While watching each episode, I'd look at the people moving around and clapping at the tables and wonder if these were the paid audience or hired extras. I'd like this to be answered by one of y'all so I could start wishing I was in town to watch a taping. A simple guess wouldn't hurt.
shareHi,
When you say "paid audience", I'm going to assume you mean just average joes and janes off the street that paid their own money for a ticket (for lack of a better word) to get on the set and watch the performance. Thats actually a good question, but my wager would be that they were just simply paid extras that were acquired through an acting agency. Mainly because you sometimes see the same kids in the audience and also because their clothes and hair always appear to have a continuity that fits in with the theme and feel of the show. If they were getting the hair, wardrobe and make-up treatment....then they were definitely on the payroll. However, if they were just random audience members, I think you'd see a bit more diversity in their appearances. Additionally, the audience's movements and mannerisms during the "live" performances always had that "scripty" feeling to it....another clue that they were just actors. But again, I could be wrong =)
I actually remember an episode where there were Boy Scouts in the audience(i remember because i was in scouts back when I was a kid), and I recognized the hats they wore, and one of the singers grabbed their hat and wore it while she sang. I mean literally the entire audience were boy scouts.
What i think is, at first they did hire extra's to be in the audience because they weren't sure if the show was going to be a hit or not, but as the show got more and more popular they probably let real people sit in the audience, as long as they behaved lol
viscousblister