A Musical with no applause!?
Fri, 19 Oct 2001, 03:56 pmWalter Plinge10 posts in thread
A Musical with no applause!?
Fri, 19 Oct 2001, 03:56 pmI've always wanted to either be involved with or see a piece musical theatre where there is no opportunity for the audience to applaud after songs. Has anyone ever seen such a piece, or has ever tried to stage one?
I seems to me that it is done in "straight" theatre all the time, but the presentational style of musicals and the entertainment factor enables the audience to break any tension by applauding after songs.
Any comments?
(I'm also rtying to take the convo away from Les Mis - Ahhhh)
I seems to me that it is done in "straight" theatre all the time, but the presentational style of musicals and the entertainment factor enables the audience to break any tension by applauding after songs.
Any comments?
(I'm also rtying to take the convo away from Les Mis - Ahhhh)
RE: A Musical with no applause!?
Fri, 19 Oct 2001, 05:02 pmAdam wrote:
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>>"musical theatre where there is no opportunity for the audience to applaud after songs. Has anyone ever seen such a piece, or has ever tried to stage one?"
I've seen a show where the opportunity was there, but no applause came. That probably doesn't count.
>>"the presentational style of musicals and the entertainment factor enables the audience to break any tension by applauding after songs."
Songs usually break the narrative anyway, in a similar way many monologues do, by halting the forward action and expanding on the emotion or thought process. So there is a ripple in the tension, inviting the audience to break it. Whether the tension DOES get broken by the applause is perhaps up to the performer's reaction, whether they acknowledge it or whether they "hold the moment" and then continue as if it hadn't occured. If applause occurs (or laughter also) it's usually a mistake to play through over the top of it...that will probably have the opposite effect and ruin any tension you had established, while annoying the punters who miss the start of the next lines. So the skill is to read your audience and react accordingly.
And I'm not certain why this "tension" needs to be kept? If you continually pile on the tension, not letting up for the audience or performers to take a breath, (A) you're going to tire everyone out very quickly and (B) you lose a good deal of effect that a director usually tries to establish, of pace and tempo - you need the release to emphasise where the points of tension are.
I think it's probably possible to devise a show where you achieve what you are suggesting. The ends of songs would need to be written in such a way to wind down rather than end with a bang, and to blend immediately into action, continuing the scene with dialogue and perhaps releasing the tension at other times when the audience is less likely to want to applaud. I would liken it to a film where the scenes are shot together in one long continuous take, rather than ever fading to black or cutting to another scene. But there would probably need to be a specific reason for doing so.
Interesting thought.
crg
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>>"musical theatre where there is no opportunity for the audience to applaud after songs. Has anyone ever seen such a piece, or has ever tried to stage one?"
I've seen a show where the opportunity was there, but no applause came. That probably doesn't count.
>>"the presentational style of musicals and the entertainment factor enables the audience to break any tension by applauding after songs."
Songs usually break the narrative anyway, in a similar way many monologues do, by halting the forward action and expanding on the emotion or thought process. So there is a ripple in the tension, inviting the audience to break it. Whether the tension DOES get broken by the applause is perhaps up to the performer's reaction, whether they acknowledge it or whether they "hold the moment" and then continue as if it hadn't occured. If applause occurs (or laughter also) it's usually a mistake to play through over the top of it...that will probably have the opposite effect and ruin any tension you had established, while annoying the punters who miss the start of the next lines. So the skill is to read your audience and react accordingly.
And I'm not certain why this "tension" needs to be kept? If you continually pile on the tension, not letting up for the audience or performers to take a breath, (A) you're going to tire everyone out very quickly and (B) you lose a good deal of effect that a director usually tries to establish, of pace and tempo - you need the release to emphasise where the points of tension are.
I think it's probably possible to devise a show where you achieve what you are suggesting. The ends of songs would need to be written in such a way to wind down rather than end with a bang, and to blend immediately into action, continuing the scene with dialogue and perhaps releasing the tension at other times when the audience is less likely to want to applaud. I would liken it to a film where the scenes are shot together in one long continuous take, rather than ever fading to black or cutting to another scene. But there would probably need to be a specific reason for doing so.
Interesting thought.
crg
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