Milking applause (somewhat off-topic)

[marknyc]

Posted: 9/20/08 at 1:51pm

This doesn't really involve Broadway, but I just had to post about something that happened last night.

I attended a choral concert of a visiting choir (that shall remain nameless). They were excellent - as a former choral performer, I could appreciate the amount of work they had put into the concert.

But after the second number, the director turned to the audience and said:

"We're very grateful for your applause, but after six months of rehearsing these pieces, it's difficult to hear only a few seconds of applause. So feel free to let us know how you really feel about our performance - please don't hold back!"

Of course, the audience began hooting and cheering "Bravo!" etc. etc.

In 40 years of attending performances, I've never heard anyone actually get up and ask for louder applause - has anyone else seen this happen??

I thought it was awfully embarrassing.

Mark

[Scarywarhol]

Posted: 9/20/08 at 1:53pm

That's pathetic.

[wicked_beast4]

Posted: 9/20/08 at 1:56pm

Patti does arm gestures that milk it after Rose's Turn, but they go with the moment, and it is very much deserved.

Updated On: 9/20/08 at 01:56 PM

[zepka102]

Posted: 9/20/08 at 1:57pm

Wow... that director needs to remove his head from his behind.

[Weez]

Posted: 9/20/08 at 2:02pm

... WOW. When I saw the subject heading, I came STRAIGHT in here to complain about the Russian ballet I saw in February, who could NOT be persuaded to stop bowing. They BOWED and they BOWED and they BOWED and they BOWED and the curtains closed and the lead man and woman came through the gap and they BOWED and they BOWED and they BOWED and they BOWED and then the curtains opened and oh lord it just went on for FAR too long. I was particularly resentful of how the man would bow once, then stand back and smilingly gesture at the woman as she bowed for a solid ten minutes. Hello? Yes, you did some pretty dancing, lady, but that man right there LIFTED YOU ABOVE HIS HEAD AND CARRIED YOU AROUND THE STAGE. I want to applaud HIM some more!

But yes, the scenario in the original post is INCREDIBLY tacky. Yuck. I'd've boo-ed.

[ljay889]

Posted: 9/20/08 at 2:04pm

Every Rose after Merman has milked the audience after ROSE'S TURN. Usually through bowing, Patti's approach is the same concept but a different procedure.

[Weez]

Posted: 9/20/08 at 2:08pm

(Sorry, I shouldn't post with this gaudy TV on in the same room, I'm failing to communicate efficiently AT ALL this evening.)

I think... there's a difference between milking applause, a la Rose or the ballet, and outright ASKING for it, a la the OP. Milking applause is cheesy and embarrassing, but saying "oi! Clap pls!" is really tacky and disgraceful.

[jonartdesigns]

Posted: 9/20/08 at 2:45pm

I've milked for applause, however I was playing a rather caricatured version of elvis, so it fit the part. Beyond that its just unacceptable

[Mattbrain]

Posted: 9/20/08 at 3:12pm

A character in Cirque du Soleil's Varekai milked applause but that was part of his shtick.

And that director sounds like a real douche. My old high school chorus teacher probably would've done something like this mostly because the concerts she put on were godawful. How godawful? She was fired before the year was over.

[TxTwoStep]

Posted: 9/20/08 at 3:13pm

it may be a general trend in conductors, and "chatting from the podium" in efforts to make serious music more accessible. That's why you see symphonies programming so much "pops" stuff, like "The Music of the Movies" or such...though it is nice when Broadway singers do concerts with symphonies. There is a fairly famous pops conductor in our town who actually enters to the fanfare from ROCKY each time he conducts....a bit unseemly.

[RuthlessChicken]

Posted: 9/20/08 at 6:38pm

Well, if it's a young (high school choir or younger) then I don't think it's entirely inappropriate...however, if it's a professional choir (you were a bit ambiguous) then it's extremely unprofessional. My college choir director always discouraged applause during sacred concerts.

But six months to learn a nights worth of music? Wow.

[marknyc]

Posted: 9/20/08 at 6:51pm

It was a college choir, and the thing that made it really embarrassing is that they were one of the best choirs I've heard. Everything memorized, and fantastic technique. You could hear how much all the work paid off.

But to beg for more applause - ugh. I wanted to stand up and say, "Actually, the best way for this audience to show respect for all your work is to stop talking during the songs!"

But I didn't.

[JP2]

Posted: 9/20/08 at 7:18pm

When I saw Huey Lewis in Chicago ( he was awful, btw) He would pimp for applause during his entrance.

[Rotel1026]

Posted: 9/20/08 at 7:47pm

Isn't Rose supposed to be doing that in an empty theater? So she's milking an imaginary audience was how I saw it. And I actually thought it was absolutely something her character would do.