Standing Ovations

[yankeefan7]

Posted: 4/7/16 at 6:45pm

On Broadway, it is almost obligatory that there is a standing ovation after a show for either the show or an lead actor/actress with few exceptions. I was in London around Easter and saw three shows and I never saw a standing ovation even though some of the performances IMO deserved one. Is it something people in the UK don't really do or is it that it really has to be extraordinary performance for a standing ovation? Just curious.

[ggersten]

Posted: 4/7/16 at 11:42pm

In our time in London, there were few "automatic standing ovations" - the ones I most recall were at the first preview of Miss Saigon and for Angela Lansbury in Blithe Spirit and David Tennant in Richard II.  There was a forced "standing ovation" for Sunny Afternoon because it's a "concert" ending with dancing in the seats (at the Hampstead).  There probably was standing at We Will Rock You, but I've tried blotting that show out from my memory (without success).  Two of those were for "stars" - although their performances were terrific.  Miss Saigon was so anticipated (and wondrous) and filled with fans of the show.  So, it just takes a lot to get people out of their seats even for a magnificent performance!      

[rosscoe(au)]

Posted: 4/8/16 at 12:12am

The night I saw Sweeney Todd there was one.

[lotiloti]

Posted: 4/8/16 at 4:04am

Sadly this depressing import from the US, is gaining ground in London. When,on my regular visits to Broadway. I see everything  get a standing ovation, Americans ovate as a matter of course. In London, the show/performances generally need to deserve it. I know which I prefer.

[imeldasturn]

Posted: 4/8/16 at 5:16am

Only extraordinary performances.

Musicals tend to get more standing ovations than plays, but it's not a "rule" like in America. I mean, shows like Les Miz always get one and there was a standing ovation for Imelda Staunton at the curtain call every time I saw Gypsy and on closing night even after Rose's Turn (which is the only mid-show standing ovation I have ever seen in London). But I think this is more about the performances than for the show itself: even in Les Miz you will have a standing ovation by the time Valjean takes his bow, not right after the last note. Glenn Close is getting rapturous standing ovations fro Sunset, but again it's the person, not the show.

In plays they are very rare, not even Nicole Kidman got one one for "Photograph 51" or Mark Rylance for "Farinelli and the King". 

[yankeefan7]

Posted: 4/8/16 at 8:11am

"Sadly this depressing import from the US, is gaining ground in London. When,on my regular visits to Broadway. I see everything  get a standing ovation, Americans ovate as a matter of course. In London, the show/performances generally need to deserve it. I know which I prefer."

 

I agree with you and prefer the standing ovations to be deserved.  On my recent trip to London, I thought the leads in "Curious Incident" and "Matilda" deserved one for their performances and I did not want to stand and be the only one - lol.

[BenjiWicked]

Posted: 4/8/16 at 8:30am

Every show I've seen in London has ended with a standing ovation - would be interested in knowing which shows didn't receive one.

[yankeefan7]

Posted: 4/8/16 at 12:27pm

"Every show I've seen in London has ended with a standing ovation - would be interested in knowing which shows didn't receive one."

 

All three shows I saw in London at the end of March on my vacation did not get standing ovations. The shows were "Curious Incident", "Matilda" and "The Play That Goes Wrong".

[nataliealana]

Posted: 4/8/16 at 3:11pm

For me it tends to be an exceptional performance, but I feel like I see a lot of really amazing talents. 

I'm also not afraid to be the only person standing. If no-one else follows my lead, I'll stay standing regardless!

[yankeefan7]

Posted: 4/9/16 at 8:21am

"I'm also not afraid to be the only person standing. If no-one else follows my lead, I'll stay standing regardless"

Your right and in hindsight I should have done that when I was in London. Since I am from the US, I was not sure if it was a "proper" thing to do.

[Will42]

Posted: 4/9/16 at 3:02pm

Recently the only standing ovation I can recall was for Dame Angela Lansbury in Blithe Spirit, Kinky Boots and The Book of Mormon. 

While I do think that the show or performer has to earn one and automatic standing ovations devalue it when it's truly deserved, sometimes Brits are too tight-fisted when it comes to standing ovations. 

For example I was very surprised when Imilda Staunton and Dame Judi Dench didn't get one when they won at the Oliviers last week. Although Staunton did get one after performing Everything's Coming up Roses at the beginning of the show. 

[mkmswain]

Posted: 4/11/16 at 6:47am

It's rarer in London, which I think is a good thing - tends to be for truly extraordinary performances, like Imelda Staunton in Gypsy or Denise Gough in People, Places & Things - but it is becoming more common, particularly with musicals. We're also less likely to applaud the entrance of a big star mid-show.

[yankeefan7]

Posted: 4/12/16 at 11:35am

"We're also less likely to applaud the entrance of a big star mid-show."

 

That is very rare even on Broadway, it has to be a major star (usually from film) to get applause on entrance.

[Forget-Me-Not2]

Posted: 4/24/16 at 3:55am

Ria Jones got huge entrance applause (and whooping and hollering) at Sunset Boulevard last night. All power to her for stepping in and winning over audiences disappointed at Glenn Close's absence, but that felt ridiculously OTT. Has Glenn Close been receiving rapturous entrance applause in this production?

Matthew Perry got entrance applause when I saw The End of Longing last week too. 'Friends' fans who don't see a lot of theatre perhaps?

I'm not a fan of entrance applause generally - it interrupts the flow of a show and comes across as slightly sycophantic to me.

i hope we don't import it and/or automatic standing ovations from Broadway.

(Btw, Ria Jones did a fine job and thoroughly deserved her standing ovation at the end, as did Michael Xavier and Siobhan Dillon IMHO).

[meyerd584]

Posted: 4/25/16 at 4:02am

Funny because Matilda, which I detested, had a very loud standing ovation when I saw it last year and last night, Play That Goes Wrong had one. Depends on the audience I guess. 

[nasty_khakis]

Posted: 4/25/16 at 10:19am

"I'm not a fan of entrance applause generally - it interrupts the flow of a show and comes across as slightly sycophantic to me."

I slightly disagree, a good director often works it into the flow of a show, especially when they know it's a star entrance. Sometimes however, you're right and the person has to stand there and make "busy work" before talking.

[JayG 2]

Posted: 4/26/16 at 8:38am

Standing ovations begin because one person wants to be noticed and acknowledged from the stage by an actor. When that first person pops up, the actor's eyes go right to him/her. The standee now feels connected and, somehow, important. He/she is a part of that theatre experience. "Did you see!? So and so looked at me and smiled !" Or "So and so saw me and thanked me! OMG!"

It is not about the play anymore; it becomes about the first person leaping to his/her feet in unexplainable ecstasy and drawing attention to him/herself- -  and when one stands, another person does simply to see... and well, then it is everyone.

Standing ovations have lost all meaning.

 

[The Glenbuck Laird]

Posted: 5/2/16 at 12:26pm

lotiloti said: "Sadly this depressing import from the US, is gaining ground in London. When,on my regular visits to Broadway. I see everything  get a standing ovation, Americans ovate as a matter of course. In London, the show/performances generally need to deserve it. I know which I prefer.

 

"

I noticed this on my trip to New York. Being British only one show had a standing ovation to date and that was Ivo van Hove's A View from the Bridge. Not giving mine away, show has to earn it.

[Owen22]

Posted: 5/3/16 at 11:40am

On my last trip to London, Grey Gardens at the Southwark got a standing ovation (and well deserved).

Updated On: 5/3/16 at 11:40 AM