What was your best/worst stagedoor encounter — Page 3

Sister Act Stage Door is great. The cast (especially Katie Rowley Jones, Claire Greenway, Debbie Kurup) often recognise you from the audience.......saw you dancing etc.......and always wait to sign. Julia Sutton is shy and many people dont recognise her as she looks very different. Sheila Hancock is gracious and will sign but not usually chat. Patina is great but quiet. They all have time for you, though

I haven't been to many stage doors. Thankfully, none of them were a bad experience. The [title of show] and Next to Normal stage doors were probably my favorite though. Everyone, especially the [tos] cast, was more than happy to sign autographs and take pictures and talk to fans.

But there was the time when Rent was in Philly this winter. My friend and I stayed at the stage door and luckily got to the front of the crowd. Everything was going fine until Anthony Rapp came out. There were so many people behind us pushing and shoving to get an autograph or picture, I thought we were going to get pushed to the ground. And, of course, there were Adam Pascal fan girls who legit made him one of those homemade t-shirts. Then when he didn't come out, they started chanting his name. My friend and I were dying laughing (and of second-hand embarrassment). I mean, I would've really liked to meet him, but acting like that was probably going to make him want to come out less. At least the people from the cast who did come out - Anthony, Nicolette, Lexi, and an ensemble member whose name I can't remember right now - were very nice.

My favorite has to be at the Little Mermaid. During the show I was talking to the lady in front of me and she said how she was a teacher and her student teacher knew one of the ensemble members and she was telling us how she was going to get a backstage tour. I thought that was really cool. So anyways, I was at the stagedoor anyway just to meet the actors and the man at the stagedoor was like there is four of you right and she was like 2. She saw us there and was like do you want to us. So me and my sister were like of course. And we got a backstage tour and saw the costume area, the wig room, and we got to stand on the stage. It was pretty cool.

The Worst-- Molly Ringwald in "Sweet Charity" when it was in San Jose, CA. She came out of the SD looking like a cheap hooker, refused to sign anything or take pictures. A teen girl told her that she was such a fan of hers in "The Breakfast Club" and Molly just looked at her like she was crazy and said "haven't heard that one before" before covering her face with her purse and rushing to the car that was waiting for her like 6 feet away. Absolutely horrible lady. And there were only like 10 people at the SD waiting.

Updated On: 8/15/09 at 01:04 AM

Wow, FlyingMonkey, that's terrible. I've heard tons of stories about Molly Ringwald acting like that to fans or being a diva on the set of her movie. I can't stand her.

Dont know if it counts as "stage door", but getting to hangout at the trailors of the RENT movie cast and talk to all of them without 100 screaming 14 year olds asking for pictures and autographs. It was cool to actually interact with the cast as human beings in a chill environment and see a lot of the movie be filmed. Such a great experience.

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My best specific stagedoor experience would have to be Raul Esparza after Company. I was very pressed for time because I had to catch a train at Penn station, and Raul had guests he was speaking to backstage so it was taking him longer to come outside. There was only a fairly small group of people waiting at the SD, so I guess they heard me talking to my friend about how we'd have to leave if he didn't come out REALLY soon, and how I'd be really disappointed (I was really only waiting for him), so as soon as Raul came out a woman on the other end of the crowd said "start over there! Those girls have to leave and they're dying to meet you!" and he was so incredibly gracious about it - he walked right over, signed our playbills, took pictures, we talked for a minute, and it was lovely :) That was also the nicest group of SD fans I've seen as well.

Add onto the best SD list, as other people have said, [tos].

As for worst... Well, I'm a huge Sherie Rene Scott fan. I've seen her in DRS, TLM, and Everyday Rapture. She didn't come out at DRS or TLM, which I don't necessarily begrudge her for - she's said she doesn't like coming out the stagedoor and that's her right. My problem was at Everyday Rapture. I was waiting with my friend, and there was ONE other person there. Sherie came out, graciously signed this man's playbill and poster for something else, took a picture, and spoke with him for at least five minutes. When she was done, I asked if she would please sign my playbill and she says, "I'm sorry, I have dinner plans. Not right now." She has every right to not sign my playbill, but at least be consistent! I was the ONLY other person there!

I'm sure James Barbour loved that. "The younger the better", he says.

I will agree that the West Side Story stage door was a little odd. Not that I'm going to complain about getting all of the signatures. But, I really hope that the cast members sign because they want to, and not because we stand out there wanting them. It did get a little confusing though because there were so many people. I think I counted 20 signatures on my playbill.

My encounter with Sutton Foster was a bit odd as well. I guess I should be glad that she came out and signed. But, she signed my playbill, and did not even say a word to me or look at me because she was too busy talking to the people next to me. I didn't even get to thank her. I will excuse it though because she wasn't being nasty, and she was talking to a bunch of little girls.

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I know my worst easily. Matt Caplan. When I graduated from middle school, my friend and I (who were ages 14 and 13 at the time) were taken to see RENT when he was in the role of Mark. Our seats were legitimately in the last row of the theatre, but we didn't care. But, accordingly, we were one of the last few people lingering in the lobby on the way out. We were in the lobby and Matt comes out and theres no one else around and we stop him and are like, "Hey can you sign these?" and he was like, "Yeah, sure." I looked down to reach into my pocket for my Sharpie and I looked back up and he was gone. Not cool.

Oddly enough. My best was Karen Olivo. Haha. I was on a class trip to see Billy Elliot and West Side Story (Pre-TOny nominations, if that means anything) and we saw the Matinee of Billy. So we're at the stage door, and everyone is screaming over Tommy Bachelor, I look to my left, and I see Karen FREAKING Olivo just chatting it up with Chris Jackson. Now, I am kindof sortof in LOVE with her, always have been. Like, I think she's fabulous. I can't even... I don't even know. Lol. So anyway. Let me tell you, i saw her standing there and I was like, "Billy Who?" And I jet. lol. So Ms. Olivo was like, "You know I'm not in this show anymore, right?" And I go, "I know, I'm seeing you in West Side Tonight." And she goes, "How do you know I'll be good?" And I go, "You're Karen Olivo." ( I could have killed myself, lol) But she laughed it off. And then Robin de Jesus walks out and my life was completed. Then she took two pictures with me after West Side cause she could tell I didnt like the first one (again, I could kill myself). Then she joked she was going to cross her eyes in the second picture to "play with my head." She was too good.

Just wanted to chime in and say that anyone who gets the chance to meet/talk to Judith Light will tell you what an extraordinary woman she is. I've had the chance to speak with her on several occasions and she truly is one of the classiest women working in the theater today. I just wish she did more!

aasjb4ever- Sorry, but it is pretty freaking rude to ask. I mean if they offer it is one thing but to ask? Unless they are a close friend or something it is not a good idea.