Posted: 8/20/16 at 9:18pm
Stage doors used to be tame.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pne76g_WP8
Posted: 8/20/16 at 9:22pm
Wow talk about boring. They barely even said anything!
Now what was the stage door like at a big hit is what I wonder.
Posted: 8/20/16 at 10:14pm
Funny. The first time I ever "stage doored" was for SITPWG. Then it was more about getting backstage then expecting too much from waiting outside.
Mary D'Arcy (Celeste 2) was an alum of my college where I was a theater major. At the stage door, we watched people get turned away to go inside, so we didn't have high hopes. We used Mary's name and the door manager gave us the ok to go backstage and just as we were going to step inside, out she came. So, we couldn't NOT talk to her. We ended up walking with her a few blocks to where her husband was picking her up. She was very gracious, and chatted easily.
We had friends that were meeting us back at Shubert Alley so back we went. This was easily an hour after Curtain calls. Waiting in the alley was Patinkin's car. Since I drove, I decided we weren't going anywhere until he came out. He finally did, and spent a good 10 minutes answering what I'm sure were pretty insipid questions.
However....a night I treasured for a long time.
Updated On: 8/20/16 at 10:14 PM
Posted: 8/20/16 at 10:39pm
^Great story Dramamama, thanks for sharing...
There's something wonderful about seeing a stage door without a barricade...
Updated On: 8/20/16 at 10:39 PM
Posted: 8/20/16 at 11:42pm
Yeah that was really cool. It seemed like such a New York moment where a celebrity can walk out the stage door and get a couple flashbulbs and claps but then everybody goes on with their lives. Celebrities have become consumer products that stage door people feel entitled to as part of their ticket price.
Posted: 8/22/16 at 12:56am
Growing up going to Broadway shows in the 90's there were no barricades at the stage doors. It was much more personal.
Posted: 8/22/16 at 1:06am
I'm lucky enough to have had some lovely low-pressure, barricade-free interactions with some celebrities at some stage-doors in San Francisco, London, L.A and even Off-Broadway in NYC, but I wish we could see more of that for Broadway shows. I think the droves of people who show up to the stage-door without having seen the show are big contributors to the issue as well.
Posted: 8/22/16 at 1:37am
It was a time when you were thrilled just to see them come out of the stage door and be able to thank them or tell them "good job". Not expecting a picture or autograph. And ifç you got one or both you were thrilled and cherished it. You didn't expect it or feel you were "owed" it because you bought a ticket. When just the sight of them offstage and having the playbill, even unsigned, was enough. JMO
