Standing ovations used to be a big deal, didn’t they? Acknowledgement of a performance so wonderful that the audience just couldn’t stay in their seats - isn’t that the idea? If not, forget the rest of this post…
It seems to me that any more, audience members seem way too eager to leap to their feet to recognize mediocrity. Sometimes it strikes me as a race to be the first one standing. Of course, it could just be my cynicism.
Last night, I attended a high school production of Hello, Dolly! It was OK - barely OK. The costumes were impressive, a couple singers were quite good, most dialogue was lost to mumbles or excessively fast speeches. I’ve been to much better school productions - in fact this very school did Godspell in the fall and it was a much better quality production. But, people were jumping up last night as if it was a Tony-worthy performance. It wasn’t. Yeah, the kids worked hard and they deserved applause for their efforts, but most definitely not a standing o…
High school aside, I’ve seen this same phenomenon at professional performances and semi-pro (like dinner theater) - I honestly can’t remember the last time I attended a play, concert, or any theatrical event that didn’t end with a large portion of the audience on their feet. I’m sorry, but few, if any of those shows merited such accolades. Maybe it’s just this area of the country. Maybe I’m an over critical grouch. Or maybe I’m right.
Whether you’re an audience member or a performer, do you notice misplaced, overused standing ovations? Just for comparison, where are you and what events are you offering as examples? Have you ever gotten a standing ovation that you knew was undeserved? Have you stood even tho you thought it was unearned? Me, I just sit there. Yeah, I’m a grouch…
I don’t know, I saw a pretty lackluster performance of the “Phantom of the Opera” on Tuesday and I’d say only about 50 of the 2,000 or so people stood up. The cast wasn’t bad, but they definitely weren’t great so I was surprised anyone stood up.
I don’t mind this so much at high school performances. To me, this is more about school/community spirit. For a very few people, high school theater is the jumping off point for careers on the stage, but for the most part, the kids up there aren’t ever going to be professional performers. I say this having come from a very rigorous high school drama program that put on some very excellent productions (and some dogs, I’m sure), but that was the last time I was set foot on a stage. I don’t think a high school standing ovation is unnaturally elevating the expectations of those kids who will go on to theatrical careers, it’s more for “hey, that’s my kid!” or “that’s really great that the shy kid finally decided to get on stage” or “we’re all graduating this spring and this is the last time we’re going to be together!” or “that kid is in my English class, and I know how hard he worked to improve his singing even if the end result is only average.”
In professional theater, I’d noticed trend of standing ovations at the drop of a hat over the past couple years and I found it annoying. Another aspect to it that I’ve noticed is that it’s become more of a peer pressure thing – some people start standing, then a few more, then there’s this waiting game to see if it’s going to hit critical mass, then everyone else tries to stand up fast so that they won’t look like fools being the only ones sitting. This really doesn’t compare to those rare performances that are so amazing that everyone in the theater leaps to their feet, instead of furtively looking around to see what everyone else is doing.
Oddly enough, I have noticed that in my fairly recent theater-going, there have been fewer standing ovations, say, over the past year. Maybe things are swinging the other way? I hope so, but then again, I also enjoy complaining about it so in some ways, it’s win-win for me.
Well, that’s encouraging, interface2x - so it sounds like you had 50 rookies in the audience.
I vaguely recall a joke in an old Reader’s Digest where one woman leaps up and enthusiastically applauds after a so-so performance. Her friend asked if she really like the show that much and the first woman said something about needing to stand because her girdle was bunching up. No, I don’t tell jokes well. But the point is to wonder how many people stand because they need to get the blood moving to their legs again??
Thank you, thank you, grimpixie - obviously you’re acknowledging the spirit and soul I put into my performance. Or you’re a suck up. Either works for me.
Perhaps y’all don’t watch TV but if there’s any thing to prove that standing ovations don’t mean much anymore…I watch Bill Maher’s HBO show every Friday , and , occasionally , Leno and Letterman - and these guys get standing ovations just for walking in front of the audience at the beginning of the show.
delphica, I’ll admit I was just crabby earlier - obviously all school productions get special dispensations. I should be even more than sympathetic because I was too scared at that age to audition - I should be admiring these kids for getting up there at all.
I know what you mean, though, about audience members caving in to peer pressure, real or imagined. I think some people stand just to be able to see after the yutzes in front of them block the stage view.
I hope you’re right about the trend swinging. Despite what some folks would have us believe, we’re not all equally wonderful and deserving of applause just for being who we are. You want me to rise from my confy seat? You better earn it!
williamweigand, I don’t trust TV. They’ve probably got some lackey holding up a Stand and Clap and Whoop sign just beyond camera view!
FairyChatMom - you have a very good point. My parents are musicians at the national philharmonic here in Warsaw, so throughout my life I’ve attended many,many concerts. I DO think a standing ovation STILL means quite a lot during classical concerts (as opposed to “public occasions” when one celeb/polititian is awared or glorified in anyway, everybody shamelessly pops to their feet)- but I believe the importance of this “gesture” has lessend so much in the past century. I think there are two main reasons for that.
For one thing - this music, much alike so called Cultural Life, has lost a lot of its mass importance. And while at the eve of the century a warm welcome or the spite of the audience were an absolute make-or-break for the author, it was so dramatic, so weighy, what their reaction would be - and so the means the audience used to express their opinion were heavy and articulate - everything from booing and hissing-out the piece, to standing ovation and literally carrying the composer/author on their shoulders. Right now, quite often, it makes no big difference. The emotions have quieted down. Nobody’s life seems to depend on how great and dazzling the musical piece will be.
The second reason, I think, is that people’s level of aquaintance with art has dropped. There is no time or intention to bring people into the, once snobbishly obligatory, intricacies of how to judge art, how to discern good performances,from mediocre ones. (not to mention the way we attribute value has changed radically, in art). So most of the times, people actually don’t know how to react. They don’t really know if they just saw a total masterpiece or just a so-so performance they happened to enjoy. If the atmosphere is hot enough and people feel generous (or there is a celebrity performing) - they feel they might as well honour the performers in the most exhuberant manner.
As a matter of fact, such excessive reaction can be endearing, but sometimes it may well embarras the artist - who, for example, knows he’s just had a “lesser night” and sees the standing ovation more as a sign of the audience’s inability to discern good from the Best. shrug It’s not a catastrophy, of course. Better that, than be boo-ed out for a good performance.
I agree that this phenomenon has gotten more prevalent in recent years.
I think High School performances should be left out of this discussion because the mere fact they’re up there on stage deserves significant recognition.
It’s a different story with professionals. I’ve been a season subscriber for more than a decade with the Milwaukee Repertory Theater and also with the national traveling Broadway Series. My wife and I talked about this very topic last weekend after the show. In that particular case, the performance of the lead actor and actress were very good. Excellent even. But even then I don’t believe their performance deserved a standing ovation. I’d say about a tenth of the audience stood up to give them an ovation.
Call me stubborn, but I’ll only give a standing ovation in two situations:
a) The performance of a particular actor is simply and plainly extraordinary. I have no problem recognizing creative excellence.
b) The overall ensemble performance is spectactularly moving emotionally. I confess that a well done musical will grab me like a drama cannot.
There is a third situation where I’ll participate in a standing ovation, and that’s if everyone is standing, I’ll stand too. It’s a combination of not wanting to be overly stubborn, and the fact that I want to see the cast as they take their final bows. (shrug)
To the OP, standing ovations in this town have increased in frequency. The bar seems to have been lowered for some reason that I don’t understand.
I think this is what I was trying to express, and you did it quite well. It’s as if audiences jump up because they’re expected to, as if to merely applaud while seated is somehow insulting.
And by extension, a standing ovation becomes standard, and then where do we go? Flinging articles of clothing from the balcony?
Hmmm, based on the average age of the people in the audience of the shows I generally go to… I hope not.
I thought of one possible contributing factor for this. The people attending these shows have spent years and years going to rock concerts where some of the time you stand through the whole show. A standing ovation at a rock concert seems almost obligatory behavior. Just like the band’s meaningless encore.
It certainly just doesn’t effect the entertainment field. Think back to the last ‘State of the Union’ address, where the President is given a standing ‘O’ after (just about) every sentence he utters.
There have been a few happy occasions when I absolutely had to be on my feet, and even that was not adequate to express what a wonderful performance I’d seen. If I’ve been transported to a place and time and I was actually watching events unfold as opposed to watching actors portray and event as it unfolded, then I’m going to let the cast know. It hasn’t happened often, but when it has, it was magic.
Excluding the times I’ve been on my feet before the concert ends (Buena Vista Social Club ), I can only remember one true standing ovation. It was for nobody special, just the BBC Phil in their usual slot with the usual conductor, but it was an AMAZING concert. I’ve seen a million occurences of people standing by themselves, as if to make a point - I sometimes wonder if they’re trying to prove something to someone around them (“I enjoyed this more than you”), or demonstrating that they ‘know’ the performer in some way.
Conan O’Brien did an interview with The Onion a while back where he spoke on this same topic. I can’t find a link on The Onion’s site, but here’s a bit from the transcript:
I agree that, in general, the bar has been lowered.
I couldn’t agree more, FCM. I worked on a tour of Jeckyll and Hyde (The Musical!!!) for 9 months and we got a standing O every single night. We did over 250 performances. Many were good, many were decent, some were truly awful. We played spaces where we had to leave the bulk of the show on the trucks, one night the lead lost his voice halfway through the show, and we still had people standing. I think people just wanted to get their money’s worth, and you’re just supposed to stand after a show.
Working in regional theatre now, we still have anywhere from a couple people to the entire audience standing every night. And we’ve done some stinkers. What I really don’t get is when the entire audience seems to be asleep for the show, barely makes a sound for curtain call (a thundering round of applua…, we say), but stands up anyway. If you don’t like it, don’t stand up.
It’s the dumbing down of America. Nobody applauds on late-night talk shows anymore, they “whoop.” Everything has to be louder or bigger than what preceded it. They are inured by advertising that constantly gets more invasive and stupefying. They can’t notice anything that isn’t sufficiently loud enough to draw their attention away.
Plus so few people attend theater versus watching television that they have no way of discerning good from bad.
Perhaps all plays and concerts should begin with this announcement:
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to tonight’s performance. Please turn off all cell phones and pagers. And don’t give a standing ovation unless you really really really liked the show. Thank you.
Or not…
