Not the same thing because I am a lowly community theater performer, but I'm reminded of a show from last summer where I was Arnold Wiggins in "The Boys Next Door". I had the opening monologue and I was playing Arnold as manic and OCD as possible. The theater was at a church, and patrons need to pass through the hallway that also connects to our stage left entrances. Anyway, for my show prep, to find Arnold, I would pace in a circle for thirty or forty minutes before the show in a room adjacent to the green room so I could open the show in character in appropriate frenzied condition. In one particular performance, my sister happens to be heading to the ladies room just as I am getting into my spot so I totally spaz in character and the stage manager shooes her away.
Just a thought that everyone's stage prep is a little different. Of course, I suspect that polished Broadway actors turn it on and off far better than I.
BLAH BLAH BLAH