Posted: 2/11/21 at 3:29am
I’ve gotten back into shows since quarantine and now I’m just waiting for the lockdown to lift to go see some shows. I heard that if you get on a bouncer’s good side you have a better chance of meeting the cast and crew, I want to befriend a stage hand, any tips on what to say or how to start a convo?
Posted: 2/11/21 at 3:40am
The bouncer you are referring to I suspect would be the stage door person or security. I doubt that you will get backstage anytime soon after shows get back up with the current conditions.
Posted: 2/11/21 at 9:16am
Posted: 2/11/21 at 9:32am
Guys i don’t mean right now, clearly after the quarantine...... i feel like people don’t really read posts correctly
Posted: 2/11/21 at 11:14am
The time to make friends with security was before they got that job. They get hundreds of people being super nice to them on the daily at the chance to go backstage. They see right through. It will never happen.
Posted: 2/11/21 at 11:15am
Posted: 2/11/21 at 11:16am
If the cast wants to greet fans, they will come out of the stage door and greet fans. No need to go backstage.
Granted, I have, on occasion, gotten to go backstage on Broadway - and on some of those occasions I've been lucky enough to speak with members of the cast who usually don't come out of the stage door. But I never got to go backstage because I befriended the stage-door attendant. The stage-door attendant's job is to keep people out of the backstage area unless they're allowed to be there, so it wouldn't be right to ask them to jeopardize their job by trying to use them to go backstage.
When I've gone backstage, it's been because I knew someone in the cast, or maybe I was with someone who knew someone in the cast. And the cast members I've been with have sometimes introduced me to other members of the cast. If I had been by myself, it would've been very rude and invasive to try to meet the cast backstage.
Posted: 2/11/21 at 11:52am
Posted: 2/11/21 at 2:07pm
Posted: 2/11/21 at 3:06pm
There once was a time when seeing shows gave me the chance to befriend/strike up convos with whoever conducted my performances. I never tried getting on any stagehand's nerve just for the sake of a backstage visit. Please don't try this, especially after COVID.
A few music directors across the industry have already said yes to Zoom or Skype conversations if I were to somehow see their projects in the coming years. It will take a lot of convincing for me to return to a packed theatre, though.
As for stage door, I imagine a combination of fan irresponsibility and COVID precautions will cause some/most actors to abstain from the practice. A whole slew of people have joined Cameo and Broadway Plus the last number of months, and I bet many more will follow. If you don't want to pay so much, send snail mail to a show's PSM, or hit an actor up on social media and hope for the best.
Posted: 2/11/21 at 3:59pm
Posted: 2/11/21 at 4:06pm
I think they will do it less and less now that Cameo and Broadway+ are a thing. Most Broadway actors are not rich, and if they can make money with fan interactions, they absolutely will.
Posted: 2/11/21 at 7:54pm
Posted: 2/11/21 at 7:54pm
