Standing ovations for plays?

No- standing ovations for plays are very very rare. I've only seen an audience-wide standing o' for one straight play in all my show-seeing on Broadway, and this was the final part (Salvage) of the Coast of Utopia marathon.


(Of course, I've been among the dozen or so standing for other shows, such as "Pillowman" and "History Boys")

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Updated On: 7/14/07 at 09:06 PM

Why stand?! They just talk! In musicals they talk and sing and dance! But in plays they just talk! Why stand for that! I could talk myself if I really wanted to! I could dance and sing, too, but I can't stand up and clap for myself, just clap, so I'll just talk and sit down and clap at plays and that is that!

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B3TA07 - darling, you go up there, and do what Frank Langella or Vanessa Redgrave or countless other actors and actresses are doing every night. See if that's 'just talking'.

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So far in my theatergoing career, as for straight plays, I've seen the following:

TALK RADIO - March 7, 2007 @ 2pm
Center Orchestra - Row AA - Seat 106
I STOOD for Liev. Stellar performance worthy of one.

INHERIT the WIND - May 3, 2007 @ 8pm
On-Stage Seating - Row BB - Seat 1
I STOOD for Brian and Christopher, and when they took notice, they both motioned to those standing in the juror's box.

FROST / NIXON - May 26, 2007 @ 8pm
Center Orchestra - Row BB - Seat 107
I STOOD for Frank, Michael and Full Company bows.

JOURNEY'S END - June 5, 2007 @8pm
Center Mezzanine - Row A - Seat 107
I didn't stand ... but only because I up quite high.

RADIO GOLF - June 20, 2007 @8pm
Center Orchestra - Row BB - Seat 106
I STOOD for Henry Lennix and Full Company bows.

DEUCE is next on Friday, August 17th. Front row.

I agree in that I think we give the STANDING O a little too much.. I'm usually the one that doesn't stand if I didn't like the show... unless it would be really awful If I didn't... With Musicals people just JUMP up.. as soon as bows being.. kinda annoying.

I've stood for Coast of Utopia, The Retreat From Moscow, and Journeys End... latley

This thread reminds me of my first trip to London in the 70's. Angela Lansbury had just opened in GYPSY and, of course, I attended. At the end of "Rose's Turn" I bolted up and began shouting "Bravo!"--only to find that I was the only one in the theater doing so.

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EVERYONE was standing for Journey's End when I saw it back in April.

There was a major standing ovation for Nathan and Matthew in The Odd Couple.

The History Boys got one almost every single time I saw it (24) and the Pillowman (which I saw 6) got one over half the times. Also, Journey's End got one when I saw it.

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I've been to musical performances without standing ovations. When I saw the most recent revival of OKLAHOMA at the Gershwin, there was no standing ovation, nor was one even remotely deserved.

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Ah yes. I forgot The Year of Magical Thinking. Gotten a standing O every time I've seen it.

Eve Best got standing Os the couple of times I saw Moon. The first time, most people were already standing because of Spacey, but the second only a handful stood for him, but most everyone I saw stood when Eve came out.

As for Talk Radio, I left too quickly to see. Could not get away from that quickly enough.

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Everyone who was at standing ov shows for Journey's End is so fortunate...I saw it late in March and the crowd I was with was shady, at best. A couple of people stood but it was hardly the house. One guy in front of me even fell asleep, another guy (real sex bomb) got up and left because he got splashed. I should have seen it again.