I don’t want to sing along. I just want to listen. That’s why they call this The Audience.

That is how I would like to respond to being cajoled to sing along, or clap along or make some other kind of sound effect, when a performer wants to pad his or her stage time with one of those misguided audience-participation numbers. I didn’t come here to sing, I came to hear you sing. And I am not wowed by the sound of hundreds of fellow audience members singing in unison, we’ve all been there and done that, and it’s kum-bore-ya.

What set this off? Well, we were driving home from Raleigh last Saturday evening, and Prairie Home Companion came on the radio. Garrison had invited an opera singer (mezzo-soprano Susan Graham) to appear on the show. One song Susan selected was from the operetta “The Merry Widow”. For some reason, Susan thought it would be fun to have the show’s live audience sing this line from the chorus: “Haunting the woodland, enchanting the night.” Of course, the audience had never heard the song and had to be prompted in the usual manner, with Susan calling out the words just before they needed to be sung.

Nothing about this worked. First, this isn’t a phrase that particularly cries out for mass intonation. Second, the audience was there to hear the mezzo-soprano, not to compete with her. Third, the prompting absolutely destroyed the mood of the song. As I’m sure Susan Graham is a canny performer, I ask, why would she resort to this?

I wonder if it isn’t a bit lazy for a performer to enlist an audience in anything other than a magic act. If one’s performance is not compelling enough on its own, then liven it up, don’t pander to the audience for the sake of variety.  Doing so may stave off boredom for the performer but it’s not clear to me what it does for the audience. It’s not like we are all fidgety four-year-olds with short attention spans who need to be “worked” by the performer lest we drift off and fail to appreciate his or her talent.

I would be interested to hear from others on the merits (or otherwise) of audience participation.  In the meantime, please sing along with me… “Haunting the woodland…”