the three times I have seen Pippin, Andrea got a standing O after two of them. The third time, a few people stood up but not very many. In the Pippin Bootleg (Yes, I know...) that I have from Last month, Andrea got a standing O.
Standing ovations (standing orgasms, really) were fairly routine after Holliday sang "...I'm Not Going" in the original production of DREAMGIRLS. Sometimes in the middle of the song, sometimes both.
I saw the matinee of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels the day of the Tony Awards and there was a standing ovation after "Dirty Rotten Number" that went on for some time. Norbert had to ad-lib a joke to get everyone to quiet down for the last minute or two of the show.
NEWSIES got several after "Seize the Day" earlier in its run, but even today the amount and length of audience applause after several numbers is so long/great, the orchestra has to begin playing overtop of them to quiet them down. I've never seen that before (especially when an audience is still applauding full force).
It also happened after "Electricity" when I saw Harrison Dowzell as Billy in BILLY ELLIOT in London a few months ago. It was well-deserved - standing o's are well-earned after a show in London, one during is almost unheard of. It was quite possibly the best performance of that number I've ever seen. He literally ran up the side of the proscenium and back-flipped off of it. It was amazing.
At the final performance of Drowsy Chaperone there was a standing ovation after "As We Stumble Along". Beth milked it and bowed so deeply she was on her stomach on the floor.
That's been my only experience with it though there were times I felt like it could happen. At the second to last performance of Hands on a Hardbody I really thought it was going to happen after "Joy of the Lord". There was so much love in the theatre that afternoon.
"All our dreams can come true -- if we have the courage to pursue them." -- Walt Disney
We must have different Gods. My God said "do to others what you would have them do to you". Your God seems to have said "My Way or the Highway".
On the closing performance of Love Never Dies in London there were two full on house standing ovations ("Til I Hear You Sing Once More" and "Love Never Dies") and a few partial ones throughout the show.
Recently in Patti LuPone's gig in London with Seth Rudetsky, there were a few especially after the Evita bits.
On Heather Headley's last performance in The Bodyguard, the audience stood up and gave a standing ovation at the big key change of I Will Always Love You. Then before the final "you" the majority of the stalls were up, and the song must have stopped for over a full minute before she gave the final riff.
When I went to first preview of Kinky Boots, Hold Me In Your Heart brought the house down, Billy was brilliant and I would say about 100 people stood up after for at least half a minute ! Well deserved!
I've seen it a few times. The one I remember the most was after Raúl sang Being Alive at the first performance following the 2007 Tonys -- the show had won best revival, Raúl hadn't won for best actor, and that afternoon, the show had announced that it was closing in two weeks. After he finished singing, a few people in the orchestra stood up, and then it was like a wave through the audience. I read somewhere that the stage manager timed it, and it was nearly two full minutes. It was one of the most beautiful, direct outpourings of love I've ever seen in a theater. So often you applaud (or even stand up) just because you're "supposed to." This felt like everyone was saying something.
When I saw the tour of "Jersey Boys" back in January in New Orleans, the performance of 'Can't Take My Eyes Off You' got a standing ovation. And even though I had a gi-normous brace/walking boot/cast on my leg due to a very recent ankle surgery, I stood up too, mainly because the Frankie, Hayden Milanes, really put some 'ooomph' into the song. First time I've ever seen a SO mid-show and given one too.
I saw the current revival of Pippin twice in previews. The first time, a Wednesday matinee, the entire audience gave a standing o after "No Time At All" that lasted at least 2 minutes. I saw it again about two weeks later, a Sunday matinee, and my friend and I were the only people to stand.
No No no NO NO! None of those shows are good enough! If people start standing I yell at them to sit down They need to enjoy the show BUT ONLY THE RIGHT AMOUNT.
Both times I saw Pippin Andrea got a standing ovation. I saw Billy Elliot 20 times and a few times after Electricity, the Billy got a standing ovation.
I saw The Producers a few days before it opened on Broadway and remember this 70-something year old woman leaping to her feet at the end of Springtime for Hitler. That struck me a whole lot more than a bunch of groupies standing up after Defying Gravity. Whatever you thought of the show itself, especially when it first opened, that scene was pretty spectacular.
Saw several people stand up after Dirty Rotten Number, as well as for Patti and Bernadette after Rose's Turn (Patti's Rose is a performance I will never understand how people enjoyed, now matter how long I live. But, to each their own.)
-There's the muddle in the middle. There's the puddle where the poodle did the piddle."
There was a standing O for Patti's Rose's Turn when I saw Gypsy and a few people stood up for Andrea after No Time At All.
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ATTENTION FANS: I will be played by James Barbour in the upcoming musical, "BroadwayWorld: The Musical."
I saw LuPone's Gyspy twice at Ravinia and once on Broadway. She got a Standing O after Rose's Turn each time. That's the only instance where I've ever seen a Standing O during a show. The first time really startled me as I had never seen anything like that before....but imho, it was well deserved.
Raul Esparza after "Being Alive," Patti LuPone after "Rose's Turn," and Andrea Martin after "No Time At All" are the only ones I can recall personally witnessing/being a part of.
Jennifer Holliday got regular standing ovations during "And I am telling you..." during her run in DREAMGIRLS. I can't think of any other performer I ever saw get a standing ovation DURING the show.
There were a few standing ovations during the Jersey Boys 5th anniversary show. Recently, there have been standing O's after Can't Take My Eyes Off You. Also, I've witnessed the long standing ovation after Goodbye during the last performance of Catch Me If You Can, although I was the only one who stood up after that song the previous night.
Unless there is something monumental about the performance (someone's last show before retirement, a highly coveted performer in a closing show), I don't see the point of standing ovations during a show. Save your appreciation for curtain call.
"We like to snark around here. Sometimes we actually talk about theater...but we try not to let that get in our way." - dramamama611