Nathan Lane Time at Stagedoor — Page 2

That Chuggers thing in the UK sounds absolutely awful -- how DARE they expect anyone to give them their bank information. I wouldn't give them the time of day, no matter how hard their sell. UGH!!!!

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Of course, SD'ing before is rude! Many performers do a lot of emotional preparation for performances. Some even use that walk to the theater to focus on the task at hand and you're interrupting them before you've even seen their performance that evening to ask for an autograph.

I've been so touched by certain performances that I've waited simply to thank them, instead of getting anything signed.

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I've heard stories about the "many moods of Nathan Lane," but every time I encountered him, he was more than pleasant. Especially to a gaggle of middle aged tour bus women after "Odd Couple." I recall reading that he signed autographs following every matinee of that show.

I'm not sure it's "rude" to wait to accost a performer at the stage door before a show -- I'm not a fan of it at ANY time -- but some performers do take some time before the show to get their heads together. Having said that, they need to take into account that NY is a big, busy city & there are distractions. If they're serious about their prep, they leave sufficient time for it, incl. time to overcome distractions, which incluides fans & pseudo-fans.

Now for the truly unpopular statement: almost all of the people I've ever seen or been accosted by outside a stage door PRIOR to the show have been very odd. These are the people who thrust piles of Star Wars memorabilia at Mark Hamill (or Star Trek stuff at Patrick Stewart) or shove Playbills at anyone walking through the stage door, incl. house staff. Some are genuine fans who want to be polite & do not wish to take up a lot of time (their own or the performers'), but most are just downright creepy.