Applause Before "Midnight Radio" in HEDWIG

[BroadwayConcierge]

I know this is an unusually specific question, but it's something I think about frequently and would be very interested in hearing other peoples' thoughts. I've been to HEDWIG a number of times, and one of the most painful parts of the show for me (in a good way!) is that deafening silence after the "Wicked Little Town" reprise, when the lights go up and the stage returns from Tommy. Then comes "Midnight Radio." In my most recent visit to the show, however, the audience applauded in that interim, and for me, it near broke the entire impact of Hedwig's breakdown. How often do you guys find audiences applauding in this break, and what are your thoughts on it?

[ChildofEarth]

I think that it is so much more powerful when it is silent. It makes that moment stick so much more, and it definitely makes the actors better.

However, I much prefer thunderous applause to a smattering. For some reason, every time I saw Andy there were maybe ten extremely loud clappers (you know the ones) who went to town. 

Ive seen some people say that clapping after is an indication that the story didn't hit, but I'm not in that camp either.

My preference will always be silence, especially when the actor was particularly angry or funny that night.

[yourheartcansing]

I've had a mix of crowd reactions there, some with silence, once w/ too much applause tbh, and once with some scattered applause that ended before the applause track they play, so it wasn't too noticeable tbh.

By far, the silence is the most powerful and preferred for me. There's something powerful in a room full of people practically holding their breath and waiting to see what is going to happen. The time people applauded and cheered (one particularly loud person right next to me), i'm sure my glare could have killed.  I agree that applause there almost pulls me completely out of the emotional moment occurring onstage.

 

Another moment where I've experienced both relative silence and applause is after Exquisite Corpse. Again, I feel silence is more powerful. Also, it seems almost inappropriate to cheer after that particular song as well, no matter how well it's performed.

[VotePeron]

Only during Darren's show and Taye's on Saturday at 2 have I ever witnessed applause after it. It's very frustrating.

 

What's even MORE frustrating was the girl sitting behind me, who went "No no NO DONT CLAP" in a really loud whisper. I really respect you being a fan of the show, but don't ADD to the noise by telling people not to clap? I was in the 2nd row and it was infuriating. THAT took me out of the moment.

[mariel9]

Oh my god, no clapping there, ever. 

VotePeron, I empathize with both you and the "no clapping" girl. I intensely dislike people talking during shows, but clapping after WLTR . . . no, no, no. That might move me to speech.

[yourheartcansing]

I've actually had quite a Hedwig filled day since I found an audio of Taye from yesterday, then watched a boot of JCM. Both had applause, JCM's rather loud tbh. My first 2 times live had silence, so I had hoped that was more common, but it seems applause happens more than I would have thought.

 

also agree that one shouldn't add to the noise if they want silence. Dude next to me shut up pretty fast when he noticed my body language alone (death glare and crossed arms while shaking my head i believe)

[FindingNamo]

It's a hard lesson to learn that we can't control others.

[rjm516]

Oh jeez I saw the show several times in the past year and never heard applause there. I'm seeing Taye in several weeks and hope the audience stays silent! 

[timisimaginary]

i've seen it 8 times and the only time there was significant or noticeable applause after WLTR was JCM's final performance. but he was getting standing O's after practically every song that night, so that was an aberration. i was really impressed the first time i saw the show and everyone remained quiet during that part. it absolutely enhances the moment and makes it feel more intimate.

[Jane2]

I'm lucky that in the hundreds of times I've seen the show there was no applause at that moment.

[CarlosAlberto]

I've experienced applause in that section only once - - - when Darren was still in the show.

He has a very rabid fan base and they'll applaud at the blink of the eye. LOL!

[ChildofEarth]

"I've experienced applause in that section only once - - - when Darren was still in the show.
He has a very rabid fan base and they'll applaud at the blink of the eye. LOL!"

 

Of the three times I saw Darren, there was only applause once toward the start of the run. There was applause after Taye's, Andrew's and Michael's at the start of their runs as well. I think it is a learned thing that the general audience (those that start to come back at least) learn as they go.

Has it always been this way, or was it a learned thing during this reincarnation?

[Jane2]

If you're in the moment, you should realize it's not the right time for clapping. IMO

[Alix]

I much prefer silence, but agree that a smattering of applause is probably the worst option. I saw JCM's last show before his knee surgery and he got a standing ovation after "Wicked Little Town Reprise"--one of I believe four that night. In that moment, it felt to me like the audience was applauding John getting through the show--the week--in that condition. I believe some people even applauded mid-song when the platform started to rise.

timisimaginary, I was also at John's last show and could have sworn there was no applause in that moment. The whole audience was on their feet, but I recall dead silence. Anyone else who was there remember?

[ksilver117]

I was there (And just checked an audio recording from that night) and there was lots of applause after Wicked Little Town Reprise at JCM's last performance. A solid 30 seconds or so starting before the song ended, but after the last word of the song.

[WickedLittleRentHead]

I an trying to remember and I think there's always been silence every time I've seen the show (and that's even 3 times with Darren and his annoying fans). I think applause after that moment is inappropriate.  The silence says so much more. 

And let me explain, I don't think ALL Darren fans are annoying but I've experienced many that are, during all 3 times I've seen him. 

[AppleSunday]

I saw Darren three times and out of curiosity just asked a few friends who saw him as well, and in our cumulative eight performances there were no applause before Midnight Radio. You could've heard a pin drop from anywhere in the Belasco each time I saw him. One of them said there were applause when he saw Andrew and he almost didn't want to go back after that because he didn't want to risk losing that magicial moment again. 

[crazynovelist]

If people have witnessed applause with every actor and no applause with every actor, it has nothing to do with the actor or their fan base, but rather just the completely random compilation of people in the audience.

Also, I've witnessed two completely polar opposite reactions during Exquisite Corpse: Complete mayhem screaming applause, and pin-drop silence. I definitely prefer the silence, because I do believe the audience that night is more deeply engaged (not just 'engaged', because there's more than one way to be invested in a story, but emotionally engaged, I guess?).

 

[sklabam]

(if we all think really hard...)

[Penny2]

I was there as well. Definitely dead silence before Midnight Radio that night.  Maybe even a little longer silence than usual .  It was so amazing since the whole rest of the night was so wild ! Was perfect really ..

[Littleshopofcarrie]

I saw the show Wednesday night and after the reprise the audience was dead silent except for one person who started to clap obnoxiously. I would of rather of had the entire audience instead of just that one person!

[haterobics]

We had one person on Thursday who wanted to clap, as well... but then they stopped, thinking they were early, but then tried clapping one or two times again.... before giving up after one quick "whoo!"

[perfectlymarvelous]

I saw the show this afternoon and there was applause between Wicked Little Town and Midnight Radio. I was really disappointed, it broke the moment for me. 

[Crazy NooNooHead]

I've seen the show six times, and most of the time there were 10 seconds or so of silence right after the song, and then applause. Never cheering, but applause. While I agree that silence is very powerful, applause has never taken me out of the moment (but I get why others would be taken out of it). I think part of that is because as theatre goers, we're taught to clap at the end of songs, and especially after WLTR, I think there's the dilemma of, "I'm supposed to clap but this feels like a silent moment, what do I do?" Dead silence followed by clapping has always worked for me, but I can see how just silence would be even more effective.