Standing ovation in the middle of the show?

[MillieDillmount]

Posted: 8/2/07 at 1:36am

I have a question. When I recently saw Les Miserables sitting front row I was blown away basically through out the whole thing. I wanted to stand up after Lea Salonga sang I Dreamed a Dream and after Megan McGinnis sang On My Own. But I didn't for fear of coming across as rude.

Do people do that? Is it polite to do that? What do the actors generally think when the audience does that?

Also, about the bows. Lately people just don't stand up any more when the actors take their bows. I always want to just shoot up when they turn the lights back up. Why don't people do that anymore? Is it alright for a single person to do that right as they start?

Sorry if these are stupid questions, but I don't want people to think I'm rude. Esp where I'm still kinda young (I'm 18 going into college, but I look a lot younger, haha) so I don't want people to think I'm just a young fan girl because those people bug me too.

Also, when is it alright to scream / clap? So many times I want to do that after a song, sometimes after a funny line. But I don't, unless other are. Again, I don't want to seem rude.

Thanks for any answers.

~Darci

[wonderfulwizard11]

Posted: 8/2/07 at 1:37am

It depends on what you call the middle. For example, Patti LuPone got a Standing O after Rose's Turn, but that's near the end of the show, so...

[C is for Company]

Posted: 8/2/07 at 1:39am

Only standing ovation I've ever seen aside from curtain call was at Gypsy as well. I just don't think most things on Broadway now particularly stand out as deserving an ovation midway through I guess.

Updated On: 8/2/07 at 01:39 AM

[MillieDillmount]

Posted: 8/2/07 at 1:42am

See, that's what I mean. Everyone else will probably just get annoyed by me. But I was just in awe through out Les Mis since it was my first time seeing it and I was sitting front row. I seriously thought about standing up for Lea, but I didn't want to be annoying.

By middle I just mean in the middle of the musical, but after a song. It's hard with Les Mis though because of how it just goes from song to song. I felt bad cause a lot of songs didn't get appluse. I wanted to start clapping after each song, but they don't leave time.

~Darci

[OOTI2004]

Posted: 8/2/07 at 1:54am

I must say that I also wanted to give a standing ovation to Megan McGinnis after "On My Own", I thought it was something really special, and it felt as if I had never heard the song before, I was just in awe...anyway, but I felt the same way that the audience, especially those behind, me would be upset, and I know that while it is important to show what your feelings about something are, I also know that it is horrible to disrupt another person's theater-going experience.

[antiandrewx]

Posted: 8/2/07 at 1:55am

I've seen Raul get one after Being Alive, Fantasia after I'm Here, and Patti and Bernadette after Rose's Turn.

I don't think it's rude at all if the whole audience is doing it. Plus, things like Rose's Turn are the big explosive moments in the show (and the women performing them are so amazing) that it's almost...expected? to stand. I don't know, just my observation.

[uncageg]

Posted: 8/2/07 at 1:59am

The overture got a standing ovation at Gypsy last monday. (Last week)

[allofmylife]

Posted: 8/2/07 at 2:01am

Len Cariou got one in "Sweeney Todd" and I remember the incredible response to "And I Am Telling You" a few times when I saw "Dreamgirls." I believe "an of La Mancha" had a few on occasion.

[iluvtheatertrash]

Posted: 8/2/07 at 2:04am

Tonya Pinkins received it quite often after "Lott's Wife" in CAROLINE, OR CHANGE.

Patti received it, as well as Bernadette, after ROSE'S TURN.

[wonderfulwizard11]

Posted: 8/2/07 at 2:07am

I've also heard that Ebersole got one after The Revolutionary Costume for Today, but not while I was there.

allofmylife. I assume Cariou got a standing ovation for Ephiphany?

[uncageg]

Posted: 8/2/07 at 2:12am

When I saw Caroline or Change...everyone was on the verge after "Lot's Wife" but it didn't happen. I saw it in previews on B'Way. It took everything I had not to stand because nobody else did. But the ovation was incredible. And I was wiping the tears during "Salty Teardrops".

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 8/2/07 at 2:17am

Randal Keith got a partial standing ovation (after Bring Him Home) in St. Louis at the final performance of the Les Miz 3rd national tour last summer.

(Yep, I was there.)

One performance of Jersey Boys I was at, one person a row or so behind me tried to start a standing ovation for Chris Jones' "Can't Take..." but no one played along. Awww...

Updated On: 8/2/07 at 02:17 AM

[ahmelie]

Posted: 8/2/07 at 2:23am

I was one of only three people standing in the orchestra after Patti's Rose's Turn.

Was it a practically complete standing O the nights others went?

Updated On: 8/2/07 at 02:23 AM

[TapTapTapioca]

Posted: 8/2/07 at 2:24am

Christine got a Standing Ovation after Revolutionary Costume when I saw it.

[defyingravity11]

Posted: 8/2/07 at 2:24am

I've seen standing ovations after Patti's "Rose's Turn," LaChanze's "I'm Here," Brian Stokes Mitchell's "The Impossible Dream." Also "Be Our Guest" got a standing ovation when I saw the show the day before closing.

[Midoria]

Posted: 8/2/07 at 2:25am

You are so cute. You remind me of a younger and nicer me. =)

To start, I would suggest that you do not stand up before the curtain call. That's mainly because you are blocking someone else's view. Even if it's brief, it's not the most polite thing to. Unless it's like what antiandrewx said, and the whole audience is on their feet.

I have not been blessed thus far in seeing a performance so powerful that I was tempted to get out of my seat before the curtain call. But I have vocalized my appreciation after a few special numbers (no words, but I WILL 'whoop' if the spirit moves me). I've done this a few times. Once during one of Julia's solos in 'Wicked', once during Frenchie's 'Seasons of Love' solo, and once during dance performance at City Center. Now all of these shows are more lively that other shows that I've seen and the audience was very into it from the beginning. They were very vocal, and so I was totally in line with them. I tend to refrain from whooping and such when they subject matter is serious, but that's just me. People whooped when I saw Les Miserables, and I didn't think it was tacky. It's just not me.

Now, when the curtain call comes up, if I want to stand, I stand up ASAP. I'm not really worried if I'm alone or one of a few doing it. I don't "stage door", so my only way to express my gratitude for an excellent show is to stand and be seen my the cast. I can't think of any actor who would not appreciate people who gave them a standing ovation, even if that person was one of of 4 or 5 people. Love is love, and everyone likes to feel it.

[wonderfulwizard11]

Posted: 8/2/07 at 2:29am

It was when I saw the show ahmelie.

[C is for Company]

Posted: 8/2/07 at 2:32am

The whole audience from my view in the mezz stood at Gypsy July 13th, but not the on 18th at night, only a small handful. I wonder why some give it that reaction while other crowds are more willing to.

[ljay889]

Posted: 8/2/07 at 2:33am

It was when I saw the show ahmelie.

- Same here. I was in the Mid mezz. and the entire front and mid mezz was standing. I never shot up from my seat so quick in my life.

[ahmelie]

Posted: 8/2/07 at 3:16am

^Same! My heart was pounding in my throat, even though I felt like a total ass because I was one of so few people standing, I don't think it would've been physically possible for me to stay in my seat. I've never felt that way before.

...christ, I'm so dramatic.

[B3TA07]

Posted: 8/2/07 at 3:22am

Were you a part of the partial Standing O, Lizzie?

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 8/2/07 at 3:34am

When I saw GYPSY the Tuesday before it closed I wanted to give a standing ovation to the strippers, they were incredibly hilarious but no one else did so I didn't stand. Also, everyone in the mezzanine stood after "Rose's Turn."
There were a dozen times in FOLLIES that I thought deserved a standing ovation (mostly "Who's That Woman?") but again, no one stood either.
From reports I've heard/read the standing ovation after Holliday's "And I Am Telling You" during the DREAMGIRLS original run was wild.

[COOOOLkid]

Posted: 8/2/07 at 4:09am

I just don't want to be the only one who gives a standing ovation.

I mean, I'm sure nobody really cares as long as you sit down once the show gets going, but I get really hesitant to be the first one to applaud/give a standing ovation, at least for me.

[bythesword84]

Posted: 8/2/07 at 4:31am

I've seen Brian Stokes Mitchell get a mid-show one after his "Impossible Dream" in Man of LaMancha...I've seen Hugh Jackman get one for "Once Before I Go" which technically isnt the curtain call...and I saw a half-standing ovation at Jersey Boys after "Can't Take..."

It definitely happens, but I think its relatively rare to have a full standing ovation in the middle of a show, that doesn't mean one person or two can't stand up if they feel that strongly about it.

[Princeton78]

Posted: 8/2/07 at 6:50am

I believe that in NY at least, "Can't Take My Eyes..." from Jersey Boys gets a pretty regular standing ovation. At least it did during the beginning of it's run.

Also, wasn't there a great ad for Hello Dolly that said something to the effect of "5000 performances, 10,000 standing ovations?" This was of course referring to the standing ovation that immediately followed the title number.