Two recent shows I attended starring David Schwimmer and Jake Gyllenhaal, the audiences were faced with a question of theater etiquette: Should they applaud when the stars first appeared on stage? Some did clap; most did not. I canvassed actors, directors, critics for their responses to the question: Is opening applause appropriate? (see link below for answers.) What do YOU think?
If the audience wants to applaud they should applaud. I have seen it many times, and it has never been a problem. I particularly remember Gary Sinise bounding onto the stage full of energy and ready to attack his lines in Cuckoo's Nest, and he just allowed the energy and tension in his body to build as the audience applauded, using the applause break to serve him as an actor.
Those eruptions of applause for celebrities are moments of joy and celebration for the people who pay the bills-- the audience. Theater needs more of it and not less.
After giving it some thought, I think that it is almost always appropriate for the audience to applaud when they've seen something they particularly enjoy...whether it's a performer singing the hell out of a song or even if it's the mere fact that Angela Lansbury walked out on the stage. I think it would be silly not to do it (if you wanted to) and I think it would be even sillier for someone to be annoyed by it. For someone whose status is not as legendary as someone such as Angela Lansbury, like Schwimmer or Gyllenhaal, I could see how some would and some wouldn't applaud immediately. I wouldn't call it "inappropriate" whether you do or whether you don't.
The only time I think it might be "inappropriate" would be if it is in the middle of an intense scene and the applause would disrupt the mood of the moment. I would think that for the most part there wouldn't be many first entrances in the middle of such a scene. Oh...and of course I think it would be inappropriate if you were the ONLY one applauding...like if you were someone's mom and your chorus member son walked out for the first time.
Every Dolly who played the part on Broadway has been greeted with entrance applause when she revealed herself on the trolly. In fact at the very last performance DOLLY! played on Broadway, every single character received warm and welcoming applause upon his or her entrance. Why? Because we were glad to see them and we didn't know when these characters would be gracing our stages again.
I will continue to applaud every entrance Patti LuPone ever makes because she's not just an actress--she's the sun, the moon and the stars!
Any good director knows how to stage a star's entrance so that the applause doesn't interrupt the action of the show (i.e., a pause in the dialogue or music underscoring).
It's interesting how most of the reactions here are more or less "of course" -- while most of the people whose Twitter replies I included in my blog post were: of course NOT.
e.g. Jason Zinoman: Count me as a NO,” Andrew Andrew: "Just like “ovation inflation” it seems people think opening applause compulsory."
I don't like entrance applause. Not because it interrupts the show (although that does happen) but because the actor hasn't done anything yet. It diminishes the meaning of the rest of the applause after songs and during the curtain call because people get applause for merely entering the stage. It takes a lot more than that to get me to willingly applaud.
Any good director knows how to stage a star's entrance so that the applause doesn't interrupt the action of the show (i.e., a pause in the dialogue or music underscoring).
^^^This. If you feel like applauding an entrance, you were probably meant to do so.
I don't feel like entrance applause spoils the meaning of later applause, nor that it is for not doing anything. It is applause showing appreciation for people's previous work, possibly that could not be applauded live before because it was on film or television or a cast recording but not seen in person by the person applauding. Once the applause for past work is out of the way and out of the audience's system, then later applause is for what is done on stage during the current performance. As long as staging is done so that dialogue or music is not covered by it, i don't have a problem with entrance applause. Whether or not i join in depends on whether or not i have seen and strongly appreciated previous work by that particular performer.
I'm not a gigantic fan of entrance applause but I feel like as long as it isn't totally obnoxious, it's all right.
If you feel like applauding an entrance, you were probably meant to do so
This was especially true in Young Frankenstein where it seemed like every major character's entrance was staged in a way that compelled the audience to applaud.
Critics aren't audience, and they will always attend shows with a different attitude than the paying public. It's not better or worse, but it is unreasonable to expect everyone to sit blandly through every show with a detached, cow-like stare plastered on their faces.
A trip to New York and a chance to see a beloved performer on stage is a once in a lifetime experience for many of the people in the audience, and they applaud because they are humans experiencing an emotion known as joy.
If that distracts some dusty old critic from his or her dispassionate blasé posturing-- good!
rhdery: I've never seen a critic who looked like a cow, but in any case it isn't only critics who weighed in on entrance applause. Plenty of performers and theatergoers -- even out-of-town ones-- have mixed or negative feelings about the practice. JohnyBroadway: Which show are you talking about? Opening Applause for Celebrities?
The last item in NewYorkTheater's link brings up a related question. I may be contradicting myself here, but I'm not so fond of applauding the scenery.
I guess the difference is the scenery can't hear the clapping. (Yes, the designer may, but that's not quite the same thing to me.)
If it's someone like Elaine Stritch, Barbara Cook, or Angela Lansbury, who's given a lifetime to theater, eh, it's fine. I get a little more eyerolly when it's for whoever's migrated from TV this year. (And I admit I was very amused when Anna Madely got the entrance applause that was clearly meant for Kim Catrall in last year's Private Lives.)
One reason I enjoy theater in the West End is the lack of entrance applause. But then theater is so much classier over there. Except for the dreadful ice cream containers you have to wade through on the way out! I loved the way Jude Law's Hamlet was staged here in NYC. Jude was alone on stage as the curtain went up, yet so much was happening in the way of lighting and sound effects that nobody felt the need to applaud. It was not missed. Even here in Canada, we are far less prone to applaud an actor before he/she has done anything onstage. I am a retired teacher. I didn't expect my class to applaud me when I walked in the door each morning. Actually a hearty round of applause at the end of a day's work would have been appreciated!
I personally get annoyed when someone is applauded before doing anything, just because they're famous. For instance, the audience went crazy when Morgan Freeman entered the stage during A Country Girl. He proceeded to give one of the most lack luster performances I've seen...
Why in the world do you care if an actor gets applause on his or her entrance? Seriously, there is something really wrong with you if you fret about an audience expressing it's love for a performer upon first sight. Really, seriously wrong.
As I've suggested, I don't mind. (The exception is when one fan tries and tries to start entrance applause for a minor celebrity. If it doesn't erupt spontaneously after a clap or two, let it go, dude!)
But I guess for some people, entrance applause delays the theatrical illusion. But that same illusion is interrupted by applause after musical numbers (we had a thread on that, too) and at the end of scenes. So I'm not sure why entrance applause is such a problem.
Others here seem to have a puritanical reaction against "unearned" applause. The answer to them of course is that some of us feel the applause was "earned" in previous roles. And you don't get to see the play before you decide to pay for your ticket, so a certain amount or our reaction to any production is "speculative".
Agreed with newintown on this one. I find entrance applause pretty cringeworthy in most cases.
One of the most hilarious recent memories I have was in CURTAINS where all of John Bolton's entrances were specifically designed to receive entrance applause--and of course none of them did, because the B&T audiences had no idea who John Bolton was. I also chuckle a bit remembering Plum's comments about Anna Madeley and Kim Cattrall--it was the exact same the night I saw it.
Going back to antedeluvian times, I recall when Bette Davis made her entrance in the original production of The Night of the Iguana, the audience went wild -- screaming, hollering, the whole bit. Davis finally broke character and acknowledged the applause with a smile and a nod and the performance was able to continue. As the evening wore on, it became obvious that Davis was not right for the role, plus the part was significantly smaller than that of Margaret Leighton's. Davis took her curtain call third from last and the applause dwindled quite noticeably, only to be resumed at full force for Margaret Leighton,who received a standing ovation. Davis left the show shortly thereafter, being succeeded by the infinitely better-cast Shelley Winters.
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Posted: 9/29/12 at 10:17am