When an audience laughs at the wrong moments, whose fault is it?- Page 2
When an audience laughs at the wrong moments, whose fault is it?
MCfan2
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/29/06
#25re: When an audience laughs at the wrong moments, whose fault is it?
Posted: 6/21/08 at 10:41pmLast year, here in D.C., I saw a production of "Love's Labor's Lost" where the actors seemed to be deliberately trying to get laughs with lines that were supposed to be serious. It was very odd. They were a talented bunch and a lot of the times they managed to make it work, but it felt all wrong. It gave the play a kind of superficial feel, almost like they were shooting for a sitcom version of Shakespeare or something.
#26re: When an audience laughs at the wrong moments, whose fault is it?
Posted: 6/21/08 at 11:00pm
I don't know. I saw the first preview of CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF and I too was appalled at the audience's incredibly inappropriate reaction.
I was shocked when people were laughing at Brick trying to hit Maggie with the crutch. Similarly, people seemed to be peeing their pants of laughter when Big Daddy yells at Big Mamma and basically verbally abuses her. It bothered me that two examples of domestic abuse were just source of laughter for the audience.
I agree with the poster that said a lot of it had to do with people just seeing Terrence Howard, Phylicia Rashad (who is sort of camping it up which explains the inappropriate laughter when Jones lashes against her), and James Earl Jones. People couldn't believe Jones would be using profanity, and they of course were rooting for Howard for some reason.
I really enjoyed the production but it was despite the audience, not because of it.
Similarly, I have never understood why people laughed during CAROLINE, OR CHANGE when Caroline tells Noah "hell is where Jews go when they die."
"Some people can thrive and bloom living life in a living room, that's perfect for some people of one hundred and five. But I at least gotta try, when I think of all the sights that I gotta see, all the places I gotta play, all the things that I gotta be at"
TheEnchantedHunter
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/27/05
#27re: When an audience laughs at the wrong moments, whose fault is it?
Posted: 6/21/08 at 11:26pm
Nonsense. If the artistic staff behind the scenes have any talent whatsoever, they know how to manipulate an audience from the second the curtain goes up till it comes down. At no time is it the audience's 'fault.' Collectively, the audience is smarter than writer, actor and director combined.
Tootie 'The Most Horrible' Smith
St. Louis, MO
Updated On: 6/22/08 at 11:26 PM
#28re: When an audience laughs at the wrong moments, whose fault is it?
Posted: 6/21/08 at 11:29pmI agree, Canada.
-Benjamin
--http://www.benjaminadgate.com/
--http://www.benjaminadgate.com/
LePetiteFromage
Broadway Legend Joined: 1/19/08
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/31/69
#30re: When an audience laughs at the wrong moments, whose fault is it?
Posted: 6/21/08 at 11:54pmI think people laugh for different reasons. Or even people see something that reminds them of something in their lives and start to laugh... a similar memory or whatever. I think its awkward when people laugh at dramatic moments, but that's what you get with a live audience. It's a give and take... I don't think that it's anyone's "fault" or you can say its a culmination of everyone involved if you really think about it. The way the actor's interpret it, or what the writers write, or the way it was staged... ect.
#31re: When an audience laughs at the wrong moments, whose fault is it?
Posted: 6/22/08 at 3:49pm
SPOILERS FOR CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF, CAROLINE OR CHANGE, AND AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY
When I saw Cat, I also thought the audience's raucous laughter was bizarre. I did not feel it was directed in a way to bring out so much laughter during serious portions -- it really was unclear why people were laughing so much. I spoke to two of the cast members about it at the stage door, one of whom felt that it was cultural, but the other one also seemed baffled by the response.
I think it is tricky when a production sets up certain lines as laugh lines, and then follows up with lines that are supposed to be taken at face value. During August: Osage County's infamous dinner scene, a lot of the laughter is of the "she did not just say that!" variety, but serious lines are mixed in. I've seen the show 3 times -- the first time, when Violet says that her sister has dents in her skull from protecting her from the claw hammer, there was an appropriate hush in the room. The second time, everyone seemed to think it was hilarious. The third time, one person laughed, but very briefly as if the person was thinking, "Wait, that's not funny." I didn't notice any particular change in performances that would have led to such varying audience responses. I'm interested in hearing what other people noticed in audience response when they went.
I saw Caroline or Change twice (not on Broadway) -- people laughed each time at the "Jews go to Hell" line but also briefly in the "Wait, that's not funny" way.
"What was the name of that cheese that I like?"
"you can't run away forever...but there's nothing wrong with getting a good head start"
"well I hope and I pray, that maybe someday, you'll walk in the room with my heart"
MovieGuy1031
Broadway Star Joined: 11/13/06
#32re: When an audience laughs at the wrong moments, whose fault is it?
Posted: 6/22/08 at 7:26pm
Debbie Allen's.
"The nice thing about the rain is that it always stops... eventually."
- Eeyore
Updated On: 6/22/08 at 07:26 PM
- Eeyore
WildhornFanatic
Broadway Star Joined: 2/5/05
#33re: When an audience laughs at the wrong moments, whose fault is it?
Posted: 6/22/08 at 8:59pmI worked at CAT for about 3 months and the audience laughed at the crutch scene with Brick and Maggie with every Brick that went in (Terrence, Boris & the understudy). They also laughed every time Big Daddy yelled at Big Mama... every night. I don't think it was out of awkwardness, I think it was because of the way Big Mama is played. This is an interesting discussion.
WildhornFanatic
Broadway Star Joined: 2/5/05
#34re: When an audience laughs at the wrong moments, whose fault is it?
Posted: 6/22/08 at 8:59pmDouble post. Sorry. Updated On: 6/23/08 at 08:59 PM
averagejoe36
Swing Joined: 6/22/08
#35re: When an audience laughs at the wrong moments, whose fault is it?
Posted: 6/22/08 at 9:02pmEveryone except the white, christian, and young heterosexuals on this earth. REPENT AND DYE YOUR SKIN WHILE YOU CAN!!!!
#36re: When an audience laughs at the wrong moments, whose fault is it?
Posted: 6/22/08 at 9:03pm
I've always seen laughter when that green baby's raised. It's so FREAKING stupid.
And I was in a local production of Les Mis where, (during a "school show" where schools are invited) there was heavy laughter when Gavroche died, mainly because the actor playing him seemed to think he was the Black Knight from Spamalot.
StockardFan
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/19/08
#37re: When an audience laughs at the wrong moments, whose fault is it?
Posted: 6/22/08 at 9:08pm
As far as the laughing, it could be the director's fault, the actors' faults or the audience's fault.
As far as coming in 20 minutes late loudly and talking throughout that obviously falls solely on the audience.
KFTC!!!!!
writer19702
Swing Joined: 6/23/08
#38re: When an audience laughs at the wrong moments, whose fault is it?
Posted: 6/23/08 at 12:09pmHaving seen "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" this past Saturday, I love this post. I think the audience laughing during inappropriate moments in this show was a combination of so many things. It was the direction, the actors themselves and how they portrayed their character, and the audience. Prior to seeing this show I had never seen any other production of "Cat" including any movie versions of it. Phylicia Rashad, who is my FAVORITE theater actress, was good as usual, but when she first bursts onto the stage, her portrayal of Big Mama is hilarious! It wasn't until James Earl Jones' Big Daddy really starts to speak cruelly to her (for example, when he tells her to blow out the candles on his birthday cake),I had to stop and say "Whoa!" This scene is not meant to be funny. There is nothing funny about it and it's very sad. I noticed that the audience seemed to calm down from the laughter also as if they were getting that same message, especially when Big Mama tells Big Daddy that she has always loved him, even the hate in his heart. I had to think about certain loved ones in my own family who have taken verbal abuse from a spouse pretending that everything was okay, knowing full well that their spouse despised them. Part of the issue (not a major issue) for me was taking seriously that an African-American family spoke in the dialect of this family. I am not saying this out of anything racist, being that I am an African-American Southerner. But the truth is, I kept thinking about Whitley from "A Different World" when I heard these characters speaking. I just couldn't take the dialect seriously and it was hard for me to get past that. There were also times when there were so many people on stage, it was hard to focus on who was saying and doing what. It almost seemed like some actors didn't know where to go. It was quite chaotic. And even with the incredible actors that were in this production, it came across in so many instances as nothing more than a high school production. Overall, I was pretty disappointed.
#39re: When an audience laughs at the wrong moments, whose fault is it?
Posted: 6/23/08 at 2:29pmLaughter is spontaneous - it is always an honest reaction. You can never blame the audience. Laughter in the wrong place means something is wrong with that place in the show.
Faced with these Loreleis, what man can moralize!
#40re: When an audience laughs at the wrong moments, whose fault is it?
Posted: 6/23/08 at 3:09pm
The audience's fault? Hardly.
The director sets the tone of the piece giving the audience cues as to what the evening is about.
This director imposed a broad tone that panders to the audiences associations with sit-com humor. An approach I feel that cheapens the entire play.
I remember when PASSION was in previews and the audience was laughing spontaneously at little moments.
Sondheim and Lapine listened to the reactions and realized that needed to clarify there intentions. They made minor adjustments and the laughing stopped.
Allen intends the reaction her direction elicits.
What great ones do the less will prattle of
#41re: When an audience laughs at the wrong moments, whose fault is it?
Posted: 6/24/08 at 4:31pm
Everyone except the white, christian, and young heterosexuals on this earth. REPENT AND DYE YOUR SKIN WHILE YOU CAN!!!!
And my threads are the ones getting deleted?
"What can you expect from a bunch of seitan worshippers?" - Reginald Tresilian
#42re: When an audience laughs at the wrong moments, whose fault is it?
Posted: 6/24/08 at 4:35pmThe mods are homophobes. It's common knowledge by now.
#43re: When an audience laughs at the wrong moments, whose fault is it?
Posted: 6/24/08 at 6:29pmThere is no wrong time to laugh. If it's funny, it's funny. And really tragic and pathetic moments are often very, very funny at the same time.
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