Favorite Stage Door Experiences — Page 4

A few:

Rebecca Luker and Mary Stuart Masterson after NINE: signed, took pictures, and chatted for a good while with both of them. The entire cast was very nice but those two stuck out in my mind.

LANDSCAPE OF THE BODY: I was the only person waiting after a Sunday matinee. Lili Taylor came out after about 5 minutes and talked to me for 20 minutes. She signed my playbill and my I SHOT ANDY WARHOL DVD cover and personalized, "To Jim, a great fan and person With Love, Lili Taylor". Sherie Rene Scott was also very friendly, signing and taking pictures with me.

THE PILLOWMAN: Crudup, Ivanek and Goldblum were all incredibly sweet and humble and willing to mingle with fans. It was a pleasure to meet and talk with them about the play.

Marla Schaffel and James Barbour after JANE EYRE: Autographs, pics, convos...the whole nine yards.

Not a theatre star, but meeting Kathy Griffin after a performance in NJ...she was so sweet and funny. She and her husband took a picture with me and my boyfriend and she signed her DVD for me. A great lady.

Meeting Joanna Gleason and taking a picture with her after her last performance in DRS pretty much tops my list. It was kind of like finding the Golden ticket or catching a Leprechaun.

Also, after Grey Gardens everyone was incredibly friendly and talkative (minus John McMartin) and I talked to both Sara Gettelfinger and Christine Ebersole for about 10 minutes each.

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"Meeting Joanna Gleason and taking a picture with her after her last performance in DRS pretty much tops my list. It was kind of like finding the Golden ticket or catching a Leprechaun."

Hahaha! That was a great way of putting it. For the longest time, I was calling her the Phantom of the Imperial. I never saw her at the stage door, and I kept missing her at the CD signings. I was talking to Greg about it once, and he said "yeah, she's quite the elusive one. Sometimes we're not sure she even exists." But I too finally met her and got a picture and it felt like a final end to a long journey

And NathanLaneStalker...this isn't just to you, but a lot of people say this about different people from time to time and I'm not saying you even are holding it against her...but...people often write so and so didn't talk so much. What did you expect her to say? Yes, there are a few special people who go above and beyond and will talk with you for loads of time even if you have nothing to say. But usually at stage doors, there's only a select few people I actually may have something to say to other than "you did a great job." So if that's all I'm saying, why would I expect them to talk much? (Btw, it's Sara...no H).

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theatretrash-

I did the same thing to Sutton Foster. I know that feeling.

Well, then there's the story about my time at PIAZZA. Meeting Victoria Clark - a woman who I worship.

I had been deathly afraid to stage door PIAZZA the first 3 times. Then I had a friend who forced me. And we went. And she came out, and I sobbed. Hysterrically. As if I had found out a family member died. And I asked her for a hug, she gave me one, and I let out this huge sob.

Most embarassing moment of my life.

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Aww, Iluv.

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Doubtful.

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Antonio Banderas was also very sweet and personable, but my favorite moment ever (next to the Harvey moment) was after a performance of NINE (which I saw way too many times.)

I saw it first very early in the run - perhaps late in previews - and Antonio came out first. After he left, 3/4 of the crowd also left.

All I wanted was to meet Benanti, whom I worship, but she snuck out without being noticed.

Chita Rivera came out last, and I was one of the only people there. I told her how much her performance and this show meant to me, and she just blindly signed my playbill, and neverl ooked up at me. Then she looked up to smile and said "Oh my god, I'm in love with your eyes. And wow, what gorgeous hair!"

Whether it was true or not - and I'm inclined to think that my hair and eyes are nothing special at all - it was a very strange feeling that will always stay with me.




Another NINE encounter.....

Following Antonio/Chita/Jane's last performance, I was walking down the street to catch Melanie's final performance in CHICAGO. NINE is a piece of theatre that means an immense amount to me - it's the first show I saw that really hit me and that really caused me to sob. I was mortally depressed after Antonio's last show, and as I was walking by the theatre, I spotted David Leveaux and John Stamos chatting in front of the street. They both looked at me as I walked by, so I stopped and just said "I'm so sorry to interrupt, but, Mr. Leveaux, I must thank you so much for this gift - it has literally changed my life." He was very appreciative and nice, and then Stamos turned to me and asked me how many times I had seen the show, and if I'd be returning to see him. I told him that I already had tickets to his first performance, and he told me to meet him after the show to tell him how he was doing.

So I did. And he walked over and said "I don't even want to hear it! Tonight was rough! Come back in a week and we'll talk!"

So I did. And we did. And he is a lovely, lovely (and hot as sin) man.

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best ever experience was my second time seeing avenue q... the reason i was seeing it again was because john tartaglia was leaving and i had to see him in it again.... well Jeff Marx (writer of the show) was standing near the stage door and because I was obessed with the show at the time I recognized him right away and we were talking for a while... he noticed my bracelet that I was wearing (charm bracelt i made with pix ofg the q cast) he called john tartaglia over to see it... in the meantime my friend will was holding our video camera and started to film me and john... jeff marx asks for the camera and films my friend, and me with johnny who is saying stuff like "happy new year long live q" stuff like that.... THEN jeff marx says "give her a kiss" and he gives me a kiss on the cheek right there on camera.... i nearely died

iluvtheatertrash, loved reading your Joanna story!

One more comment from me regarding the "etiquette" of asking to go backstage, at least where it concerns making requests of Gregory Jbara. I asked him what he thinks about that and what he said was pretty much what I thought he would. He does *not* consider it rude for someone to ask. As he put it, he's no mind reader. (Which is exactly what I was thinking ... how is he supposed to know? Believe it or not, not everyone cares about going backstage. Not to mention sometimes requests are from someone unknown to him from out of town - state, even - making a one-time trip to the show -- if they want to go backstage but don't ask, there's no way he is going to know to invite them!) He added that he always has the power to say "no" or "it's not a convenient time".

Don't know anything about any other performer or their views on this, but Greg really does not mind. :)

Good thread ... have enjoyed reading your stories.

I just read this whole thread. You all had some great stories.

I've posted it before, but my most wonderful stage door moment was being invited backstage at SpamAlot. John Bolton, the standby for the show, and I started talking about theatre and he asked me if I was going to pursue it in college. When I told him yes, that I was in NYC to tour NYU, he was like, "Well, have you ever been on a Broadway stage?" I just about died. He told me to hang on for a moment while he signed for the rest of the barricade, and when he was done, he came back and said, "Are you ready?"

He took me and my aunt back and showed us all around backstage and then took us onstage, which was one honestly one of the coolest moments of my life. He then told me I could go climb up on the set if I wanted. While we were onstage, David Hyde Pierce was walking out toward the stage door and we said goodnight to him and told him how much we enjoyed his performance.

I don't think I could ever bring myself to ask an actor to bring us backstage, because I would feel like I was imposing. It isn't anyone's right to go backstage (number one, you don't really belong there and number two, it definetly isn't included with the price of admission to the show), however, Mr. Bolton took 20 minutes out of his evening to make a complete stranger's dream come true. I really think that is admirable. I really have a lot of respect for people like Mr. Bolton and Mr. Jbaram, and others who have been mentioned who really make an extra effort to make people feel like a million bucks.

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Wow Lorelai, I'm a tad slow. At first I read that and thought...OMG...you and JLT actually know someone named Regina Filange? That's amazing! Yeah...oops.

Guess I'll contribute some great memories.

I've had many wonderful stage door experiences, but without a doubt, the most amazing one occurred at the Elvis Costello concert. So many great performers and great encounters.

But see, there was something cool I realized about that day--in the past week, Raul Esparza, Adam Pascal, Anthony Rapp, and Matt Morrison (who were all performing at the concert) had birthdays. I actually e-mailed the place to tell them and encouraged them to sing happy birthday to them in the middle of the show which never happened, unfortunately. But I always have too much time, so I decided to make fun cards...with little writing and a fun picture for everyone--Fozzie Bear for Matt, Charlie Brown for Anthony, and a big pair of eyes for Adam (I never actually finished Raul's. Oops).

So then the concert was over, and I emerged to the lobby where everyone was. Talk about crazy. There were just soo many people around; I had no clue where to go!

I think I finally got to Matt first. He loved Fozzie, and hugged and kissed me and we talked a bit. I was already in my glory.

Then I timidly approached Adam. I had just met him once last week, whereas some others I've met several times and knew. But he loved the card, cracked up when he saw the eyes, and to my complete surprise leaned down and hugged me and kissed me. 2 kisses from amazingly gorgeous and talented actors. Me the rest of the night =

That wasn't all. I got a picture with Daphne, amusingly dressed up as a cop, and met her for the first time. She was really sweet, and we talked about her chatterbox that I just watched. I met Patrick Wilson for the first time, and overcame my urge--I really didn't think it would be appropriate to tell him how much I love Gerry, so I just said I loved *everyone* in the Phantom movie. He was really tall.

Then I took a pic with Raul...and it was Halloween so my "costume" was my shirt that said "Theater dork." Raul was the one person who noticed it and said it and cracked up and that he loved it. He was great that night.

And then finally, Anthony. Now I had given him the card earlier, and we talked a bit--he was positively gushing about Elvis Costello and it was adorable. He recommended CDs to me and everything.

But then he was the last one there (shock). So we talked to him some more at the end...Book 4 of Harry Potter fell out of his bag so we proceeded to discuss that for a little while. Hmm, I wonder if he's had time to finish or get up to date on the series...

Anyway, then we walked out...my friend beat him at an escalator race...I was yelled at to hurry up as I was behind, but I declined...I see no reasons to waste energy while on an escalator. A truly amazing night.

Followed closely behind exactly a week before--the 24 hour plays. That was the first time I met Adam--I shook and took a picture with him.

Then Hayden Christiansen was a surprise guest, so I got a picture with him. Gah, he's gorgeous, even though his hair was different.

Then Wilson Jermaine Heredia and Tracie Thoms came out. I was a total picture whore that night, and got a picture with the both of them. Earlier in the day the cast had seen their very first showing of the full movie, so I talked about it with Wilson for a bit. I still remember how passionate and moved he was--he said that he got so choked up while watching it, and totally forgot that he was even in the movie, and just watched it like any other viewer. It was so cute to watch him talk about it.

Then we once again talked to Anthony for a while. I got a picture with him, and then one of him and Tracie(yeah i was being a whore), ooh and then a really cute one of him and Tracie. We talked about lots of things--Symphony Space and other fun stuff. It was the first I heard about that screening.

And then I also met and got a picture with Elizabeth Berkley.

Otherwise, there's just been soo many amazing experiences at the DRS door...too many to describe, but they have involved the wonderful cast members Greg Jbara(shocking I know), Laura Marie Duncan, Joe Cassidy, Dennis Stowe, Sara Gettelfinger, and Rachelle Rak. I'm often asked if I work there when I'm at the stage door.

Yeah, these are probably my ultimate experiences. But I've had so many great ones that I went throughout BWW to find my posts about them and put them all in a word document--it is currently 125 pages It's silly I know...sure, these are normal people and stuff...but it irrationally makes me so happy...why would I want to change that? Especially those 2 nights in October happened during a particularly rough time, my parents' divorce, and my realization that my dad was a new person who I wanted nothing to do with. Now my mom has a tumor, and earlier I had a creative meltdown in school, and these amazing experiences have made the difficult times so much easier. A lot of people don't understand what the big deal is with these experiences, but that's the best way I can describe it.

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