Worst stage door experience — Page 2

Worst experiences, are for the poor actors. Having to come out and face the sad hangers on at the stage door. Get a life!

Leaf Coneybear said: "Are you sure they weren't signing to you in ASL? Some of the actors are actually deaf and actually may not have heard you, and tried to sign to let you know."



I. Can't.

I find it simply gross that autograph sellers were chasing Lin's car last night. How disgusting and rude (and unsafe for Lin).

bfreak said: "I find it simply gross that autograph sellers were chasing Lin's car last night. How disgusting and rude (and unsafe for Lin).



"

I know. safer to wait inside his apartment like I did, and avoid getting hit by a car.

Please keep this thread about crowds and fans, not actors, who owe you nothing but a performance.
Best stage door experiences: Basically all plays without a mega star and Fun Home.

Worst: If/Then. Crowds on crowds on crowds. Also, I think more people attended the China Doll stage door than the show itself.

KathyNYC2 said: "The best experience however I ever had was once waiting for close to 45 minutes in the freezing cold to see someone (who shall remain nameless) and I think I was the last one left. And when she finally came out and realized I was outside in the cold for so long, she gave me a ride home in her limo as it was on the way to her own home"



What a wonderful story.

I bet it was Sherie Rene Scott.

I don't stage door other than the first couple of shows that I went to years ago, and quickly decided that it wasn't for me. I like leaving my impression of the performer in the theater. But a few years ago when Next to Normal was running, I took a community theater friend of mine to NYC to see shows. We met doing a local charity show when she was just a kid, and I've become friends with her entire family. Anyway, she was OBSESSED with Alice Ripley and got a ticket for N2N. I had already seen the show, so I dropped her off, and showed her where the stage door was so that she could go there after if she wanted. Anyway, I was running late after the show, so when I got there, it was just a few fans left with Alice--and my friend was the furthest from her. Alice signed and took photos with everyone, and then turned to my friend and hugged her and thanked her for being so patient. They spoke for 15 minutes, took pictures, and Alice walked with her to the main street where they said goodbye. My friend was over the moon. I know that these experiences aren't expected, but I have to say that Ms. Ripley made me a fan for life that night.

10086sunset said: "KathyNYC2 said: "The best experience however I ever had was once waiting for close to 45 minutes in the freezing cold to see someone (who shall remain nameless) and I think I was the last one left. And when she finally came out and realized I was outside in the cold for so long, she gave me a ride home in her limo as it was on the way to her own home"

I bet it was Patti Murin or Orfeh.

Updated On: 6/19/16 at 12:24 AM

To be honest, I never go to the stage door. For me I'm content to just watch the performance and go home. I did once witness something at a stage door that really summed it up though.

It was when Angela Lansbury was doing Blithe Spirit in London. It had been made abundantly clear that she DID NOT SIGN ANYTHING at the stage door. She has always been one of my favourite actresses and it was lovely to see her on stage, but afterwards I just started heading home. I stopped at a store just behind the Gielgud theatre, and on my way out saw that the actors were coming out of the stage door. I stood back and watched from a distance and soon Angela Lansbury came out. The crowd went wild screaming at her to sign. One guy help up Murder She Wrote stuff and started screaming at her angrily because she wouldn't sign anything and was walking straight to her car. I can just remember him shouting "Angela! I came all the way from France for you" While she just repeatedly said "Sorry I don't sign."

There was just something unsettling about watching all those people screaming angrily at a 90 year old lady just trying to get home. I mean I get it, if you're a tourist, going to a big city and seeing your favourite star in person is very exciting, but jeez, some of the behaviour is pretty awful at the stage door. Spending two seconds with an actor just so you can say you met them or get a photo is not going to make any difference to your life or theirs.

To sort of piggyback on the discussion of Darren and stage doors involving him - I stage doored while he was in How to Succeed and honestly, his fans (that evening anyway) were very calm and considerate to each other. The problem was a gentleman with a poster, who clearly had no idea who Darren was and simply was there to get something to sell on eBay. Myself and a few around me were trying to question the guy a little to prove what a fraud he was, but I think the most comical moment was when he thought Rose Hemingway was Lea Michele and kept asking her how many Twitter followers she had.

When Darren did come out, this guy kept placing his poster on top of my head and over my face to try and get it closer, to which I promptly told him to stop. Darren signed the poster, and the minute he began to move away, the guy goes - "Well, I just made $400 bucks on eBay" leading to all of us around him to groan and Darren to look very uncomfortable.

I've had some less than stellar interactions at stage door, but nothing too major of note. I will say, last weekend - the Hamilton stage door looked absolutely insane (crowds on the opposite side of 46th and spilling out into the street, etc) and I watched people (as I was at stage door of Les Mis) coming up to Leslie as he tried to walk away. Also, the set up between Hamilton and Les Mis was kind of a cluster leading to many people coming down to the Les Mis side with their Hamilton playbills. I tried to send some of the people who came up around me back the other way toward Hamilton, but one lady insisted that "she'd waited too long" and shoved her playbill out to be signed by David Rossmer (currently Thenardier). According to him, this happens often, and he signed her playbill despite asking her if she was sure.

Updated On: 6/19/16 at 09:43 AM

The cast of Finding Neverland when it previewed in Cambridge, MA were extremely gracious. The fact that they exited down a staircase leading to the theatre lobby made for a mob scene after each performance.

Drewski Vanderbilt said: "Oh I remember those days back in October when it was actually safe for Lin to walk to the stage door, I was waiting in line for the lottery when Lin walked right past us and to the door, no one approached him."



Not that it's a competition, but I think it's even crazier to think back to the Public last year. I saw Lin a few times just hanging out, talking to people in the lobby around the time of the lottery. Afterward the cast all just came out and greeted people without barricades or even much of a crowd.