Standing Ovations

[N13]

I saw 'Les Liaisons Dangereuses" last night. Not a bad play or production....but certainly not standing ovation worthy. Yet, there it was. The seemingly obligatory standing o. It is both annoying and intrusive when it is not earned. If you want to see the curtain call you either have to stand or not see it. I just left.

[whipped guy]

Yeas ago I knew an aspiring opera singer. She really never made it to the big time due to nerves, but did come pretty close and had auditions with major opera companies. From attending her local recitals I learned how the Standing O was orchestrated. She would make sure that the front row was totally filled with family and friends. (I knew the rest of the the family as well. ) They would jump to their feet at the conclusion of the recital which shouts of 'brava!" At that point the second row needed to stand to see and then the third... and the wave began.

 

Since then I have often wondered if the Standing O has been orchestrated at other events. Probably not as people have lowered their standards. Plus, if something gets a good review in say the NY Times folks just think that it's worthy of the SO. Such was the case with a certain singer at the MET last season who I thought was dreadful. However, folks jumped to their feet as she hit her concluding high note even though she was unable to sustain said note for even a reasonable length of time. Perhaps I have a tin ear, but I was not impressed.

[+ glennnn]

I couldn't agree more. A SO should be reserved for a performance that exceeds expectations, not just meets them. I saw "Holiday Inn", the "new" Irving Berlin musical on Broadway this week. It was fun. It was good. The performances were fine and up to Broadway standards. However, the book is just a few lines here and there to fill the dead spots between a cornucopia of GREAT Berlin songs. No Tony awards here. Just solid, tap your foot theater. There certainly wasn't a wet eye or challenged brain in the house.

 

Curtain came down and went up, and a few folks down front leapt to their feet, cheering. Then a few more, then a very few more. Most of us were sseatd. It was embarrassing! The pros on the stage recognized it for what it was, a 20% SO, and closed the curtain, thank the gods.

 

I was part of a 100% SO when I saw Angela Landsbury in "Mame", when I saw Burton, Andrews, Goulet and McDowell in "Camelot" and Henry Fonda in "Darrow" in London. In each case, the audience surged to its feet in one idolatrous wave, because what we had seen was extraordinary.

 

I think audiences give these weak SO's to convince themselves they have had a brilliant night of theater and so they can report it and impress their friends. I wish they would stop!

[actor61]

As an actor, I have been in productions that received standing ovations for no good reason like those cited above. I was in a dreadful dinner theatre production of Brigadoon in the 1980s and stood open mouthed during the curtain call one evening as the audience rose to its feet. I muttered to the actress standing next to me, "Really? They're giving us a standing o?!" And she replied, "Some are. The rest of them are trying to get to the parking lot before the rush."

 

The only truly earned, genuine, spontaneous, unanimous standing ovation I've ever participated in was at the New Theatre in London in 1971 when Laurence Olivier, Constance Cumming, Ronald Pickup and Dennis Quilley took their bows after a Tuesday night performance of Long Day's Journey Into Night. I've never forgotten that evening.

[actor61]

I saw 'Les Liaisons Dangereuses" last night. Not a bad play or production....but certainly not standing ovation worthy. Yet, there it was. The seemingly obligatory standing o. It is both annoying and intrusive when it is not earned. If you want to see the curtain call you either have to stand or not see it. I just left.

Les Liaisons Dangereuses has been getting terrible reviews, especially Liev Shrieber. One notice I read described his performance as so low key that he wondered why he even bothered to learn the lines. Did you find that to be true?

[N13]

I was less annoyed by him than normal. However, neither of the performances deserves any accolayeds. But they were 'acceptable.' See either the Glenn Close, John Malkovich "Dangerous Liaisons," "Valmont" with Colin Firth and Annette Benning or the 1959 "Les Liaisons Dangereuses" with Jeanne Moreau and Gérard Philipe to really enjoy the story.

[Marlfox]

I was in New York for two months this (northern) summer and saw 17 productions, all of which, except one (a symphony concert) received a standing ovation. Whether they deserved it didn't appear to be relevant. I put it down to the Celine Dion effect. The more you pay for a ticket, the more convinced you are that what you saw was worth it. The most expensive theatre tickets are usually front orchestra and as pointed out in earlier posts, it's the people in those seats that usually lead the standing ovations.

[+ glennnn]

I could add a few more deserved SO's. David Suchet as Salieri in an LA production of "Amadeus" a few years ago, Carol Burnett in "Once Upon a Mattress" off Broadway, Ron Moody as Fagin in "Oliver", but most are undeserved, and as @actor61 said, the performers know it.

[+ WilliamM]

I saw Ethel Merman in "Gypsy" in 1960 and 1961. She must have received a standing ovation when she walked down the aisle of the theater yelling , "sing out Louise," upon her first appearance in the musical. But, I am not sure Merman received a standing ovation at that curtain calls. So things have changed.

 

Have we have talked about standing ovations during a show? The closest I ever came was a young Streisand singing "Miss Marmelstein in the Boston tryout of I CAN GET IT FOR YOU WHOLESALE. In the early 1960s, Streisand just received extended applause -- well-deserved.

 

Saw FALSETTOS on Sunday, Mindful of people standing in front making it impossible to see unless those in the back also stood up.

[+ glennnn]

I saw Ethel Merman in "Gypsy" in 1960 and 1961. She must have received a standing ovation when she walked down the aisle of the theater yelling , "sing out Louise," upon her first appearance in the musical. But, I am not sure Merman received a standing ovation at that curtain calls. So things have changed.

 

Have we have talked about standing ovations during a show? The closest I ever came was a young Streisand singing "Miss Marmelstein in the Boston tryout of I CAN GET IT FOR YOU WHOLESALE. In the early 1960s, Streisand just received extended applause -- well-deserved.

 

Saw FALSETTOS on Sunday, Mindful of people standing in front making it impossible to see unless those in the back also stood up.

 

 

I've always wondered what the song was from that show. What was the title? The first time I ever saw her was at a taping for the Steve Allen Show. She electrified everyone singing "Happy Days" on this little balcony built into the set. Even Steve was sort of stunned by her.

[+ WilliamM]

Glenn, the title of the song was "Miss Marmelstein," which was the name of her character in I CAN GET IT FOR YOU WHOLESALE.

[N13]

When I saw Merman in Gypsy and Striesand in Funny Girl, they both received explosive standing ovations. And deservedly so!

[+ WilliamM]

When I saw Merman in Gypsy and Striesand in Funny Girl, they both received explosive standing ovations. And deservedly so!

 

I saw "I Can Get It For You Wholesale" and "Funny Girl" on weekday nights during the Boston tryouts. At that point, both musicals were in trouble;

so it may explain are different experiences. I have no explanation for Merman and "Gypsy," except perhaps my bad memory for SO.

[N13]

"I Can Get It For You Wholesale" was not a good show....but Streisand was like a comet! Went to see it twice because of her.

[N13]

"I Can Get It For You Wholesale" - Barbra Streisand vocals are featured in the songs "I'm Not A Well Man", "Ballard Of The Garment Trade", "Miss Marmelstein" and "What Are They Doing To Us Now?". This album marks Barbra's first professional recording and Columbia Records appearance

[bostonman]

Saw FALSETTOS on Sunday, Mindful of people standing in front making it impossible to see unless those in the back also stood up.

 

I saw Falsettos on Saturday night, lol. Yes, it got a standing O. Yes, I participated, for the sake of the cast (and band), who I thought did great work (maybe not for the ages, lol, but certainly solid, enjoyable, touching performances all). Though I was left with the feeling that I would much rather have seen this same cast with a different director and a different set designer. I really wish Lapine had let someone else do this.

 

That said, I tend to feel that some reasons for standing O's involve the built-in expectations for the evening itself, rather than the exceptional nature comparatively. With the price of tickets (and dinner, and parking, and other expenses) being so high, I wonder if some people stand as a gesture to validate that the show was deserving of that accolade regardless - so that you can say it was worth all that money. Also, I wonder if sometimes standing O's are initiated by people who don't see live theatre that often, and are either truly that impressed by what they saw, and/or somehow feel that it's proper to show their enthusiasm in that way (rather than just loud applause, perhaps). Sometimes I think it's the show itself that might generate that release of emotion - or if its the kind of complex show where you just want to give the ultimate appreciation for the marvel of the cast getting through it all.

 

But often, I don't stand if I don't feel I personally feel it's how I want to express myself, even if the rest of the audience is standing. Sometimes I give in, but often I stay sitting if, for me personally, it wasn't a "standing O" moment for me. That's my right, lol.

[RyanDean]

As someone who sees on average a dozen or more shows per month (mostly in NYC), I find that I treat StandingOs as I do annoying latecomers, noisy candies, and the inevitable ringing cel phone -- as part of the hassle of going to the theater these days. I generally end up standing, because I like seeing the casts faces during curtain call. If I'm feeling especially coerced into doing so, I embrace it as an opportunity to collect my things or stretch my legs or get a jumpstart on skedaddling from the theater.

 

And while I agree that, for many, the StandingO might be a way to validate that this experience as an excellent one, I also suspect that it also has something to do with the fact that most of these audience-members also have experience observing school and community-theater productions, where StandingOs are pretty routine.

[Boink]

I found this to be an interesting article on this topic...

 

http://www.post-gazette.com/ae/music/2016/09/18/Ovation-Oppression-Standing-ovations-say-more-about-the-audience-than-about-the-performance/stories/201609180119

[whipped guy]

I once experienced a standing O at the MET that occurred at "halftime" in 1990 when the MET still did curtain calls after each act. From my vantage point sitting in a box virtually the entire orchestra section stood and applauded with hardly anyone rushing to the rest room or running off to the Belmont Room for a drink. It was deserved, but I was stunned that it happened between the two acts of the piece. Obviously the cast got the same treatment at the opera's

conclusion. In retrospect it was a non subscription performance so everyone there bought a ticket because they wanted to be there, understood the style, as such appreciated what the cast achieved, and were probably more knowledgeable than someone who was seeing it simply because it was part if a package that they had purchased.

[+ Charlie]

The Met doesn't still do curtain calls after every act?! Do they make someone who dies in the first act stick around till the end of the performance for a curtain call? (I haven't been to the Met since 2011.)

[bostonman]

The Met doesn't still do curtain calls after every act?! Do they make someone who dies in the first act stick around till the end of the performance for a curtain call? (I haven't been to the Met since 2011.)

 

In general, they don't seem to do them anymore.

 

But you know what? I don't really have that much sympathy for the occasional singer who doesn't make it to the last act and needs to stay if they want their curtain call. I can't think of any other type of theatre where this allowance is made. Most of the time, a run of an opera may only be a few performances (at smaller regional companies) or over a few weeks' time (at the Met) - it's not a Broadway run where someone would have to deal with that issue 8 times a week.

 

As a professional musical director myself, I do try my hardest to be an advocate for my singers in any number of ways. But singers are paid to be at the performance - if they're unable to leave early, well, that's not the worst inconvenience in the world. If, say, the Italian Singer in Rosenkavalier doesn't want to wait around to have to bow after Act III, I empathize, but he could always have turned down the role, lol.

 

I understand that intermissions already bring us back to real life (especially if they're ridiculously long, as they are at the Met), but I've never much liked the added idea that the characters can break out mid-show to acknowledge after-act applause. I much prefer leaving the fantasy of the show itself intact, having the singers only become themselves at the end. That's the magic of theatre.

[whipped guy]

The Met doesn't still do curtain calls after every act?! Do they make someone who dies in the first act stick around till the end of the performance for a curtain call? (I haven't been to the Met since 2011.)

Yes! Dead bodies are resurrected at the conclusion of the opera! No opera that I have attended in the past few years has had curtain calls at the end of acts. Something like Lucia with set pieces used to have curtain calls after each scene while the scenery was changed. Now acts are combined so there are fewer intermissions and scenery is changed instantly between scenes. As I mentioned in another thread the second and third acts of Guillaume Tell were disconcertingly performed seamlessly together with a quick scene change. As such the soprano suddenly appeared on stage when she had no business being there as the large chorus and soloists that conclude act two suddenly disappear from view. It was an applause killer as well.

[+ Charlie]

Well, given my age and that of so many members of the Met audience, I hope they provide discreet bottles under the seats for bladder relief. Although I love the idea of performing Rheingold and Fliegende Hollaender without intervals, I find it hard to stay focused on the action on stage after a couple of hours without "stretching my legs," so to say.

[bostonman]

Well, given my age and that of so many members of the Met audience, I hope they provide discreet bottles under the seats for bladder relief. Although I love the idea of performing Rheingold and Fliegende Hollaender without intervals, I find it hard to stay focused on the action on stage after a couple of hours without "stretching my legs," so to say.

 

I'm not a huge "Wagnerian," but I'm not aware that Rheingold is ever performed with intermissions. And I don't think it should be. I'm ok with Dutchman either way.

[+ Charlie]

I believe you are right about Rheingold, which is why I always watched it from standing room at the the Met, so I could sneak out to the men's room if I had to.