Top Hat Coming to Broadway? — Page 2

So, I'm assuming you didn't attend the awful revival of Grease that ran in the West End for years and returned? Because the British went CRAZY for it. Singing along, clapping along, dancing. I also remember the reaction from the audience from a performance of Mamma Mia shortly after it opened in the West End. Standing ovation is putting it mildly. The Lion King and Miss Saigon last year? Standing ovations. And when I saw The Truth, it was the loudest I've heard an audience laugh for any play anywhere (because it truly was wickedly funny). The Play That Goes Wrong? Loud laughing at everything. And if you think NYC audiences are particularly enthusiastic, you haven't seen or heard anything until you've witnessed the Harry Potter audience during a Saturday marathon. Oh, and remind me again...how long did We Will Rock You run in the West End? Twelve years? Wow...must have been real high quality stuff only the discerning theatre-goers would attend because it only ran a year in Vegas and never even went to Broadway. Lucky you!

I'm sure you believe it sounds vastly superior to make sweeping generalised statements about how very discerning and controlled British audiences are compared to Americans when it comes to the-uh-tuh, but it simply is not true. And I'm not sure why you want to sound like a douchebag.

West end is superior with plays and creating Matilda.

But that person saying we are more easily pleased than NY audiences needing responding to.

Then you do it like this:

When it comes to musicals, it does seem like the British critics (and audiences) are a lot easier to impress than their NY counterparts.

There is absolutely ZERO basis in that statement. Some shows work in the West End that don't on Broadway and vice-versa for a variety of reasons, but there is nothing that points to "when it comes to musicals...". If you actually read most of the reviews from London critics, you'll find they are often in disagreement. For example, reviews for The Go-Between were decidedly mixed. Whatsonstage and the Guardian HATED Motown. By the way, you should see The Guardian review for Holiday Inn...ouch. I remember when the original production of Les Miserables was eviscerated by London critics.

And using Harry Potter shows how you are really not getting my point. It's the biggest theatrical event in London for years. It's like me saying "And people stand up at the end of Hamilton".

Of course terrible shows like Thriller, Mamma Mia etc get standing O's in London- they are cynically engineered to get them and the audiences they attract are hardly discerning theatregoers.

I got your point, which was that in NYC, everyone stands up for everything and in London they don't because they are so much more "discerning". Then you backpedal and make excuses to try and qualify or change your meaning. Perhaps other people feel Harry Potter is "rubbish" and "cynically engineered" or whatever reason YOU think a show doesn't deserve an enthusiastic response. But the real point is, in London, I've seen virtually as many standing ovations as I have in New York, whether you think that show is "rubbish" or "terrible" or "any old crap" or "cynically engineered" is completely irrelevant. Because that is just as subjective as whatever you believe a "discerning theatregoer" is. And it makes you sound like a douchebag.

I'm not saying the west end is superior

No, you're saying that British audiences are superior to American audiences. And you can respond to the offensive post in a way that isn't horribly pretentious and more objective.

Updated On: 10/13/16 at 06:21 PM