This theater season has been among the best I can recall. On Broadway we were treated to the rollicking new Gilbert & Sullivan style musical "A Gentlemen's Guide to Love and Murder", an absorbing revival of the classic British play "The Winslow Boy" and an atavistic all-male production of "Twelfth Night", featuring a surprisingly strong performance by the British comic actor Stephen Frye as Malvolio. At the New York Public Theater we enjoyed all four of the Apple family plays by Richard Nelson and "Funhome", an autobiographical and moving musical about the relationship between an openly gay daughter and her closeted father. In Central Park on a warm summer's night we were transported by the Damon Runyonesque production of "Comedy of Errors." At Yale Rep we were regaled by frantic farce in the commedia dell'arte style in "Accidental Death of an Anarchist." One thing all these disparate performances had in common was that they were all followed by a standing ovation from the audience.
Now I admit that each of these performances was superior in quality and well deserving of praise, but it also seems to me that standing ovations are overdone in the modern theater and have become standard. Audiences are no longer satisfied to merely applaud, and shout a "hazzah" or two, but now they must leap to their feet to express their appreciation as soon as the curtain call commences. Of course, if one person stands up it frequently cascades into a full blown ovation as other patrons must rise to their feet to see the curtain call or else appear churlish and unappreciative. What used to be reserved as an ovation for rare and extraordinary performances has now become commonplace.
Personally I blame operas, orchestras, ubiquitous community theater productions and sporting events for setting audience expectations and etiquette. Long, drawn-out and frequent ovations for opera stars after every act condition, de-sensitize and tax elderly opera audiences forced to prolong their applause for ungodly long ovations as they are also called on to shout "bravo" or "brava" at the top of their lungs, depending on the gender or number of singers to be serenaded. Symphony orchestra conductors predictably milk applause after every piece as they coyly wait in the wings to reappear at just the right moment and then take the audience through a marathon of applause as they direct attention toward the soloists and then through every featured section until the audience members who did not bolt to the exits or restrooms droop from sustained applause.
Community theater is the worst for standing ovations, particularly if there are children in the cast. Parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles, followed by siblings, friends and neighbors, struggle to their feet to salute their children with standing ovations and exhort others to do the same almost like it was a football game where cheerleading fans in team colors and face paint feel it is their mission to pump up the decibels and squeeze that last ounce of enthusiasm out of any laggards in the crowd. There is a direct link between the Seattle Seahawks' "twelfth man" and a community theater audience during curtain calls.
Casts come to expect standing ovation at every performance and become nervous and jittery if a curtain call is greeted with simple applause, even if enthusiastic and genuine (no one likes polite applause). I remember a young girl reduced to tears because the expected standing ovation did not materialize. Of course that was some years ago when audiences were more reserved; today's casts may reasonably sit back and soak up the audience' appreciation as they reliably rise to their feet for yet another standing ovation.
And don't get me started about floral bouquets during curtain calls!
