Broadway fans who cross boundaries — Page 2

"You've never heard the phrase Stage Door Johnny?"

You've got your definition wrong - a "Stage Door Johnny" was never just a mundane fan or autograph hunter; it was used as slang for a certain kind of (generally) wealthy young man who would hang around the stage door, looking to meet actresses and chorus girls for either brief or long-term romance, beneficial to both parties, if you know what I mean.

no, i knew exactly what it meant but I've never heard your added connotation: just wealthy men, OR a sugar daddy emphasis. Young men who would hang around hoping to meet (and date) the gals they thought were cute from the stage.

jacksonpotter said: ""Theatre etiquette has deteriorated ever since the Hamilstans and the Fansens came along."

"

Haven’t people been saying this for years? Before these shows it was next to normal. And then before that Spring Awakening. And then before that Rent (maybe that was the ‘first&rsquo. Essentially any show that seems to attract a large following of anxiety-riddled teens and young college students appears to have occasional issues with theatre and stage door behaviour. Has it really got worse in the last 3 years? (It might have. But I’m not sure).

Oh, please, the change in stage door expectations happened LONG before Hamilton and DEH.

bk said: "I've been lucky - the occasional PM or comment I get are very nice and I appreciate it. If anyone got weird they would be gone in a heartbeat because let me tell you, it can turn into stalker stuff very easily - I have a long-time stalker - she's here on this board so let's she if she has the gumption to try and post under whatever her username is now - you'll know it instantly."

That's bad. But you are a working actor on Broadway or a different field?

I will call myself out here. I was at Comet with my GF, and they did the pre show warnings to keep hands/feet/bags out of the aisles and I turned to listen and burst out "Oh! You're Lulu Fall!" At which point she looked at me like I was absolutely crazy and said "Um... yes, I am"

And then I had to quickly explain that I was familiar with her work from Hadestown and was just surprised that we got probably the one ensemblist I could name. She relaxed visibly as soon as she realised I wasn't about to follow it up with something creepy. Lesson to think before I speak haha. I was pretty mortified and apologized after the show. Distressingly, her response was "Don't worry I've gotten a lot worse/creepier"

mailhandler777 said: "I'm a repeat attender at Wicked on tour and on Broadway. No one in the cast(s) have had issues with me but fellow fans have."

Genuinely curious, since this is not my wheelhouse at all... what is the appeal for you? Do you stage door every time? I can understand seeing a show multiple times if you really love it, but have never really understood the appeal of stage dooring more than once (assuming the point of stagedooring in the first place is to briefly congratulate an actor and/or ask for a photo or autograph). If you don't mind my asking, what issues have fellow fans had? No judgement, my late-30s self just wants to understand this world better.

By my earlier comment about the repeat attendees of DEH and Matilda, I did not mean to come off as jealous in any way. He does stagedoor Everytime which is what I was mainly getting at, where it starts to become creepy to do that. He might be a friend of Michael Lee Brown, which could be a reason, otherwise I don't think there is a reason for repetitively stagedooring.

JudyDenmark said: "mailhandler777 said: "I'm a repeat attender at Wicked on tour and on Broadway. No one in the cast(s) have had issues with me but fellow fans have."

Genuinely curious, since this is not my wheelhouse at all... what is the appeal for you? Do you stage door every time? I can understand seeing a show multiple times if you really love it, but have never really understood the appeal of stage dooring more than once (assuming the point of stagedooring in the first place is to briefly congratulate an actor and/or ask for a photo or autograph). If you don't mind my asking, what issues have fellow fans had? No judgement, my late-30s self just wants to understand this world better.

"

For me it's just being able to chat with them and interact a bit better than on social media. They(cast members) have often told me it's nice to see a familiar face there especially if they are in the middle of nowhere America.

dearalanaaaa said: "By my earlier comment about the repeat attendees of DEH and Matilda, I did not mean to come off as jealous in any way. He does stagedoor Everytime which is what I was mainly getting at, where it starts to become creepy to do that. He might be a friend of Michael Lee Brown, which could be a reason, otherwise I don't think there is a reason for repetitively stagedooring."

How do you know he “does stagedoor every time” unless you’re also there often enough to see him every time?

It’s...odd...to complain about someone doing something ‘too much’ when the only reason the too much could be known is if there’s someone else there too much too. I feel bad for this kid.

There's just been a subculture of young adults who live in/around NYC and can afford (or rather their parents can afford) to see shows multiple times a month. And I'm talking full price tickets, not lottery or rush. And that of course leads to stagedooring every time and trying to become real life friends with them.

Also there's people referring to people as their mom/dad, to the point where I think I remember someone from Hamilton putting out a tweet that asked people to not refer to him as their son or dad.

And don't get me started on the real life "shippers". The people who think actors who are just friends should be dating and write fanfiction about them, sometimes even explicit!