middle of show standing ovations- Page 2

[philcrosby]

Posted: 5/26/06 at 4:28pm

Channing got a SO at the end of the DOLLY number all the time.

[philcrosby]

Posted: 5/26/06 at 4:42pm

Lansbury also got one at the end of Rose's Turn in GYPSY.

[JoshuaEads]

Posted: 5/26/06 at 4:46pm

In her prime, Lansbury was truly a force to be reckoned with. Why didn't she ever take a chance with "Dolly"??

~Joshua

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 5/26/06 at 4:50pm

Lansbury was busy doing Mame and later Dear World during the original run of Dolly.

Updated On: 5/26/06 at 04:50 PM

[mikem]

Posted: 5/26/06 at 4:50pm

Like many others on the board, I was at the last performance of the most recent revival of Gypsy, which had the most enthusiastic audience I have ever witnessed. I was sitting next to someone whose wife had dragged him along, and when the overture got a standing ovation, he had this look that said, "We are going to be here a long, long time." I don't even remember how many standing o's there were.

[Caroline-Q-or-TBoo]

Posted: 5/26/06 at 4:53pm

The only one I can remember was the recent revival of Man o LaMancha.

brilliant brilliant brilliant

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 5/26/06 at 4:55pm

As has been pointed out, EVERY last show has lots of standing ovations in it -- even truly awful shows. All the show's fans are there and I've seen it happen where they give literally every single number in a show a standing ovation -- numbers that never once got a standing ovation during the entire run before that night. So you really can't include final performance standing ovations in the discussion.

Updated On: 5/26/06 at 04:55 PM

[LyTeMyCanDyI]

Posted: 5/26/06 at 5:03pm

The first time I saw BKLYN eden got a standing ovation after Streetsinger. The second time she didn't.

[JoshuaEads]

Posted: 5/26/06 at 5:06pm

When I saw "Brooklyn" it felt like everyone wanted to give her a standing "o", but it just wasn't *quite* right.

At any rate, it's been fun spending an entire day on here but, alas, I have to get to work. I'll be sure to join you all again soon!

~Joshua

[Link Larkin Wanabe]

Posted: 5/26/06 at 5:07pm

I was in a production of Guys and Dolls where we actually got a show-stopping standing ovation after "Rocking the Boat" several nights. The song itself is written to bring down the house, our Nicely was amazing, our ensemble gave that number all they had and the staging was quite brilliant, but it still came as a huge surprise the first time it happened.

Akiva

[WiiCKED x3]

Posted: 5/26/06 at 5:14pm

During Dirty Rotten Scoundrels after "Dirty Rotten Number." This was when Lithgow was in the show. I don't know if the combo of Butz and Pryce gets the same response...


When I saw it with Pryce And Butz they got the same reaction, except people were screaming their heads off. The guy in back of my was CRYING, he thought the song was beautiful.

[Caroline-Q-or-TBoo]

Posted: 5/26/06 at 5:16pm

When I saw Bklyn a couple of people got up to applaud Once Upon A Time.

My ears were fried and I wanted to shoot those that got up!

[treyisthekiller]

Posted: 5/26/06 at 5:19pm

i was very surprised to find out that in the west end, they dont usually give standing ovations. i wonder why. maybe because they are used to spectacular theatre...so seeing something that is amazing here is average over there. Idk. haha.

[lamentingenvelope]

Posted: 5/26/06 at 5:26pm

Hahahaha, Dirty Rotten Number got a S.O. when I saw it just cause people thought it was the end of the show.

[WiiCKED x3]

Posted: 5/26/06 at 5:39pm

Hahahaha, Dirty Rotten Number got a S.O. when I saw it just cause people thought it was the end of the show.


And that too. Lol.

[mijofly19]

Posted: 5/26/06 at 5:49pm

When I saw Jersey Boys there were at least three or four S.O.'s by the end of the show.

I see what you mean about a show's last performance. I saw BKLYN twice in its last week. The first time there was no standing ovation until the end. The second time was the final performance, and there were standing ovations after almost every song.

When I saw DRS a month ago, Norbert was out and we had Jason Gillman. After "Dirty Rotten Number" there was a tremendous ovation, but nobody stood up.

[lamentingenvelope]

Posted: 5/26/06 at 5:52pm

"i was very surprised to find out that in the west end, they dont usually give standing ovations. i wonder why. maybe because they are used to spectacular theatre...so seeing something that is amazing here is average over there. Idk. haha."

Actually I think it's more of a we are wayyyy too eager to give standing ovations over here. Many Broadway audiences go into the theatre thinking "Okay, here I am, seeing a BROADWAY show. I've paid a 101 dollars for my ticket so it MUST be amazing! This is going to ROCK MY WORLD." A lot of times I think Broadway audiences stand because they're trying to tell themselves they had a great time instead of trying to tell the actors. Broadway I think has a more "be all end all theatre" repuation among American tourists than West End.

Or because the person in front of them stood up and now they have to stand up to see the rest of the cast bow.

I don't remember who it was, but someone once said something along the lines of "These days, you can make more of an impression by NOT standing up."

[logan0215]

Posted: 5/26/06 at 6:33pm

I too had a Dirty Rotten Number grand reaction. It was an interesting day @ the show for the audience I think. I was in the front row Lotto seats and after Norbert said "So that's it?" a little girl 3 or 4 rows back said "Yes." You could see he sort of ducked his head laughing, during curtain call he blew her a kiss as she waved to all of them.

When I was in a production of State Fair, we received a standing ovation after "I Owe Ioway." The entire cast connected to that scene for some reason, and sometimes our reaction to how well it came out during the black-out was better than the audiences.

[Kevinoes]

Posted: 5/26/06 at 6:53pm

The second to last show of WICKED in Toronto last year, "Defying Gravity" got a huge standing O. People were standing cheering long after the lights came up. I was in the box seats and I remember looking down at the house just being amazed by the reaction.

[Dollypop]

Posted: 5/26/06 at 6:55pm

Every time I saw the Goddess Carol Channing play Dolly she got FIVE standing ovations in the course of the show:

1. Just stepping off the trolley car in "Call On Dolly"

2. At the end of "Before The Parade Passes By"

3. When she appeared at the top of the staircase in the Harmonia Gardens.

4. At the end of the HELLO, DOLLY! number

5. At the curtain call.

Updated On: 5/27/06 at 06:55 PM

[neddyfrank2]

Posted: 5/26/06 at 6:57pm

I remember during Mary Poppins in London, only a few people stood at the end, and the only people that stood were Americans.

[meggsison]

Posted: 5/26/06 at 7:05pm

I was in a production of Crazy For You and we got a standing ovation in the middle of I've Got Rhythm. It was INSANITY because I was definitly not expecting it at all.

I haven't been to any shows on Broadway that have gotten standing ovations in the middle of the shows, but maybe I just wasn't paying attention or can't remember.

[lvpblues]

Posted: 5/26/06 at 7:34pm

Let's see atthe final Gypsy performance there was a standing ovation for the overture, there was a mammoth eruption from the audience (people seemed to stand as one) on her entrance, there was another partial for the Mazeppa girls and the mother of all standing ovations that went on forever came after Rose's Turn. Of course there was one for the curtain call.

Also at Kelli's final performance in The Light in the Piazza, there was the standing ovation at the curtain call, another one on the announcement of her departure and another one after Vicki had finished giving a loving and heartfelt curtain speech. goodbye.

[nobodyhome]

Posted: 5/26/06 at 7:39pm

My feeling is that midshow standing ovations are destructive to the continuity of any show that hopes to be dramatically coherent and are more about the audience's need to convince themselves that they are part of something special than about the performance.

Not to mention inconsiderate to audience members who don't want to stand (or perhaps, in some cases, have physical problems that make it difficult to stand). It's one thing to block the view of the curtain call from people behind you who don't want to stand; it's another to block the show while it's in progress.

I don't think that the reason why shows in London rarely get standing ovations is because theatre there is so much better than theatre here, but because audiences have a healthier attitude.

Fortunately, I can't recall ever seeing a midperformance standing ovation, not at Lansbury's Gypsy, not after Tyne Daly's "Rose's Turn" at her final Broadway performance (well, her first final Broadway performance), not at Peters's Gypsy, and not after Stokes's "Impossible Dream" (and I think I would have thrown up if he had gotten one).

Applaud for a long time, cheer and applaud for a long time, but please don't stand.

Just my two cents.

Oh, I'd forgotten: Yes, some people did stand for "Hello, Dolly!" in the last revival both times I saw it.
Updated On: 5/26/06 at 07:39 PM

[Jon]

Posted: 5/26/06 at 7:49pm

I saw RENT in May of 1996 - just two days after the Tony nominations were announced. When the cast walked out onto the stage at the beginning of Act 2 to sing "Seasons of Love", the audience gave them a standing ovation before the song could start.