Are we (fans) talked about by Broadway performers?- Page 7

[JailyardGuy]

Posted: 8/29/06 at 1:19pm

Actually, it's usually nicer...hers has a tendency, while indeed silkygorgeous, to be...orange.

I will gladly come sit outside your apartment, if you promise to sing I Will Never Leave You with me from your window. And you have to be Violet.

[Lady of the Talkies]

Posted: 8/29/06 at 1:24pm

Why yes... even whilst sporting my roots, I can still honestly say that my hair is not orange.

Baby, you missed the boat on that one. I already found myself a Violet, albeit a geriatric one. But if you'd care to serenade me with a little "You Should Be Loved", I wouldn't be opposed.

[JailyardGuy]

Posted: 8/29/06 at 1:29pm

*sigh* Dammit. I ALWAYS miss the boat.

Back to the topic, I don't want to sound like I'm totally stone-cold, and don't have my own FanBoy moments. I mean, I get starstruck on occasion as much as the next homo...I would just never DO anything about it. (Regarding above anecdote, if Said Large-Voiced Lady actually HAD emerged, I would have continued to sit there while drinking in the lovliness of her visage, and never said a word.)

Lady o'the Talkies, you know what I'm talking about...do you remember the time I actually RAN AWAY from Delta Burke? *squee* For shame...I'm like, the OPPOSITE of the autograph junkies. I have the hardest time asking someone for an autograph. I guess I just don't see the point.

I'd rather remember their performance than stare at their handwriting.

[MOXIEINTHECITY]

Posted: 8/29/06 at 1:33pm

Who cares if little teeny boppers are walking around claiming friendship with So and So? Unless they are truly disrupting So and So's life, it's completely harmless. More often than not it's a situation that can easily be dealt with.

It's not the supposed friendships that bother me. It's when posters speak about these people like they know them or act like some sort of authority on their careers and personality. It's the intimating and hinting that frosts my nuts. You don't "know" them. You know the person they want you to know. Who they really are will never, well rarely, be exposed at the stage door or at appearances.

Chill. Enjoy their talents, and don't stalk them.

Agreed. But there are some actors who absolutely encourage that sort of behavior.

[Lady of the Talkies]

Posted: 8/29/06 at 1:37pm

No, you'd rather just stare at them than their penmanship.

I think autographs are ridiculous. Even pictures if you don't actually know them... it's like, "Here I am with some random person!" The only story to that picture is, "I saw their show." That's not interesting. Interesting is like, "Here we were at this sketchy diner and this is when she stuck a fry up my nose and I smelled ketchup for days."

We all had/have the fanboy/girl moments. Some of us outgrow them... eventually. (I have faith you will one day be able to utter at least a single word to Delta Burke. The same day I can hold a conversation with Bebe Neuwirth.)

[JACXR71]

Posted: 8/29/06 at 1:42pm

I agree about autographs - never really understood the point. I do like to get my playbill signed, but that's more about remembering the overall experience, as opposed to getting the signature of any one particular person. I would never ask for an autograph if I saw someone randomly. And I totally do not get people buying autographs - I'm not talking about opening night posters or OBC playbills - I mean people buying things like autographed headshots. What purpose does that serve?

[Lady of the Talkies]

Posted: 8/29/06 at 1:44pm

Especially when the headshot is personalized. I mean, most actors personalize it on purpose for that reason. Why would I want someone's headshot that says, "To my sweet Jack! Warmest Regards, The Easter Bunny!" Yet... some do. Odd.

[wickedrentq]

Posted: 8/29/06 at 1:55pm

I definitely agree about buying autographs. Autographed playbills and what-not can serve as souvenirs to the night, or a nice little memory...or with a pretty sharpy can make your playbill look really pretty. But (aside from the prettiness), all that experience is lost from the autograph, and then you're left with some scribble that you can barely make out.

Jaily, I played pit in high school and community theatre. Am I a prostitute?

But now let's carry this to another point...the poster who asked why fans don't find friends their own age...well, sometimes one can connect to another. Maybe two fans of a Broadway actor go to a performance, get to talking, and end up becoming really good friends, through their admiration of a particular performer. And often, if they start to like someone else, or a performer moves or something, and they begin to lose interest in the performer, the friendship with the other fan still stands.

I still say in the end we all have our "things." Some people drink, some do drugs, some overeat, some starve themselves, some whistle a happy tune, some sleep a lot, some love to go to stage doors.

[Guillermo Ugarte]

Posted: 8/29/06 at 2:00pm

some become stalkers

[blueroses]

Posted: 8/29/06 at 2:05pm

"It's not the supposed friendships that bother me. It's when posters speak about these people like they know them or act like some sort of authority on their careers and personality."

I know what you mean, but I'd cut teenagers some slack as long as their interests/crushes, etc. aren't unhealthy. When I was a kid I thought I was the authority on all things Police/Duran Duran/Outsiders related! My walls were plastered with posters. Meeting Bono was the highlight of my senior year. I have great memories of that time in life...it was really fun and innocent.

[wickedrentq]

Posted: 8/29/06 at 2:06pm

True. Though sometimes I think the word "stalker" is as overused/misused as much as the word "friend." I'm not belittling how awful it is for an actor to have a true, dangerous stalker...but...I don't know maybe some of the actors or friends of actors can explain to me, are there more true stalkers around than there seems to be?

Updated On: 8/29/06 at 02:06 PM

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 8/29/06 at 2:11pm

Jen Cody found out I was a member and she wanted me to posts that she was a huge biatch t work with... I couldn't do that, so I posted that she had a tail and the post got deleated.

They do know of us.

[JailyardGuy]

Posted: 8/29/06 at 2:21pm

"Jaily, I played pit in high school and community theatre. Am I a prostitute?"

I think you gravely misunderstand my meaning. I was referring to those of us who actually do it for a living.

And it's total prostitution...do I really *want* to spend the rest of my life playing schlocky pop-show crap tunes (some of which I must guiltily admit that I enjoy) instead of the Bach or Mozart or Brahms that I have been *trained* to play? Of COURSE not, but it pays tremendously well in comparison to the classical alternatives. I'm fully aware that I have, as some of my conservatory friends have said, "sold out" or "whored myself to big business", but I'm ok with that. I like the money.

This really is just a big business, and I think people need to be more conscious of that, that's all!

[BSoBW2]

Posted: 8/29/06 at 2:29pm

The nomenclature is destroyed because of myspace and facebook and friendster and the next one.

"Oo, friend me! Friend me"

No. you are my online acquantice.

"Aquante me! Aquante me!" - Much better. But you can't do that. So friend me, friend me is the default.

[BluCat500]

Posted: 8/29/06 at 3:19pm

Wow, you've mispelled acquaint on so many levels...

[MOXIEINTHECITY]

Posted: 8/29/06 at 3:29pm

I know what you mean, but I'd cut teenagers some slack as long as their interests/crushes, etc. aren't unhealthy.

I agree. I'm somewhat familair with the ages of some posters so I realize that they aren't acting in any way I didn't when I was that age. I'm actually commenting more on the people in their early 20's and up.

[bwaysinger]

Posted: 8/29/06 at 3:31pm

I tired to start a rumor about two of my friends (who are well known on these hear boards). They were both sitting behind me, slightly tipsy and giggly, and begged me to post it.
So I did.
They know we're out there.
*cue eerie Twilight Zone music*

[SirLiir]

Posted: 8/29/06 at 3:59pm

One thing I would like to add to this conversation is that a lot of personal psychology goes into the need to be friends/collegues/acquaintances with these actors. The defense mechanism of identification (if you are a pychoanalystic person) can be seen in a lot of a relationship. Basically, its a strong desire to identify with successful people in order to compensate for problems you have in your life. For example, a couple of years ago, I was a HUGE die-hard Yankee fan, every game they lost was like a knife in the stomach. Once they lost the WS to Arizona, I had a total breakdown. Since then, I have learned to be more of a casual fan because the identification was too strong. The same thing happens on Broadway. Fans identify too much with their actors and create connections that aren't there. Establishing boundaries is definetely crucial and a clear warning sign of whats to come.

[MOXIEINTHECITY]

Posted: 8/29/06 at 4:28pm

Basically, its a strong desire to identify with successful people in order to compensate for problems you have in your life.

That's an excellent point. I wa ssaying something similar to someone here last night. I think people look to certain actors as a poster child of sorts.

Come on, those of us who were drama club people in high school can spot another one a mile away. Some of us were able to straddle the whole drama club member while still being class president thing but usually the drama club people aren't, um, as socially accepted. At least not when I was in high school.

So sometimes people see an actor and identify with their former/current drama geek self. The start to sort of live vicariously through these actors. And the actors turn around and use the whole "I have fans! Weeee!" thing to maybe get over the fact that they never got laid...whoops..I mean...much attention in high school. It's a mutually beneficial arrangement, except when you're 17-22 or so, you're not as aware of that point as you might be at, say, 25-30.
Updated On: 8/29/06 at 04:28 PM

[Dollypop]

Posted: 8/29/06 at 4:57pm

Excuse me, but I've been teaching for 35 years now and have been moderator of the Drama Clubs at two different schools. I have to take exception to your comment that drama club members aren't "accepted". I've had the school president star in various shows. and two valedictorians were cast members. In my production of CINDERELLA most of the male dancers were members of the football team who didn't give me any slack about wearing tights. (I actually sought out the football players because the musical didn't conflict with their season and their football training gave them a grace most other guys lacked). In MY SISTER EILEEN, the Wreck was played by the star of the soccer team--and he was excellent!

It's been my experience that drama clubs attract the "intellectuals" as well as the average kids.

[veryownplanetz]

Posted: 8/29/06 at 5:00pm

i oversaw this one instance of a fan thinking she was friends with an actress and the actress telling another fan that "she pretends to be friends with me but shes really just an enthusiastic fan"...i mean its great that the fan was enthusiastic but really it's a matter of watching words here

[MOXIEINTHECITY]

Posted: 8/29/06 at 5:21pm

Excuse me, but I've been teaching for 35 years now and have been moderator of the Drama Clubs at two different schools. I have to take exception to your comment that drama club members aren't "accepted". I've had the school president star in various shows.

Dolly, no offense meant. I speak as a former drama club geek who was also president of her class. But, come on, you just can't say that those drama club/cheerleader/valedictorian types make up a majority of drama orgnaizations in high schools.

[wickedrentq]

Posted: 8/29/06 at 5:32pm

Wow Jaily. It depresses me that people see it that way. I play, and at this point in my life, the only things I *ever* want to play are broadway scores. It would be...amazing...to be in a Broadway pit. Like if I could do anything in the world, it would be to play in a Broadway pit...probably West Side Story.

I'm not...you know saying you're bad for feeling that way, we all have our own tastes, but...yeah, it's just not a feeling that I realized was generally had by pit players.

In my high school, cheerleading was not equated with popularity. We all made fun of them. They weren't even like popular people you made fun of--they were just people you made fun of.

[HamletWasBipolar]

Posted: 8/29/06 at 5:36pm

People that excel in the arts understand that the journey is the reward...the result an added bonus. Every day I act or train is a blessing and a dream come true. If Broadway beckons so be it. I have a personal definition of success that is unshakable by a possibly unobtainable goal.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 8/29/06 at 5:38pm

High school popularity, for the most part, is little more than pure illusion.

Updated On: 8/29/06 at 05:38 PM