Proper Stage Door Etiquette- Page 2

[NYLG]

Posted: 8/1/07 at 6:08pm

I would steer clear of any stage door that is being used by Michael Ball...both before AND after the performance. Actually, I would avoid being IN the same theatre with some of those gushers as well. MB's fans win the gold medal when it comes to loudness, pushing, shoving and overall rudeness. I heard several years ago that one fan compared rushing the stage at a MB concert to an Olympic event. Sheesh!

The worst part is, they all think MB loves each and every fan encounter...the hugs, the autographing of body parts, the posing, the endless adoration. They stalk him from around the world...just to get that 100th piccie with him. The ironic thing is...I have it on very good authority (from an inside source) that MB mocks his fans' behavior behind their backs...and I don't blame him a bit.

[WickedBoy2]

Posted: 8/1/07 at 6:12pm

Im sure its not just MB who mocks this stupid behaviour but all of them. Who wants to finsish a punishing show and be swarmed at like they do.

[lakezurich]

Posted: 8/1/07 at 6:22pm

I hate the group of people that are somtimes waiting for the actors to come out of the theatre and they start having this contest about who has seen said show the most times. And there is always someone who cuts into the contest and says something like "I'm here so often that they know me and they invited me backstage one time and we all hung out and stuff." And it is a little funny because they are pretending to be nice, but it is obvious they are pretending. You can tell deep down inside they are thinking "you want to turn this into a throw down B**CH?!"

Anyways, those people erk me so much I just want to turn around and say "nobody gives a f**k!"

[worrell4077]

Posted: 8/1/07 at 9:41pm

One of the times I stagedoored Boy From Oz, it started raining and these two women ahead of me and my mom took out their umbrella and opened it right there. If they hadn't been careful, someone's eye could've been poked out.

Actually come to think of it, each time I've stagedoored Boy From Oz was crazy with all the fans who(and I really shouldn't criticize since I did that as well) didn't even see the show that day, go over to the stage door and line up to wait for Hugh. Hell, one time I went to wait before hand, there was an elderly women and I wanna say her grandson in deck chairs waiting for Hugh. The only time there that it wasn't insane was this one time I actually went in for The Producers and I also had really bad sunburn, and Hugh just walked up and started signing.

First time I saw Jersey Boys, it was my 18th birthday and me and my family along with a friend of mine and a friend of my mother's went to see it and we stagedoored after(very different from now, they didn't have barricades up and the crowds were small), well me, my sister, and my friend were waiting and Daniel Reichard came out and was signing and stuff like that and we were the ones that he would be going to next and all of a sudden, these three old ladies came right up and infront of us. Well I turned and said some stuff under my breath to my friend and my sister and one of them turned and gave a look like "We're older than you. We out rank you".

The 5th time we went to see Jersey Boys, it was September and the day of the Flea Market and there were alot of elderly couples(as there are at basically every performance) and before we went in my mom was chatting with an elderly couple from Seattle and we were talking to them and yada yada yada. Anywho, when we went to the stagedoor, at first it was great and calm you know Kris Coleman, Mark Lotito, John Leone(who u/s for Nick Massi that day) etc were coming out and this one lady did get in front of me but we let her there cause she wanted an autograph from one of the ensemble guys and after she got it, she stood there and my mom said "Can you move?" and she was like "Why?" and my mom replied "Well my son was there first" and she moved back.

Christian Hoff came out next and as soon as he did, all Hell broke loose. This old guy was like shoving and stuff to get up front and I got so uncomfortable and claustrophobic in that crowd, I went right over to an open space by the end of the barricade.

I haven't stagedoored Spring Awakening yet, but I'm going to the next time I go in because my sister wants to see it and stagedoor it. So I'm looking forward to it as well cause I want to meet John, Jon, Lea, and all of them and my sister really wants to as well(she's got a thing for Jon Groff).

It wasn't a Broadway show, but I went to see Frankie Valli(yes the real Frankie) at the State Theatre in New Brunswick, NJ and there were these two women who were just causing problems at the stagedoor. One woman was like being extremely rude to the doorman and this other one was clearly drunk and she started poking my mom(well she was trying to get her attention to talk to her).

[ClumsyDude15]

Posted: 8/1/07 at 9:52pm

I went to see HAIRSPRAY during the middle of Ashley Parker Angel's run. I was talking to him and was asking him for his autograph and picture politely, when out of nowhere, this girl literally KNOCKED me out of the way. [I'm a pretty big guy, but she literally PUSHED me out of the way forecally] She muttered on and on about her love for his CD and he smiled and continued to sign my playbill then signed her CD. She then screamed and hugged him and then ran off. I looked at him, he was as shocked as me.

During XANADU, when Cheyenne came out and was talking to me, this older women was so shocked at how friendly he had been to me, she kept screaming "SISSY! COME OVER HERE, MAYBE HE'LL HUG YOU TOO!" over and over. And I swore she almost got in my picture.

[misschung]

Posted: 8/1/07 at 10:18pm

My favorite is the 40 year old Murder She Wrote fans at Deuce.

lol!

Dancing, I can't believe you got pushed into Kelly.

I love the Patti story. I went to closing night at Gypsy and didn't even attempt to brave that crowd, even though I really wanted to meet her.

Updated On: 8/1/07 at 10:18 PM

[Anakela]

Posted: 8/1/07 at 10:36pm

I know Gallagher has a problem bec it was mentioned in some interview that he liked Double Chocolate cookies by Pepperidge Farm...Well, he got so many, he was giving them away at the Stage door...

Ahem- I too like Pepperidge Farm cookies...I can be found in the Legally Blonde rush line. Thank you.

(Not gonna work, huh? :))

[yankees1253]

Posted: 8/1/07 at 10:58pm

grease because people were pushing and shoving. That was the only stagedoor experience of where I almost got hit in the eye. Max was trying to look kewl when someone was taking a pic with him bc the girl grandma was trying to take it. I looked at him and he didnt say anything but you an tell he wanted to hurry up a little. You can tell I was prob the only local there bc i did not push and shove...i was saying excuse me and all. It was 99. 9 percent fans from the reality show there and many many tourists. Yeah the cop there was getting pissed off. I felt bad for him. Yeah many people were trying to grab or touch the actors. Even the crew of the show was getting tired of it and it was the fourth preview night i went to.

But other times i went it was calm and everybody wanted nicely.

[theaterlover45]

Posted: 8/1/07 at 11:27pm

When I went to see Chicago awhile back, I had one of the craziest stage door experiences. This was when Usher was in the show and Brandy was visiting him. I was waiting right at the front of the barricade next to this huge guy (not like big around the waist, but just like a tall and wide man), who clearly didnt see the show and just came to the stage door along with another 20 people. Well first, Brandy walks out, covers her face, and gets right into her limo. This guy was yelling at her saying "Brandy!! Oh Come on! Don't leave!" and this continued until she left. Then Brenda Braxton came out. People went crazy! I was getting shoved and pushed by everyone around me. Then this foreign women behind me (who didn't know english) kept waving her playbill in front of my face, screaming. Then finally I just grabbed her playbill and gave it to Brenda, she signed it, then I handed back to the woman. So then here is where the crazy stuff happens. Usher walks out and everyone around the stage door screamed at the top of their lungs. Usher walks over to the huge guy, who had me sandwiched in between him and this other man. He shows Usher this binder that had all these picture of him and these pop and rap stars. Then the women next to him had all these pictures and cds. She clearly was gonna sell them on ebay.The Usher walks over to me and he says hi, and signs my playbill. But the man next to me kept showving his playbill in front of me whil usher was signing mine. So when I finally decided to leave the stage door, I walked away with a playbill with Ushers "autograph" ( which looked like chicken scratch) and a Brenda Braxton auto graph with a finger print right in the center of it.

What a joy. :)
Updated On: 8/1/07 at 11:27 PM

[MillieDillmount]

Posted: 8/2/07 at 12:43am

I've stage doored about 8 shows, and most of the time I've been lucky. The only really crazy time was after Gyspy with Bernadette Peters. I really wanted to meet her, but I was too short. I remember they blocked off both sides and she basically just walked out the SD into her limo signing any playbills in reach. I held mine up but I don't even know if she saw me. Dad was trying to get me up there but the people wouldn't move. Oh well, at least I got to see her, haha.

Then when I recently SDed at LB there was this group, I think they were going to be lawyers, I think thats what I heard one of them say. But they were all behind me and like two guys were directly behind me so I had to bend down whenever they passed the notebook to an actor / and they passed it back. But one guy (I don't remember who) looked at me and smiled and was like "nice plie" hehe. He was kinda cute too, so I was happy, haha.

I have gotten shoved before because I am so tiny, but I usually just ignore it. But an advantage to being small I can usually squeeze my way up near the barricade.

I hope the actors don't think I'm rude. Most of the time I just stick out my playbill and ask for a picture. I don't really talk to them because I hate talking about myself, and I just don't know what to say. I could tell them I'm gonna be a theatre major, but I'll feel dumb. I felt bad when I met Lea Salonga after Les Mis. I sat front row and she sang I Dreamed a Dream like right in front of me, so I had a lot of things I wanted to tell her. But when she was standing right in front of me nothing was coming out. I think the only thing I said was "You were amazing, can I get a picture?" as she was signing my playbill. I noticed her glare at me twice. I def thought of a lot to say to her, but I was just freaking out.

The actors generally don't think it's rude when fans don't say anything, right? Most of the time I'm too dang excited to say anything. All I can think is "it's a real Broadway actor" haha. I did talk a little to Mara Davi after ACL, though. She was sweet. And with Sutton Foster after I saw her in Drowsy of course she didn't come out after the show, so I was basically crying after the SD guy said she's gone. I told him how badly I wanted to meet her and everything. He seemed really nice though and he even told me how to meet her the next day. So the next day I waited at the SD before the show. I met her, she was so nice to me, she seemed touched I thought that I wanted to meet her that bad. I think I scared her when I hugged her, I did ask her first, but I don't think she understood me. But at least she still smiled for the picture and hugged me back.

Am I a bad stage door-er? It's just that being on Bway is my DREAM and I just get excited seeing these people. I try not to act so excited, but it's hard. I probably scare some of them. I could be worse, though. At least I don't bombard then with personal questions and push and shove them or other fans out of the way. I always wait my turn. I've missed a few people because of that too.

Anyways, I'm just rambling now. But I was just wondering if I come across creepy or something. Thanks.

~Darci

[ashbash1990]

Posted: 8/2/07 at 1:01am

I think that as long as you are polite and respectful to the actors and people around you, waiting at the SD is ok... I remeber once, after Les Miz, i was so embarassesd because i called DRV "Daphne" instead of "Miss Rubin-Vega,"(It just slipped out when she came out because I was so excited) Yeah, I like to be polite, it never hurts...

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 8/2/07 at 2:54am

Anyone been to the Nederlander? Not just this week, anytime in the past year. Basic lesson in what not to do as a patron of the theatre. These people go so often they think they're "close" enough to the cast to shove their cell phone in an actor's face and force them to record a voicemail message.

[PARISinNYC]

Posted: 8/2/07 at 3:05am

that is why he commented to me "at least it wasn't SPINACH."

Oh my god, that is the funniest thing I have ever heard. Especially since I seriously can't stand the girl who was the one who gave Skylar the spinach, so hearing other people mentioning it, let alone the CAST, seriously kills me.

[silversurfer2]

Posted: 8/2/07 at 9:01am

Yeah, I guess Skylar did mention "The Spinach Girl" to the rest of the cast...Really funny. I guess the lesson here is, think before you bring 'Stuff' to the stage door...ask yourself, would I want someone to give this to me? The Cast of SA are great, they just stand there, smile, sign and are so polite...but I would love to crawl into there heads just once...I know Galagher really well, and he is a true gentlemen when it comes to his fans...

[kasim]

Posted: 8/2/07 at 9:23am

when i was at wicked with my sis ... there were these 2 little 8-10 year old kids, and they got shoved out of the way by some high school girls by me.

Sooo :) I maxed out my space and had the little kids stand by me so they would have space.

6'2" 220lb guy > high school girls.

It really did annoy me though becaues it was very uncalled for.

[BroadwayBelle2]

Posted: 8/2/07 at 9:36am

When I saw Dirty Rotten Scoundrels for the second time with my cousin, we were at the stage door, and these 3 teenagers were kinda in our face trying to cut in front. We were cool about it, b/c they were nice, but afterwards when my cousin and I were going to leave, I spotted Aaron Lazar just standing with his wife in the audience. This was before Les Mis started. Anyway, we both had seen him in Light in the Piazza, so I said to my cousin, oh wow look it's Aaron Lazar. So We walked up to him and he was very nice, but of course these 3 teenagers spotted us and just barged into the conversation, that was annoying b/c they a little overbearing.
Updated On: 8/2/07 at 09:36 AM

[Prisoner 24601]

Posted: 8/2/07 at 10:13am

At the Company stagedoor the day before it closed, there was this one guy at the back of the crowd who'd practically bellow out people's names so they would come over and sign. And then I heard him saying some pretty rude things to the cast members. I remember he said something to Elizabeth Stanley like, "Boy, imagine you coming out of there in spandex.." And she got this really weirded out look and said, "Yeah, that would be TMI..." and quickly moved in the other direction to sign.

Speaking of giving away food, that same night, we were all waiting patiently after about half the cast had come out and the stagedoor attendant came out and said, "Okay, we don't have Raul, but we have Dorritos and bagels!" and he handed this giant box of bags of dorritos and a bag of bagels to the people waiting. Later he came out with bottled water.

[worrell4077]

Posted: 8/2/07 at 12:25pm

"The actors generally don't think it's rude when fans don't say anything, right? Most of the time I'm too dang excited to say anything."

They don't seem to and Millie, I'm just like you with that. I don't really say much at the stage door, I try to, but I'm like kinda shy, but I'm trying to.

[Lm4dham05]

Posted: 8/2/07 at 12:38pm

Millie, I do don't say too much. I'm shy also but unless I've either met the actor before.(Like Julie and Kendra who i've met a few times, Julia asked about my mom when she was sick) Or if the stage door isn't too packed I'll tell them that they did a good job or if i had seen them in a show before. If there are a lot of people around i don't want to take up too much of their time; because unlike the previous post ( I don't remember who wrote it) I don't feel like i'm owed anything by the actor.

[jordangirl]

Posted: 8/2/07 at 1:00pm

Oh I definitely don't feel like I'm owed anything by the actor. I tell them I enjoyed the show, and if I can quickly something in particular. Then I let them take the lead. At The Vertical Hour, Andrew, Rutina and Dan would pretty regularly talk with me about life just briefly. Bill did too. The most I talked to Julianne was when she added in the imitation of some of Bill's movements at the "Charming as hell" line and I mentioned I loved the new twist. She grinned and started telling me about how she'd been trying to "get" him the whole time.

I definitely keep things brief. If the actor chats further, I will. But I don't push it.

[Jonny boy]

Posted: 8/2/07 at 1:09pm

Most of the time I have seen the mess at the stage door, it seems the actors want to get out of there!!! It always seems to me that a lot of them will put on a fake smile but, are dying to get away from the theatre and home , or out with thier friends. It would get a bit anoying to have to deal with a huge mess of people after the show EVERY NIGHT!So... I would say if you are going to do the whole stage door thing make it short and sweet!!!

[scot]

Posted: 8/2/07 at 2:21pm

"It was mostly people who knew not a word of english waiting to meet Lea and younger girls who wanted to meet Ali."

If this was a honest statement...and if you are referring
to Lea's Filipino fans, Filipinos have 2 primary languages...
Tagalog (with various dialects) and English. So I very much
doubt there were very many of them rushing the barricades that
didn't know a word of English.

[sesot]

Posted: 8/2/07 at 10:48pm

One thing I have encountered more than once, is people comparing actors that have replaced another actor in a role at the stage door. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but the stage door is not the place to state the origninal performer- or previous one was better. The actors aren't deaf, nor are the other fans at the door. It is absolutely rude. I don't live in NYC, so I can't see shows over and over, so it bugs me when someone talks negatively about a particular actor or says the show was better the last time they saw it. Dont spoil it for the rest of us, and if it wasn't as good, why are you at the stage door anyways?

[Clarinetbiter135]

Posted: 8/2/07 at 10:53pm

The thing that drives me nuts at stage door is when people try to one up each other with how close they've gotten to the actors.... It seems like every time at Spring Awakening, there are always those that are "Jon Groff gave me a hug without asking!" or "John Gallagher talked to me twice as long as everyone else!." I just want to smack them and say unless they've personally contacted you outside the realm of the stage door, there isn't anything more going on than an actor/fan relationship....

[RockabyeHamlet]

Posted: 8/3/07 at 12:49am

"Jon Groff gave me a hug without asking!"

- Ooh An VoLuNtArY!!!! + 10 PoInTs!!!!! AHHHHHH!!!!

Updated On: 8/3/07 at 12:49 AM