The standing ovation is a filthy American habit. — Page 3

I think that the standing ovation habbit is not one that is caused by New Yorkers rather by tourists either American or not. When people visit the city they are so into doing things the "New Yorker way." They thing that a lot of new yorkers give standing O's so they do that as well.

The last show I saw at a subscription house was Saved at Playwrights Horizon. Keep in mind that the subscription houses out there are ones that only locals touch and most tourists wouldn't. Therefor they have a completly different atmoshpere in them then on Broadway. I noticed that no one gave a standing O at all and only a very small handfull of people stood up when the entire cast was bowing together. It was a different reaction then what you would get from a Broadway show.

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How has no one mentioned that modern musical theatre is an American creation? The British have no right to say what us Americans should and shouldn't do, we all know how that turned out last time.

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Standing ovations are mostly an audience applauding for themselves for forking out the money, getting a babysitter, and making the effort. Sondheim's words, not mine.

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Thank you pennywise.

There are shows that I don't stand for, but I don't care if others stand. If they enjoyed the show enough to stand, then they can.

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You know, to an extent I agree about it being overused. The only reason I stand is because I can't see what's happening when everyone else does, and if I DON'T stand it doesn't mean people will catch on. The ovation really was designed for truly spectacular performances and I would not have given an ovation for Little Mermaid, Xanadu, Legally Blonde, RENT, or the last performance I saw of Wicked.

However, Patti Lupone after Rose's Turn...

No offense. But I'm glad Broadway doesn't have this "megamix" stuff. At least I don't think we do yet. Maybe Mamma Mia?

I hate being pressured into standing and it has happened on a few occasions. One of the quickets standing ovations I have seen, and deservedly, was the afternoon I saw Caroline or Change. I was on my feet right after the last note and for a split second thought I would be the only one up only to notice most of the orchestra section was on their feet also. This also happened when I saw Doubt and The History Boys.

I taped the MTV broadcast of Legally Blonde and I don't know why, but when that guy yells "Brava" after the slow version of Legally Blonde, it just annoys me!

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"I say we all just keep doing whatever it is we're doing. A standing O. is not offensive and if it ruins someone's night (or afternoon) out at the theatre... well, they're stupid and probably didn't enjoy the show very much anyway."

Bravo, I couldn't have said it better myself.

What others me more than the proliferation of the standing ovation (which is done too frequently, but is often deserved) is the habit of applauding just becauase one of the leads walked on stage -- as "The Musical of Musicals: The Musical" points out, "even though she hasn't done anything yet."

Updated On: 8/6/08 at 03:04 PM

"Why do we lie this crazy life?
Standing ovations!"

"a filthy American habit." Why do so many brits forget where many of us came from? I seriously doubt even your typical Theatre crowds in England are composed entirely of British, "subjects". I'm sure we have many habits much worse than this one.

I believe too that he just wrote this to start an argument and I guess we must be very bored to even bother with this ridiculous topic. I respond as I see fit. If I feel the performers put in an astounding performance, I will stand. Sometimes, I'll hesitate because if I find very few will stand, I don't want that fact to be too obvious but that is really silly. We should trust our own judgment.

I've attended many performances where no one stood at all. I've had at least one standing ovation and I very much appreciated it. I never felt it was anything but gratitude. Of course some do that out of "duty" or "protocol" too. I've gone to some shows where only a few feel the urge to stand-up and applaud. What is kind of weird to me is when people clap at a Movie Theatre? Many did after the latest Dark Knight Movie. That was different but if they want to, I don't really care. I'm leaving, so as long as they aren't destroying the furniture or dumping their food on the floor, why look for a reason to be upset?

To each his own and that is a very American value I can live with under most circumstances. I believe many Britons would object to being,"put in their place", by those whose only authority was title and birth. This practice was often abused, still is and perhaps even worse than American's need to applaud in the Theatre.

I think it's unfortunate that this devolved into a Boston Tea Party. If the article hadn't been presented as a Brit vs. American thing, I imagine the subsequent discussion might have gone differently.

At any rate, in my opinion, the gesture of the standing O has become rather devalued. I can't recall a musical or, interestingly, a play with a movie star in it in the last ten years that didn't get a standing ovation.

"Nothing wrong with"; "doesn't hurt anyone"--true. But it's lost its specialness. As someone pointed out, applause used to be the way you showed approval of a show; a standing O indicated that you felt you'd seen something far above average.

Giving a standing ovation at the end of every performance is rather like saying "I love you" as your standard greeting to everyone you meet.