The stage door "craze"
The stage door "craze"
broadwaybabe1234
Stand-by Joined: 5/3/09
#1The stage door "craze"
Posted: 4/23/10 at 11:07pm
Just out of sheer curiosity, when did the stage door "craze" start? Was it a particular show or performer?
Maybe the best way to find this out is, what was your first stage door experience?
#2The stage door 'craze'
Posted: 4/23/10 at 11:16pmMy first stage door experience was the Phantom tour in 2002.
#2The stage door 'craze'
Posted: 4/23/10 at 11:28pmI'm pretty sure it was Annie Get Your Gun with Bernadette Peters in...1999? 2000?
Phyllis Rogers Stone
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/16/07
#4The stage door 'craze'
Posted: 4/23/10 at 11:41pmI tried to stage door Our American Cousin on April 14th, but none of the actors came out! How rude.
#5The stage door 'craze'
Posted: 4/23/10 at 11:49pmMy bet would be that it began as a cultural phenomenon with the combined rise of the internet and of Broadway bootlegging culture, the two forces that made ensemble members and minor performers, especially understudies, as easily recognizable as the leads.
#6The stage door 'craze'
Posted: 4/23/10 at 11:53pm
Craze?
First time I stage doored was in 1996. I was definitely not alone.
Phyllis Rogers Stone
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/16/07
#7The stage door 'craze'
Posted: 4/23/10 at 11:57pmHaven't people been stage dooring as long as there have been stage doors?
#8The stage door 'craze'
Posted: 4/23/10 at 11:58pmI stage doored the Ted Neeley/Carl Anderson tour of Jesus Christ Superstar back in the early 90s and not only was I not alone, there were creepy stalker types even then!
Phyllis Rogers Stone
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/16/07
#10The stage door 'craze'
Posted: 4/24/10 at 12:02am
From ALL ABOUT EVE, 1950:
Margo: Autograph fiends, they're not people. Those are little beasts that run around in packs like coyotes...They're nobody's fans. They're juvenile delinquent, they're mental defectives, and nobody's audience. They never see a play or a movie even. They're never indoors long enough.
Phyllis Rogers Stone
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/16/07
#11The stage door 'craze'
Posted: 4/24/10 at 12:04amThe more I think about it, the more I agree that the whole craze began in 2002 when Elphaba3 stage doored the Phantom tour.
broadwaybabe1234
Stand-by Joined: 5/3/09
#13The stage door 'craze'
Posted: 4/24/10 at 1:03am
i was just curious! there's no need to be catty...
#14The stage door 'craze'
Posted: 4/24/10 at 1:32amThere is ALWAYS a need to be catty.
blaxx
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/28/05
#16The stage door 'craze'
Posted: 4/24/10 at 3:14amWow. That was catty.
dramamama611
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/4/07
#17The stage door 'craze'
Posted: 4/24/10 at 8:21am
I think people are just trying to have. I sense no cattyness.
But yes, the "stagedoor" has always existed and always had fans. That it has become just as important as the show? Couldn't tell you for sure, I am not a fan of the SD activities.
Dollypop
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/15/03
#18The stage door 'craze'
Posted: 4/24/10 at 8:34am
"Stage Dooring" was being done when I started going to the theatre in the 60's. However, there were no more than a dozen or so fans waiting for the cast to leave. I recall my sister walking right up to the young Dustin Hoffman and not only getting his autograph, but having a conversation with him. There were no barricades or police guards. The same was true for such big stars as Carol Channing, Ginger Rogers, Ethel Merman, Richard Keily, John Raitt and even That Streisand Woman when she was in FUNNY GIRL (although she was always in a rush and never signed more than a few autographs).
It started taking on the current proportions with the birth of the internet and message boards. That was about the same time that theater "merch" became almost as important as the show itself. I guess as people read about meeting celebrities after the show, they realized they could do it as well and the matter blew to the size where it's become something of a security risk to the people involved.
#19The stage door 'craze'
Posted: 4/24/10 at 1:28pmMy grandma told me how she met carol channing at the stage door of Dolly way back in the 60's
Dollypop
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/15/03
emilyfaye48
Broadway Star Joined: 3/19/09
#21The stage door 'craze'
Posted: 4/24/10 at 3:25pmthat's awesome, I wish I could meet Carol
JudasIscariot
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/20/05
#23The stage door 'craze'
Posted: 4/24/10 at 4:33pmGivesmevoice, around the beginning Act 2 I was standing outside finishing a drink and John B. came out of the stage door. I asked him what he thought of the show, and he said it was a bang, before signing my playbill and riding off.
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