Spotted Celebrities in Audience

[nybkg609]

Posted: 5/4/25 at 5:09pm

Spotted any celebrities and Broadway stars in the audience at Broadway, Off-Broadway, touring and regional shows more recently and in the past?

[quizking101]

Posted: 5/4/25 at 5:59pm

I have plenty, but to kick off the thread, I ran into Cynthia Erivo at GOOD NIGHT AND GOOD LUCK today.

[TotallyEffed]

Posted: 5/4/25 at 6:00pm

I saw Liza at that Dame Edna mess on Broadway. Magical.

[poisonivy2]

Posted: 5/4/25 at 7:00pm

Lin Manuel Miranda was sitting ahead of me in Camelot.

 

[BroadwayGirl107]

Posted: 5/4/25 at 7:11pm

Steven Spielberg was at VANYA yesterday 

[lastmidnights]

Posted: 5/4/25 at 7:29pm

Donna Murphy at Maybe Happy Ending last night

[njguy2]

Posted: 5/4/25 at 7:36pm

Martin Short at Sweeney Todd

[The8re phan]

Posted: 5/4/25 at 7:55pm

been lucky to have had several encounters (Hillary Clinton at Music Man, Patti LuPone at Oh, Mary) but my favorite is sitting with Gavin Creel at Camelot --- the wonderful chat we had before the show and at intermission will always be very special to me

Updated On: 5/4/25 at 07:55 PM

[Jarethan]

Posted: 5/4/25 at 10:05pm

Sat next to Carol Channing at a performance of The Glass Menagerie with Maureen Stapleton at the CITS.  She did not look up from her playbill at intermission. I assume she just didn't want to deal with people coming up to her. She wore a down to the floor white fur coat of some sort, which really took over part a lot of my seat, but I was cool.

Sat across the aisle from Richard Burton at, of all things, a revival of The Desert Song at the (then) Uris theatre.  He was very gracious to all who approached him (I did not, being a super-cool New Yorker).

Sat in front of Warren Beatty at Torch Song Trilogy.

Sat two rows in front of Jack Nicholson at BP Gypsy.  Maybe the best.  The audience in the orchestra was cool, left him alone.  Then just before intermission was about to end, someone from the mezzanine yelled out 'hey, Jack', at which point the audience in the orchestra broke into applause, at which point he stood up and did a comical bow.

Sat directly next to Jackie O at the Met for a performance of the Bolshoi Ballet (Spartacus) many years ago.  It was my 10th or 20th anniversary and was a real splurge in a Parterre Box.  She sat in the next box, right next to me.  Got a lot of eye strain trying to look at her while remaining a cool New Yorker.

Was standing very close to Paul Newman at a City Ballet Gala Performance, and was absolutely shocked at how small he was (but just as handsome as expected).  HE was drinking beer out of a can.

Saw Angela Lansbury (5 or 7 rows ahead of us) at Fences.  My wife was not as cool...stood near her (her seat was right by the start of the stadium seating at the (then) 46th Street Theatre.  My wife loves to tell how a woman finally approached her and said she never made plans for Sunday night because of Murder, She Wrote, to which her response was a very gracious 'thank you so much, dear.'

Saw an early performance of Equus in the 70s; I remember paying $8.00 for a seat in the 8th or so row of the orchestra.  Right in front of us were the weirdest trio one could imagine: Andy Warhol, Paulette Goddard and Anita Loos.  My wife only recognized Warhol.

Sat behind Jane Seymour (who, at the time, I thought was the most beautiful woman alive) at Les Mis in London, Christmas week 1986.  I remember the huge smile she gave me when her fur head band fell on the floor at intermission and I retrieved it for her.  I remember her gorgeous smile probably more than I remembered the second act of Les Mis.

Was on the line for the rest room behind Robert Redford at some Neil Simon play in the early 70s (I think it was Plaza Suite).  A couple of women came onto the line to ask for his autograph, which he graciously signed.

Yul Brynner (at Follies).  I was in standing room.  Follies was intermission-less, but he got up from his front of the orchestra seat and walked up the aisle incredibly slowly to I assume visit the rest room.  Lots of heads turned.

To show that he has always been an a**-hole, we attended a performance at the Met, which happened to be a gala for about a quarter of the audience.  Over 40 years ago, in walk Donald Trump and Ivana (hatchet-faced, but in a gold fairy princess dress) and tit was like the Red Sea parted.  People literally moved out of the way, as if they were royalty.  I thought it was disgusting then, and I didn't even realize how much worse he would become over the years.  HE was always a genius at self-promotion even if he is otherwise special needs.

Saw a performance of The Norman Conquests last time on Broadway.  Sigourney Weaver was a few rows in front of me (in the center section).  No make-up, looked as patrician as ever.  Also saw Jonathan Groff at intermission.  

 

All of those performances were pre the introduction of premium seating, and back when every orchestra seat was pretty much the same price and it paid to get tickets in advance.  I rarely sit in seats as good nowadays.  Even if I have good seats in the orchestra, they are never in the first 10 rows center or off the center aisle.  But I continue to believe that the best seats to a rotten show don't make the show any better and the worst seats to a great show usually result in my loving the show (even if I would rather be a lot closer).

[BorisTomashevsky]

Posted: 5/4/25 at 10:16pm

Double-dog-dare anyone to beat Jarethan. 

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 5/4/25 at 10:24pm

I also spotted Patti and Spielberg when I saw one of those SMASH open rehearsals last year. 

Spielberg was also at my performance of OPERATION MINCEMEAT. 

[tacotheatrelover]

Posted: 5/4/25 at 10:25pm

BorisTomashevsky said: "Double-dog-dare anyone to beat Jarethan.

No ones beating them but i'd like to say my share

I randomly met gerard way at the ATL airport (in the audience of the airplanes)

I met andrew kober outside of stereophonic (not really celebrity but it was just cool)

and i sat next to Will Ferrell at romeo + juliet

thats all

[fray3]

Posted: 5/4/25 at 10:50pm

KInd of off topic, but I have always wondered what is the proper etiquette for when you meat a celebrity "in the wild" so to speak. Like, if i see a celebrity on the subway who i really admire, is it okay if I try to talk to them or ask for their autograph? Or do they just want to be left alone?

Updated On: 5/4/25 at 10:50 PM

[Dreamboy3]

Posted: 5/4/25 at 11:28pm

David Geffen was right behind me for both parts of Angel’s in America. We chatted a.bit during the intermissions.  
 

for an oldie:  Katherine Hepburn at Assassins at playwrights. 

[BentleyB]

Posted: 5/4/25 at 11:43pm

Tom Hanks and his wife Rita at The Notebook.  Angelina Jolie sat directly in front of us at the very first preview of The Outsiders.  Barry Manilow at the first preview of Harmony.  

[OneNJen]

Posted: 5/4/25 at 11:51pm

Some fun recent ones...

Last Saturday night at Oh, Mary!, Andrew Lloyd Webber was there.  They walked him in and seated him front row, center mezzanine. I turned to my friend and whispered, “That guy looks just like ALW,” and she goes, “That’s because it is him.” Nathan Fielder from The Rehearsal was also in the audience that night.

The night before opening, I spotted Grey Henson and Kevin Cahoon at Smash. A friend in another section saw Tom Hanks.

Isa Briones from The Pitt was at All-Nighter at MCC last Sunday, sitting up in the mezzanine. She was stepping into a role the following week.  I almost went up to tell her how much I love the show, but I chickened out.

Back in November, I sat directly in front of Bob Harper from The Biggest Loser at Sunset. He was clearly a huge Nicole fan.

Matty Maggiacomo, the Peloton guy, was at & Juliet right before it opened. The women around him would not leave him alone.

But my most memorable sighting? John Ritter at RENT with his family, all the way back in 1997.


 

Updated On: 5/4/25 at 11:51 PM

[BroadwayGirl107]

Posted: 5/5/25 at 1:01am

fray3 said: "KInd of off topic,but I have always wondered what is the proper etiquette for when you meat a celebrity "in the wild" so to speak. Like, if i see a celebrity on the subway who i really admire, is it okay if I try to talk to them or ask for their autograph? Or do they just want to be left alone?"

Don’t ask for an autograph. Usually…just leave them alone. If it’s someone you LOVE and the vibe is okay and it won’t draw attention to them or interrupt them in any way, *maybe* do a “drive by” nice comment about their work without expecting any response—but honestly if it’s someone super famous the best gift you can likely give them is having some normalcy/feeling that they can just *be*. 

[LetTheSunshineIn2]

Posted: 5/5/25 at 1:31am

Fun thread!  Sat in front of Holland Taylor and Sarah Paulson at Glass Menagerie.  Stood in bathroom line with Uma Thurman at My Fair Lady.  Gabrielle Union at Stick Fly.  Not Broadway but John Lithgow at the Ralph Fines MacBeth in DC.  Walked past Michael Douglas on the street after A Little Night Music matinee- he must have been going to spend time with Catherine Zeta-Jones between shows.  

[gschuber]

Posted: 5/5/25 at 3:45am

At Speed the Plow starring Madonna, Meryl Streep sat in the row behind me and Oprah was 4 rows in front. 
 

At the Chicago revival original cast, Vice President Al Gore was sitting in the orchestra. 
 

Joan Rivers sat in the row behind me at Pippin. I told her I was a “Joan Ranger” and she was so excited. She asked if I wanted a pic and I got a great pic with her after the show.  
 

Kirk Douglas at the revival of Ragtime. Lots of people talked to him at intermission, so I went over and shook his hand. He signed my Ragtime playbill.  
 

Saw Julia Roberts at The History Boys in the lobby at intermission. 
 

John Lithgow at the revival of She Loves Me.  People were taking pics with him before the show, so I thought, why not?  I was last in line and no one was around to take our pic and he said to me “there’s a thing that all the kids do nowadays called a selfie, let’s try that.”  And we did.  

[gibsons2]

Posted: 5/5/25 at 7:50am

From more recent celebrity sightings, Benedict Cumberbatch at McNeal, Lin Manuel at Operation Mincemeat. 

One of favorite interactions was with Neil Patrick Harris years ago at Harry Potter play. He played Count Olaf in A series of unfortunate events and my daughter was a big fan of the show. So he was kind enough to say hello and took a picture with her during intermission.

Updated On: 5/5/25 at 07:50 AM

[BWAY Baby2]

Posted: 5/5/25 at 8:43am

Sat next to Bernadette Peters and her husband at a Barbra Streisand concert at MSG. Bernadette was in awe of my Strieisand fandom- said---you must really love her- and I said I did- but I love you, too. Her husband, who later died in a helicopter crash- was very nice to me- a story there but too involved to write about.  Also saw an old looking Michael Douglas there- and Katie Couric- who left at intermission. 

[carolinaguy]

Posted: 5/5/25 at 8:52am

I peed next to Matt Damon pre-show at the Glenda Jackson King Lear a few years back. As he was washing his hands, someone said, "You're awesome!" He smiled and answered with a genuine-sounding, "Thanks, man."

Also saw Pedro Pascal and Glen Powell together at Stereophonic.

Updated On: 5/5/25 at 08:52 AM

[broadway86]

Posted: 5/5/25 at 10:36am

Sat a few seats down from Ethan Hawke at the most recent All My Sons revival.

Also, directly behind Matthew Broderick and SJP at Leopoldstadt.

[Owen22]

Posted: 5/5/25 at 11:54am

Happens a lot, but the most recent for me was Michelle Williams and Thomas Kail down from me at The Cherry Orchard at St. Anne's Warehouse.

[AC126748]

Posted: 5/5/25 at 12:35pm

More than I can count over the years. Most recent ones I can remember: Oprah and Gayle at Purpose (Tuesday 4/22) and Martin Short at Smash (Friday 4/18).