Lousy Wicked Crowds Really Hurt the Show -.-- Page 3

[alterego]

Posted: 10/24/05 at 9:46pm

Why thank you ljay889!

[ThankstoPhantom]

Posted: 10/24/05 at 10:03pm

WHen I saw WICKED in July Megan, Shoshana, Rue, and Ben all received entrance applause. It was a very enthusiastic audience that day.

ANd I totally agree with you...when audiences aren't responsive it destroys the energy level and usually makes the performance somewhat lackluster, no matter what show.

I personally feel that entrance applause is a little awkward, it's very intruding for most entrances, unless they were written for that purpose (ie Glinda, Elphaba, and the Wizard).

[SirLiir]

Posted: 10/25/05 at 12:06am

alterego- Your point is valid but I have indeed seen alot of other shows besides Wicked. Almost everyone on Broadway actually because I agree fully that its good for variety. There are MANY shows that are alot better than Wicked. But my personal choices for seeing a show should matter little in this discussion. I have seen some bad crowds in other shows (off the top of my head, I would say Light in the Piazza had a subpar crowd but that didnt make the show any less exciting). I am just saying that bad audience seems to effect Wicked the most. I should point out that these kind of audiences always tend to happen at matinees. Especially wed matinees.

[alterego]

Posted: 10/25/05 at 12:24am

Point taken. Then again maybe that particular performance wasn't one of the better ones. I find when I've seen a show numerous times you sort of become numb to some of the show, find something else for a while then come back to WICKED.

[blaxx]

Posted: 10/25/05 at 1:00am

If it was true that an audience reaction can hurt a show, that really has not many good things to say about the quality of the show.

Going back to the entrance applause discussion, I think it is hilarious to expect one. If the theatre is full of tourists, Megan Hilty is as big of a star as the usher who gave them a program.
My favorite entrance applause story was during Annie Get Your Gun. Bernadette Peters comes out and the audience applauds and applauds and applauds...well, for so long that she had to say "You should stop now, I haven't even done anything!" - Very true from her and very funny.

[BSoBW2]

Posted: 10/25/05 at 1:07am

Ahhhh, Bernadette.

But yea, I agree. Theatre is definitely about the two-way communication between the actors and the audience. The audience definitely gives energy to the actros, and vice versa. But from the start, it is the actor's job (and the job of the actual material being performed) to intrigue the audience.

LITP is alos a very different crowd than Wicked.

[ShuQ]

Posted: 10/25/05 at 7:47am

While it is true that the audience provides a huge amount of energy for the actors, and vice versa, these actors should be able to put on a superb performance regardless. While it's absolutely great, and necessary, for them to use the audience, the should be able to do just as much with ten people in the house.

That being said, if having a lousy crowd hurts your interpretation of the show, that's different.

[Glindafan]

Posted: 11/10/05 at 9:47pm

Unresponsive audiences are predictable - - several posters admit they went to a matinee: a bad choice.... that's when BUSLOADS of aged, hard-of-hearing old folk populate the crowd and it's when you'll see more children than an evening performance. I don't care what's happening onstage - - if the audience is hard-of-hearing or fidgety kids, each one replaces a fully alert adult who's there to see and interact with the show.

One more reason crowds get disconnected is periodic problems with the sound system. I've seen that happen in Wicked TWICE! You can't laugh at a joke if you can't hear it.

[TinyDancer]

Posted: 11/11/05 at 12:54am

SirLiir-

I understand your frustration with a sluggish matinee audience but I was always under the impression the 'entrance applause' was reserved for actors who were either long established and deserving of the 'honor' by their lengthy and successful careers...or for perhaps a younger performer who had originated that particular role to much acclaim (a la Chenowith and Menzel)...but even then this honor is/used to be rarer for actors under a certain age.

While I'm sure Ms. Bean and Ms. Hilty are exemplary performers (i have not seen the show yet), according to the above idea--neither actress has EARNED the right to expect such an honor merely by their ages and by being a replacement.If it happens, then how wonderful it must be for them receive such a gift so early on in a performance...and hopefully it IS actually FOR them and not their characters.

Also, someone mentioned that the entrance applause was actually written into the script? While i certainly have never read the script for WICKED, i find this very hard to believe. The entrance applause is purely a voluntary audience reaction and therefore could never written (to much point) into the actual script. If that were the case, how many actors would wish that 'thunderous applause' and 'riotous laughter' could be written in as well into other scripts?

Anyway- my two cents...i'm a lurker but am new to posting. But i applaud your excitement and your protectiveness of the company and show you obviously love.

-tiny dancer

[SirLiir]

Posted: 11/11/05 at 1:16am

Thanks tiny dancer. You make a very valid point about entrance applause. That pretty much summed it up to me. I feel it just basically boils down to the day, the venue, and the reputation of the actor/actress. Entrance applause should never be mandatory but it does help the audience connect somewhat with the actor (you are applauding their work and persona - I am sure its flattering as an actor to be recognized and celebrated like that on stage) and certainly gives the actor confidence and drive to perform to the audience that is obviously receptive to them.

[NightLaughs]

Posted: 11/11/05 at 1:17am

TinyDancer- I completely agree. You said it all.


I must agree on the matinee Wicked audiences. Having seen a few matinees of Wicked and I've enountered the rudest audiences I have ever seen at the Gershwin. From drunk women, singing children, screaming toddlers, people enjoying an entire meal in the row behind me, Wicked seems to draw in many people who have a lot to learn about appropriate theater behavior due to age or just plain ignorance. It is frusterating to have an important (and very expensive) theater experience tarnished by an audience but the most you can do is just attempt to drown it all out and take what you can from the show. I feel your pain. I've never come so close to getting in a fight as the day some drunken ladies decided to come see Wicked after getting completely hammered instead of passing out in their miserable beds. Aye.

[SirLiir]

Posted: 11/11/05 at 1:52am

Night, bravo! You have really expressed what I started the topic about. Going to see Wicked can be an expensive treat and having rude audiences really makes me feel I am not getting what I should be getting for my buck. A great performance can leave a great lasting impression. A rude audience can leave an even stronger negative impression.

[jimmirae]

Posted: 11/11/05 at 2:42am

I just had to say that Taye Diggs was an excellent Fiyero and I was grateful to see him in the role.

[Radioactiveduck]

Posted: 11/11/05 at 2:58am

I was in a crap Wicked audience in LA. The people surrounding me in the VIP section all knew NOTHING about the show, and had little kids with them. One girl sat in her dad's lap and looked at the program the whole time, another wouldn't shut up, and they were all really un-enthusiastic about the show.

I was so pissed that the parents of these kids took them to the front of the orchestra when they were barely the right age to sit in the back of the mezzanine of a live show. I might have been able to deal with it better had the people around me not been so BORING. It was like they sucked the energy out of the theatre.

Long story short, I know what you mean.

[yodamarie78]

Posted: 11/11/05 at 9:39am

"Also, someone mentioned that the entrance applause was actually written into the script? While i certainly have never read the script for WICKED, i find this very hard to believe."

What they mean is that both Glinda and Elphaba's entrances are blocked with entrance applause in mind. Both have an eyecatching entrance with a pause after they enter to give the audience time to applaud the actress. This is very common for shows that have a big name.

[willact4food]

Posted: 11/11/05 at 10:06am

Ummm...being a Broadway star shouldn't be a quallification to getting an entrance applause. Main characters should get entrance applause. When I saw the Wicked Tour about 1 month ago, EVERYBODY recieved entrance applause including Kendra. I think it's majorly important to give entrance applause. It makes the actors feel good and gives them energy.

Being a "broadway star" shouldn't be the only reason you get an applause.

[JasonM12480]

Posted: 11/11/05 at 10:10am

Folks, let's get real here. Yes, it is difficult to perform for an unresponsive, or seemingly unappreciative audience. But if you're a true performer, you give 110% everytime, for even 2 people in the audience, who are both sleeping. There's no excuse for the cast to give a less-than-excellent performance on Broadway, when people are paying $100.00 a pop, AND your salary.

[Carl Magnum]

Posted: 11/11/05 at 10:45am

I have to disagree WillAct. Being a lead does not qualify entrance applause, if that was the case I would have gotten entrance applause every night that I performed Deathtrap. Entrance applause, while I am not a fan, is reserved for respected actors who have earned a spot in the tomes of acting/broadway history. And yes I can see how it is blocked to accomidate this in Wicked. And yes I can see applauding for Rue or Ben. But not Shoshana or Meg.

[willact4food]

Posted: 11/11/05 at 11:27am

well, that's just my opinion. i think if they're good enough to have a lead in a broadway show, they're good enough to get entrance applause.

[.LittleWing. 0224]

Posted: 11/11/05 at 11:41am

"i think if they're good enough to have a lead in a broadway show, they're good enough to get entrance applause."

so innocent and naive to casting politics. being cast as lead doesn't always mean you're "good enough" for the part. often much more able and outstanding performers for the role are passed by for this or that reason. the same as just because you've won a tony doesn't mean you're THAT good. Tony doesn't equate to the talent and lead doesnt equate to entrance applause.

i feel like this conversation has happened a thousand times already anyway.

JasonM said it all in that no matter if the audience is a bunch of 70+ seniors who can't hear and fall asleep during the show, and whether there is entrance applause or not, actors should give it there all as if it was a loud and receptive crowd cheering them on from the get-go.

[TinyDancer]

Posted: 11/11/05 at 11:47am

yodamarie78-

i understand your point about the flashy entrance (and the need to wait in this CURRENT production)but i still disagree that 'pause for entrance applause' is anywhere in any script, unless it's been written in pencil by a broadway or national tour company member.

If it is written into the actual script? Then it is unfortunate and contributing to the disintegration of a long standing and revered tradition in live theatre.

And I say tradition because things change of course, and maybe this one is too- but if it does i think it would be a horrible shame especially for the actors themselves.

Today there is a climate of easy fixes and instant gratification in general- and so for actors, there are fewer and fewer tests and honors these days that are more trusted and humbling, than entrance applause.

Critics can be bought (not to mention a charicature at SARDIS), awards are created merely for PR and not merit, and friends and family can be kind, but the audiences never ever lie. Perhaps the standing ovations are now a tad murky as to their validity- but during the show, the audience is the last, true barometer of your work up there.

E.A. is one of the few remaining signs that you have not only a career's worth of good, solid work, but that you are recognizable. That people know you and trust you, and when they see your name above a marquis they are banking on you, the ACTOR to come through because you have in the past.

But i personally am confused now as to whether people are applauding for the character, the actress or the damn bubble now.

I will say i find the comments that 'it makes the actors feel good' to have entrance applause- one of the most loveliest things, ever. i hate to disagree with it, but it is truly considerate and very thoughtful.

applauding for a successful, lauded, established actor is applauding for a known, beloved and trusted quantity and established body of work, when they walk onstage.

applauding for a character that in any actors hands could be somewhat different, is applauding for a fantasy (and the hope that you won't be disappointed)--

And a smart young actor will understand that they are not yet worthy of such an honor no matter how generous the audience is, and keep that personal bar for themselves when they feel they are.

tinydancer
Updated On: 11/11/05 at 11:47 AM

[AspectsofLoveLover]

Posted: 11/11/05 at 12:28pm

When I saw Wicked in June. Megan got applause as she entered in on the bubble. I think that audience that you see it with definitly affects the show.

[TheGirlontheSwing]

Posted: 11/11/05 at 12:33pm

thats so dissapointing to hear- i saw the OBC so everyone in the audience loved every moment- i was thinking about going back- but mabey i'll rethink that.

[LittleFish8386]

Posted: 11/11/05 at 12:34pm

Maybe because the show is a horrid piece of garbage, and people are now seeing it for what it is?


No...?
Updated On: 11/11/05 at 12:34 PM

[yodamarie78]

Posted: 11/11/05 at 12:38pm

I seriously doubt that anyone thinks that the applause is literally written into the script. It's hyperbole.

I do agree that entrance applause should not be expected and it is always amusing when it is anticipated and then not received.