Applause this!

This weekend I went and saw Aubrey's stunning production of "The King and I" at Blackhawk highschool. Okay, so it wasn't "her" production, but she was in it. And she did a damn fine job! But watching this musical, and all sorts of other musicals over the past handful of years, I have come to realize something. People applaud entirely too much.

I enjoy clapping my hands, especially when there is an excellent performance in front of me. But I am the kind of guy who thinks these things should be reserved for the end of a show, or if someone does something totally crazy on stage (but that can only happen once a show.)

Applause during a show, especially a musical, really makes things awkward. It's kind of like the Kool-Aid man busts in on a group of kids, delivers his delicious message and then leaves... only to return every five minutes to do the same thing! It totally breaks things up, messes up the pace, and ruins the moment. People like to applause so much in these musicals, that it really seems that they clap more than the actors speak. They clap after ever song is sung, after every dance is danced, and after every scene is finished. In a high school production, this can even mess up the kids on stage since some of them aren't used to this much clapping. Kids keep saying their lines, but it is totally lost to the audience's mindless smacking. And then, when there is a truly heartfelt moment in a musical, it's ruined by clapping. Applause also gives the audience control of a scene, which is certainly not good. In their mind, they can decide when a scene ends, even if there are still fifteen minutes left to go!

I have been doing shows for quite a while now, and there have been plenty of times when a people think a scene is over, so they clap, which makes us look silly when we continue. Once, we had a chase scene, which involved all of us running off stage. It was terribly obvious the scene wasn't over (there would have been no resolution or even plot) but the audience clapped anyways, for no reason. They quickly stopped when one of the actors ran back on stage saying a line.

People need to cool out with this whole clapping thing. I know that we all like to make noise, and slap our palms together. But we are ruining the theater experience, and making things seem like a Presidential address. People who clap extremely often, and unnecessarily, look like monkeys.

Aubrey (who is my girlfriend, in case you were unaware) backs me up, saying that the amount of applause is "distracting" and "annoying." People get too excited and they need to calm down. The Clap was big in the 80's, lets try and eliminate it for good... well, until the curtain call.

I clapped like crazy at the end of the show, though... good job B-Hawkers!