Awkward Stage Door Moments — Page 3

"I'd feel worse for Josh."

I felt bad for him
But come on, his mom is Lupone!
How bad can you feel for him?

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Ok so I'd wanted to meet Ben Magnuson from Sweeney Todd for the longest time. I FINALLY got to meet him in Pittsburgh but, of course, awkwardness had to be involved.

He signed my autograph and I went "Can I get a picture with you real fast?" and he replies "Sure, but I don't have a camera!"

So being all caught up in the moment, and of course, me, I reply "It's ok, I have mine!!!"

As SOON as I said it I literally wanted to drop dead on the spot.

He goes "I know... I was joking with you!!" and I just nervously fake-laughed it off. Incredibly nice guy though.

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"I'd feel worse for Josh."

I felt bad for him
But come on, his mom is Lupone!
How bad can you feel for him?

Well, when he's not really done anything himself to get in the public eye, and people decide they have crushes on him and want his autograph and picture and everything JUST because he's Patti LuPone's son... well, I feel pretty bad for him. Performers can expect the occasional crazed fangirl. Family members really shouldn't have to be put through that.

Can't say I've had any awkward stage door moments, apart from temporarily losing my Sharpie at the 'Evita' stage door to a drunk man who wanted Matt Rawle to sign his arm, for no other reason than because there was a whole lotta signing going on, and that was more hilarious than anything else. But apparently there's a crowd of three or so people who go to 'Never Forget' several times a week and stagedoor every time. There has GOT to be some hardcore awkwardness going on there, I'm sure.

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"I'd feel worse for Josh."

I felt bad for him
But come on, his mom is Lupone!
How bad can you feel for him?

I feel bad for him for the both of you.He because idk how you even know what he looks like unless you're a complete stalker. And you because you're a stalker.

Wait, wait, wait . . .

Can we back up to Marian Seldes making out with someone?

Details, please? It's so, um, difficult to picture.

I was actually thinking of starting a thread like this yesterday. Weird.

But anyway...

Spring Awakening - There were a million people, and I was right up on the rail. Groff and Lea came out together, and the girl next to me wanted a picture with them. I had already gotten my picture with both of them, but Groff just grabbed my shoulder and pulled me into the picture that they were taking with the other girl. I guess he thought I was with her? It was sooo awkward, and now that poor girl has a picture of her, Lea, Groff, and me.

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"Friday night at Gypsy, Patti's son came out and I have a slight crush on him so he came out and I was like "JOSH!!!!!!" and I asked for his autograph and he was like "um... why?" and I'm like "Because you're Patti LuPone's son!!!" so he signs my poster and I'm like "do you take pictures?" and he's like slowly walking away like "no..." Haha. AWKWARD.""

Yes. Awkward. Why would you do that to the poor kid? That's one of the creepiest things I've heard of in my life and is one of the many reasons why I RARELY stagedoor.

Some reasons why I don't stagedoor-
1) I feel like I'm invading on an actor's privacy.
2) It's impersonal. I'd much rather write a letter to an actor
about how I much I enjoyed their performance and/or show.
3) Creepy people like the lovely poster who bothered LuPone's
son.
4) People in general. I don't like crowds.
5) And I don't know what to say. "Uhh....you're great"? I'm the
most inarticulate person I know, especially around people I
admire.

The last time I DID stagedoor, however, was rather memorable. It was the last performance of Grey Gardens. Everyone was so lovely. My marker ran out of ink, but thankfully I brought an extra with me. I guess that was the only, er, awkward moment.
Oh, and Maureen Moore was taken aback, shall we say, by one of my jv92-isms. When people ask me a question (for example-
"Would you like me to do this?",etc.) I usually respond "Sure!" in the most possitive manner. Anyway... Ms. Moore asked if I would like her to sign my poster and I responed in my typical fashion, "Sure!". Her response- "Sure? That's all you say?". Mine- "Yes. Sure. I'd like that very much." She went on signing, but I thought it was particularly strange since I wasn't nasty. At least, I didn't think I was. Did she want me to beg her to sign it and lick the sidewalk in front of her? Oh well. I had lovely conversations with both Scott Frankel and Bob Stillman. It was a nice afternoon and a breathtaking performance.
I will never stagedoor Gypsy (Okay, maybe if I see the last show) because I feel badly for LuPone since the majority of her fans are insane. She doesn't take pictures after shows and I don't blame her. Actors do not HAVE to stagedoor, but they do, which is nice. They really should not pose for pictures. They aren't fluffy walkaround characters at Disneyland. They're human beings.

These ones aren't stage door, but the awkward certainly fits:
1.) I was sitting next to Kathryn Grayson at a big to-do in Las Vegas, and a woman walked up to her and asked, "Weren't you Kathryn Grayson?" I whispered, under my breath, "No, I was."
Thankfully, neither one heard me.
3.) Standing outside Birdland, having a cigarette, when Christine Ebersole and her husband walked out the front door. A girl started yelling, "OH MY GOD, THAT'S FLORENCE HENDERSON!" Not sure what was worse, her yelling, or me trying to correct her. She gave me this wide eyed look like I was speaking Dog when I said, "No, it's Christine Ebersole, she's in Grey Gardens," so I had to pull the "Richie Rich's mom..." card. At least she knew who it was, after that.

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Getting berated by an over anxious "rush regular" with four letter words at the Curran Theatre during the Jersey Boy SF cast run when heading down the long alleyway to the stage door when waved in by a principal member of the cast for a comprehensive backstage tour. I guess she did not see him wave my sons and I in and just assumed we were cutting in line and impatient to get autographs from the cast.....

Same thing happened after exiting a backstage tour of the August Wilson Theatre given to me by a Jersey Boys Broadway Cast principal when I exited the stage door at 245 W 52nd St. and a waiting fan said "I didn't know Chinese people (i'm Filipino) were in Jersey Boys"..... I shot back and said "heck, I'm the guy in the 1st act that does their dry cleaning before Dawn.....", which brought a huge laugh from my host and his castmates.....

Getting berated by an over anxious "rush regular" with four letter words at the Curran Theatre during the Jersey Boy SF cast run when heading down the long alleyway to the stage door when waved in by a principal member of the cast for a comprehensive backstage tour. I guess she did not see him wave my sons and I in and just assumed we were cutting in line and impatient to get autographs from the cast.....

Ugh...was this the lady with droopy hair and no neck?

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I still think my boob saget encounter trumps alot of these stories. But this is an interesting thread non the less.

"The first time I saw spring awakening, I said to Johnathan Wright (before I thought about it) "man, you have balls of steel!" As soon as it came out of my mouth, I was mortified.... however, he seemed to think it was the funniest thing ever and said to another cast member (one of the understudies who I can't recall) "Dude! She just said I had balls of steel! Thats awesome"

That was one of the funniest things I have ever heard. So I have an awkward moment of my own but it isnt as bad as some of the others.

I saw avenue Q two years ago and Im at the stage door and ann saunders comes running out still in costume and I thought that was very unusual. And she screams out to me "Ill be with you in a few minutes, Im locked out of my dressing room" and I guess she had to go find someone to unlock it. Afterwards whens he took a picture with me she made a joke about it. It was awkward but she was still very nice.

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