The (now obligatory) Standing Ovation

Well, lob me to the seagulls and call me Mavis, but I'll own up to spontaneously leaping to my feet last Christmas after Gary Wilmot's 8+ minutes of breath-taking, non-stop singing a line from heaven knows how many musicals, in their own style, in a brilliant mash-up. Gary's annual solos are one of the highlights of the Palladium Panto and I wasn't the only one standing.

I've only seen 2 mid-show standing ovations. The first was at the closing night of High Society at the Old Vic, lots of people stood to join in the atmosphere of the party scene.
The second was at the closing night of 42nd Street when the staircase appeared.
I didn't notice anyone standing mid-show when I saw the Les Mis staged concert.

I’ve only ever witnessed 2 mid-show standing ovations

Wicked cast change, July 2019:
VERY well deserved. At the end of a 2 year run, Alice Fearn deserved every one of the standing ovations she got from the entire stalls section after her big 3 songs.

Kinky Boots tour closing, Hull:
In this context it felt a bit weird as it was mostly locals in the audience who had no clue it was closing night. The fans of the show kind of led the standing ovations and the locals just went along with it which was nice, but it got a bit tedious standing after almost every song, with it lasting 2 to 3 minutes after certain songs.

Not a fan of mid show standing ovations, I will only own up to have being part of this at the 42nd Street Closing Night after the staircase routine (not during!) and that was at a point where the show could be stopped without having much effect on what followed. That was also a very different kind of night to the usual theatre going experience.

When I saw Dreamgirls I got the impression that there were too many people in the audience waiting for "the big moment" and who were going to stand and shriek regardless, even though that then ruined the dramatic moment which followed given that the actress playing Effie doesnt have a moment to soak up the applause before shes offstage and the other Dreams come on.The action continued very quickly which led to an awkward moment when the standers didn't really know what to do. I did wonder at the time whether that should have been staged differently but thats immaterial - it was done as written in the score.

In my opinion you need to respect the story and the mood that is created on stage. There is plenty of opportunity at the end to give the ovation for an outstanding performance. To do so mid show runs the risk of fragmenting any piece into "moments" without regarding how it hangs together as a whole.

I was one of the people standing mid show for Ricardo Afonso at Zorro. I've never ovated mid show before (apart from a couple of weeks ago when I did the same thing for Sierra Boggess😂) but those are concerts, completely different from doing the same thing at a show.

Oh I was clapping too. AND whooping! 😂

I don't think the people on this forum are the ones who are leaping up for every performance, regardless of quality.  It would be interesting to see this discussion in a more general-interest group.  On some travel forums, visitors to London seem convinced there's a specific dress code for theater... I wonder if they also think that the standing ovation is 'the thing to do' and they don't want to appear to be provincials, so they stand?

I think it's an American thing to act like everything you've seen is the greatest thing ever. It always bothers me because it means you have nothing further to offer when you see something exceptional. Every audience response is basically a participation award.

As for the argument that "they've performed for you for two hours", they've been doing their job for two hours. In most work the only acknowledgement you ever get is the salary.

I think this is why I very rarely stand at West End shows, unless it's a cast's first or final performance. Other than that, the performance you have just seen is going to be pretty similar to what they're doing 8 shows a week; it's not exceptional. I'm more inclined to feel like standing at performances that are one-offs, e.g. Zorro last week.

I think you also have to remember that most of us board members are regular visitors and have "been there, seen it and bought the T Shirt (or fridge magnet in my case) so we are maybe more inclined to ovate for a stand out performance rather than for everything we see. But most theatre visitors in the west end are tourists or people who go to the theatre less often so this is a big event and every show is special for them so they will be more inclined to jump to their feet especially if they see everyone else doing it so think its the norm.

City of Angels last night was the first thing I've seen in a long time which didn't have everyone standing. Considering it was opening night, I thought they would have one in the bag. I'd say a good 90-80% sitting. I loved the show, the cast worked hard, but it didn't make me jump to my feet.

The only two show where I haven't felt forced to give a standing ovation; Hamilton and Come From Away. I remember at CFA nearly jumping up, I've never felt the urge to stand more! Tears streaming down my face, showing what a standing ovation is for!

I hate that nearly everything now is given a SO!

Yeah and I also found strange that the reception was warm but everybody stopped clapping the very second the cast stepped off stage at the curtain call. If they had individual bows and now just a collective one there would probably be a standing ovation by the time Hadley Fraser and Theo James arrive imho.