Are we (fans) talked about by Broadway performers? — Page 3

I think it really depends on the fan
Mylinda was telling my sister and I she chose to be friends with us, and wanted to have dinner with us, because we were "true, honest, good-natured fans". She said she knew we had good intentions, and performers know who exactly is a "fake" fan, and who is really a fan because they admire the performer very much.
I don't know if this makes any sense, or is on topic, but I think fans are really to blame most of the time for an actor being standoffish, or avoiding fans.

I hope this post makes sense...

"I'm not sure what you mean by (not ringing cell phones or taking pics during a show)- how does that fit in with this conversation? "

It meant that the behavior that I was talking about, the behavior that annoyed my friend, was not what would be considered "typical" annoying fan behavior.

"I don't think actors get involved with certain people/situations.Honestly, I think they do their best to seperate their fans from their family/friends."

I disagree with this just a smidge. On the boards recently I read that Lauren Molina called a fan who had ordered a t-shirt from her to get the girl's size. No idea if she called froma private line or whatever. Not the issue. That, to me, is be a little too familiar. (And before the Lauren fans swoop in and start defending her, take note: I am not criticizing her or Sweeney or Mano or Michael. I am simply making an observation.) How can actors not expect fans to feel/act a little too familiar with them when they do stuff like that?

Not that Lauren has ever, that I know of, complained. I, in no way, was trying to imply that she had. I was just using that as an example.

Mylinda was telling my sister and I she chose to be friends with us, and wanted to have dinner with us, because we were "true, honest, good-natured fans". She said she knew we had good intentions, and performers know who exactly is a "fake" fan, and who is really a fan because they admire the performer very much.

I'm sorry, but that sounds completely patronizing and phony on the actresses part. I'll say what I've always said...some of these actors pick out people that they know adore them and feed them information. Information that then gets filtered out to the public, i.e. Laure Benanti's "open letter."

(Man, I KNOW I'm going to regret that statement.)

Updated On: 8/28/06 at 08:39 PM

I think there's a lot of mutual push and pull, and that both the actors and the fans are to blame when things get uncomfortable or go to far. I can think of a lot of examples where I feel like people need to be told that you simply cannot have it both ways, and you need to decide how you want to handle things -- and if you want to be in control and feel comfortable, then you need to stick to that decision. I think there are a lot of instances where the actors encourage or allow things that they later turn around and realize are not okay; but they've been encouraging it, and are at that point sort of screwed, because then they have to turn around and start to correct their mistakes. People are going to take signals given, and actors have to take responsibility for the consequences of their actions just as much as the fans do. In the ongoing discussion about this stuff, there's always so much focus on how insane fans are, and how out of line some fans' actions are, but if there are actors who are accepting extravagant gifts, taking advantage of fans, or encouraging a too-high level of familiarity, and things blow up in their faces, it goes both ways.

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Updated On: 8/28/06 at 08:48 PM

I think there are a lot of instances where the actors encourage or allow things that they later turn around and realize are not okay; but they've been encouraging it, and are at that point sort of screwed, because then they have to turn around and start to correct their mistakes.

Exactly. I think they get caught up in it all. My friend had mostly done TV and that was his first Broadway experience. He wasn't used to being so accessible to the people seeing him perform. He totally got caught up in it, then regretted it.


Also, Lauren very well may have called this person to see what size T-shirt she wanted. But, since we (I assume you don't) don't know the entire story and details, Lauren may have known this person or something like that. She did have her number, after all.

She had her number because the fan had ordered a t-shirt from her. They weren't "friend" friends, at least it didn't sound that way in the young woman's post.

"Also, Lauren very well may have called this person to see what size T-shirt she wanted. But, since we (I assume you don't) don't know the entire story and details, Lauren may have known this person or something like that. She did have her number, after all.

She had her number because the fan had ordered a t-shirt from her. They weren't "friend" friends, at least it didn't sound that way in the young woman's post.

I'm not saying that this didn't happen or the young woman's post was wrong but you must take it with a grain of salt. She wrote it and it may be skewed (to be in her favor, maybe.)

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Dolly, was that last nights dream or the night before?

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I don't think it's so much acting in these ways in order to gain attention and adoration as much as it's two other things: I think the people whose careers are just now on the rise, who are really gaining large followings are like "OOH FANS!!" and are just so happy to have any following at all that they lose their common sense, sometimes. And I think it's also that when you're gaining your footing in that kind of status, you're not sure how you want to handle it, at first. I think a lot of younger actors, or actors newer to growing fanbases tend to do a lot of that pushing and pulling because they don't really know how they want to handle it, or how close they want to let their fans get to them. It's a process of trial and error, I guess, but it's a really messy one, especially when you mix in a vast range of fans who often misinterpret things.

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Updated On: 8/28/06 at 09:17 PM

I blame MySpace. Seriously.

Some actors utilize that site well, some don't. I sent Daniel Reichard a friend request last week, plus a note sayijng "Met you at Rockers on Broadway, you were cool, nice ruphy joke." He accepted my request, but didn't respond. Which is totally okay in my book. I didn't expect one. He communicates, for the most part, through his blog.

When they engage in e-mail exchanges and "hang" after shows, they're encouraging a level of familiarity that, in the end, they may not like.