Best Stage Door Experiences — Page 3

I talked to Linda Hart after Catch Me If You Can for an Hour- no ****, an hour!
She was the absolute best person i have ever gotten to meet and we talked for ages about acting, Hairspray and just normal stuff like the weather back home. She gave me the most incredible advice about acting and i will cherish everything she said. For me, Linda Hart is EVERYTHING so to be able to talk to her like that was mind blowing for me.

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When I sang legally blonde songs with andy karl at the rock stage door!

My stage door experience after seeing "Peter and the Starcatcher" was one of my favorites. Celia Keenan-Bolger and Adam Chanler-Berat are truly the sweetest, most genuine people. I also met Laura Osnes that day (she had seen the show as well) and she was just as lovely!

I had seen Corbin Bleu in In The Heights, but I went to the stage door to get an autograph for my niece and nephew. I was alone, and I asked just to take a picture of him. He allowed me to do that, and then he asked one of the other fans to take a picture of him and me. I certainly would not have bothered him to do that. He was very nice and gracious.

I also was treated very kindly by Giuseppe Bausillo at Newsies. A friend of mine had arranged a backstage tour as a birthday present. He came out of the stage door, greeted me by name, and said Happy Birthday. I just thought it was really nice, and something I will never forget.

I also witnessed something really nice. There was a gang of very young teens waiting outside of Book of Mormon, and Andrew Rannells showed up for his call and stopped and talked to each of them prior to going in the stage door. Rory O Malley did the same thing. And this was late in the run...very post Tony Awards.

Can someone please link the worst stage door thread? I am looking and I can't find it. Thanks!

I totally agree regarding Hugh Jackman. For a star of his caliber to be so gracious and considerate to his fans is a really lovely thing to see. I have never seen him be anything other than nice and sweet!!
For Broadway stars, the nicest and friendliest have been Andy Karl, Jeremy Kushnier Zachary Levi and Jim Stanek. They all take the time to speak with you and are always friendly and unassuming. They are all very special men!!!
For the ladies i would say Orfeh, Margo Seibert, Krysta Rodriguez and Jenn Colella. They also take the time to speak with you and are always friendly and unassuming. They are all very special ladies!!!
For a cast of a show i would say the friendliest and nicest i ever encountered was the cast of Spring Awakening. They were all really wonderful and accomadating to the fans. They stayed at the stage door till everyone got a picture and an autograph. They were all really young and really appreciated the fans coming to the show and showing their support.

One of my favorites was Donna Murphy after Wonderful Town. My friend and I waited outside in the freezing cold to meet her after the show. She eventually heard that we were there and invited us backstage while she met with her guests. Once she got around to talking with us, she could not have been nicer. It was really unexpected, especially from such a respected and awarded person.

Hugh Jackman, Geoffrey Rush, Julianne Moore, all class acts. Dame Eileen Atkins and Cherry Jones were very generous with her time, asking me about the drama school I was attending and such.

I saw Deuce when it was playing on Broadway. Meeting Angela Lansbury for the first time was a wonderful experience. She couldn't have been more gracious to her fans at the stage door.

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I posted a few years ago in this thread, but have had some lovely experiences since then, so I thought I'd share a few. Still all tours, still never actually been to Broadway But wonderful people all the same!

- On the La Cage tour, there were only a few people at the door, and all for George Hamilton. But I talked with Chris Sieber instead, and he was so funny and nice! He was a guest villain on a TV show I used to love (Pushing Daisies, if anyone remembers that old thing!), and when I mentioned that, he lit up so fast and spent the next fifteen minutes telling my mom and me all about what it was like to work on that show.

- The entire Les Mis touring cast was delightful, but special notice had to go to Jason Forbach and Joe Spieldenner, who played Enjolras and Grantaire. I was working at the theater by that time, so by the time I saw the show as a patron and went to stage door, I'd probably sat through around 6 performances in one week. I told Jason that the staff fought the most over who got to sit in on his portions of the show, and he blushed and gave me a hug, and I had sat close enough that I could see those two were the dancing waiters at the wedding- I mentioned that and they got all giddy and started talking over each other about the funny things they did to amuse themselves during that- after all, they said, "we're already dead!"

- National tour of Cathy Rigby's Peter Pan. Heading past stage door at intermission to go to the restrooms no one knows about on the other side of the building. Outside the door is Captain Hook (can't remember the actor's name right now), in full costume, with his cell phone in one hand, a cigarette in the other, and his very friendly shih tzu at his feet. Illusion shattered :)

- Priscilla tour last year. I had seen Bryan West several years ago as an understudy Fiyero (the first time I ever saw the show), and, being a dorky teenager, had given him a little fan-note/card back then, which he had said was his first ever fanmail and had apparently been gleefully parading around backstage, according to other cast members. When I met him again at Priscilla, I mentioned that card, and he recognized me, even called me by name, and chatted for a while.

Those are the best I can think of right now but I've really never had a bad experience, to be honest. Most actors have been really sweet, even the ones in a hurry to leave, and a lot have said they enjoy hearing from the audience, especially when they've had a bad day or know their performance wasn't up to par, they like hearing that people enjoyed it anyways. Everyone's different, I know, but I've been very lucky indeed!

Years ago when Barnum was playing we waited at the stage door to get just about anybody's autograph. We even got the then unknown Glenn Close to stop and sign and as she was signing she looked towards the street and laughed/yelled, "Len!!". Her boyfriend at the time, Len Cariou, had been waiting to pick her up and the truck he was driving had just overheated. There was smoke everywhere and Len was under the hood and Glenn just laughed and laughed. Len signed for us too.

Updated On: 7/30/14 at 01:12 PM

Zachary Levi last summer. AWESOME! Pictures, autographs, small talk. What a great guy and experience.

If/Then was definitely my favorite stage door experience. The night we saw the show, we left the theater to find that it was pouring down rain, lightning and all. It slowed down a little, so we decided to stick around despite the guard telling us that none of the actors would be coming out to sign. Turns out the guard set up some barriers about 20 minutes later, and only a small crowd gathered. James Snyder, Anthony Rapp, and LaChanze graciously came out to sign in the rain, and it was nice to have brief conversations with both of them (of course beginning by thanking them for braving the elements for us). James and LaChanze even stayed for an extra 15 minutes or so to take pictures with everyone that wanted one.

Other memorable stage door experiences: Lena Hall at Hedwig, Derek Klena at Wicked, Megan Hilty after a concert with my city's symphony, the entire Book of Mormon cast (especially Nic Rouleau and AJ Holmes). They were all very friendly and seemed happy to meet fans!

delete - doubt post - sorry

Updated On: 7/30/14 at 02:49 PM