People who clap in the middle of a song (entrances, jokes, impressive parts, etc)- Page 2

[Cabchic]

Posted: 9/21/05 at 3:31pm

I have heard actors at the door many times say you guys were a great audience. I think they feed off of the applause. I know I saw Cabaret a few times and always enjoyed it more with an enthusiastic crowd. Granted, you don't want it so much that you miss part of the show, but I think the actors like the positive feedback. They are working their butts off.

[kate2]

Posted: 9/21/05 at 8:28pm

i dont mind it, especially if the performers deserve it. like bso, said before, sharon wilkins always gets a standing ovation during "theres always me" in asu (RIP) its positive feedback for the cast

[best12bars]

Posted: 9/21/05 at 8:36pm

I don't see anything wrong with it.

Now, cell phones, pagers, talking at full volume during a performance, and other disruptive behavior not connected to the actual performance... that's another thing entirely.

Audience appreciation and reaction to what's happening on stage... perfectly fine with me.

[phantom_tenor]

Posted: 9/21/05 at 8:42pm

Clapping doesn't annoy me. It's when actors/conductors don't wait for the applause to subside that irritates me.

[best12bars]

Posted: 9/21/05 at 8:47pm

...Well that would be a bad conductor then.

Musical directors, and stage managers both should be aware and "in tune" with their audience and their actors at all times during a live performance. That's part of their jobs.

[gumbo2]

Posted: 9/21/05 at 8:52pm

im all for clapping to show u appreciate something, but i was at DRS this summer, and it was a little out of control. in dirty rotten number, people woop and clap at HAAAAAND, like someone else said, and that was fine, but at the end of the number cheering went on for a good 5 minutes. literally, norbert and john lithgow were sitting in their chairs looking at each other, and couldnt do anything. finally john lithgow kind of motioned everyone to calm down because it was taking so long. the whole house was standing, like they thought it was the end of the show i guess...and to top it all off this crazy lady next to me was yelling things out like WONDERFUL! and NORBERT! i mean, clapping during a number is one thing, but when a standing ovation lasts for so long after a song that they have to motion you to stop, i think its a bit ridiculous. does this often happen at DRS? i mean, it was nuts.

[jonartdesigns]

Posted: 9/21/05 at 8:53pm

theres some songs that for their complexity full earn an applause break (notably in "we both reached for the gun" when billy finishes the first verse, prior to going into the "understandble..." section). Sometimes its a little much but still fits with the energy of the show (when mimi takes off the kimono in "out tonight", after maureen's verse of "tmolm")

[best12bars]

Posted: 9/21/05 at 8:56pm

Gumbo2, ...Not if you were the one on stage receiving it.



Maybe I'm wrong, but I always thought stopping a show was considered a good thing.

Updated On: 9/21/05 at 08:56 PM

[ShuQ]

Posted: 9/21/05 at 9:04pm

I would agree, and say that it is a good thing, by all means. Actors are taught to pause to allow for such things to happen, because they can...and will.

[JulianHookbucks]

Posted: 9/21/05 at 9:45pm

Personally entrance applause is my favorite thing that an audience can do. And what a way to start a show. It means that the audience knows your coming, waits, and is so happy when you eventually do come out that they applaud... which is the highest form of theatrical approval. Applause. We're almost hugry for it. We're addicted. But I give it also. Not only if it's an amazing actor, but if the character deserves it... or a plot moment that deserves it. I remeber my first entrance applause. It was the most incredible feeling I've ever experienced. And I love giving it. THe acotrs feed of the audience, and when it's a good supportive audience, it heightens the emotion of the show. It's always a better show when there's a great audience. The theatre just rings.

[Luckydave14]

Posted: 9/21/05 at 9:56pm

I love it when there is applause throughout a show. I hate it when I see a show and there is a dead audience. Every single time I've seen Wicked, there was applause when Elphaba flew, except for once, and that was probably my least favorite time seeing it performed. It adds to the excitement.

[BroadwayGirl107]

Posted: 9/21/05 at 10:12pm

If the audience feels compelled to clap during an impressive part of a song, that is fine. It's when the audience starting "Wooooo-ing," yelling, screaming, whistling, squealing, etc during the song and it all starts to drown out the actual performer that it gets annoying. If the note is SO damn impressive to you why can't you finish listening to the note?...Because I know I would love to hear the rest of that very impressive note.

It's something I heard way too much at Wicked and Lennon. Every time someone would hit a great note, the obsessive fans would scream and clap, and I'd think "Do you even want to HEAR the note?"

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 9/21/05 at 10:18pm

JayKid, have you ever been in a charismatic church service? Or even a Southern Baptist church service? In certain cultures/ethnicities/religions/whatever, it is completely appropriate to clap or cheer in your appreciation for the performers onstage, whether they be a diva singing in a Broadway show or a preacher in a church.

If you get annoyed the clapping in the instances you've mentioned, you probably won't want to see The Color Purple when it opens.

Updated On: 9/21/05 at 10:18 PM

[BroadwayGirl107]

Posted: 9/21/05 at 10:20pm

It depends on the atmosphere as well...

[GYPSY1527]

Posted: 9/21/05 at 10:21pm

I don't have a problem with entrance applause, clapping for a moment in a song that is amazing ect...what I do have a problem with is clapping 'along' with a song. This can be targeted towards the Mamma Mia kind of clapping at the end of the show. It just pisses me off to no extent.

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 9/21/05 at 10:29pm

BroadwayGirl, I didn't mean you, I was referring to JayKid's original comments.

[BroadwayGirl107]

Posted: 9/21/05 at 10:36pm

Oh, okay. It ust came right after my post, so I wasn't sure.

[broadwaybaby9]

Posted: 9/21/05 at 10:46pm

I think the only time it gets to me is in Wicked, during the Regime Change scene. When after Glinda slaps Elphaba or Elphaba slaps Glinda, the audience goes like, "ooooooh." like the kind of in-your-face-ewwwwwww. I've seen Wicked 8 times now, and it happens everytime and it drives me crazy!!

[neocomposer]

Posted: 9/21/05 at 10:54pm

I don't know if I would say it bothers me. If people clap incessantly and with no end- I would say thats ridiculous. But having seen Wicked the Wednesday before Idina left, I was a part of a whole lot of clapping and cheering. But I can definitley understand how someone could get annoyed with clapping and cheering if they weren't a part of it.

If someone claps or cheers and it actually interferes with someone on stage -thats just rude.

[justme2]

Posted: 9/21/05 at 11:13pm

I'm all for it, when it's deserved. Examples:

Deserved
During "White Christmas" last winter, the show was stopped by applause during two of the dance numbers. The audience was showing it's appreciation for fine choreograpy, dancing and singing.

Undeserved
During "Chicago" a couple of years back, when Kevin Richardson merely enters from the wings, several hundred tweenies went wild with applause and screaming.

Posted: 9/21/05 at 11:21pm

I would say that if you're missing something because of the audience response, then the performers you're watching aren't really on their game. It's part of the actor's job to pay attention to the audience and react accordingly. And when they are, and the audience is responding well, then THAT is theatre nirvana.

[Fosse76]

Posted: 9/21/05 at 11:45pm

What I hate is the rythmic clapping during the curtain call (when it's done to music) because the audience isn't really acknowledging the ensemble, but clapping to the beat of the music, only to calp enthusistically to the main stars of the show. It just really bothers me.

[BroomstickBoy]

Posted: 9/21/05 at 11:47pm

I actually like that kind of audience participation. Unless it's the kind done incessantly by teenage "vocal acrobatic" nuts. I mean overdone. Not the kind that adds to the excitement.

A couple of my favorite audience moments are :

Aida- Right after "Written in the Stars", when Radames and Aida walk off opposite sides and Amneris emerges from behind the wall, slowly in shock, and the audience goes "Ooooooohhhhhhhhh" like the kind of suspenseful "Oh sh** she heard them!"

Wicked - "Yes well, a lot of us are taking things that don't belong to us, aren't we?" Audience " oooooohhhh, bitch fight".

I'm weird like that, I like that kind of reaction. It just shows they get what's going on, etc etc.

[andyf]

Posted: 9/21/05 at 11:54pm

I clap from the pause before the first note in "Woman Is the n* of the World" through the end.

It's pretty much uncontrollable.

[DVkid]

Posted: 9/22/05 at 12:11am

I think that there is no difinitive answer and one cannot say "I hate this." I take that back. I suppose you can say that, but I don't believe its accurate. There are moments when it fits and moments one it doesn't. An example of the latter would be in Defying Gravity when Elphaba lifts into the air garnering a round of applause that completely drowns out one of the most clever lyrics in the show. That I disagree with. But for the most part its okay.