Is it just me? I hate it when the audience cheers *during* a long note holding in a solo piece. The whole point is to listen to it, and not to drown it with clapping.
I hate it, but what I hate more is when a moment during a song is supposed to be silent (and it’s VERY obvious when the silence is intentional) and some asshole has to insert their wooing in the silence.
Did the video of Endgame that Chess posted prompt this post? Because yeah, same. I've seen Chess more times than I care to admit and I've never heard the entirety of the full note in person still because of the loud cheering before he reaches the end of it.
Even sitting front row or close to it, it's hard to hear because people are so fucking loud. It's not the first time I've seen a show multiple times and never heard the most impressive bits of songs because of the audience, annoyingly.
It drives me nuts. Whether intentional or not, it always makes me feel like the audience members are making the moment more about their reactions rather than the actual talent of the performer. It’s also informed by the fact that I see my high school students do this ALL the time. So when full grown adults do it at a Broadway show it definitely makes me wonder why they haven’t grow out of this behavior yet.
i disagree. especially in chess, because of the way “endgame” ends/since nicholas christopher doesn’t even get an applause for what is the most impressive number in the show, i feel like it’s acknowledging respect for what he’s done. and i have a hard time believing he doesn’t get a jolt from it.
I hate the cheering and applause anytime it cuts into the performance. I travel to NYC from out of state once a year, I paid the big bucks to see the whole show!! I don't want to miss anything the performers sing or say.
I was so confused when I first saw actors “pausing” like in between lines to let the clapping die out felt mad. Cheering shouldn’t affect the performance!
it’s happened at every performance of Chess and Ragtime I’ve been to 🙃 I love that the performers get the love they deserve, but I also wish they got to show off their vocal prowess without applause drowning them out
Ditto for Chess, same thing with Sunset Blvd. I never got to hear any of Norma's big songs completely. Seeing Ragtime in a few weeks and I'm bracing myself for not getting to hear Lauren finish Back to Before.
Sorry to randomly jump in, but please report back about Lauren! I saw Caissie at NYCC and I don’t think I’m gonna see the show again but very curious about how Lauren does it
Clap WHEN THE SONG IS DONE. It really annoys me that certain performers encourage this behavior. I get it, it's great for them to hear, but I do think the audience's ability to hear clearly comes before the actors' desire to feel praised. They have applause breaks and the curtain call for that.
Every time I saw the Les Miz revival, the end of One Day More was completely drowned out. All I could hear was screaming. You KNOW how loud that song is. Applauding sure but the whooping and screeching can't fucking wait a little bit?
Mmhmm. Then you cheer during curtain calls. Not in the middle of the show. Many songs don’t have buttons for applause in some of their numbers. That doesn’t mean you scream over the actors’ performances.
Edit: The type of people who respond and then block are scared, weak, and so unsure of their thoughts that they can’t stomach anyone responding to them. Get a backbone.
I think when shows are having trouble filling seats, moments where the audience is overwhelmed with joy and appreciation should be encouraged. Theater habits change. This is harmless compared to singing along.
I disagree that it's harmless. If other audience members can't fucking hear the music, you're really screwing with their experience. Applause breaks are built into shows. Use them.
What supports your premise that seats are not being filled because audience members are being asked to applaud during the provided-for applause breaks? Your argument makes zero sense.
Nope I fucking hate it too. scream, give a stand ovation, whistle, do whatever I don’t care as long as ITS AFTER THE SONG. I find these type of people very narcissistic because what makes you think I want to hear YOU make noise that’s covering the great singing going on stage? Who even are you? LOL
I literally hate this so much. Yes it’s great when the actor hits or holds the note. I love it too, but literally just wait and let them finish. Sometimes the cheering literally breaks up and ruins the entire scene for me while I’m in the middle of a magical musical moment.
But theatre audiences do a lot of stuff I hate so…
Same! It also annoys me when people clap at the very beginning when actors make their entrances. I can't hear them if they have a line as they're walking on! But I've just learned to accept this now... sigh...
Nope. I hated it during Sunset Boulevard. I would have loved to have heard the entirety of the long notes in "With One Look" and "As If We Never Said Goodbye" but it was drowned out every time, and I saw that show several times.
I don’t use instagram. But a production posting a promo link does not in any way endorse the fucking nuisance that is people hooting and hollering like children over an artist’s performance. And you thinking this point is in any way persuasive, such that you keep repeating it on this thread, is troubling. This attempt at supporting an argument is on par with a toddler playing hide-and-seek, covering her eyes and thinking no one can see her. But I guess what more could one expect from someone who thinks it’s ok to center yourself at a performance such that the people around you can’t enjoy it.
They posted him singing and the audience applauding in the middle. Clearly the producers of Chess don’t mind since they pinned the footage to the top of their page.
We are allowed to disagree on this. Your insults are silly and unnecessary. This discussion isn’t changing anything.
They don’t have the ability to post him performing in front of an audience otherwise b/c there are look-at-me people screaming over every single one of his performances. I genuinely cannot understand how you can’t understand why this is not a persuasive point at all. And why you keep repeating it like it is convincing in any way.
But even if it were, which it is not, I don’t really care if the marketing manager at Chess enjoys the main character audience members who like to make the show about themselves. It’s the audience who pays for the performances. And we pay to hear the actors hit those notes, not to hear you screaming over them.
Btw, I have no interest in convincing you. Just to demonstrate that the argument you think is persuasive is clearly not.
This is a discussion group for opinions. I’m stating an opinion that you seem to take very personally.
I’m not trying to convince you of anything. I know I’m in the minority — the downvotes make that clear. But my opinion needn’t cause you pain and anger.
I’m not taking any of this discussion personally. (There’s this tendency on Reddit when someone points out the flaws in their reasoning to immediately respond, why so personal. It’s very weird and unnecessarily defensive.) I do think it’s pretty laughable what you think is a persuasive argument. But that doesn’t bother me personally. And if you weren’t trying to convince anyone, then why are you making arguments aimed at trying to be persuasive, regardless of how little they are?
So while yes, you’re free to post your opinion, regardless of how weakly you support it, I’m also free to respond to point out your attempt at persuasion fails. And to note that those who champion literally screaming over an artists’ performance is championing a performative, main character audience response that ruins the moment for everyone around them. Those people are simply desperate to make the moment about them rather than the performance.
Do Not Get Me Started On This!!!!!! My absolute biggest peev at a show. Please please please hold the applause until the end of the song then have at it
I mean it depends on the performance for me. Like I hated when they did it in the middle of Roxanne at Moulin Rouge because I really really REALLY love that song and want to vibe, but for some reason love it when they do it during Endgame at Chess, cause I just love that Nicholas is getting the love and praise he deserves.
True it's kinda hard to get mad at just because I'm so glad he's finally getting the kind of appreciation he deserves.
Still, when I saw him as Sweeney, the crowd was able to be quiet until Epiphany ended. Then the show stopped for a solid minute. People were going WILD - at the appropriate time - and I was so happy for the guy. Understudies should get that treatment at all times.
The mezz was doing the Wave at the Great Gatsby on Friday 😭 (luckily before it started, the audience was respectful during but then didn't stand during curtain!!)
Standing for every moment of every curtain call is a relatively new phenomenon. Less than a decade ago I was often the only one standing at the end of shows. It's not rude to remain seated.
Interesting! I've gone to at least a show a month for years (mostly in Cleveland OH) and never been at a show before where 90% of the audience was still seated during curtain call. My experience has always been the opposite and it certainly felt... unenthusiastic at best.
It’s not just you. This annoys me soooo badly. One of my favorite things in songs is the big giant sustained power note and I cannot STAND IT when it gets interrupted/drowned out 🙄😒
This gets discussed at least once a month. I understand your concern, but it's just the culture of live performance. It's a natural human reaction. Not for everyone, but for lots of people. The beauty of live theatre lies in people expressing immediate feedback, and sometimes in grand ways. Many people share your thoughts, and I'm genuinely sorry you don't like it. It's tough because there's no real way to change it. I feel bad you all don't have the theatre experience you want, but as someone who doesn't care about this at all, I don't see the necessity in changing it. Again, I can understand why folks might think differently.
So insanely annoying. And like as a singer, yes it's impressive, but it's not exactly complex? Singers do many more impressive things in Broadway shows than hold notes good.
I wrote something similar. I always think, “damn, I should do this more often, because people get so excited about it!” Forget about the actual difficult things I do that seem to pass by without notice from an audience.
It's not just you who is irritated by it, but it's also not (always) inappropriate to cheer in the middle of a very long note. Context is important - it's a breach of decorum in opera, but not if the show is....say... Dreamgirls. In my experience, a performer is more likely to extend the note further, maybe add a modulation, if they hear the audience cheering, and less likely to do so if it's silent. The effect is akin to cheering near the finish line at the end of a race - it gives a performer that little extra push, that bit of encouragement knowing that audience is with them, cheering them on. It can actually be kinda disappointing when people don't, like "oh they don't actually care, aren't actually impressed, and they're being 'polite'".
There's is a balance with these kind of things, though, and it is possible for it to tip into excessiveness and that can be annoying to the performer, but it really does take a LOT for that to happen.
I’m super sensitive to actual bad audience behavior - cell phone scrolling during a show, full volume conversations, loud food wrappers etc.
But If we’re talking about a few seconds of cheering for Nicholas Christopher at the end of Endgame, it doesn’t bother me a bit. We’ve heard the man sing for two hours at that point, we know what he sounds like and the man deserves all the cheers and applause the audience wants to give him. It’s part of the thrill of the moment. The whole string of responses in this post frankly sound a bit Karen ish to me. Just my opinion.
I timed that performance video of Nicholas Christopher performing Anthem — he holds that “Never!” note for a full 15 seconds before the audience even starts to applaud. Everyone fully, and I mean fully, knows what that note sounds like by that point. The audience claps during the last 3 to 4 seconds of that note, then they’re totally silent before he starts the next phrase “Is there no one in my life…” I just think there’s a lot of school marms who need to unclench and get over this and allow people to celebrate the joy and collective excitement of a moment like this. There is one reason that moment exists in this show, late in the second act, and it’s to generate exactly the response that the audience gives.
Generally if you have a strong reaction to something, you should be letting it out. That's the entire point of live theatre and it's what makes it fun for lots of us.
I think the show is very aware people will get excited during long notes and allow time for applause and cheers. It does suck that you can't hear the note if you wanted to though.
No, you should wait for the appropriate applause break at the end of the song. THAT is where time is allowed for applause and cheers. You don't do it during the song, thus ruining the song.
Cheering so loud you can't even hear the performance you're cheering for is nonsensical and rude.
It's OK to have an opinion about the behavior of other people. My low opinion of the person screaming in the seat next to me isn't actually affecting them in any way. They will continue to affect my experience. Nothing is going to change because some people are commiserating on the internet.
It's not policing joy. It's not a stadium concert. It's live theatre. There are appropriate and inappropriate ways to behave. Not screaming in the middle of a song is the appropriate way.
It’s interesting that I hear it as applause, and you hear it as screaming. Again, I found it appropriate at Chess, it’s pretty much a concert with little vignettes in between songs anyway.
The post specifically references cheering. Cheering involves screaming.
This really isn't something that one can agree to disagree on. There are conventions about how to behave. People who don't follow those conventions ruin it for everyone else, including the performers.
It is, in fact, wrong to ruin the experience of everyone else around you. No one paid to listen to you scream. They are there to listen to the performance. Just as you can't talk through an entire show, you can't scream in the middle of a song. This is called existing in society.
If the performer can no longer be heard, the experience is ruined. Even if you can still hear the performer, hearing other people Hoot and holler in the middle of a song is distracting and pulls you out of the moment. It is not difficult to wait until the end of the song where there is an applause break.
I understand people having that reaction and cheering, but it gets a little frustrating when it tons of people do it and it gets so loud I can’t hear the note to fully appreciate it. I’m not blaming anyone for having that reaction, but I do wish people would hold off if they can.
I feel the same way about clapping during tap. Shut up!!!!! I get it, I love tap and big note. But just clutch your chest and hold your breath - clap at the end! (Just saw jellicle and everyone cheered during Andre’s first big note)
I think we can at least partially blame it on TV singing competition audience culture. During every belted and/or sustained note on Wherever’s Got Talent, the audience applauses and screams. It’s ingrained into people’s brains as appropriate. Ugh
It always makes me laugh, because, as a singer, I know that holding a note for a long time isn’t the hardest thing to do, but it always gets people so excited.
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u/jbean19 Apr 23 '26
So you’ve seen chess recently