An unfortunate habit that American audiences have is applauding for celebrities when they come on stage at curtain rise. This evening attended “Hughie” on Broadway. Forrest Whitaker comes on stage and 1/3 of the audience claps. This does not happen in London, and the reason it should not happen here is that it breaks the 4th wall and makes the character someone other than who he/she is portraying on stage. It actually diminishes the entire concept. It reminds the audience who the actor is and it pulls the actor out of his character. But unless I rise up one day and shout “stop it”, I’m afraid it will continue.