Hamlet Stage Door

[maliatkb8]

Posted: 10/18/09 at 7:55pm

Is the Hamlet stage door "experience" similar to what it was like for EQUUS? Does Jude sign autographs after the mantinees, or does he wait for the evening performance? And, does security require tickets / Playbill's to stand by the barricades, or do they let anyone come by for an autograph?

... I would hope that they would make it easiest for the Hamlet attendees to meet Jude.

Let me know what your experiences were like.

Thanks!

[dshnookie]

Posted: 10/18/09 at 7:58pm

I passed by the stage door last night and there were at least 50 people lined up on each side of the stage door awaiting Jude's exit. Mind you, I walked by after seeing HAIR and stopping at Junior's for take out .. I'd say by the time I walked by it was 11PM - the police kept telling the crowd to move onto the sidewalk if they wanted to wait and that the show didnt let out for another 25min. Clearly, no one waiting in line was seeing the show that night.

[#1Elphie]

Posted: 10/18/09 at 8:08pm

Yeah, it definitely fills up before the show ends. On the evening that I saw the show, when I walked outside, the sidewalk around the theatre was already filled with people; I had to cross the street just to get around the crowd and head to the subway. It was ridiculous how packed it was.

[mikem]

Posted: 10/18/09 at 11:29pm

Unless they have changed the setup, it is the same as for Equus -- one of the barricades is set up so that the area closest to the stage door is reserved for people who saw the show that day. So even if there are other people already waiting, the people who saw the show still have a chance.

And when I saw the show, Jude Law did something extremely nice -- he first signed for the people on the "just saw the show" side, then he went to the other side, then he came back to the original side and said, "Anyone else have a Playbill?" and specifically signed Playbills for a few extra people. I thought that was very classy of him. I don't know if he routinely does that or it was just that one time.

[legally_popular]

Posted: 10/18/09 at 11:36pm

I saw it last Sunday. The stage door wasn't that bad to me, probably because I was expecting it to be like how people are describing the situation at A Steady Rain, but it's not that crazy. They divide up the people onto two sides, one with people who didn't see the show and the ones who did (they check your ticket). They put you into a "pen" of barricades to keep the sidewalk open. And then right before Jude comes out, they move the barricades to the door so Jude has a straight walk-way to his car. Jude signed for both sides.

I'm not really good at estimating how many people were there, but it was A LOT. And even some people standing across the street. I don't think it was as bad as Equus. I remember trying to walk up 44th one night last year when Equus was letting out and both sides of the street were completely packed, it took so long to get through.

Hamlet is not that bad at all. Maybe I was just lucky because the night I was there the people were really behaved and calm and it was really easy to get an autograph. No pushing or yelling or anything. The people in front of us politely left the crowd to let us move up to get an autograph, and we did the same for the people behind us, so it went really well.

[Revolutionary]

Posted: 10/22/09 at 1:52pm

Has Jude been coming out after the matinees too, and does he stay as long as he does after the evening shows?

[JenNYferTheatrical]

Posted: 10/22/09 at 5:40pm

I went two weeks ago and it was madness. The staff were not too friedly either. There really are just so many people. I did get my playbill signed though!

[GimmeABreak2]

Posted: 10/22/09 at 6:28pm

Do the other cast members stop and sign?