“The moment the performance ends, they pop up.”
Mark Mobley came up with that line when we worked at NPR’s Performance Today. (“The names have changed to protect the innocent.”)
I remember times when that wasn’t the case. Sometimes the audience would call the performer or conductor back 3 or 4 times, and they might play an encore to the seated audience.
Sometimes the audience would call the performer or conductor back 3 or 4 times, and only then stand to continue their applause.
In the early days of this pop up movement, I remember saying under my breath “Don’t stand up…Don’t stand up.”
But now the automatic standing ovation train has left the station, and so I wonder…do standing ovations mean anything these days?
Many youth sports leagues and organizations offer participation trophies to everyone who plays / participates. Everyone is a winner.
It seems today’s automatic standing ovations have become our participation trophy.
