http://cptv.vo.llnwd.net/o2/ypmwebcontent/Commodore%20Skahill/CMS%2007-05-2011.mp3
http://cptv.vo.llnwd.net/o2/ypmwebcontent/Commodore%20Skahill/clapper%20use.mp3
A couple of weeks ago, I got a press release from a Connecticut theater company touting the merits of a play they had up and running.
"Standing ovations every night," was one of the claims made on behalf of the show. I thought, "Fine, but what doesn't get a standing ovation these days?" In fact the whole purpose of a standing ovation has been stood on its head. The standing ovation is almost a default setting. When something doesn't get one, there's kind of an implied, slight rejection.
New York audiences are supposedly a little tougher, but it's a rare Broadway musical that doesn't bring the audience to its feet these days. In my petty moments, I'm inclined to suspect people of actually applauding for themselves. They got out of the house. They went to something. If it's Broadway, they spent three hundred bucks for a couple of tickets.
This must be good, right?
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