Alice Ripley takes the subway- Page 7

[ghostlight2]

Posted: 5/13/13 at 10:39pm

": For every well-meaning person, there are five more who aren't quite so nice.

I actually think you have that backwards. Most people are well-meaning and respectful - it's the bad ones that stand out.

I could be wrong, but I gather you're a little on the younger side, and you have certainly shown your own tendency to be a little star-struck.

Then you have me, Reg, John Adams, and SNAFU, arguably older and more experienced, at least two of whom have been in the business for a long time and know a lot of actors, who don't seem to have experienced or heard the things you have..

Is it possible you may have had some sort of experience that has caused you to have this extreme view that fan interaction is virtually always unwelcome outside of a stage door experience? Most actors (imo) do appreciate fans giving them a quick public acknowledgement, provided the timing is appropriate.

[Kelly2]

Posted: 5/13/13 at 10:45pm

"I could be wrong, but I gather you're a little on the younger side, and you have certainly shown your own tendency to be a little star-struck."

I certainly do get star struck. But I don't react to that emotion by running over to whoever the person may be and gushing. I keep it to myself or to my Tumblr. As far as my age, I've been employed in theatre for the better part of the last 7 years, which is small potatoes to some, but I'm not a teenager.

"Is it possible you may have had some sort of experience that has caused you to have this extreme view that fan interaction is virtually always unwelcome outside of a stage door experience? Most actors (imo) do appreciate fans giving them a quick public acknowledgement, provided the timing is appropriate."

I don't think it's always unwelcome. I think it's impossible to know when it would be welcome and as someone with a personal dislike of being embarrassed, overstepping my bounds, or inserting myself somewhere I'm not wanted, I would tend to avoid possibly putting myself in that situation. Obviously, many, many others have less anxiety about these things, but I've seen too many people complain about fans or react badly to be able to get that out of my head. Then again, I also don't value personal interaction with actors the way others do so the "payoff" of making myself and possibly someone else feel awkward isn't worth the "risk".

Updated On: 5/13/13 at 10:45 PM

[John Adams]

Posted: 5/14/13 at 1:15am

>> "Then you have me, Reg, John Adams, and SNAFU, arguably older..."

Ahhhh... but I am OLD, I am UGLY, I embarrass you!
You are ashamed of me...
You...
are...
a...shamed!

[ghostlight2]

Posted: 5/14/13 at 1:16am

In all seriousness, how are most of the threads on this board threads? Who makes the decision as to what makes a thread "worthy"? You spent the time to make a mock-up poster. Why shouldn't it be a thread?


we crossposted, Mr Adams. I DID include myself in that number. Odds are good I'm older that you I just meant we four, we band of brothers, likely have an amassed experience beyond Kelly's (sorry, Kelly).

Updated On: 5/14/13 at 01:16 AM

[John Adams]

Posted: 5/14/13 at 1:56am

>> "we crossposted, Mr Adams. I DID include myself in that number. Odds are good I'm older that you I just meant we four, we band of brothers, likely have an amassed experience beyond Kelly's (sorry, Kelly)."

I'm just joshin'...!
(That's my 'go-to' song when anyone mentions my age...)

When I'm really upset, I violently throw myself to the floor, lift my head veeeeeery slowly and sing:
"There was a time when men were kind... When their voices were soft... And their words inviting..."

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 5/14/13 at 6:54am

I'm riding the subway today...hope I see A STAR! Wish me luck!

Updated On: 5/14/13 at 06:54 AM

[ghostlight2]

Posted: 5/14/13 at 7:21am

Tomorrow is a matinee day. Better luck then, Carlos!

[Kelly2]

Posted: 5/14/13 at 9:17am

"I just meant we four, we band of brothers, likely have an amassed experience beyond Kelly's (sorry, Kelly)."

I'm not sure what experience has to do with thinking it's rude to bother people you don't know on the street, but alright. Maybe I should start carrying my West Wing DVDs around so I can pounce if I should ever see Allison Janney or any of her cast-mates in a personal moment that I can interrupt. Maybe she'll perform The Jackal for me.

Updated On: 5/14/13 at 09:17 AM

[Jane2]

Posted: 5/14/13 at 9:38am

Here's my reason for not bothering a celeb when you see one.

I had a similar experience to a celeb, and I hated it. I made a commercial several years ago and it became popular. People started acknowledging me on the street and on my job. That's when I knew I could never be a famous celeb. I couldn't take it. I even had a stalker, which was frightening.

I don't know how real celebs handle it, it's not easy.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 5/14/13 at 9:40am

Jane, are you that Activia lady????

[Reginald Tresilian]

Posted: 5/14/13 at 9:45am

I bet Jane taught the world to sing in perfect harmoneeeee.

[Jane2]

Posted: 5/14/13 at 9:49am

lol Jordan, no, but I was mortified one time when I was in the running against one other woman for Depends. oy.

[Reginald Tresilian]

Posted: 5/14/13 at 9:50am

For a commercial? Or like for the last box in CVS?

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 5/14/13 at 9:51am

Are you June Allyson????

[WhizzerMarvin]

Posted: 5/14/13 at 9:52am

I just caught up with this thread and got a good laugh out of it. Seems like a lot of worry over nothing.

I don't particularly relish the moment when a stranger starts making small talk, but it happens and you deal with it. I don't see what the problem is when you run into a Broadway "celebrity" and pay them a compliment, given the situation is appropriate to do so.

Shortly after Once won Best Musical I found myself on line at Chipotle with one of the actors in the show. I politely told him that I was happy the show picked up so many awards and that I loved the production. There was no gush fest, he said the cast was over the moon, etc, and that was all. He seemed happy to discuss the show's success for 30 seconds; if he was bothered he hid it very well.

[Jane2]

Posted: 5/14/13 at 10:01am

You guys are hysterical!

Whizzer, that's only one instance one time with one actor, who was in a good mood. You can't base a philosophy on that.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 5/14/13 at 10:14am

Down in Soho a few years ago, Keifer Sutherland stopped me and me for directions. I told him and he asked if I could just show him, so I walked with him and his friend for a bit. I didn't mind him stopping me on the street so I don't know what all the fuss is about.

[ghostlight2]

Posted: 5/14/13 at 11:46am

"I'm not sure what experience has to do with thinking it's rude to bother people you don't know on the street, but alright."

What I meant, Kelly, that in all our considerable combined experience, we seemingly haven't witnessed celebrities being harassed (for lack of a better word) in the manner that you have. Obviously no one is suggesting that it is proper to interrupt a private moment, but if you see an actor waiting for a bus, a subway, a coffee, it is not necessarily inappropriate to spark a conversation if they seem receptive.

"Shortly after Once won Best Musical I found myself on line at Chipotle with one of the actors in the show. I politely told him that I was happy the show picked up so many awards and that I loved the production. There was no gush fest, he said the cast was over the moon, etc, and that was all. He seemed happy to discuss the show's success for 30 seconds; if he was bothered he hid it very well."

I have witnessed, personally experienced and heard about many examples like Whizzer's, so that kind of thing is by no means a one time experience.

[deleted out of respect for Jane2]

Oddly, like Jordan's story, David Bowie once asked me for directions, and since we were literally going to see the same movie, we walked together, talking about the film on the way. It wasn't until much later, after we'd parted ways, I realized we had never once acknowledged who he was.

eta: Kelly, there is also a big difference between a few simple words of appreciation to an actor and "pouncing" on them and asking them to perform. I have spoken impromptu to Ms Janney, and several others of the West Wing cast, and they were all adorable, really lovely people. John Spencer even leapt up when he saw me leaving to help me put on my coat. Such a gentleman.










Updated On: 5/16/13 at 11:46 AM

[Kelly2]

Posted: 5/14/13 at 11:55am

"What I meant, Kelly, that in all our considerable combined experience, we seemingly haven't witnessed celebrities being harassed (for lack of a better word) in the manner that you have."

I would argue that while you certainly have more experience than I do, the fan culture of theatre and the obsessive need to document encounters and insert oneself into the lives of those they admire has become increasingly worse in the digital age. I personally have noted that people of my generation and younger have a much more entitled attitude in this regard than older folks I know. A friend currently starring in a show said recently to me how sad she feels it is that all people want when they encounter her, whether at stage door or not, is a photo or to somehow take something from the experience they can run and post online and how her encounters have become less and less about actual discussion of the show, her performance, or theatre in general, and more about obtaining something, which she finds as much more of an annoying nuisance than a simple compliment.

[billis2]

Posted: 5/14/13 at 12:08pm

Kelly, you're picking the wrong celebrity as your poster child. Alice Ripley has devoted a lot of energy towards building a fanbase through personal interaction (online and otherwise).

Yes, there are a lot of crazies out there, but most people are not. The one crazy person can ruin your day, for sure, and sticks out in the mind. And some celebrities are famous enough that they probably can't walk a block without being stopped, which would get old really fast. But is it rude and tacky to say two sentences to an ensemble member of Once about how much I enjoyed the show? Most people like being complimented by non-crazies, who are respectful and know when to shut up. And most people are non-crazies who are respectful and know when to shut up.

That being said, there are plenty of people with poor social skills and American celebrity culture is weird. I like going to the stage door, but I will never understand the people who are literally hyperventilating because some celebrity is across the street when they just spent the last two hours watching the same celebrity on stage. I understand if you're actually going to meet them or see them up close, but you're not any closer to them than you were in the theater.

[ghostlight2]

Posted: 5/14/13 at 12:10pm

And now you've introduced an entirely different angle to your previous argument, Kelly. Certainly a valid one, but it wasn't mentioned in any of your previous discussions - and it's an entirely different discussion.

Most fans are relatively sane, as the poster above me (and Reg, and John, and Whizzer, and others) have said. The loonies stick out.

I have a good friend whose name you would surely recognize, who was stalked by a fan for a while. That situation, while awful, was resolved, and this performer still very much enjoys fan interaction.



Updated On: 5/14/13 at 12:10 PM

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 5/14/13 at 2:19pm

This whole thread deserves this:

[Jane2]

Posted: 5/14/13 at 2:59pm

Updated On: 5/15/13 at 02:59 PM

[ghostlight2]

Posted: 5/14/13 at 3:25pm

[deleted out of respect for Jane 2]







Updated On: 5/16/13 at 03:25 PM

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 5/14/13 at 3:39pm

Oh, this is getting good.