Stagedoor Experiences — Page 2

(one notable exception who will remain nameless but who seemed royally pissed I wasn't trying to fall all over him).

I had a similar experience. Wonder if it's the same nameless person.

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Norbert Leo Butz was very nice the one time I met him. He had something he had to go do backstage, but he came out to meet the few people waiting for him outside the stage door.

Actually, all of my stage door experiences have been good and everyone has been perfectly nice, but another one that stands out to me is the Avenue Q tour. Everyone was so sweet and funny. They all talked to us and joked around and it was very fun! I even got into a conversation with the drummer about living inside the theatre and one of the actors gave me advice on using glue guns! Haha!

Kevin Kline is notorious for skipping anything that has a press line. He did not attend the opening night party or the first preview afterparty.

He begrudgingly signs autographs, but only when caught. I believe I saw a Cyrano program on Ebay with his signature - and photographic proof, the one night he exited through the stage door.

Raul Esparza post-Company remains a highlight.

I have had some great stage door experiences. The nicest have been:
John Lloyd Young
Chrstian Hoff
Daniel Reichard
Bobby Spencer
Michael Longoria
Jen Naimo
Richard Blake
Kate Shindle
Cheyenne Jackson
Stephen Lynch
Norbert Leo Butz
Billy Crudup
Raul Esparza
Marc Kudisch

I have also met Anthony Rapp, Kristin Chenoweth and Adam Pascal at different SAG events in LA and they were absolute sweethearts

I hate to comment on negative experiences but when I saw Mauritus recently Bobby Cannavale came out the stage door like he was ready to sign playbills and take pictures..and then he proceeds to ignore everyone standing around, smoke a cigarette, turn his back and talk to Dylan Baker and his wife. I by no means believe actors have to spend a long time at the stage door and I completely understand having commitments after the show but it just seemed really rude since he was not in a hurry to leave anywhere.

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My best stagedoor experiences were with Kristin Chenoweth, Marc Kudisch, and Brian D'Arcy James at "The Apple Tree", Audra at "110 in the Shade", the entire cast of "Legally Blonde" was great, Sutton Foster at "Young Frankenstein" was a dream come true, she couldn't have been nicer, the cast of "Xanadu" is fantastic of course, specifically Cheyenne Jackson and Kerry Butler, I mean everyone is nice, but those two are just really, really wonderful. Let's see... I've had a lot of good experiences, not so many bad ones... my bad ones were Anneliese van der Pol at "Beauty and the Beast", Nathan Lane at "The Odd Couple", and Fantasia NEVER coming out when I saw "The Color Purple"... I saw her in it like 2 or 3 times and she NEVER came out, but people waited and waited and then she'd send out her bodyguard to tell everyone it wasn't happening... she's still fantastic though.

Double post, sorry.

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Updated On: 12/6/07 at 10:47 PM

Meeting Angela Lansbury was probably the best moment I've had at stagedoor. Not only was I meeting a legend and someone I look up to, but she was as sweet as could be.

Meeting Patti is also one of the better moments I've had at a stagedoor. She is too awesome.

Cherry Jones was phenomenal when I met her after the national tour of Doubt. My friend and I were the only ones waiting, and I was standing there with a stack of eight Playbills that I picked up on my way out of the theater. She came out and my friend and I started talking to her about her performance because we're theater students, and she suddenly looked down and saw the Playbills and went, "Oh, would you like me to sign those?" I said, "Sure, I would love one with your signature!" She signed one and said, "Don't you want me to sign the rest?" I tried to protest that of course I didn't expect her to sign all of those Playbills, but she insisted and grabbed the stack from my hands and signed all of them while she continued to talk to us. It was probably the most hilarious moment I've ever had at a stage door, and now I have eight Doubt Playbills signed by Cherry Jones! She's the sweetest woman on Broadway.

Chita Rivera was also completely wonderful. I saw A Dancers Life with my friend who is 5'2" and just graduated with a BFA in Dance performance. When Chita came out, they started talking about dance and Chita goes, "No matter what, don't ever let anyone tell you that you are too short." Then Chita kicked off both of her shoes and said, "See!" Unforgettable.

Other wonderful people at the stagedoor were Audra McDonald, Angela Lansbury, Marian Seldes, Julianne Moore, Bill Nighy, Beth Leavel, Donna Murphy, Michael Cerveris, Denis O'Hare, John Cullum, Karen Ziemba, John Bolton, Norm Lewis, Christine Ebersole, Julie White, Raul Esparza, Tina Maddigan, Amy Spanger, Victoria Clark, John Tartaglia, and Molly Shannon.

Brian Stokes Mitchell, Sutton Foster, Tyne Daly, Bernadette Peters, and Jeff Bowen were all wonderful as well, but I didn't meet them at the stage door.

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Chita was a total class act. I'll never forget meeting her. She asked me what I am going to school for, so I told her that I am pursuing a BFA Musical Theater degree. She looks me up and down and goes, "Well of course you are!"

As for [title of show] going to Broadway... nothing would make me happier. I was supposed to go to New York with my friend to see the final performance, but I ended up not having the money to go to the City that weekend. I subsequently fell in love with the cast recording and regret not being able to see it.

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A word for the creatives!

I've only done the stage door thing a couple of times (it's not something I'd normally do unless I had prior contact with someone in the show). We met Julian Kelly (conductor) after the next to last show of The Pirate Queen. He stood out on the sidewalk and chatted with us for a long time, asking each of us where she was from and--literally--making a personal comment about each place (Oh, I did this show there--I had great food at X restaurant; do you know it?--I got three speeding tickets during one trip to see Seurat's _Sunday Afternoon on the Isle of La Grande Jatte_, and one was in that town). He was really pleased to discuss music theory with a couple of our group who know more than the rest of us did. I found him to be a kind, incredibly smart man who was still able to celebrate his involvement in a project of which he was proud, even during what must have been a sad moment for him.

My guess for the nameless person is Constantine.

I'm going to guess Liev Schreiber, even though he was incredibly nice to me when I saw Talk Radio to the point where he made me make sure that the picture I took with him came out fine.