chew the scenery

present singular third person chews the scenery · participle present chewing the scenery · participle past chewed the scenery · past chewed the scenery · alternative chew on the scenery · alternative chew up the scenery

1. idiomaticperforming artsTo display excessive emotion or to act in an exaggerated manner while performing; to be melodramatic; to be flamboyant.

   Near-synonym: camp it up

   2 more examples

   The way the six stars chew the scenery is nothing compared to their abuse of one another.

   1989 November 27, David Denby, “A Farewell to Arms [review of Steel Magnolias]”, in New York Magazine

   Starring as a Great White Hope police commissioner sent to clean up Washington, D.C., Nelson displays a set of pipes barely hinted at in his years on "Coach," spending the long pilot hour barking, bloviating, singing(!) and generally chewing the scenery.

   2006 October 11, James Poniewozik, “Fall TV Preview”, in Time

   Synonyms: ham it up, melodramatize, overact, tear a cat, camp it up