Broadway Legend Joined: 6/24/09
God that sounds terrible to cheer every solo in the opening, so you end up missing most of the opening number? I hope this was just for Tony Tuesday (I guess the closest to Closing Night shenanigans they'll ever get) but it seems from online reports that this is the norm lately. Has anyone who has been in the past few weeks or months felt this way, that all of Hamilton is just so much shouting and cheering for its own sake, and that you miss an inordinate number of lines?
Updated On: 6/15/16 at 11:07 AM
Well, at the last second, I'm seeing Matilda before it closes :)
While I appreciated the entrance applauses at HAMILTON last night, they were excessive. About 60% of the opening number was drowned out by applause and screaming. For a show like HAMILTON, the lyrics are so crucial, especially the opening, which sets the stage for the following 2 hours and 50 minutes. For people who are unfamiliar with the history or the show, it was definitely an annoyance. A man in my row screamed "STOP CLAPPING." I totally appreciated the enthusiasm of the audience, but it was a little ridiculous.
I have nothing to add really to the Hamilton posts, you either got the first post-Tonys applause or you were annoyed by it, (I loved it, and was one of the people applauding), but I have to add that the ushers and the crowd itself were REALLY great last night, which I appreciated.
I have been doing a lot of complaining these days, maybe not on here, but definitely in real life, about how much I despise the texting/eating/talking/ringing cell phones audiences that have been filling Broadway shows these days - ie: the last time I was at Hamilton was on a lotto win, and from my front row side seat I could see the light from a guy third row center orch who spent the whole night texting - but the crowd last night was wonderful! I sat first row front mezz (my new favorite spot to watch this show), so I could see a lot of the orch, and was already dreading all of the texting lights that I 'knew' I would see during the show. There was one person in the third row orch with a lit up phone when the show started, and an usher came over and shut that down right quick. Otherwise there were NO texting lights (that I could see) from the orch during the show. Someone in the mezz near me pulled out her phone during the second act and her *child* elbowed her and told her to put it away. Bless the future. There aren't a lot of quiet moments during the show, but zero cell phones rang, there wasn't talking or eating or ice rattling or whatnot during them. It was great.
Broadway Legend Joined: 8/31/15
I also enjoyed the cheering. I didn't buy a ticket to the first show after the Tonys for everyone to be silent, I wanted enthusiasm and a great atmosphere!
Agree. And, I honestly didn't think it was over the top. I half expected more.
I also agree about the crowd being quiet and well behaved. It was so delightful others around me were also commenting on it.
The cast plays off of the enthusiasm of the audience, and it was a mutual love fest last night.
RippedMan said: "Seeing The Father tonight! Excited!
A couple years ago I bought a ticket to see Ripley after her Tony win. It was for Wednesday, but she ended up calling out for Tuesday, so I saw her first performance back. It was epic!
"
I saw The Father last night, too. No other performances to compare it to, but the applause for Frank felt more electric than usual. What an incredible performance.
aaaaaa15 said: "I also enjoyed the cheering. I didn't buy a ticket to the first show after the Tonys for everyone to be silent, I wanted enthusiasm and a great atmosphere!
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This. I've been buying first show post-Tonys tickets for years now, buying a ticket a few weeks/months in advance for a show that I enjoy that I want to be in the room and feel that heightened energy for: in 2008 I went to In the Heights, in 2009 I went to the Hair revival, etc. And I've never really come across "too much applause" complaints about any of them, and they all had really appreciative audiences.
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/24/09
Right, I wouldn't really mind if I had been there since I know all the words. But what about all the people who just happened to have tickets for last night, not who purposefully sought out Tony Tuesday tickets, and who don't know all the words and were seeing the show for the first time and couldn't hear anything going on? I think excessive cheering is just as bad as talking over the actors. Anything excessive like that can negatively affect the experience for others for no good reason.
Broadway Legend Joined: 8/31/15
It really wasn't that bad. The opening song was the only one where you may have not been able to hear all the words.
I'm also unsure why people are acting like this is something specific to Hamilton. This happens every year with shows that win Tonys and it's only ever been considered a fun thing before.
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