Just a few Broadway-related questions..

[Faigs]

Posted: 1/25/07 at 11:33pm

Hey everyone. After about two years of reading posts here and lurking around the site, I decided to join. Anyway, I have a question and I'm not sure if it's stupid or not, so just bear with me. :]

On Feb. 10th, I'm going to NY and I was wondering.. Is it rude to stand at a stagedoor and wait for one of the actors to come out even if you didn't see their show? I'm seeing Rent (again) but I've met a lot of the cast already and I'm DYING to meet John Tartaglia.. So I thought after Rent I could get to the BATB theatre and wait for him out there.

When I think about it, it sounds so dumb. Have people done this? And another thing, I have no clue how far apart the two theatres are, AND, I know that Rent runs longer than BATB, so everything is kind of mixed up. But I know that since I don't get to go to NY often, I'll never forgive myself if I don't even try to meet John.

So all in all, I'm just asking this: is it rude to stand at a stagedoor to meet someone even if you didn't see their show? And for the people who have seen John in BATB, approximately how long does it take for him to come out (if he does) and how long does he stay? Because I'm pretty sure Rent ends 30 minutes after and so I'm afraid I might miss him. :[

Sorry for the long post, but thank you so much if you can help! (I'm new with all of this.)

[iwearshoes]

Posted: 1/25/07 at 11:41pm

I have done it before, but always wondered the same thing. I guess I don't really see anything wrong with it!

[wickedrentq]

Posted: 1/25/07 at 11:52pm

Well, it's not like you have to announce that you didn't see the show

Rent is on 41st Street, Beauty and the Beast is on 46th Street. I honestly have no clue about the time differences in the shows. John tends to come out...20 minutes, maybe half an hour after the show is over? I think it's worth a try, if there's a big crowd, he spends a lot of time talking to everyone...he can be quite a chatterbox, so you still may be able to catch him. I really hope you get to meet him, it's a real treat to be able to! He's definitely one of the nicest actors to interact with.

[D2]

Posted: 1/25/07 at 11:52pm

Years ago I saw someone waiting at the stage door of the (then) Uris Theatre after a performance of SWEENEY TODD. SUGAR BABIES was playing across the street. Ann Miller and Mickey Rooney came out of the Hellinger stage door and this woman ran across the street and had them sign her SWEENEY program.

If she could do that without a flicker of embarrassment, then I would say you have no problem going to meet John Tartaglia without seeing BATB. Enjoy.

And I would love to have that program - imagine, an original SWEENEY TODD program signed by Ann Miller and Mickey Rooney!

[allofmylife]

Posted: 1/26/07 at 2:02am

THEY DON'T EXACTLY DO AN ID CHECK SO WHO KNOWS WHO SAW THE SHOW - AND SOME OF THOSE PERSISTANT AUTOGRAPH PROS definately DIDN'T SEE THE SHOW. THE TRASH CANS ABOUT ONE BLOCK FROM THE THEATRE WILL BE FESTOONED WITH PROGRAMS FOR THE SHOW. PICK ONE UP AND HOLD IT IN YOUR HAND AND YOU'LL FIT RIGHT IN.

Oppps. sorry for the caps. Too late at night to retype.

[tazber]

Posted: 1/26/07 at 11:51am

Go for it! Make the most out of your trip to NY. I hope he is as grascious as he seems.

[Fosse76]

Posted: 1/26/07 at 1:07pm

Personally, I think it's just tacky, but more so for the people who actually live in the area who do it that are under the delusion that these performers are their friends and want to see them. But I'd say go for it, esp. if you don't live here and it's unlikely you'll ever see him again.

[dramaqueen2]

Posted: 1/26/07 at 1:50pm

hmm.. i did this once after a performance of rabbithole and scooted across the street to meet matthew broderick after he was in the odd couple. i was kind of iffy about it, but if i didn't try i would've regretted it..

just don't be obvious about that you weren't at that show i'd say, you might get trouble, haha.

good luck & enjoy!

[SweetQintheLights]

Posted: 1/26/07 at 1:57pm

You obviously wouldn't say, "Your performance was great!" but specifically for John Tartaglia, you can compliment him on something such as how cute Johnny and the Sprites are. After all, you can sit at home and watch that!

[Mamie]

Posted: 1/26/07 at 2:05pm

I did that shortly after Spamalot opened. I hadn't seen the show but as I passed the theatre one night I realized that the show was going to be letting out in about 15 minutes. So I went to the stage door and was there when the guy came out to set up the barricades. He asked me if I would like a Playbill for autographs and then he went inside and got me one! He couldn't have cared less whether I had seen the show or not. So I now have a Playbill with all but one of the original cast's sigs on it.

(by the way - I didn't embarrass myself or the actors by announcing that I had not seen the show. Keep that to yourself.)

Updated On: 1/26/07 at 02:05 PM

[p.s.]

Posted: 1/26/07 at 2:39pm

Leaving Les Miz, I looked across the street and saw a guy who looks something like Tony Danza used to look. I had a marker in hand and considered asking him to sign my Les Miz program.

p.s. I decided not to, because I didn't think it would be considered an original Tony Danza autograph.

[Faigs]

Posted: 1/27/07 at 4:37pm

Thanks for replying and for the encouragement. I definitely think I'm gonna go for it. Also, does John come out after matinees? I know lots of actors don't...

[mikem]

Posted: 1/27/07 at 5:26pm

When Three Days of Rain just started and they hadn't figured out yet how to deal with the stage door thing, I met a couple who got Julia Roberts's signature on the title page of a Sweeney Todd Playbill. They had been walking by when she came out, and they had the Sweeney Todd Playbill on them. They said Julia didn't seem to notice that it was the wrong Playbill.

[Dibbledl01]

Posted: 1/27/07 at 8:57pm

I once went to "Glenn Gary, Glenn Ross", got everyone including Liev Schreiber's but excluding Alan Alda's signature on the front, ran over to "Spamalot" and got David Hyde Pierce and many other cast member's autographs, and then I ran over to "The Pillowman" and got Billy Crudup and Jeff Goldbloom's autograph. (I just handed them the playbill open to the page where are all the shows are listed in their boxes at the back of the booklet and no one gave a damn)

[SpritesForMe]

Posted: 1/27/07 at 9:53pm

Regarding John coming out after matinees. When I was there in early January I saw him at the stage door on a Wenesday. I did go back later on a Saturday night after I saw Avenue Q too see him again. He is a sweet heart, and you don't want to miss him.

[wickedrentq]

Posted: 1/27/07 at 10:22pm

Yes, he comes out after matinees

[winston89]

Posted: 1/27/07 at 11:09pm

A long while ago I was really into Rent and saw it a bunch of times. If your into a show like Rent and go back time after time, the cast notices who you are. Almost like store or a reasturant so frequently they know right away what you order or get. Anyways, After a preformance of ACL I headed over there cus it was on my way to Penn station. I had asked the actress playing Mimi who knew me from seeing the show so many times how the preformance went. She saw my spamalot playbill and we talked bout the show and she told me that i shouldn't feel bad bout comming to see how the show is doing ect because loads of people do it.

[Faigs]

Posted: 2/4/07 at 11:35am

Alrighty, I have another question, haha. I just got the Q book about a week ago and I was thinking about bringing it so John could sign it, but then I realized that may not be a good idea...? I thought that because he's done with Avenue Q and he's doing different things now. I don't know, for example, wouldn't it be annoying if someone went to see Les Miz and made Daphne sign their Rent bible? Is it sort of the same thing?

[wickedrentq]

Posted: 2/4/07 at 12:34pm

It's a good question Faigs, and it's great that you thought of that and asked it. It may bother some people and be inappropriate, but John won't care.