At what age is it too old to stage door?- Page 4

[nealb1]

Posted: 7/1/07 at 11:38am

There's no age that's too old to do stage door. It becomes a problem when you've asked an artist for their autograph and a pic for the 23rd time............like so many people on this board.

That's when it becomes weird........why would you need your picture taken over and over and over again with a total stranger????

Just be polite and professional....using common sense works every time.

Updated On: 7/20/07 at 11:38 AM

[mattonstage]

Posted: 7/1/07 at 11:39am

I'll still stagedoor at the ripe old age of 42 (though I look 41,lol). You should see the stage door at Inherit the Wind. I think the teenagers would feel awkward over there. LOL.

[outovfashion07]

Posted: 7/1/07 at 12:24pm

Is Coleen Sexton a nice lady? For anyone who has met her, do you think she will sign my Jekyll DVD at the Wicked stagedoor or is that just rude of me to ask? I had Tom Hewit sign my Dracual playbill at Dirty Rotten and he didn't seem to mind but I hear it goes both ways with actors.

[TheActr97J]

Posted: 7/1/07 at 12:46pm

Haha. I went to the Inherit the Wind stage door. I had Christopher Plummer sign my "Sound of Music" soundtrack on vinyl. That probably pissed him off.

ETA: I just remembered how awkward it was at The Producers stagedoor when I wanted to meet Hunter Foster. Everyone that was there was waiting for Tony Danza and once he left the entire crowd disbanded, leaving me alone to wait for Hunter. Oh well. I still got to meet him.

Updated On: 7/1/07 at 12:46 PM

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 7/1/07 at 1:33pm

It's sometimes fun to bring stuff from older shows. If I've ever offended an actor, they hid it really well.

[Gingersnap2]

Posted: 7/1/07 at 3:16pm

Ha, the only time I've asked a performer to sign something from an old show of theirs was when I asked Hugh Panaro to sign a little Les Miz poster. But, at that point, I knew he wouldn't mind and it was a bit of making up for not stage-dooring him when I was fourteen.

But I agree with those who've said it's not a question of age, but a question of maturity, respect, and how one behaves.

I'm thirty-three. I usually stage-door, but not always. If I didn't care for a performance or such, I don't bother. If I do, it's because I appreciated the performance, I'd like to say so to the performer, and an autograph/photo is a nice memento...but I'm also not going to press the matter, either.

It's more about how you act at the stage door and why you're stage-dooring that matters more than the date on your birth certificate.

I've seen kids in their very early teens behave with a great deal of respect and maturity and I've seen so-called adults behave like idiots...grabbing at someone's ass, monopolizing their time when others are waiting, being pushy and demanding when a performer is visibly exhausted, but still being nice to the fans.

I've seen adults in their forties be unacceptably rude to "lesser" cast members and understudies because, "Oh, you're not so-and-so."

I've met people at stage-doors ranging from six (with her mom, of course) up into their sixties. Some are really lovely folks that I've actually become friends with. And some are just a disgrace.

There was one incident that always stands out for me. I was talking with Hugh...not even at the stage door, but at the subway stop nearby. A young woman who'd been at the stage door already was sitting on the ground and on her phone. She spotted Hugh, jumped to her feet, marched up to him, and shoved her cell phone right between us, and said, "TALK TO MY FRIEND."

Hugh was gracious about the whole thing and talked to her friend for a moment, even though he was running late for an appointment and I was running late for my own. I, on the other hand, probably would've taken her phone and tossed it under the tires of a passing taxi.

She was not a little bratty teen, she at least in her early twenties, and she was old enough to have better manners.

[Duckie93]

Posted: 7/1/07 at 5:00pm

If you think about your seeing the actors not, the charters they play, so i dont think you too old to take a pic, or talk to an other person.

[me2]

Posted: 7/1/07 at 5:57pm

I didn't know Colleen Sexton was doing WICKED. Good for her!

I did it up until about 26, then I lost my nerve. I wrote about it on my blog. Now I'd do it only for big names I couldn't help myself to meet--Lea Salonga, Susan Egan, etc. I still WANT to with great performers in shows, but I just lose my nerve now.
Broadway Blog: Confessions of a Former Stage Door Johnny

[nealb1]

Posted: 7/1/07 at 6:14pm

Gingersnap2...you're right...it's all about manners, poise....and.......duh......common sense, on how you approach a performer for a pic or autograph. Doing it at the stage door is completely acceptable. But, there are those "groupies" who push and shove and have to get their pic taken for the 23rd time.....that's scary!!!

I've stage-doored 2 times in my whole life and saw quite a few groupies....and, how they "one up one another" amongst the other groupies...I-know-more-than-you-do nonsense about the person they are waiting for to come out of the stage door......he looked at me first, not you.....he was talking to you, but was looking at me...........it's sad.......and, scary, too.............they are trying to prove something...to someone....just not sure what it is????
Updated On: 7/1/07 at 06:14 PM

[altoid06]

Posted: 7/2/07 at 12:58am

First off, I'm also nineteen. I just got back from a trip with my parents to the city where we saw four shows. We went to Les Mis, Curtains, Grey Gardens, and A Chorus Line, stagedooring two of them.

The shows we did stagedoor were Curtains and Grey Gardens. At both shows I was easily one of the youngest people there. Most of the people at Curtains were at the stagedoor to see David Hyde Pierce, many of these in their 40s-50s. At Grey Gardens, there was one girl younger than me, and some lovely women who were in their 70s and 80s.

I have to say that I agree with the people who are saying that it is the level of maturity of the person stagedooring. As long as you treat them with respect and remember your manners, I think you can stagedoor at any age. It's a great way to end your evening at the theatre, and a signed playbill or photo of you and your favorite actress lets you feel like you have a little part of that show's history and lets you take home a little bit of the magic of live theatre.

[Fiyero13]

Posted: 7/2/07 at 2:56am

Coleen Sexton was the whole reason i brought this whole question up haha, she isn't the nicest person in the world but she also wasn't the rudest so I don't think she'd have a problem signing ur Jekyll DVD...

[MaronaDavies]

Posted: 7/2/07 at 6:29am

"I was going to stage door at Cats once back in the day, but decided against it upon seeing a crowd of ridiculously hyper/loud/obnoxious teens in homemade costumes.

I'll never understand how people could pull such a thing. Don't they realize that everyone (including the cast) thinks they're weird/creepy?"

I agree. I think the costumed fans mean well, but they don't really see how they are perceived by others. There's just a certain age limit for that. One of my friends and her son got to go backstage at Cats before the show, and the actor they were visiting painted the kid's face. But he was about 7, and at that age it was cute and understandable.

For the rest, though, I agree, there's no real age limit for stage dooring. It's about how many times you go, and how you behave while you're there.

[MTVMANN]

Posted: 7/2/07 at 8:44am

I saw "Deuce" and the stage door was nothing but me and old ladies!!!!!!

[broadwayjim42]

Posted: 7/2/07 at 9:29am

46 here..and still a stage door Johnny...or Jimmy.

It actually depends on the show, if there's someone in the show I really admire and whether I have time to stay.

[DrMark]

Posted: 7/2/07 at 11:08am

You're too old when your walker blocks the other fans from reaching their favorite performer. :)

[me2]

Posted: 7/2/07 at 11:42am

Colleen Sexton was extremely nice outside JEKYLL AND HYDE. Maybe she was just distracted the day you saw her in WICKED.
Broadway Blog: From the Mouth of Alan Jay Lerner

[Rudy2]

Posted: 7/20/07 at 1:58pm

I'm 20, and I never think of stage-dooring as anything age-related either. I've been there for both Deuce and Inherit the Wind lately and indeed, I was the youngest person I could find at both events, save for 1 obviously younger person at each, including a cute little girl chattering on about Idina Menzel at ITW. You know of course that she talked to Christopher Plummer about Sound of Music. But when they're 9, it's cute.

I went to see Brooklyn the Musical 5 times and each time, save for the second, I did stage door, although every time I was with different people who I brought along with me for the experience. It just felt like, being such a fan of the show, it was my duty to go out there and tell them each time how much I appreciate their underrated show. I got goosebumps for just about every single song, each time I saw that show.

Updated On: 7/20/07 at 01:58 PM

[GlindatheGood22]

Posted: 7/20/07 at 2:56pm

I'm fourteen, stage door all the time, and see people of all ages at the stage door. Of course, there are the shows that have their target audiences, like the twelve-year-olds at Legally Blonde, but still. And I have never seen anyone really freak out at the stage door, but I'd probably have a mental breakdown if I waited by Spring Awakening. Please, I cried just standing on the same street as the theatre!

[Fiyero13]

Posted: 6/24/08 at 10:12am

Someone on the 'awkward stage door moments' said that he thought everyone over the age of 15 who stage doors is pathetic so I decided to bump this thread to see if anyone thought the same

[ExceedinglyPeculiar2]

Posted: 6/24/08 at 10:50am

^ To each his own. But that's not going to stop anyone over 15 to stage door. I think it's a great thing to do, and never really looked at it as something limited to the youngins.

[BroadwayBelle2]

Posted: 6/24/08 at 11:23am

I don't think you have to be a certain age to "stage door", It's part of the excitent when seeing a broadway show. I don't go all the time especially if it's cold or raining outside, but I do enjoy going when I do.

[puppetman2]

Posted: 6/24/08 at 12:42pm

Too old - death

[musicaltheatrefan3]

Posted: 6/24/08 at 12:45pm

The 6/20 "Gypsy" stage door had people from the ages of 10 to 75! There is no age limit, although "Hairspray", "Wicked", and "Legally Blonde" tend to attract tweens and teens, and the Disney shows are mostly kids ages 4-10 and their parents.

[bwaybabe2]

Posted: 6/24/08 at 9:40pm

Apart from some certain legal issue things, there is NO age for anything...!
You should be able to do things as your life unfolds, whenever YOU are ready for them, not when society thinks you should do them.
Learn this one, and you will really enjoy your life, with no regrets

[elphiesmagic]

Posted: 6/24/08 at 11:51pm

"I find that there are two kinds of people who stage door:

The first kind are people of any age who appreciate the talents of the actors and would like them to sign their Playbills out of respect and having a piece of history; possibly also a picture.

The second kind are kids, generally under 20, who think that by wearing pink they will become Laura Bell Bundy's BFF; or that by telling Jonathan Groff that they love him, they will become engaged."

I know people in their 40s who think that by stage dooring JERSEY BOYS they are besties with the actors. Crazy stage door behavior knows no age limit.