Entrance Applause - Worth it and not worth it…

Not a fan of entrance applause, I don’t get applauding someone because they turned up. The only time I remember doing it was when Angela Lansbury came on in Blithe Spirit. That felt well deserved. There must be others but that’s the only one that really stands out.

I saw a bootleg YouTube video of Hugh Jackman doing Ya Got Trouble from The Music Man and the audience went mad at the end of the clip when Sutton Foster appeared (not seen it, I’m assuming her entrance.) Having seen her in Anything Goes, I can’t blame them.

For me, it's cringey, and very American! Not a fan. I've luckily not witnessed it too many times. Yes, Glenn Close in Sunset. Petula in Sunset and Imelda in Gypsy I seem to remember.

Many, many moons ago, James Stewart in Harvey. The audience gave him a standing ovation the minute he walked out on stage.

Personally I don't mind it as long as it's brief, it annoys me more when people applaud before a performer has finished singing the big final note!

disrupts the flow and experience and should be a rarity and if done, very brief, IMHO

*ouch*

I'm not very keen on it either, except if it's a dancer making a debut in a lead role when I feel it's more acceptable as long as the character's first entrance allows for it.

It should be reserved for a particular type of person, as far as I'm concerned. Angela Lansbury - that makes total sense. The first time I ever saw it happen was for Joan Plowright in 'Time and the Conways', and it felt justified, but I later wanted to withdraw my participation because I detested the play so much, and two of her children were in it (they were awful) and another directed, so I sort of felt she was partially responsible for my wasted evening.

I jest. Or at least half jest. But most of the time, entrance applause is bloody awful.

I suppose it depends. I got to work on costumes for a production of "Backwards in High Heels" (Ginger Rogers' life story) at a local theatre. There was a moment I think was designed for applause when the actress (whose name I've forgotten) made her first entrance from center back, after a series of chaine turns to the front of the stage, stopped, threw her arms out and declared "it's me!" to total silence from the audience. Cringe. Opposite was the final night of "Company" with Sondheim in the house. Rosalie Craig entered to extended applause and cheers. It lasted quite awhile and she finally had to acknowledge the audience, kind of waved a hand as if to say "please stop," then the scene went on. I want to say Patti Lupone got extended cheers after "Ladies Who Lunch," but she held that final "rise" so much longer than I'd seen her do it before, it was something akin to a primal howl of rage. Those moments in "Company" didn't seem so cringe worthy. It was a pretty celebratory evening.