NYT: Everyone Else Is Giving a Standing Ovation. Do I Have To?
Posted: 11/11/24 at 7:52am
I don’t stand anymore unless it’s stunningly good.
Posted: 11/11/24 at 8:26am
Sit. Stand. Do the Hokey Pokey for all I care. It’s a non-issue.
It doesn’t matter as long as it’s respectful to the performers and the patrons around you. Owing to my height, if I’m further up front, I’ll stay seated so I don’t block those behind me.
My bigger pet peeve is people fleeing for the exits right after blackout or during bows to go to the stage door. (And yes, I can tell which people they are) That is a line I will never cross.
Posted: 11/11/24 at 8:31am
It is what it is.
Practically speaking, a standing ovation is the first step to getting up to leave. For most audiences, the show ends not after the bows but after the end of the action of the show. if you want to see the bows, you also have to stand if those in front of you are standing.
I’m surprised the piece didn’t get into the mid-show standing o, being that there were 3 when I saw SUNSET and 2 when I saw RAGTIME.
It’s also funny that British theatre audiences don’t like to stand, whereas at film festivals like Cannes and Venice the trade publications measure the length of the standing ovation as though it has meaning (and it’s quite easy for productions to stoke the flames and keep people clapping). To the point where a 5-minute standing O is viewed as tepid. By that point my hands might hurt and I’d probably have to pee. But again, none of this really matters.
Updated On: 11/11/24 at 08:31 AM
Posted: 11/11/24 at 10:08am
Though most stood at SWEPT AWAY there was a decent contingent of us in the mezz who did not. First time that has happened in a long while. And I did not feel bad about it.
Posted: 11/11/24 at 10:10am
quizking101 said: "My bigger pet peeve is people fleeing for the exits right after blackout or during bows to go to the stage door. (And yes, I can tell which people they are)That is a line I will never cross."
Maybe you can tell the difference. The last time I left during the curtain call it was at Left on Tenth, because the balcony blocked my mezzanine seat in such a way, that you can't actually see the stage when people are giving a standing ovation.
People can also be stressed out about making a train or getting home to a babysitter on time. There are definitely reasons beyond stagedooring or sending a message to the performers for an early exit.
Updated On: 11/11/24 at 10:10 AM
Posted: 11/11/24 at 10:28am
I just think the SO has become meaningless, which is a shame. IT used to mean something. When Lansbury got a SO for Gypsy or Christpher Plummer for Cyrano, that was saying something, because audiences almost never stood. Hell, Mary Martin and Robert Preston did not get one on the opening night of I Do! I Do!
Nowadays, audiences start standing for minor characters in mediocre productions. By the time the lead comes out, the audience has already been on its feet for awhile...where's the recognition there.
When you left a show that got a truly deserved SO, there was an additional exhilaration that you had at knowing you just shared a truly special experience. I really do remember which shows that I saw got SOs from the mid-60s to the 10s, because they were rare. Right this minute, I can't remember the last show that didn't get one. I find that I do not applaud as loud as I used to because of all the hooting going on in the audience...why bother.
I really do think this started with American Idol, in which the audience members started standing after individual numbers to show that they were behind the particular singer. Eventually (I haven't watched it since the Adam Lambert season), the audience stood after basically every number. If they did not, they were saying that the performance was downright bad. They started standing on AI and soon after on Broadway and, based on Sarasota and summer theatres I attend, most every place else. So, it is not meaningless.
Posted: 11/11/24 at 10:50am
Jonathan Cohen said: "quizking101 said: "My bigger pet peeve is people fleeing for the exits right after blackout or during bows to go to the stage door. (And yes, I can tell which people they are)That is a line I will never cross."
Maybe you can tell the difference. The last time I left during the curtain call it was at Left on Tenth, because the balcony blockedmymezzanine seatin such a way, that you can't actually see the stage when people are giving a standing ovation.
People can also be stressed out about making a train or getting home to a babysitter on time. There are definitely reasonsbeyond stagedooring or sending a message to the performers for an early exit."
I knew this response was coming. Because I also usually stage door, I often see the people who hauled ass out of the theatre during curtain call to get to the barricades when I get there.
Posted: 11/11/24 at 11:10am
quizking101 said: "I knew this response was coming. Because I also usually stage door, I oftensee the people who hauledass out of the theatre during curtain call to get to the barricades when I get there."
That makes sense. I never go to the barricades, so I mean this as a straightforward question. How often do you miss out on meeting someone because you stayed for the curtain call?
Posted: 11/11/24 at 11:15am
Jonathan Cohen said: "quizking101 said: "I knew this response was coming. Because I also usually stage door, I oftensee the people who hauledass out of the theatre during curtain call to get to the barricades when I get there."
That makes sense. I never go to thebarricades, so I mean this as a straightforward question. How often do you miss out on meeting someone because you stayed for the curtain call?"
Not often. I’m usually in a box on an aisle in the rear orchestra since that’s where the accessible seating (again, very tall and quite wide) I usually purchase is located, and so my egress is straightforward.
Posted: 11/11/24 at 12:16pm
In onr of the extra interview clips from "Broadway: The American Musical" doc on PBS, Stephen Sondheim spoke about this exact thing. To paraphrase what he said: "People nowadays, feel the need to stand up and ovate something, reguardless of the quality of the show. Most of these people only see one or two shows a year, they pay for dinner, parking, hire a babysitter, etc. They want to be a part of the evening. They have put so much into this one evening. So, what do they do to feel 'a part of the evening? I will stand and give them a standing ovation' ".
Posted: 11/11/24 at 6:33pm
I used to not give a standing ovations unless I felt it was justified, but if everyone gives one I'm just left not being able to see the rest of the bows.
Posted: 11/12/24 at 12:43am
I stand to avoid looking like an a**hole. But I do miss the days when it meant something.
Posted: 11/12/24 at 3:10am
My rule is: if I'm with friends who would feel uncomfortable not standing I will stand because I don't want to make them feel uncomfortable. However, if I'm by myself or with people that don't give a f&%k I will sit like a grouch because it takes a lot of butter to get this one out of the frying pan.
I have dedicated a large part of my life watching the most incredible theatre throughout the world, researching and studying theatre for decades. And I'm willing to literally make life sacrifices because instead of sitting at home watching Netflix I spend a lot of money contributing to the salaries and bills of the entire show, sometimes multiple times. Which should be enough.
So no, I'm not going to stand because a bunch of seals around me start clapping their flippers and jumping up and down while barking - who ironically probably don't even enjoy the show as much as I do.
And if you don't stand every show you also start to realise that it makes the times you do stand much more memorable. For example, towards the end of the SCOTTSBORO BOYS run, people throwing flowers, John Kander in a box, the conductor visibly crying. Or the various standing ovations Bernadette got in "Hello, Dolly".
My rule in life in general is think about everything you do and only follow the crowd when it makes sense to!! Although if your number one goal in life is to make as many friends as possible literally ignore everything I say and follow the crowd loloololol.
