Sticking Foot in Mouth When Meeting Performers- Page 2

[dramamama611]

Posted: 11/7/08 at 8:40am

The very first time I ever met a celebrity was in the mid 80's while I was in college. Mandy Patinkin (my idol) was starring in SITPWG. I former grad of my college theater program (Mary D'Arcy) was also in the show, although we didn't know her persoanlly.

Just inside the stage door, we told the guy at the desk who we were there to see (MARY) and he told us to go right in! Just as we were opening the inner door (and excited as all get out to be going back) who walks OUT, but Mary?!! We had no choice but to talk to her there. She was meeting her husband a few blocks away, so we walked with her and chatted. It was delightful and she was quite gracious, but I was dissappointed to have missed my chance to meet Patinkin.

We headed BACK to Shubert Alley where we were meeting friends that had been to see something else. THERE in the alley was a long white limo.....waiting for Patinkin! (Who knew he was such a big deal then?) Since I had been the one to drive us all in: we weren't going anywhere.

Finally, Patinkin came out, and spent a few minutes with us. But all I could say was: That was soooo beautiful. OVER AND OVER AND OVER AGAIN. He was kind, but I suspect a tad wary of me.

I was mortified and fodder for jokes from my friends for quite some time.

I've had lots of opportunities since then, and am proud to say have maintained my power of speech each time!

[Weez]

Posted: 11/7/08 at 9:06am

I am permanently terrified of sticking my foot in my mouth when I meet people I admire. I can't remember exactly what I said to Jason Robert Brown, just enough to realise that my brain obviously blocked it out so I wouldn't hate myself for the rest of my life. I now limit myself to "that was wonderful", "please may you sign this?", and "thank you very much" on the rare rare RARE occasions I stagedoor.

I have a couple of emails from performers that I really should have replied to by now, but I have a terror that my fingers will get carried away and type something incredibly inappropriate.

[NYC_or_Bust]

Posted: 11/7/08 at 10:02am

Haha. Okay, I've never told this story, but this thread is a PERFECT opportunity.

During the winter of 2005 my roomate and I went to see Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, my roomate and I met Kevin Cahoon (who was gracious enough to tour us around backstage). Well as we were coming out of the stagedoor. I asked him about his CD that he had out, and he said they were 10 bucks and just happened to have one in his bag. So I reached in my pocket to grab out 10 dollars and my roomate made the comment that he'd like one too but just didnt have enough money. So, I replied, "Oh don't worry about it Jon. I'll just burn you a copy when we get back to Charlotte" (With Kevin standing right there)

It didn't hit me until we got back to the hotel what I said. I could have died.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 11/7/08 at 10:07am

I am the worst at meeting celebrities and the like. I always say the most ridiculous things. To this day, I can't look at Sandra Bernhardt on TV without blushing and breaking into a sweat. She was very sweet, but I had a few too many Strongbows that evening in the West End.

[GatorNY]

Posted: 11/7/08 at 12:01pm

My most recent faux pas was not a something I said, it was something I did. Now, I know that Cry-Baby had very few fans on here, but I found the show to be a lot of fun. So one day I was corssing 43rd street and I saw a beautiful blond haired woman crossing the street. I recognized her as Elizabth Stanley and said, "Ms Stanley?" After she nodded, I thanked her for her hard work, told her how much fun I had each time I saw the show....blah blah blah." She seemed generally appreciative. She told me that she would tell "all her friends from the show" how much I enjoyed the show. However, instead of just moving on, I hugged her!
At that point I bet she thought...Nice guy, but he just crossed the line.

[dlass727]

Posted: 11/7/08 at 12:17pm

I am a huge admirer of Mary Testa and every time I see her I can't seem to form a complete sentence! It's amazing, I am an adult and pride myself on being reasonably intelligent but when I get near her I can't speak.

[broadwaybelter]

Posted: 11/7/08 at 12:29pm

Not necessarily a foot in mouth moment, though, I met Judy Kaye after a performance of Sweeney Todd. She was in the midst of a great story that she was telling people at the stage door, about a bootleg copy of "Follies", that a fan had made her that was almost professional quality. Afterwards, she moved on to my friend and I as I commented, (Sheepishly of course), "So, when can I get a copy of that video?", to which she replied, "Don't hold your breath".

[pandajen14]

Posted: 11/7/08 at 12:35pm

When I met Roger Bart at the Producers stage door (he was playing Leo at the time), we struck up a conversation about Brad Musgrove as Carmen. Without thinking, I said (I can't even type this without blushing!) "What's it like to do yourself?" He got this deer in the headlights expression, and it took me a moment to realize what I'd said! I'd been referring to the "walk this way" moment, but it came out kind of dirty. And I was too embarrassed to stagedoor at YF after that!

[GlindatheGood22]

Posted: 11/7/08 at 3:29pm

This one's not really mine, but I witnessed it.

I took one of my friends with me to In the Heights. After the show, we were one of the first people at the stagedoor. Mandy Gonzalez came out and signed our Playbills. The people next to me didn't have a Sharpie, so Mandy asked if she could borrow mine for a second. I said yes. But my friend jokingly whispered (LOUDLY, I might add), "Bitch stole your pen!" Mandy looked up and gave her the weirdest look. I wanted to die!!

[boombaboy]

Posted: 11/7/08 at 4:28pm

I became a Fanadu this summer and waited at stagedoor many times with family and friends. Loved the show, adore Cheyenne Jackson. The day after they posted the closing notice, which I didn't realize until I was on my way into the theater for the matinee, I had sent a big box of chocolates backstage to Cheyenne Jackson as a thank you, because he is always so nice to everybody, especially to me and my family when they were visiting in August. When Cheyenne came out after the matinee, he thanked me and told me he shared them with the cast, and then he hugged me and I totally froze up! I was so shocked that I could not even enjoy having his arms wrapped around me! What a dork I am. But I recovered enough so that at the final performance I asked if he would pose for a picture with me and my husband, and while my friend was taking the picture I babbled on like a nut, telling him how fabulous he was and how much we loved him and he squeezed my shoulder with his massive powerful hand and laughed. ~Sigh~ I am a big believer in second chances!

[Live2Sing2]

Posted: 11/7/08 at 6:54pm

I think it depends on the performers. The ones new to this LOVE people talking to them and staying after, but the ones who are super used to it might be on or off depending on the day of the week. And some of the "legends" are still amazing with their fans, some not. BUT I've been reading people are just shying away from talking to the performers after the show and thats silly! They love their fans! I think most of you made these peoples day!

[CJR]

Posted: 11/7/08 at 10:35pm

I was introduced to Gerald Schoenfeld once and I said, "Oh. You're the head cheese of Broadway!"

(My mind was thinking "head honcho" and "big cheese" and my mouth accidentally combined the two.)

Knowing Mr Schoenfeld, I'm sure that amused him to no end. He's got quite the unique sense of humor, that one. (not to mention I find it slightly amusing that to this day, he's convinced I work for him LOL)

The only actor I was ever worried about meeting or working with - for fear I'd make an ass of myself - was Denzel Washington. However we talked for a good 10 minutes with no consequence. It was Taye Diggs that tripped me up. Nothing catastrophic or terribly entertaining though. Not like some of these stories. I was backstage at the theatre when he was in Chicago, talking to a friend of mine who worked there. Taye walked in, said hi and my friend introduced us. I became a mute. I'm just standing there shaking his hand and there's not a thing coming out of my mouth. Meanwhile, he's stifling a giggle and my friend is sitting in his chair, doubled over in laughter. It took a moment to register and I finally snapped out of it, smacked my friend (told him to shut up, too, if I remember correctly) and then told Taye it was lovely to meet him.

I was good the next time we bumped into each other backstage... and although it was years ago, I can tell you I have yet to live it down. lol

[bonbon]

Posted: 11/7/08 at 11:28pm

My friends and I stagedoored when Anthony Rapp was touring with Little Shop of Horrors. (My first time meeting Anthony! ) Anywho, he was very gracious and made small talk with us. He asked where we sat, and when we told him we were in the balcony, he asked how the acoustics were up there. My friend Christian told Anthony, "Great! You guys were real loud!" Anthony gave him a very funny look and mumbled something along the lines of Um yeah... we've got microphones. Poor Christian was so embarrassed... But not me. I've never stuck my foot in my mouth. Nope. Never... Bye now!

[jagfkb]

Posted: 11/8/08 at 10:06am

I've got alot, with one being pretty bad:

After Tale of two cities, my Mom, who loved James Barbour's performance, went up to him at the stage door, "I can't believe I haven't seen you before in anything!". He replied, "I haven't seen you either". My mom had bought something at Virgin records before the show, and asked what was in her bag. She then pulled out a dog jacket which read "STUD" in big letters. She cracked up laughing like a fool, he seemed creeped out, and my friend, my family, and I swore we had never knew her.

At Mary Poppins, opening night, (When I was only 13, so bear with me) I had wanted to get backstage, since one of my friend's sisters was in the show. I was growing a little impatient, and when one person from the ensemble came out, I asked what his part was, and when he said Chimney Sweep #4, I accidentqally said back, "Sounds like the Tony Winner of the year". I'm not sure what I had meant to say, just not that, but he immediately looked at me like he wanted to kill me on the spot. I'm still wacking myself in the head for that.

[MadPhan]

Posted: 11/8/08 at 11:43am

Glad to know I'm not the only person to make a fool of themselves when meeting someone! Last year, Anthony Rapp gave a talk at my college and they gave people the chance to meet him and get autographs afterward. I was so excited and nervious I was just talking really fast and blathering on and on about how awesome he was! I must have seemed so stupid, but then I guess performers are used to people being starstruck...

[enroutetothesky]

Posted: 11/8/08 at 1:07pm

I've got two:

When Spelling Bee was still running, I saw it with Stanley Bahorek as Leaf and when he came out to the stagedoor I said something along the lines of "I didn't think I was going to like you because I love Jesse but you were amazing!" and I totally meant it as a compliment but it kinda sounded like an insult...

At the [tos] stagedoor, I called Jeff "Hunter". :S
Updated On: 11/8/08 at 01:07 PM

[dancingthrulife04]

Posted: 11/8/08 at 8:38pm

After the final performance of [tos], I spaced out a little and hadn't realized that Susan Blackwell had come over and said hi. I was embarrassed that I hadn't been paying attention and went (really loudly) "HI!"

[Schmerg_The_Impaler]

Posted: 1/3/09 at 8:55pm

Bump because this thread is hilarious.

Also, I mentioned an incident on a few other threads about how I had a bad reaction to some pain medication after I had some dental work done and was acting really high and bizarre for a day? (I think I made like forty posts on BWW that day...)

Well, on that fateful day, I somehow managed to find Norm Lewis' email address, and wrote an incredibly creepy and bizarre email that went like this, "HELLLOOOO! Assuming this does not end up in some magic cyber junk heap of Norm Lewis Land, I just want to say that your voice is delicious and I guess the rest of you is too!"

Luckily, by a MASSIVE stroke of luck, I managed to hit 'save as draft' instead of 'send,' so the message never got sent. I saw it in my draft folder the next day and shivered with humiliation. I am unbelievably glad that Norm Lewis never got the email. I have tremendous respect for him as a performer, and I would never say anything like that to him in my... natural state.

[philly03]

Posted: 1/3/09 at 9:13pm

When I stagedoored for Tale the only person that got me "nervous" so to speak was Natalie Toro. She somehow took what I said about her being in EVITA as calling her old and she was being pushy (right word?) about it and then a mixture of stammering on my part!, then was just like "Just kidding" and walked off laughing about it. I suppose the actors get to have some fun too with the stagedoor :).

And for the record, SOO many people when I stagedoored for Tale made a fool of themselves with James Barbour,...and one young-teenaged girl who was a big Brandi Burkhardt fan from Passions or something. Ha funny.

I got a little star-struck around Leigh Ann Larkin at Gypsy too :). She's really preetttttttttty! And then I yelled "YO PATTI" after not one, but two middle-aged women blocked me out. She looked flustered a bit but smiled and whatever you want to call Patti talking at the stagedoor to you I got the most haha. And then the middle aged woman attempted to give a hug and Patti looked at me and pointed at her. Hahaha I had nothing to say!

[husk_charmer]

Posted: 1/3/09 at 9:19pm

When I saw Gypsy this summer, I really wanted to meet Lenora Nemetz, and waited very patiently, and out comes Alison Fraser (who I also wanted to meet) who I immedieatly said "Ms. Nemetz?" to. She looked at me and says, "I'm Alison."

Now, once was bad.

That Saturday at Broadway Barks, I'm fighting through the crowd and I see who I think is Lenora Nemetz. Repeat situation. Explain that in my head they apparently look very similar. Apologize profusely.

Maybe third time I see her I'll be right.

[Mythus]

Posted: 1/3/09 at 9:26pm

To Michael McGrath last January at the stage door to Spamalot:

"I can't believe you've been in this show THIS long."

Didn't come out as positive as I'd meant it.

He left the show two weeks later. I feel responsible.

[Schmerg_The_Impaler]

Posted: 1/3/09 at 9:28pm

Aww! Mythus! I can just imagine how that must have felt...

[BroadwayBound115]

Posted: 1/3/09 at 9:44pm

I have been on my high school's theater study tour for the past 2 years and after hanging around these boards I immediately knew I had to stage door when I went with my high school. I was really persistent about it and we stage doored all but 2 of 6 shows. We met Chris Fitzgerald and Sutton Foster after YF and they were both incredibly nice. Sutton Foster was really shy and I had just finised playing Jimmy in our TMM. And I was super excited to meet her and I was speechless. We are from Troy, her hometown so she stayed quite a bit after and talked to us. The next experience was Curtains and I can't say enough good things about that cast. They were so nice. Talked for a while with alot of them. Debra Monk was incredibly kind and so was Jill Paice. DHP was also alot of fun. That was 2007s trip, so I made sure I would not be stupid on the 2008 trip and I was boss at the stage door. I realize all you need to do is say "you did a great job tonight, I really enjoyed this show, you guys look like you are having a lot of fun up there" and then I ask for a picture. I think that works the best and then if you have a little anecdote I think it would be great to incorporate that.

[logan0215]

Posted: 1/3/09 at 10:03pm

My best friend has a knack for leaving me "with my pants around my ankles" when talking to new people. After seeing [title of show] opening night, we were talking to Hunter and earlier I had said to my friend that I just wanted to stay back and maybe get a minute to talk to them and that I don't get my playbills signed.

As my friend got his signed he turned to Hunter and said "Yea, he says its lame to get your playbill signed at the stagedoor." And without missing a beat Hunter turns to me and goes "Well die vampire, die." He was of course kidding and very pleasant but it was still a funny moment.

[Elphaba3]

Posted: 1/3/09 at 10:27pm

Luckily this didn't happen face-to-face, but a few years ago I emailed Stephanie J. Block to let her know that I was going to see her in Wicked. I said something like "I'm really excited to see you even though Idina will always be my favorite Elphaba." Maybe that's why Stephanie was out that night.