A Deluge of Audience Participation Buries Daniel Radcliffe

This kind of audience participation happens dozens of times throughout the play with theatergoers playing Radcliffe’s father, teacher, girlfriend-wife, bridesmaids, etc. (All of them just happen to be sitting in the front row on the stage.) There’s applause for all these amateur performances. I’ve never understood why people applaud the performances of amateurs when they paid to see professional actors. This is Broadway, after all.

Much worse are the dozens of theatergoers who, pre-curtain, have been handed cards with words printed on them. These words are the every brilliant thing(s) of the show’s title, and people in the audience shout them whenever Radcliffe calls a specific number. For example, when he shouts, “One!,” someone obediently shouts, “ice cream!” Other numerals provoke such twee responses as “a much needed sneeze” and “wearing a cape.” Many of these responses are inaudible even though some theatergoers’ voices sound amplified.