When did Stagedooring become a necessity?- Page 3

[GatorNY]

Posted: 9/11/08 at 9:34pm

The majority of my friends who I have gone to see shows with in NYC and DC, including my partner, would never even think of stagedooring. Granted, none of them are as enthusiastic about live theater as I am, and none of them log on to BWW. If I see a show with a friend who like me...loves Broadway and loves the magic of live theater, I will ask that person if they want to hang at the stage door. I have only ever wanted to stage door to actually meet the cast if I have felt a need to thank an actor for their performance. If I'm by myself though, I do enjoy going and watching the other people meet the cast. I also like going to a show after it has been nominated for or won an award to say congratulations. Or if I have a cush on a an actor. (Cough..cough...cheyenne jackson"). If I knew where the stage door was at the Delacorte I would have definately gone to say thank you to the cast of HAIR. I did get to say thanks to Will Swensen when everyone got up on to the stage at the end on Tuesday though.

[Thomas14850ny2]

Posted: 9/11/08 at 10:52pm

I've onlt stage-doored a half dozen time in 59 years of theatre-going in New York, but it is definitely not a new phenomonon. Even if the figure of 300 people outside Wicked is correct, it pales beside of the spectacle of 46th Street between 7th and 8th avenue entirely full of people, no room for vehicles, when Richard Burton was appearing at the Lunt-Fontanne in Hamlet or a large percentage of Times Square full of spectators before Judy Garland's opening night at The Palace in the Fall of 1956. The only performers I waited at the stage door for were Katharine Hepburn in Coco and A Matter of Gravity, Savion Glover in Bring in'Da Noise Bring in 'Da Funk, MAry MArtin and Helen Hayes in The Skin of Our Teeth, Elaine Stritch in At Liberty and Barbra Streisand in Funny Girl (who always snuck out another door

[Broadway Baby 2]

Posted: 9/11/08 at 11:15pm

I do not stage door. I have in the past, but I dont do it anymore.

[Queenie2]

Posted: 9/12/08 at 7:21am

I've stage doored a couple of times, but they've only been shows on the west end. I think for me the reason why i do it is because i don't live anywhere near London, and so i might not see that particular show more than once a year, so most of the time i go it's different people anyway. What does put off sometimes though are the CRAZED fans who cry!!

[South Fl Marc]

Posted: 9/12/08 at 8:01am

I don't do it, but I see nothing wrong in stage dooring.

But I also don't see anything wrong in actors who want to ignore the people stage dooring or actors who want to go out another door and skip the people all together.
The actors owe nothing to people stage dooring - they don't have to sign autographs, they don't have to pose for pictures, they don't even have to be nice.

[JohnPopa]

Posted: 9/12/08 at 10:05am

When I see a performance that really moves/engages me I enjoy the fact that I can wander over to the door after the show and thank the performer, even if it's only for a couple seconds of actual conversation.

[nealb1]

Posted: 9/13/08 at 12:39pm

I've never "stage doored," before. I'm a performer, I do a lot of musical theatre here in LA. Just don't feel comfortable asking a total stranger for an autograph.

I have a dear friend who lives in NYC and he stage doors, all the shows that he sees. But, he does it because he collects all the Playbills, adds them to his collection, etc. He's not demented like a lot of the people who stage door are.

There are soooooooooooooo many people who stage door the same show over and over and over and over again.......getting a person's autograph for the 55th time, getting their picture for the 347th time. Thinking that they have some "connection" to the actor, because I WAS FIRST IN LINE TONIGHT, or I GOT MY PICTURE FIRST TONIGHT. These kinds of people are clearly demented...demented beyond belief!

Then they go online and post how they are friends with the actors, blah blah blah. Obvioulsy, that's not true, because if you were, in fact, "friends" with the actor/actors, why would you have to tell everyone? You would be secure enough not to make people think that you're friends with them.

Then if their favorite performer walks by them at the stage door and doesn't look at them for 587th time, then they go on this board and post HOW RUDE that actor is.

There is nothing in any actor's contract that says that they have to "stage door." Many performers will go out a side entrance when they arrive and leave the theatre. It's their choice to sign, pose for pics, etc. They have absolutely no obligation whatsoever to "stage door."

There have been quite a few postings on here from people that get angry with various performers because they don't leave from the stage door and talk to them. They don't have to do that.
Updated On: 9/13/08 at 12:39 PM

[Weez]

Posted: 9/13/08 at 8:11pm

I'm a bit bemused by people who go to the stagedoor and are frightening and obsessive towards the performers. I mean, there are some performers out there I'm a big fan of, and I know that if I met them I would probably turn into a gibbering freak and say horribly inappropriate things to them, so I don't stagedoor them. I stay well away unless I'm certain I can be at least semi-coherent. I don't understand why other people think it's acceptable to go up to a complete stranger and say "OMG I love you and I want you to be my sugar daddy and those plays were awesome and you TOTALLY f*** horses" (as an example of something I could have said to a certain performer recently, except I could feel it coming so I didn't stagedoor him; see how that works? (It was a character he played that liked horses too much, in case you were wondering. And it wasn't 'Equus'.)). Freaks.

[musicman_bwayfan]

Posted: 9/14/08 at 4:14am

Oh please do tell about the stories involving fans and Susan Blackwell after Title of Show. I saw the show tonight and enjoyed it very much. The cast was very friendly and genuinely appreciative of everyone's kind remarks...same goes with the cast of Boeing Boeing, which I saw last night. Christine Baranski was a very kind and warm person. Greg Germann, who took longer than usual to come out (the stage door manager was starting to get annoyed) because he was having a long phone conversation and when he did come out, he was sort of moody. Gina Gershon did come out last night...I've been told that in the past she would sneak out the side door on the opposite side of the front entrance because she was moody due to some comments about her performance in some reviews or articles on the show. When she did come out, she was quite a nice lady. Thus, if any of you haven't seen either of these shows and like to go to the stage door after the show, you'll have some pretty good luck with obtaining signatures.