The performance ends, the curtain descends and the audience jumps to its feet in ecstatic applause. The only problem is it was an average performance. Applause was warranted, but not a standing ovation.

Originally, such a response had to be earned by the most extraordinary performers and productions. As a young boy, I practically grew up in the San Francisco Opera House. People yelled out “Brava” and “Encore.” After the final curtain came down, roses were thrown on stage or handed to those specifically deserving of such admiration. 

Now audiences rise from their seats. Why? The simplest answer is that people ahead of you are standing up, so those behind them do the same. While under the hypnotic spell of the moment, and certainly across America, unwarranted standing ovations are occurring in epidemic proportions.

Every performer wants approval and the ultimate recognition. Join me in clapping for a good performance and all the hard work, but let’s save the greatest praise for when it is well deserved. You will feel empowered, and the actors, singers and dancers who gave their all will be that much more grateful when the standing ovation returns to its original communication as having witnessed exceptionally phenomenal work.

 

Raul Gallyot is a member of the San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle whose theater reviews may be heard on KWMR Radio’s “Airwaves.” He lives in Inverness.