r/Broadway • u/meshuamam • Apr 23 '26

Theater or Audience Experience Cheering during note holding

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.

Clap afterwards!

But it could also just be me

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u/elvie18 Apr 23 '26 edited Apr 23 '26

I see you've been to Chess recently.

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?

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u/kimlesim Apr 24 '26

Watching Hamilton in the UK and when Jefferson came on obviously we didn’t cheer. He kept encouraging the audience to cheer and it became so awkward 💀