Entrance applause, that is.

The play – performed at the Golden Theatre since previews began Sept. 23 – officially opens  today, October 14, and the two award-winning actors are nipping the fanfare at the bud.

It’s quite understandable for theatergoers to be excited to see the veteran duo. It’s been nearly 50 years since they have shared a Broadway stage (the 1966 showcase of Black poetry with Roscoe Lee Browne’s A Hand Is On The Gate). Before that, they were among the long-running 1961 Off Broadway production The Blacks by Jean Genet. TV and film projects also have not escaped the Tony and Emmy winning actors.

Tyson and Jones, 90 and 84, respectively, would have plenty of lessons to share as a result of their long careers. Yet, a lesson in theatre etiquette is now at hand.

Of course, it should be a given that loud talking, eating, sleeping and the use of cell phones is not a good look at the theatre – as well as going on stage to charge a cell phone in a fake outlet.

According to New York Show Tickets, standing ovations and entrance applause are overdone. It admonishes to not give in to peer pressure.

Traditionally, applause for an actor when he or she first takes the stage and standing ovations at the end of a Broadway show were signs of an audience so full of appreciation and respect that they couldn’t help themselves. Lately, these reactions seem to have become obligatory, and unfortunately when standing ovations and entrance applause are done out of mere habit, they essentially become meaningless. Ultimately, how you react is up to you, but let your true feelings guide you.

Well, Tyson and Jones no doubt are more concerned with giving the best performance possible than they are with an audience’s “true feelings.”

They both agree that the entrance applause is distracting. Tyson said her role is “one of the most difficult things I’ve ever tackled.” It doesn’t help that her castmate can complicate matters. She admitted that Jones keeps her in fits of laughter. During rehearsals, she pleaded with the cast to let her get her giggles out.

For an Associated Press article, Tyson further said: “It is extremely difficult in some instances to contain myself and to remain true to the character that I’m trying to play. I really can’t allow for it to happen in the theater.”

Jones, who continues to find theatre fascinating, said: “Once we open this play, we’ll still be discovering stuff about it.”

So to respect the work of the incredible union, hold your applause until… well, you have a Gin hand.

Directed by Leonard Foglia, The Gin Game follows Weller Martin (Jones) and Fonsia Dorsey (Tyson) – two residents of a nursing home who strike a friendship. Weller shares his knowledge of gin rummy, while together they relate stories of their past and expose one another’s failures, disappointments and insecurities.

The Gin Game has a limited engagement of 16 weeks, ending in January. Tyson will not perform Dec 5-6. Get your tickets HERE.

What do you think about the request by the actors?

The post Hold The Applause: Theatre Etiquette From James Earl Jones & Cicely Tyson appeared first on Broadway Black.

The most common rule broken however, and the one that is most distracting for audience members and actors alike, is the cell phone rule. Not just cell phones going off loudly when they should be on silent, but audience members texting during the show (for which Patti LuPone has no problem snatching the phone from you), accepting phone calls during the show (seriously?), and even trying to get in a quick charge on the shows set before the performance begins (even if it does look like a real outlet, it’s not. That’s the magic of a great scenic designer/technical director, my friend).

The thing I like most about seeing theatre is the fact that it is live. There are no do-overs; what you see is what you get. The actors on that stage give their all eight times a week, after weeks and months of preparing, to bring a particular piece to life. So imagine as an actor on stage, telling this dynamic story in character in front of an audience of 100 + people, and looking down to see a flash of light, a head down, and fingers typing away. The audience member is completely disconnected from what’s happening on stage, and is probably causing those around him/her to be distracted. Now there’s a domino effect of people not engaging in the material the way the actors, director, designers, and writers fully intended to do. It’s disrespectful. Patti LuPone said it best in an official statement;

“We work hard on stage to create a world that is being totally destroyed by a few, rude, self-absorbed, and inconsiderate audience members who are controlled by their phones. They cannot put them down. When a phone goes off or when a LED screen can be seen in the dark it ruins the experience for everyone else – the majority of the audience at that performance and the actors on stage. I am so defeated by this issue that I seriously question whether I want to work on stage anymore. Now I’m putting battle gear on over my costume to marshall the audience as well as perform.”

The next time you go to see a show, text/call everyone in advance and let them know you won’t be available for the next two hours and put that phone on silent and leave it alone. I promise you; Instagram will be there when it’s over.

The post Theatre Etiquette 101: That Screen Is Brighter Than It Appears appeared first on Broadway Black.