Famous People You Have Spotted at Broadway Shows — Page 3

Carol Channing was at the performance I saw of Broadway Bound starring Joan Rivers. Ms. Channing started the standing ovation.

Bob Hope was at City of Angels. He and his wife left at intermission.

I sat next to Alan Cumming at The Nance. I didn't realize who it was until intermission when people were asking for his autograph.

Liza Minnelli at The Life the night after it didn't win the Tony. She got on stage after the show and sang about half a dozen songs with Sam Harris and the cast.

A friend just saw An American in Paris last Saturday. The Clintons were there. It took an extra half hour to start the second act.

He was standing with his bf (now husband) in the lobby during intermission, and I asked if I could have an autograph and/or picture with him. He said, VERY RUDELY, "There is absolutely NO photography permitted in the theater". I was so appalled I simply said "Ok" and walked away. My mother and I couldn't believe his attitude towards a fan, and to this day it's all I can think about when I see him on tv.

Updated On: 6/1/15 at 07:06 PM

Stephen Sondheim during the recent Sweeney Todd concert. Our seats were so far away that my picture of him on stage is ridiculously blurry and you can only make him out because he's wearing a different jacket than everyone.

But that does not matter one bit to me, because it's fricken Stephen Sondheim.

I'm not too much of an audience seeker once I get to the show, though. I mainly just look at the actual theatre architecture and Playbill and am always in my own head. In fact, I was walking with my friend once near Schmackery's and she all but hit me across the face to point to Billy Porter who was (obviously) walking to the Al Hirschfeld.

Over the years, saw Lynn Redgrave at Grey Gardens, Tommy Tune at Gypsy, Michael Sheen and Orlando Bloom at Twelfth Night, and Harry Belafonte at Hamilton. Exiting The Last Ship I was walking behind Audra McDonald thinking she was leaving the theater and inadvertently started following her backstage. Caught my mistake quickly

I saw Peter Gallagher at The Elephant Man, and a few other people who i recognized from various places, but couldn't put a name to.

Love this thread. Oprah and Gayle - Book of Mormon.

Not at a show but Paul McCartney at Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull at the Ziegfeld theater. It's really hard to concentrate on a movie when you know Paul McCartney is sitting in the theater.

I once saw George Lucas coming out of the stage door of the '02 Into The Woods. That was cool.

And when I saw The Producers, my Dad introduced me to someone I didn't recognize....sure enough, it was Ted Kennedy.

Updated On: 6/1/15 at 11:18 PM

Bruce Springsteen was at Fish in the dark the night i was there

Not Bway but pre: Kristin Chenoweth at Finding Neverland at A.R.T. I was content fangirling from afar, but the best moment was watching a little girl maybe age 8-ish walking through the house and suddenly seeing Cheno and recognizing her. That kid went from regular to squee in an instant. It was adorable.

My Broadway experience is limited, seeing as I live on the other side of the country, but even then I've had a few moments. I saw Sondheim at the final performance of the Encores! production, A Bed and A Chair, and I saw Sherrie Rene Scott at the First Preview of The Bridges of Madison County, which made me smile. (Later that night, Gary Oldman walked past us on the street while we were waiting at the stagedoor too, not quite AT the show, but still pretty awesome.)

Updated On: 6/2/15 at 02:06 AM

When I saw Hamilton with a friend, we saw Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Ellie Kemper, AND Michelle Obama sitting (seperately) a few seats/rows away from us. It was pretty sweet.

Updated On: 6/2/15 at 02:33 AM

Angela Lansbury escorted by young Actor Micheal Jason waaaay back in 1971 in Boston at the first matinee preview of "Follies" at the Colonial Theater.Angela Lansbury was in Boston tryout of musical Prettybelle at the Shubert which had already announced it was closing with just a few performances left. I remember walking in the theater and they were walking in front of me. Recently while stage dooring in SF and only on rare occasions I had the opportunity to Say to her I saw everything she did in Boston and with a pause and a smile said, and Prettybelle....oh she looked surprised and said something like Dear God...Did you really?

Streisand at ANNIE, with Jon Peters (the red hair era). Lobby, exiting at intermission to hide somewhere. She was in white.

Ethel Merman and Ruth Gordon -- same row, not together (!) -- at the first preview of ROMANTIC COMEDY with Mia Farrow and Anthony Perkins. Gordon stood up, stared at the mezz and waved. She was in her defining black hat. Merman noticed them, but to my knowledge, they never spoke. Gordon was with Garson.

Robert Altman sat next to me, albeit across the aisle, at "ELAINE STRITCH: AT LIBERTY."