re: The Good/The Bad...Worst stagedoor experiences- Page 5

[theaterdude87]

Posted: 11/14/06 at 3:44pm

Ramona was not nice at all. She had a very diva-ish attitude about her.

All of the Altar Boyz were AMAZING. Since New World (Dodger r.i.p) does not have the barricades you can get real close to the actors. They were more than glad to take pictures and sign autographs.

The LSOH revival cast and the original Hairspray cast all were both very gracious. I saw Hairspray earlier so they were new to the fans.

At Millie Christopher Seiber and Harriett Harris were also very wonderful people. They spoke with you and it was very nice.

THE NICEST THOUGH: Movin' Out. The cast was amazing. They had just performed and very very tired and very sweaty but we so kind. I loved them all and you could tell they loved the fans, and that it meant something to them.

[little_sally]

Posted: 11/14/06 at 4:03pm

I stage door a lot and I hardly, if ever, have bad experiences with the actors themselves. I've never had to deal with a rude performer. Some of the best casts I've encountered were The Wedding Singer, Sweeney Todd, Avenue Q, and The Pillowman.

My bad experiences come courtesy of the fans waiting with me. When I saw "Faith Healer" over the summer, I had to content with middle-aged women pushing me out of the way so Ralph Fiennes could sign the DVD of every movie he's ever been it. It was irritating, especially considering one woman decided to use me as an arm rest. I ended up missing Mr. Fiennes but I did get to speak to Cherry Jones and Ian McDiarmid and they were both amazing.

[avab802]

Posted: 11/14/06 at 4:07pm

Amy Spanger when she was Maureen on the RENT tour. I was always too scared to approach her, but I saw her snub fans and roll her eyes at people night after night. (Which is too bad, there were so many NICE people on that tour... Christian Anderson, Shaun Earl, CC Brown, etc.)

Never met Amy Spanger so I can't comment on her, but I can't remember having a bad experience with any RENT cast members, tour or Broadway. It seems that RENT casts are usually relative unknowns so they are pretty excited that people want their autographs, etc. and are more likely to spend time actually talking to the fans. At least this was the case 8 or so years ago when I was really into RENT. Shaun Earl is one of the sweetest actors I've ever met, just a genuinely nice man.

Susan Egan is another one who is a complete doll. The first time I met her after Cabaret I told her I'd seen her in Triumph of Love at Center Stage in Baltimore (where it had it's pre-B'way try-out) when I was in high school and she was so surprised because that had been years ago. We had a little chat and she was just so nice.

My bad experiences come courtesy of the fans waiting with me. When I saw "Faith Healer" over the summer, I had to content with middle-aged women pushing me out of the way so Ralph Fiennes could sign the DVD of every movie he's ever been it.

This reminds me of when I saw Toni Collette in The Wild Party. There was a man at the stage door with a bunch of production stills from The Sixth Sense. I don't think he'd even seen the show, I think he was just an autograph seller. When Toni came out she went up to him (he was first in "line"), signed the top photo on his stack, then politely said "I only sign one item per person" and moved on. I was like, Haha Mr. Autograph Hound, she told you! (in my head of course). Updated On: 11/14/06 at 04:07 PM

[little_sally]

Posted: 11/14/06 at 4:13pm

I met Amy Spanger twice after TWS and both times she was a doll. I suppose it just depends on the night you encounter her. It's probably that way when it comes to most performers. I know I have days when I don't want to deal with people, let alone talk to them.

[whatyouown223]

Posted: 11/14/06 at 4:20pm

Victoria Clark and patti Cohenour. Nicest women ever.

[Horton]

Posted: 11/14/06 at 4:22pm

When I saw Eden in wicked in San Fransisco she was so nice, and was very gracious.

[MimiLovesRoger]

Posted: 11/14/06 at 4:25pm

My first, and last stage door experience was at TWS. I was so excited to finally be meeting real Bway stars, and when Stephen Lynch came out, I literally started shaking because I think I was in shock. But everyone was so nice there!! I have autographs and pictures with Stephen, Laura, Cara (she went on for Amy that night), Kevin (the sweetest one of all!!), and Matt (when he was in it). I also got Adinah’s autograph, and I think I got Richard’s too (but I’m really not sure…) But that whole experience was amazing and wonderful for me!!!

[husk_charmer]

Posted: 11/14/06 at 5:34pm

I haven't had a whole lot of stagedoor experience, but it was decidedly mixed.

I saw Wicked when Sho and JLT were still in it, and we waited, and JLT comes out, and is as nice as can be, and Robb Sapp comes out who was an absolutely amazing guy, and we were ready to go. (We both did not like Sho at all) So, we walk around the other side of the Gershwin to get back to the subway, and we see Sho coming out of a door, she sees us, glares and walks quickly the other direction. I was really shocked, it was sleety and gross and I had been one of 10 people waiting, for her to behave like that was really unacceptable.

But, I do have a Buckley story:
Now, I love her, I actually grew up with her around (Mom was her Dad's secretary once upon a time), and a few years back she was teaching at UTA, and my senior theatre class sat in on one of her classes. She hadn't started yet, and one of the girls in my class asks who she is (Mistake number 1), to which our director replied, "Original cast of Cats, got the Tony there, Original 1776, best Norma Desmon in Sunset, and was in Carrie" And Buckley went nuts, and called my friend a little (ahem) and ranted and raved and cancelled the class.
That's a rare instance though...she's always been nice to her fans from what I've seen, just that one instance.

[nannerz60]

Posted: 11/14/06 at 7:21pm

I've only ever stagedoored once, after the BKLYN tour this summer. The only actors I saw there were Cleavant Derricks and Diana DeGarmo. Cleavant was up on some steps, and surrounded by people, but he looked to be having a great time - smiling and laughing.

Diana was a few feet in front of us, and had just finished up with the people she was with. She was under the weather for most of the tour, and that day was no different - though I didn't know it at the time. She very sweetly said hello to us, and then asked us if we wanted anything signed, or "if we just wanted to say hi." My 11-year-old cousin got his Playbill signed, and then she started walking away. I asked her if we could get a picture, and she said, "Sure!" She posed and even joked around a bit and said it was no problem. She's a real sweetheart.

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 11/14/06 at 7:30pm

Not necessarily stage door experiences, but I pretty much bumped into Idina in Bryant Park one day and Susan Egan in Theater Circle on a different occasion. Both were as nice as can be, once I realized who they were. Sometime during the run of Lennon, Julia Murney walked off with my keys (I had a mini-sharpie on them that she used to sign autographs.) Her response? "Oh, I'm so sorry! I don't think you want me going home with you."

[wonderfulwizard11]

Posted: 11/14/06 at 8:30pm

I don't have any bad ones but my favorite is every time I saw Sweeney. The whole cast, including the stage door woman, Christine, were so incredibly sweet and gracious towards everyone.

[BrunetteBombshell]

Posted: 11/14/06 at 8:42pm

Every time I've met a performer (granted it's only been two times), they were both very gracious. When I met Anthony he was nice enough to take two pictures with me and he singed my DVD insert of RENT as well as my copy of Without You. When I met Susan Egan she signed my CD insert of Winter Tracks and Here... While she was signing my CDs my mom asked if she would take a picture with me. She said sure and she thought it was great that I wanted one (something along those lines).

[jv92]

Posted: 11/14/06 at 10:03pm

I don't do the stagedoor thing a lot. Most times I see a show, people at the stagedoor (autograph seekers, not actors) act obnoxiously.
However, I must share two times that were particulary memorable.
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels- I only met Lithgow and Butz, but they were wonderful. Mr. Lithgow chatted with my parents and I (we loved the show). I beleive Mr. Butz was just beginning to experience his vocal trouble, so he didn't say much but "Hi" and "Thank you very much."
Sweeney Todd was also a great stage door experience. The cast was so casual and conversational. Manouel talked to me as if he knew me for years. I mean, we didn't talk for a long time, but it was just nice. Patti LuPone came out last of course and she had her rather obnoxious bodyguards watching her every move. However, she was very nice. She didn't take pictures. There was a particualry bad hail storm up in Conneticut (sp.) that was on its way to New York (as rain) that she wanted to miss on her drive up. I thought it might have been just an excuse to avoid photos, but it turns out it really did hail in Conneticut that night.
There are a few other stories, some bad. (The bitch that knocked me over with her big umbrella at Hairspray) But those were two very good times I had at the stagedoors.

[neddyfrank2]

Posted: 11/14/06 at 10:14pm

I have a Betty story but it does not involve a stagedoor.

[somethingwicked]

Posted: 11/14/06 at 10:20pm

Do share!

[punk ballerina]

Posted: 11/14/06 at 10:27pm

I saw Jersey Boys.
JLY was bombarded by fans, but was very gracious and kind.
I met understudy Matthew Scott. He was alone, so I asked him for an autograph and he was so sweet!
Daniel Reichard...CUTE!!! He was so cute. He acted all modest. It was adorable!
Bobby Spencer-Great! He was polite and asked me some questions too!

Wicked-
David Garrison was too cool. He was very nice!

Spamalot-
Christian Borle was great!
I had a picture of him in the ebay commercial and he signed it!!

Sweeney Todd-
Patti tottally ignored me! I said "Hello. May you sign my playbill" and she just looked me in the eye and walked away. But its ok because I still love her! She is a great talent.
Benjamin Magnuson was really nice! He posed for pictures and signed my stuff.

Those are my stories.
Sort of lame but true.

[neddyfrank2]

Posted: 11/14/06 at 10:28pm

They are more of some backstage demands from Betty.

This was a long time ago, so I don't know how she is anymore.

In the show that she was doing, she refused to talk to anyone. Instead she had a chorus boy follow her everywhere she went, and if she wanted to talk to someone she would whisper what she had to say into his ear, and then he would say it...she had full conversations like that.

Also at exactly 23 minutes till curtain she demanded that backstage was COMPLETELY quiet, not a word from anyone. The only people that were allowed to talk was her and her parakeet, which made more noise than the whole cast yelling and stomping backstage.

There were a few more...

[jjoey076]

Posted: 11/14/06 at 10:39pm

My friend and I were hanging out on 49th street one day before a Wed. matinee. We were hoping to say hello to Patti LuPone on her way into the theatre. It was noon. She comes up, I see her and say, "Hi, Patti!" She gives us this horrible glare like we're about to kill her, rushes into the door saying, "sorry, I'm late." It was noon. And sorry for what? I only wanted to say hi.

[BroadwayRandy0711]

Posted: 11/14/06 at 11:03pm

The entire cast of Jersey Boys is awesome when it comes to the stage door. They are all so gracious and appreciative.

The COlor Purple cast was great. They stood outside in the rain and cold to sign playbills and take photos. The best was meeting LaChanze, there was no crowd and she even stayed around and spoke with us while her dad waited.

Chryssie Whitehead of ACL totally made my stage door experience the best.

I am totally grateful for every broadway performer that I have met. My partner has better stories than I do. For example, After seeing Spelling Bee, not a lot of people were waiting around outside, actually he was the only one, Sarah and Celia invited him to have drinks at a bar around the corner from the theater.
I have more stories of great stage door experiences. More than I do bad ones.

[AnythingCanHappen]

Posted: 11/15/06 at 3:54am

"John Lloyd Young is always the nicest person at the stage door. As is Barrett Foa."

Oh my gosh. Barrett Foa? Whatever! I wanted him to sign a Spelling Bee playbill for a friend at home and he was so rude!

No really, he was a total sweetheart, but he said *oh no, you're gonna post that I am the worst person ever now on the BWW forums.* So I had to post something. Oh, and Deborah S. Craig was too cute and was SUPER nice and told me to get a scarf because it was cold, and Sarah Saltzburg was amazing as well!

I saw 5 shows last week, and stagedoored all of them but one (A Chorus Line, I really wanted to meet Alisan Porter and Natalie Cortez but it started pouring and I had no cash for a cab back to my hotel so I just booked it.

But yeah, Mary Poppins: Ashley Brown, Rebecca Luker, Gavin Lee, Tyler Maynard - ALL FABULOUS. Wedding Singer: Stephen Lynch, Amy Spanger, Nicolette Hart, Laura Benanti, Kevin Cahoon, Constantine even - super nice! Altar Boyz were all absolutely awesome. And Wicked: Jenna Leigh Green, Kate Reinders, Ana Gastayer (despite being super sick even!), and David Garrison were all really sweet.

No problems stagedooring here! (My first Altar Boyz ever was a 'meet the boyz/cd signing' thing so they were all there with smiles on. It was the '3rd'ish cast...)

[Gingersnap]

Posted: 11/15/06 at 8:25am

Oh, and Deborah S. Craig was too cute and was SUPER nice and told me to get a scarf because it was cold, and Sarah Saltzburg was amazing as well!

****

That reminds me of two little incident.

Stagedooring at Sweeney Todd back on a brutally, brutally cold day in February. My friend has curly hair which she just sprays and sprays and sprays until it's solid (Hugh Panaro calls it's "crunchy candy apple hair" because it's so crisp). Well, Lauren Molina came out, saw my friend, and dashed over to her. She was all, "Oh, my god...please...tell me you're not standing out in the cold with wet hair!!!! Please, find a hat!" It was cute how sweet and concerned she was.

The other is Sandra Joseph in the alley behind the Majestic. She'd just broken the news to a couple of my younger friends...that se was leaving Phantom. Well, everyone was ready to cry, etc., and she started to fuss over my friend...telling her she was going to catch cold and making her button her coat.

Both were sweet, random moments with nice cast members.

[PJMPirate]

Posted: 11/15/06 at 3:38pm

I had a funny, somewhat embarassing experience the first time I saw Phantom with Howard McGillin. I had heard some of his stuff before, but wasn't a huge fan and had never seen a decent picture of him. I decided to head around to the alley behind the Majestic and get him to sign my playbill. I was waiting just inside the door, and as people kept coming out they kept asking "are you waiting for someone in particular?" and I kept saying "yes, I'm waiting for Mr. McGillin," and they'd say "Oh, ok. He's usually the last one; he'll be out in a few minutes." Well, I was trying to recognize Howard by his tiny one-inch square picture in my Playbill. When he came out, he had glasses on and shorter hair than in the picture, and I didn't recognize him. He made eye contact as he walked by me, and noticed that I was still focused on the door.

"Um.. are you waiting for somebody?'
"Yes, I'm waiting for Mr. McGillin."
"Oh. Um... that'd be me."

I was pretty embarrassed that I didn't recognize him when he came out, but he was really nice about it - signed, posed for a picture, talked for a few minutes.

[scot]

Posted: 11/15/06 at 3:58pm

to husk_charmer...
i don't mean to argue with
you...but is that classroom
story about betty lynn that
accurate? one thing she stresses
in her theater classes is discipline.
i can't imgine her losing it like
that because some student wasn't
aware of who she was. i know she
can be a bit eccentric...but canceling
a class sounds extreme.

[DRSisLove]

Posted: 11/15/06 at 4:06pm

A few of you have said your "bad" experiences are when actord don't come out the stage door.

There's no rule that says they have to... and in fact, they're probably doing that because he/she has to go somewhere and would rather not run through a crowd of people and piss them off.

[scot]

Posted: 11/15/06 at 4:06pm

Betty's backstage demands are
consistent from every person
that have mentioned them.

Although her "parakeet" is
actually a African Grey.