Strange laughter at Sweeney last night
Strange laughter at Sweeney last night
Broadway Star Joined: 2/27/06
Strange laughter at Sweeney last night#0
Posted: 5/13/06 at 1:16pm
I took my 14-year-old son to see "Sweeney" last night for his birthday. We both loved it. The audience was very good--very well-behaved (at least from where we sat, which was row Q, on the aisle in the orchestra)--no cell phones going off, whispering, etc. The only weird thing I noticed was that during the Judge's tormented song about his feelings for Johanna, someone in the audience kept laughing! I mean, this song is not supposed to be funny, is it?
We waited afterwards for autographs and my son was able to get almost all the cast to sign his Playbill. They were all so nice to him. He was thrilled and I think he'll remember the night for a long time.
re: Strange laughter at Sweeney last night#1
Posted: 5/13/06 at 1:17pmhaha- I suppose a morbid Sondheim fan somewhere may find this humorous. Personally, it is the only part of that show that I can't stand...
re: Strange laughter at Sweeney last night#2
Posted: 5/13/06 at 1:18pm
... that IS a strange thing to laugh at. I guess I could understand why it might be funny, but... it's certainly not something I'd laugh at. Maybe not so much funny as disturbingly ironic, leading to uncomfortable laughter -- that I could see more than thinking it was actually funny. But, to each his own, and people are weird.
The cast is so sweet; I'm glad your son liked the show and got to meet them. 
re: Strange laughter at Sweeney last night#3
Posted: 5/13/06 at 1:25pmmaybe the find they "DOWN! Down...! doooown" funny. if you like sexual references
re: Strange laughter at Sweeney last night#4
Posted: 5/13/06 at 1:26pmI could swear the audience laughed during that number when I saw it.
re: Strange laughter at Sweeney last night#5
Posted: 5/13/06 at 1:26pmI could swear the audience laughed during that number when I saw it.
Broadway Star Joined: 2/27/06
re: Strange laughter at Sweeney last night#6
Posted: 5/13/06 at 1:26pm
Yes, that's what I thought, actually--that it was someone's uncomfortable laughter--although it sounded more like ha-ha-that's-funny guffawing!
re: Strange laughter at Sweeney last night#7
Posted: 5/13/06 at 1:26pmThe last time I saw the show, a group of teenage girls giggled through the end of the show - when Toby is hobbling around singing Patty Cake. It was odd.
re: Strange laughter at Sweeney last night#8
Posted: 5/13/06 at 1:26pmlol- nice Caroline-Q! Or for the same reason that there was errant laughter in scenes in Carrie...
re: Strange laughter at Sweeney last night#9
Posted: 5/13/06 at 1:28pmI think laughing at Toby singing Patty Cake is a little more understandble; of course, what follows Patty Cake is not funny, but if you don't know it's coming, then it's just a boy singing a silly song.
re: Strange laughter at Sweeney last night#10
Posted: 5/13/06 at 1:29pm
i couldn't help laughing when irish people were having ######## onstage during a play i saw in Dublin.
and that WASN'T supposed to be funny
re: Strange laughter at Sweeney last night#11
Posted: 5/13/06 at 1:30pmActually I feel the other way around. Laughing during the Judge's Johanna is more understandable than during the Patti Cake. Look what just happened in the show, it's obviously a very serious moment. And I think it's obviously Tobias has gone insane.
re: Strange laughter at Sweeney last night#12
Posted: 5/13/06 at 1:31pmMaybe they laugh at his insanity. Or, well, then you get into "gone insane" versus whether he was sane in the first place.
re: Strange laughter at Sweeney last night#13
Posted: 5/13/06 at 1:31pm
laughing at the "patty cake patty cake bakers" moment in the show is VERY inappropiate i feel.
that's one of the most disturbing moments in the whole show (imho)
re: Strange laughter at Sweeney last night#14
Posted: 5/13/06 at 1:32pm
I've never heard anyone laugh during "Patti cake", and I agree with ljay. It's really not an appropriate moment to laugh.
But people usually snicker during the Judge's "Johanna", particularly the "down, down, down" verse. Nothing wrong with that. It *is* perversly funny.
re: Strange laughter at Sweeney last night#15
Posted: 5/13/06 at 1:32pmIt's just such an eerie moment. The entire theater is silent, on the edge of their seats, and then there was laughter. It definitely ruined the moment.
re: Strange laughter at Sweeney last night#16
Posted: 5/13/06 at 1:36pmI agree that it's disturbing and *I* don't find it funny, but these were what, fourteen year old girls? They probably thought Mano was cute. Well, I think Mano is cute, so I should shut up, but that's just not what I focus on during that scene, at all.
re: Strange laughter at Sweeney last night#17
Posted: 5/13/06 at 1:38pm
Or maybe they laughed out of embarassment, or feeling uncomfortable?
I've never, ever seen it happen during that scene though. The audience is always completely silent. But I guess I can understand how someone who's not really into the show could find that funny, or go "hee hee, look at the cute guy singing a silly song!" They are, of course, idiots.
I'm just glad I've never witnessed it.
re: Strange laughter at Sweeney last night#18
Posted: 5/13/06 at 1:39pm
There are always snickers during the "Judge's Johanna" I also think that it is more appropriate there than at the end, the intensity has been building, and I would be angry if someone broke it by laughing.
I also think the "Judge's Johanna" is a great part of the show. It establishes the character in a much more concrete way, you can tell that he too is conflicted, yet his choice is to engage his evil urges actively. It is haunting and painful and frightening. Especially with the orchestrations having Johanna strike the cello.
re: Strange laughter at Sweeney last night#19
Posted: 5/13/06 at 1:41pm
someone who's not really into the show could find that funny, or go "hee hee, look at the cute guy singing a silly song!"
That's exactly how it came off. And they did look like idiots.
re: Strange laughter at Sweeney last night#20
Posted: 5/13/06 at 1:42pmWell, yes. They came off as being idiots long before the show even began. It was clear that they didn't know how to behave in a theater.
re: Strange laughter at Sweeney last night#21
Posted: 5/13/06 at 11:07pmI also do not like the "Judge's Johanna" part. It's the only part in the whole show I don't care for and the only song I skip over when listening to the CD.
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/15/05
re: Strange laughter at Sweeney last night#22
Posted: 5/13/06 at 11:33pm
What I learned here when we did "Grapes of Wrath" is that people laugh when they're uncomfortable. So maybe that's what was happening. Like, at the end of Grapes when Rose of Sharon is breast feeding the man, we had a whole row of teenagers laughing loudly. I don't get it.
Glad your son enjoyed the show. It is really an amazing show with a great ensemble cast.
Have any stand-bys/understudies gone on yet?
re: Strange laughter at Sweeney last night#23
Posted: 5/14/06 at 12:10am
I love the Judge's Johanna.
It's one of my favorite moments.
But...you know.
re: Strange laughter at Sweeney last night#24
Posted: 5/14/06 at 4:03pm
Some audience members laugh when they feel embarrassed or uncomfortable with what is presented to them. Remember all the problems they had with PASSION - some people just found it so bizarre that that laughed at the most inappropriate moments.
Reminds me of the Mary Tyler Moore Show: Chuckles Bites the Dust. (Talk about inappropriate laughter!!)
Of course you can't deny people their personal reactions. Still, the polite thing to do would be to try and stifle it and make it as unobtrusive as possible.
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Live theatre does not use a "soundtrack." If it did, it wouldn't be live theatre!
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