by Adam Karnes

Created on: February 17, 2009

Few people can get a king on his feet. Handel succeeded. Tradition says that the first time King George I of England heard a performance of Handel's Messiah, he spontaneously rose to his feet during the famous Halleluiah Chorus. To this day, it is considered good manners for audiences to stand during the performance of this musical event. What compelled King George to rise when he heard a particular piece of music? Obviously, it was not a sense of social duty. As the story goes, the king was so inspired by the loftiness and beauty of the music that he felt he had to stand-in other words, he felt driven to stand because of the grandeur of the piece. His reaction was spontaneous and unique. It was not forced or redundant.

Sadly, standing ovations at the end of performances today have become the norm. Regardless of the quality or originality of a cultural performance, some people feel the need to give a standing ovation at nearly every event they attend. Far from drawing attention to the rarity of a specific artistic contribution (which is exactly what King George did), these people actually detract from the power of a standing ovation. Things have escalated to the point that it is difficult to attend a cultural event in which a standing ovation is not a part of the applause afterwards. Perhaps most disappointing of all, few audience members will remain seated when the majority of the audience is standing to applaud-even if those same audience members don't feel that the performance merits a standing ovation. As a result, anyone who sticks to their guns and remains seated becomes isolated and looks like an arrogant snob. This is unfortunate. Once upon a time, standing ovations were very rarely employed, and as a result, each and every standing ovation was deeply meaningful.

Think of it this way. Suppose you were to attend the performance of the greatest actor on Broadway or the greatest musician of modern times. (I won't say who. You fill the blank.) Now suppose you stood to give them a very well-earned standing ovation at the end of their performance. How meaningful would it be for you to give them a standing ovation if you considered that the night before standing ovations had been given down the street at a community talent show starring very untalented performers? Or suppose that the night before in that same venue in which you had seen your favorite actor or musician, the worst flop in history had been performed, and yet a few persistent standing ovators had succeeded in getting most of the crowd on there feet-how meaningful would your standing ovation seem after that? A standing ovation is like a strongly phrased compliment. People who save strong compliments are wise, because when they choose to employ them, the compliments mean a great deal. On the other hand, those who deal out compliments left and right are rarely taken seriously. A compliment from that kind of person doesn't mean much.

Standing ovations have become highly overused. To help amend this, every audience member should think of their standing ovation as something very powerful and not to be used lightly. Here's an easy way for you to put yourself in a good frame of mind. Think of your standing ovations like the three wishes from Aladdin's lamp. You only get three. Now, the next time you're tempted to jump to your feet and give a standing ovation, ask yourself, "Does this really merit the one of three standing ovations I get to use in my lifetime?" This might seem silly-perhaps it's an unnecessary complication, but remember, if you were the person on the stage, wouldn't you want people to only give you a standing ovation if it really counted? Would an overused gesture really make you feel special? Probably not.

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