]

Posted: 5/20/16 at 4:47pm

SEE participation trophy mindset and entitlement society

i really do respect anyone who will get on stage for anything (ive done it a few hundred times)

applause and recognition is earned

its not a right of the performer or obligation of the audience member

I often pay up for my seats at a broadway show.

My obligations as a viewer are to not distract other viewers or performers and that's it.

 

 

[gypsy101]

Posted: 5/20/16 at 5:07pm

holy crap, I saw the first few posts in this thread but didn't think it would blow up like this. I didn't think the video was funny but it wasn't as offensive to me as many. She's usually more spot-on with her humor though, so that's disappointing (I liked the song she did with the Skivvies about getting off your phone).

[jimmycurry01]

Posted: 5/20/16 at 6:56pm

I have to say that there have been a few times that I have not applauded. Applause is something to be earned, it is not something a performer is entitled to. If a performer delivers a lackluster or poor performance, then I will not pretend to have enjoyed it, nor will I fool the performer into believing I appreciated it.

I can't figure out where this sense of entitlement has come from, but it really does feel like more and more people feel like they deserve the world whether they deliver on their end or not. If she feels like she didn't get an appropriate amount of applause, then next time she will just have to put more into her performance. I'm sure she is capable.

[Sally Durant Plummer]

Posted: 5/20/16 at 7:04pm

What earns applause is when a performer goes on stage and performs. They are giving part of themselves by performing and that is what earns applause. If I don't like the music to Cats, but I go see the revival, I'm not going to not applaud because I think "The Rum Tug Tugger" is a bad song. I applauded for Gillian Anderson's Blanche DuBois, even though I found her portrayal to be shrill and self-indulgant because she had spent three and a half hours on stage performing for me. I did not stand, like mnay around me, because I did not think her performance merited a standing ovation. But she had given herself over to material for three and a half hours. That alone earns my applause. Personal preferences should not get in the way of tact and manners. I know "Etiquette" by Emily Post has a whole chapter on manners at the theatre. Standing ovations are a personal choice. Applauding is not.

[AnnieBlack]

Posted: 5/20/16 at 7:34pm

I think when this season fully comes to a close (post tonys etc), both Laura Benanti & Jennifer Hudson will probably regret their twitter escapades. 

[lovebwy]

Posted: 5/20/16 at 8:09pm

hork said: "standingovation79 said:
 When you enter a theater to watch a performance you sign an unwritten contract with the performers to engage with them, and clapping is part of that.

 

No, you really don't. If someone on a stage asks how we (the audience) are doing, and then does the inevitable "I can't hear you!" or "You can do better than that!", I roll my eyes and ignore them. I'm not required to engage with them. Same thing with clapping. I usually clap, but sometimes I don't feel like it, and frankly I don't care if anyone claps. It's kind of a silly custom, if you think about it.

And to the people who keep saying the video is a joke, I don't think you know what a joke is. The only way it works as a joke is if she were making fun of arrogant actors who demand applause, but that's clearly not the case. She may be delivering her message in the form of a "humorous" song, but she obviously means what she's saying, so it's not a joke. And frankly, she just comes off as an entitled bitch. I've never seen her in anything, but I already hate her.

 

"

RIGHT on point. Thank you.

[BobPopa]

Posted: 5/20/16 at 8:19pm

Applauding should happen..period

The enthusiasm behind it can change based on emotional connection or like, but you really should always applaud.

You do realize you get a better show when you do. You are also applauding for the crew, the orchestra, the stage managers, everyone working to put on the show.

The public can sure dish out criticism to any performer they want, but god forbid the performer criticize a crappy audience.

[givesmevoice]

Posted: 5/20/16 at 8:20pm

Benanti's presence on social media reminds me of that scene in When Harry Met Sally where Sally tells Harry that he cannot say every thing that he feels every moment that he feels it.

 

How long before producers ask actors to sign something about their social media use? I have to sign one for my job.

[icecreambenjamin]

Posted: 5/20/16 at 9:05pm

I'm an actor and there are some audiences that treat theatre like its film by having no audible reaction at all.  It can get incredibly frustrating because you feel like the audience is asleep.  I love Laura and she's hilarious.  It's obviously just a joke and wasn't supposed to create such a negative response.

I actually feel really bad for her.  She really does sing her heart out in this show and deserves as much applause as the audience can give her.  I'm sure she's having a really bad day and I hope this whole stupid thing doesn't hurt her career.

[aaaaaa15]

Posted: 5/20/16 at 9:07pm

It wont hurt her career at all.

[Ring-a-ding]

Posted: 5/20/16 at 9:07pm

BobPopa said: 

"The public can sure dish out criticism to any performer they want, but god forbid the performer criticize a crappy audience."

I have no issue with performers criticizing audience members for using cell phones, talking, rattling food and beverage paraphernalia, or otherwise being disruptive, but it's the job of the performers to engage the audience. If that doesn't happen, it isn't the audience's shortcoming. 

[Ring-a-ding]

Posted: 5/20/16 at 9:09pm

I really doubt it will hurt her career in any way. She's a great performer, and, as Twitter kerfuffles go, this is seriously minor. 

Updated On: 5/20/16 at 09:09 PM

[Sally Durant Plummer]

Posted: 5/20/16 at 9:28pm

I don't think this Twitter video will effect her paycheck for a heavily sold, limited run engagement that revieved raves from the major reviews and got many Tony noms. It's extended, which means it has to be selling pretty well.

[lovebwy]

Posted: 5/20/16 at 9:30pm

She is hugely gifted. A major Broadway talent. I like her personally from what I can glean from her social media.

However, she is dead wrong here. And she's compounding the problem by doubling down on that nonsense.

I wish she would just remove the video and have done with it. No one, NO ONE deserves to be automatically applauded. Not Patti LuPone, or the Merm, or the Lunts, or the Queen of England.

I'm shocked the producers haven't asked her to take it down. It's insulting to the paying audience.

Here's what you get if you pay to see She Loves Me: you get to pay upwards for 100 bucks, you get to see a show, and you get to be sarcastically mocked by one of its stars on social media.No thanks.

 

 

 

[songanddanceman2]

Posted: 5/20/16 at 10:03pm

Oh my god is this still going? This is the oddest thing I've seen anyone get upset over, it was a 15 second song joke about not clapping. Wow, if people put this much energy in to real issues the world would be a better place.

[AnnieBlack]

Posted: 5/20/16 at 10:12pm

It his a nerve because we, this board, are ultimately the audience, and she is criticizing the audience, whether we clap or not. 

[PalJoey]

Posted: 5/20/16 at 10:14pm

I don't know what's funnier: the tweet? or the people in this thread who took it seriously?

[songanddanceman2]

Posted: 5/20/16 at 10:26pm

AnnieBlack Gimmie a break, IT WAS A JOKE

[SmoothLover]

Posted: 5/20/16 at 10:36pm

A lot of times people will not applaud at the end of a number in a musical because of the way it transitions into the following scene. Is this what is going on with Laura's number?

[JBroadway]

Posted: 5/20/16 at 10:46pm

[lovebwy]

Posted: 5/20/16 at 11:12pm

But Pal she said stuff after that suggested she was serious about thinking people should always applaud her. I don't think that's the greatest thing in the world.

[Cupid Boy2]

Posted: 5/20/16 at 11:36pm

lovebwy said: "She is hugely gifted. A major Broadway talent. I like her personally from what I can glean from her social media.

However, she is dead wrong here. And she's compounding the problem by doubling down on that nonsense.

I wish she would just remove the video and have done with it. No one, NO ONE deserves to be automatically applauded. Not Patti LuPone, or the Merm, or the Lunts, or the Queen of England.

I'm shocked the producers haven't asked her to take it down. It's insulting to the paying audience.

Here's what you get if you pay to see She Loves Me: you get to pay upwards for 100 bucks, you get to see a show, and you get to be sarcastically mocked by one of its stars on social media.No thanks."

If you've truly been that affected by her video, why don't you tweet her yourself and request that it be taken down? 

[aaaaaa15]

Posted: 5/20/16 at 11:42pm

lovebwy said: "But Pal she said stuff after that suggested she was serious about thinking people should always applaud her. I don't think that's the greatest thing in the world."

It's also not the worst thing in the world. She's obviously not going to take it down, and the producers aren't going to ask her to. The few on this website are probably the only ones still thinking about this. Just forget about it?

Updated On: 5/20/16 at 11:42 PM