How to Succeed Stage Door

[jenniewie2]

Posted: 6/10/11 at 5:27pm

I'm going to see How to Succeed in a few weeks with a large group of my family, none of whom will want to wait around at the stage door. I'd love to go, but can't if the wait is too long. Anyone know how long it takes, or if it's super crazy because of Daniel Radcliffe? Thanks.

[IdinaBellFoster]

Posted: 6/10/11 at 5:40pm

Well I saw the show on it's second or third preview, so Daniel may have been getting notes, or something else, but he took a good 30-40 minutes for him to come out. That said, he was nothing but kind and gracious when it came out, and signed as many things as he could.

[broadwaydevil]

Posted: 6/10/11 at 5:45pm

I was there a month or so ago and was considering maybe stagedooring. As I was leaving the theatre, there were (not exaggerating) at least 100 people already swarming the baricaded area. I quickly left. I can only assume these individuals weren't at the show since I was one of the first to leave. Pretty low, if you ask me. I'd skip it, especially if your friends don't want to wait.

[moncruzz]

Posted: 6/10/11 at 5:49pm

Saw How to Succeed and waited for Daniel Radcliffe last Friday June 3, and it took him about 45minutes to come out of the stage door. He was indeed very kind.

TIP: A lot of people get shy/starstruck so it gets pretty quiet while everyone extends their playbills to get signed. but if you talk to him, he talks back. I totally regret not telling him he was great that night.

And if you want a good chance of being at the front of the barrier, LEAVE BEFORE they start doing their bows.!

[moncruzz]

Posted: 6/10/11 at 5:50pm

broadwaydevil: Actually when I went last week, there's a person that checks if you even had tickets to the show. I think they only check for the first few who get to the front of the barricade.

[beach2732]

Posted: 6/10/11 at 7:38pm

I was there last Saturday. Each side of the barricade had about 65+ people, and there was another 75+ people across the street. There was maybe 5 people in front of me to the barricade (I was about 5 people deep, whichever sentence seems to make more sense to you!). Most of the actors from the show skip it. Rose (20 min?) signed the first row and left. Christopher and John (25 min?) signed a lot (if you held your playbill out, they would reach for it and sign it). Daniel (35-40 mins?) signs those along the line and a few if passed up (A very nice gentleman took my playbill from my outstretched hand, passed it forward, and placed it right under him, so it did get signed!).

All that being said, it was hectic and crazy. For most people, this is probably their first and only stage door experience. The barricade opposite me, for example, rushed the rail when Daniel came out and you could hear some girls screaming "You're suffocating me!" Luckily, my side exchanged glances and someone stated "Let's be the sensible side that doesn't do that!" There is lots of screaming, cameras flashing, and marriage proposals shouted. Seriously. I'm glad I went, and that it worked out that I got the three main guys to sign it, but I wouldn't do that stage door again! :)

Hope that helps!

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 6/10/11 at 7:53pm

"And if you want a good chance of being at the front of the barrier, LEAVE BEFORE they start doing their bows.!"

I will admit I am not one who stage doors, but leaving early to get to the stage door? Leaving before or during curtain call iis just plain rude.

[willep]

Posted: 6/10/11 at 8:44pm

The day I went, not only did this group of girls leave the show before they even got to BROTHERHOOD OF MAN, but they told the cast that they did! Ugh that disgusted me.

[Eris0303]

Posted: 6/10/11 at 10:06pm

I'm seeing the show tomorrow and honestly I care more about seeing Tammy Blanchard than anyone else. My sister is a huge Judy Garland fan and thus is a fan of Tammy's portrayal of young Judy in "Me and My Shadows" There's no way we could get there first because not only will I not leave during curtain calls but my sister can only take stairs one at a time. I hate the fact that autograph sellers will probably steal this opportunity from her.

[jenniewie2]

Posted: 6/10/11 at 11:19pm

Thanks everyone, sounds like I should just skip it. I would never leave before their curtain call (they just performed for me, I can stand there and clap for them) and I doubt I would have the patience or the time to wait behind all the people who got there first. The same thing happened when I saw A Little Night Music with Bernadette, the entire front line of people hadn't seen the show. Fortunately, it was my birthday that night and that and the fact that I came all the way from Oregon caused people to take pity on me and let me move to the front :)

[Eris0303]

Posted: 6/11/11 at 12:14am

Does anyone know if they're trying to dissuade the sellers by announcing Radcliffe will only sign show related stuff?

[lovepuppy]

Posted: 6/11/11 at 12:40am

Not to thread-jack, but I just saw tonight's performance of "Brotherhood of Man" on Letterman, and they did fantastic. On "The View" a few weeks ago, the energy sucked and Daniel and the rest of the guys seemed winded...or tired...or...maybe it was too early in the morning for them, who knows. But at that viewing I thought, "THIS is what everyone's speaking so highly of?"

Either the cast was having a bad day on "The View," or someone saw that video and sharpened things up a bit. Tonight was much improved over a few weeks ago. I hope the entire show is like that. Going to NYC in a month or two and hope to see it along with a few others we're going to check out!

(And now back to your regularly-scheduled stage door thread... :)

[guiltyone2]

Posted: 6/11/11 at 1:35am

These stories all bring me back to my Equus stage door experience: waiting about an hour in what was literally a 200-person mob all for a glimpse of Daniel Radcliffe. Madness. I do cherish that signed playbill, though.

Have people experienced much of people shoving HP-related things at him to sign?

[jaxel614]

Posted: 6/11/11 at 9:18am

Went to the stage door twice when I was in the city two weeks ago. Saw the show Saturday night and by the time I was at the barricade I was about five rows back.

If you are seeing an evening show on a day that also has a matinee performance, there are going to be people that come back before the show is over to stand on the "Day of Show" side. Be prepared.

What we did to get the Radcliffe autograph... sort of worked out perfectly. We saw Book of Mormon as our Sunday matinee. Starting at two, ended with enough time to get to the stage door there (everyone came out and were awesome) and to make our way to How to Succeed with about 40 minutes in their show left. Went to the other barricade and were able to get a Cast Album cover side as well as a Playbill.

Sooo, ways to do it. I'd just plan to get there early after a different performance, so you can fully enjoy the show and not be disappointed when you see the barricades completely full as you walk out of the theater.

GOOD LUCK!

[LFazin]

Posted: 6/11/11 at 12:10pm

Saw the show on 4/24 and we left during the first bows of curtain call. When we got outside, there was already a mob of fans already...on both sides of the baricades and across the street. As everyone else has been saying, there's lots of pushing, shoving....I had cameras and playbills on my head from the people behind me. But, with that being said, if you get close enough to the front of the baricades, you'll get to see/meet him. He does what he can to sign as much as he can, and like people have been saying, he's extremely nice. My friend, above all the screams and squeals, asked him what advice he had for an aspiring actress/actor, and he kindly responded right away: "Make sure you work as hard as you can, and always be nice to everyone in your cast and crew."

[mikem]

Posted: 6/11/11 at 1:14pm

I know the Hirschfeld and Broadhurst are owned by different people, so the security personnel are different, but it sounds like they should do what they did at Equus. There, before Radcliffe came out, the security guy said nicely but firmly over and over again that if people started pushing, the signing was going to stop. People heard it. There was a little pushing, but nothing like the chaos it sounds like is happening at How to Succeed.

[perfectlymarvelous]

Posted: 6/11/11 at 5:04pm

This thread is making me glad I met him after Equus...I saw the show and managed to get to the front of the barricade anyway and spoke to Daniel a little, he was very nice and it wasn't nearly as chaotic as what it sounds like is happening here.

[Eris0303]

Posted: 6/11/11 at 10:09pm

Found out today that Daniel doesn't come out after matinee's and the guard was pretty much inviting people to come back at 11pm. Only a few people came out in fact

We got Tammy which was our goal for the day.

[willep]

Posted: 6/11/11 at 10:50pm

^Glad it worked out for you! I forgot to mention that about matinees!

[Eris0303]

Posted: 6/11/11 at 10:55pm

Several girls were running out before curtain calls and I was tempted to trip them as they ran by.