re: The Good/The Bad...Worst stagedoor experiences- Page 8

[dramaqueen2]

Posted: 1/2/07 at 10:25pm

"1. When I saw DRS, we waited forever for Norb to come out, but when he did, he wouldn't say a word to anyone, he just went around begrudgingly signing playbills and posters. I was like, the third "in line" and the first to ask for a picture with him, and he just point blank looked at me and said "if I pose with you, I have to pose with everyone, and I don't do that. you want a picture, take one OF me, but not WITH me." Then he signed my playbill, i snapped a few pics, then left. Probably just a bad night for him, but I've heard similar stories from friends."

it's funny that you say that.. because when i met him he was amazing. but i think my experience was a bit unique. it was my birthday and the stage manager whisked me backstage after asking if i was waiting for norbert, and i was like well yes and i told him it was my birthday [it really was, i didn't pretend it was like a lot of people] .. and i was crying and hyperventilating and [to make a long story short, im leaving out big exciting parts of this by the way] on my way out i bumped into someone, and i was so frazzled by everything else i didn't see who it was until the stage manager goes "do you see who you just bumped into, norbert!" and i turned and looked and became really starstruck, i even said "i'm such a huge fan of yours" somewhere between my crying and hyperventilation.. and the stage manager told him it was my bday and he kind of went.. "ooooh i see" and gave me a big hug, posed for a picture with me and signed my playbill. all backstage of DRS.
so, i've got nothing bad to say about the guy, he was wonderful to me! =)

i'm sure i've posted this story before but whatever i had to defened norbert, haha!
everyone has their bad days i suppose!

[Becoz_i_knew_you21]

Posted: 1/2/07 at 10:42pm

dramaqueen he was having vocal issues at the time.
Updated On: 1/2/07 at 10:42 PM

[PirateSmile]

Posted: 1/3/07 at 10:26am

As all our posts are showing, actors are just people, and have good days and bad ones. Most of the time we get one shot at seeing them outside their work, and if we don't hit a 'good' day, then we have a bad taste left.

I have seen at least one of the folks peeps have mentioned as 'rude', and he could not have been more kind, patient, forebearing, whatever. Loves children and animals, that kind of stuff. And this was over the course of like 10 hours straight? I choose to think this is his 'normal', and that 'rude' happens when he, like a regular human being (since that's what he is) is tired or borderline sick, or just opened some hatemail or something...

Sorry for folks who had bad experiences with any of these fine actors. I wish you better in 2007!!! Let's go see some shows!!!!!

[PsychScoundrel]

Posted: 1/3/07 at 10:47am

Sorry to be so cliche, but I had an AMAZING experience with Norbert. I basically flew to NY just to see him in DRS. He was nothing but gracious; he laughed at my giddy excitement, gave me a huge hug, posed for pictures (see profile pic), and personalized my autograph. He didn't even seem to mind the fact that I near fainted on him and probably got tear-stains on his leather jacket.

On the other hand, I think many broadway stars are pleased when fans simply act politely, rather than pushy or crazed (I know, look who's talking.) I waited outside of The Odd Couple for Matthew, and when he finally came out, he begrudgingly signed a few autographs and didn't speak to anyone or pose for pictures. When he came to sign my playbill, all I said was, "Thank you very much." He got a very startled look on his face, gave me a small smile and said, "You're welcome." Alas, no Nathan Lane...

[Garland Grrrl]

Posted: 1/3/07 at 10:53am

i'm not much for hanging out in doorways, but i had a very moving experience with vanessa redgrave during ORPHEUS DESCENDING when i was quite young.

[goofy108]

Posted: 1/3/07 at 3:10pm

GOOD: Saw Phantom when it came through last April and got to talk to Marie Danvers for a good while. I told her I was in theatre and wanted to act and she wished me luck.

WORST: After Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, I waited for a good twenty minutes and then this big officer lady came out and asked me why I was still there. Then she told me the cast was gone. No one except the dancers came out! Very disappointed!

BEST: (Kinda stage-door) While 'Spelling Bee' was in Dallas. Jennifer Simard and her husband Brad Robertson came to my school (he graduated from there and was visiting). I got to class early that day and got to talk to both of them for a good ten minutes. Then they answered questions for the class. Saw the show Sunday, and when she walked down the aisle towards the stage and greeted everyone, she saw me and said, "Oh, hello TJ! How are you? Great to see you tonight." (<-- thought that was really cool) Afterwards, she introduced me to the cast and gave me a signed playbill from everyone. She was really nice.

[bwaybabe3]

Posted: 1/3/07 at 4:39pm

Foa's the best! He left me a message once and was really nice wheen I met him and person. Except one time he said he had to go and couldn't sign/take pictures - but he was very polite about it not rude at all.

[GYPSY1527]

Posted: 1/3/07 at 5:33pm

I can't pin point a "worst" stagedoor experience but I did have a weird one recently at the Coast of Utopia. After having dinner, I decided to go to the theater a little early to catch Amy irving in between her matinee and evening performance and congradulate her on her wonderful performance earlier. After waiting a few minutes with some *interesting* Ethan Hawke fans Amy came walking by and I gently said "Ms. Irving"? She looked at me, almost starring and didn't say anything so I said agian "I apoligize, are you Amy Irving"? She nodded her head and I then proceeded to ask her for an autograph as a nervously fumbled around for a pen. She totally caught me off guard...maybe I caught her off guard as well.

[LilElphaba]

Posted: 1/4/07 at 3:41pm

worst.
eden espinosa at Brooklyn - my friends asked me to ask eden if she would take a picture when she was finished signing, because she skipped up earlier and she replies with the nastiest attitude "You're gunna have to wait a minute, ok ?"
i was like. uh. ok?

and the best for mee
shoshana . hands down .
besides the fact that we had met a bunch of times already shes always been SO sweet to me and i was always greeted with "HEY BABYDOLL HOW ARE YOU? i mean, ive heard shes been mean so im not gunna say shes the niiicest. i think JLT and megan hilty have to be the sweetest at the stage door.

[mikem]

Posted: 1/4/07 at 4:14pm

I stage doored DRS twice, and both times Norbert was very polite. He declined photos, but he said it very nicely (something along the lines of "I'm sorry but I just don't have the time").

I have never had a bad experience with an actor at the stage door, although I've been disappointed when a lot of the principals don't come out. I certainly understand that the actors aren't going to come out every time, but when it just so happens that a lot of the leads don't come out, it's a little disappointing. When I saw Sweet Charity, Christina Applegate, Denis O'Hare, and Wayne Knight all didn't come out. I saw Wicked recently, and Ana Gasteyer, Kate Reinders, David Garrison, Jenna Leigh Green, and Logan Lipton all didn't come out.

[aepratt]

Posted: 1/4/07 at 4:37pm

BwayBaby-
Christine Ebersole was probably performing on an army of cold medicines as she has been fighting this nasty cold that's been going around.
I've never seen her be anything but grateful and generous to the fans. She does pics with EVERYONE who wants one and signs everyone's playbills, etc. (She even let some annoying person snap 4 pics with a camera phone, letting them retake until they were satisfied. As if that weren't enough, she looked at the pics to see if she liked them and commented about them.) She's very sweet and genuine. I think it's because she doesn't have that "spoiled diva" attitude.
BTW: Betty Buckley had legions of fans waiting outside a theater where I saw her give a concert, and she said she wouldn't leave until EVERYONE who wanted one had a photo and an autograph.

My least favorite: Bebe Neuwrith-waited before the show after seeing Chicago the night before. She said she "doesn't do photos" and "please, don't call me Lilith". She then begrudgingly scribbled her autograph onto my playbill. Ironically, I would go on to work the house for her show at a regional theater, where a strange man who had no ticket kept showing up to meet her. I had to keep calling security on him.

[Becoz_i_knew_you21]

Posted: 1/4/07 at 4:40pm

"She said she "doesn't do photos" and "please, don't call me Lilith"

Did you call her Lilith or did she just say that randomly?

[aepratt]

Posted: 1/4/07 at 4:43pm

I'm just like you. After working in theater, I put the autograph pen and playbill to rest. I just talk to them. And it has led to the best experiences of my life. I've gotten to know more of them this way. Amazing.

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 1/4/07 at 4:50pm

"Don't call me Lilith." Reasonable, no?

[aepratt]

Posted: 1/4/07 at 4:50pm

I never made a peep before she said that.

[Becoz_i_knew_you21]

Posted: 1/4/07 at 4:51pm

"I never made a peep before she said that."

Oh.

[fetzles1490]

Posted: 1/4/07 at 5:44pm

"To echo others, Idina and Tim Howar are absolute sweethearts, and let's not forget Anthony Rapp. I've never met anyone who cares so much about his fans."

Oh my god yes to Anthony Rapp. I didn't have the ability to see him actually perform, because I was only 6 when Rent opened, and wasn't all that into Broadway when he was in some of his other stuff, but I've been to two of his book signings. The first time it was ridiculously crowded and rushed. I guess it was his publicist, but whoever it was was rushing the fans and was trying to make things as quick as possible. Meanwhile, Anthony was trying as hard as possible to get as much time with each fan as he could. He was very energetic and had lengthy [well, as lengthy as could be] conversations with anyone who was willing. The second time was even better since it was much less crowded.

Whoever said Greg Jbara earlier, I can't agree more. He was so funny and personable at the DRS stagedoor =)
As for Norbert, he did the same thing regarding pictures to me. The "if I take one with you I have to take one with everyone. Take pictures OF me, but not WITH me." Only he wasn't really rude about it. He was signing playbills very quickly, and even though he wouldn't stop for pictures, he was still chatting with people for a few seconds before he moved on.

Also Adam Pascal! I went to one of his concerts, and although I didn't meet him due to really disorganized venue staff [by the time they were able to tell us WHERE he was meeting fans, he was leaving.], so I messaged him on myspace, and he got back to me the next day with a really sweet message apologizing for the confusion and saying that he actually remembered me & my 2 friends from the front row =D

And finally, I have to say that the Spring Awakening cast is SO sweet and funny. You can tell they're all just so grateful to be on Broadway and they really love every second of it.

As for bad? I'd say Norbert was a little bit of a letdown, but I was VERY disappointed that Sherie didn't come out. I had heard that she doesn't, but I tried anyway and was still a little disappointed.

[dancingthrulife04]

Posted: 1/4/07 at 7:16pm

worst.
eden espinosa at Brooklyn - my friends asked me to ask eden if she would take a picture when she was finished signing, because she skipped up earlier and she replies with the nastiest attitude "You're gunna have to wait a minute, ok ?"
i was like. uh. ok?

Wow! When I saw Brooklyn, Eden was in a huge rush, but was very nice about it. Then when I went to see Wicked for my birthday last year, she was very sweet. She signed and took pictures with everyone who wanted, and was very gracious about the whole thing.

[Little_Mary_Sunshine]

Posted: 1/4/07 at 8:04pm

The only bad ones I've had were Vanessa Williams and Marc Kudisch. Both were at Chitty. They weren't outwardly rude, but they seemed egotistical. Marc Kudisch was a lot better after the show though.

The best ones are probably Gavin Creel, Chip Zein, Erin Dilly, and Donna Lynne Champlin.

Gavin- I saw him in La Cage two days or so after it opened and I loooove him so I was really excited when I saw him come out of the stage door. I said his name and he looked really confused then he saw me so I asked him for a picture and he told me he didn't think anyone knew who he was at this show. He was so sweet.

Chip- I saw him both before and after Chitty and I'd say as an overall total, we talked for about an hour. Part of it might be because I was the only person there who hadn't either just heard of him, or like the two people beside me did, called him "The Baker" because I didn't know his name. He was so sweet though, he talked to me forvever about colleges.

Erin- I saw her after Chitty and she was so sweet. Everytime she tried to come over to me, someone else would come in between us. I was the last person there and she came over and was so nice. She kept apologizing for making me wait and I thought that was really kind.

Donna Lynne- After the first time I saw Sweeney, it was raining pretty hard so not many people came out, but I wrote a majority of the cast letters including Donna Lynne. I met her for the first time after I saw it the second time. I mentioned my letter so she asked my name and I told her. She could recall my whole letter and said it was one of the most touching things she had ever received.

[snl89]

Posted: 1/4/07 at 8:10pm

I WANT to meet Idina and Anthony :) I dont care what some people say, Idina seems like a sweetheart, and I do NOT mind more quiet/shy people. Amy Spanger's kinda like that too. She's super sweet, just a little shy-seeming! And Anthony is, well, anthony! he seems like one of the most amazing people ever Oh and I also need to meet Gavin *dies*

oh and another awesome person- Kevin Cahoon!! OMG that man is so incredibly wonderful <3

[ashley0139]

Posted: 1/4/07 at 10:21pm

Sorry for the threadjack, but Little_Mary_Sunshine I love love love your avatar!

[ikmbway]

Posted: 1/4/07 at 10:58pm

oh and another awesome person- Kevin Cahoon!! OMG that man is so incredibly wonderful <3

I would agree. He's so nice at the stage door. He thanked us for coming and was very nice about pictures. Also, I was the first one he came to but that's besides the point. I told him I sent him a letter and he did this "Oh really!" in a really funny way. Sort of like surprised I guess. Amy Spanger is super nice too. Didn't get to talk to her but also very nice.

[muscle23ftl]

Posted: 12/17/23 at 3:33pm

MistressoftheHouse said: "*Hopes nobody kills me for saying this*

Constantine M. was a jerk at Wedding Singer."

he was a delight when I met him.

[quizking101]

Posted: 12/17/23 at 7:38pm

muscle23ftl said: "MistressoftheHouse said: "*Hopes nobody kills me for saying this*

Constantine M. was a jerk at Wedding Singer."

he was a delight when I met him."

What's funny about the return of this thread is that, in the intervening years, stars have grown up, grown older, and are probably much different people than back when.

Although I don't recall when I met him after JEKYLL & HYDE, I met him on and off during the summer when ROCK & ROLL MAN was running and I saw it a few times (can't say no to a comp tickets on a free evening). Every time, he was very nice and chatty and even on the nights he had to go, he thanked us for coming. I've had some nice chats with him and he's remarkably down to earth.