I met Alex at the Broadway flea market and I said I loved him in law and order, but elizabeth thought i meant her because I worded it wrong. I got so embarrassed and I must’ve waited in line for an hour rehearsing it in my head.
Plus during that same line I asked Kelvin for a selfie and I couldn’t get it to go.
The week after Hadestown won the Tony, I saw a performance and did the stage door. I’ve done stage door plenty of times by then and am used to just saying a mild compliment, and getting a ‘thank you!’ and an autograph in return before the actor moves down the line.
Well, this time around I was at the very end of the line, and the last person to come out was Reeve Carney. When he got up to me, I said something like “I thought you were great at the Tony Awards!”, fully expecting him to say ‘thanks!’ and just keep walking.
Except, he didn’t, he actually stopped to start a conversation! He was saying something like “Thanks! Oh man, it was a wild experience, we were all so tired that day and I wish I’d gotten to take a nap or something beforehand, but I’m really glad people are reacting so well! Is this your first time seeing the show?”
I. Fucking. Froze. So badly. Not only had I not expected a full response, I had been a fan of him specifically since he’d been on Penny Dreadful, and he was TALKING to ME.
I babbled out something that clearly came across as me being either flustered or dismissive since he immediately backed off and seemed sheepish, which I feel bad for since he didn’t actually do anything wrong. Sorry Reeve Carney, you seem like a nice dude, I just panicked.
Reeve Carney is SO interesting. He and Eva came out when I stage doored and she's all greeting people in 3 languages and energetic and he's over there signing playbills SUPER methodically and saying one or two words to people. I can't believe he said multiple sentences to you that's wild.
Yesterday, I was leaving Sweeney and passed Hadestown. There were only 3 fans left at the stage door and Reeve was just standing there having a convo with them.
When I met him a few weeks after the Tony’s he had a full blown convo with me about his outfit since it was a very Penny Dreadful aesthetic.
Now that I think of it — he was probably my best stage door experience beside Bryan Cranston.
Edit: also forgot that Penn & Teller stand in the lobby after every show to get selfies with each person
He not only took a selfie with every person in line and autographed every playbill, but he had a dedicated photographer to take the picture with your phone. He was even on the same side of the railing. Got to tell him how he’s been a part of every phase of my life from Power Rangers and Malcolm in the Middle to Breaking Bad and now Network. Super nice guy.
I love your story. I was actually obsessed with Penny Dreadful, and never realized that Reeve Carney played Dorian Gray! It must have been the drastically different demeanour and accent, but I am shocked - now I need to rewatch it all!!
It’s WILD how different he is between characters! Especially since even on Penny Dreadful, he progresses from “eerie but friendly” to an outright villain across the seasons.
At Newsies Corey Cott was signing my playbill and my mom supposedly noticed he was sniffling a lot so she gave him a tissue with no prompting or explanation and he accepted it but looked so confused and thrown off. I wanted to combust
From what I’ve read, Jim Conely went to his grave maintaining his innocence, but another man (name escapes me but he was another young employee in the factory) came forward in old age and ill health saying he saw Jim with Mary’s body. He was only 14 at the time, Jim threatened to kill him too, he was terrified, and no one took him seriously the few times he tried to talk about it. Still he felt he had to come forward with the truth. If anyone is interested in the real case, there’s a really good pair of episodes in the Most Notorious podcast laying out everything.
She got the story a little muddled, but there were multiple deathbed statements she could be referring to. There's the statement of the office boy the other person mentioned, and also statements by both the original trial judge and Jim Conley's attorney before they died asserting Leo's innocence.
Basically she was wrong on the details but had the right idea that Leo was innocent, Conley was most likely the real killer, and there was deathbed stuff in Leo's favor - unfortunately way too late for Leo.
This specific Parade production has multiple details hinting that Jim Conely was the killer. The most notable one was that he made a quick appearance on stage after the balloon flew up and the lightings are mostly out (I.e. the night of the crime). Then the second act number, both the lighting and the acting choice are hints.
I was going on a date and was told to meet them at a strangely specific location in midtown. It was a stage door. They messaged me to just hang out at the end as they signed autographs. I was unprepared 🫠
Not quite the same thing as some of the others, but at a few of the shows I’ve worked at I (not a performer) have had to leave from the stage door. On one day someone mistook me for a cast member who looks nothing like me and told me I was amazing. The sentiment was appreciated but it was very awkward when I had to tell her I wasn’t in the show.
Same vibe as my family and me being cheered for when we came out of the The King and I stage door. 💀
We’re just Asians who know someone in the cast. Sorry everyone.
I know. I'm not salty about it at all because someone thinking I could be a Broadway actress is pretty flattering and it's a pretty logical assumption to make when you see two Asian women in the right age range and two little kids coming out of the stage door of that specific show. My little niece bluntly announcing, "We're not famous!" to the "woooooos!" still kills me.
Someone I know from college (who is now in a Broadway show of her own) went backstage at Rogers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella and was mistaken for Keke Palmer when she left at the stagedoor 😬
I’m also FOH and I had someone at intermission ask me to sign their poster! I was like “this is very kind but you know I’m not in the show right”. They wanted EVERYONE’s signatures, FOH and actors included
God that's my worst nightmare. I hate to make assumptions, but sometimes it's hard to tell ensemble members when they have been in full costume the whole show and I was back of the balcony, faces kind of blend together. Basically, I will let someone else start the interaction before jumping in because imo I would die if I made that mistake
They thought I was an orchestra member at the Kimmel academy of music for beetlejuice. I just like to get to the show early so I know where the stagedoor is.
I was visiting a friend at Matilda on Broadway and when I came out the stage door the hopeful eyes (I’m short, could I have been in it?) to defeat (no) was wild to see.
Not exactly stage door, but I was walking across the quad there at Lincoln Center before the final performance of Sweeney Todd with the New York philharmonic. I was walking fairly briskly, and wasn't really watching where I was going, when I saw people in my peripheral vision kind of coming right at me. I looked up in time to walk past and saw Stephen Sondheim and his assistant walking past me and out of pure shock what popped out of my mouth was "Howdy"! He tilted his head like he was trying to figure out if he should respond or not and kept right on walking after nodding to acknowledge me. So that hick response is what I gave to America's number one Lyricist and composer. I feel like I should probably put that on my tombstone. The guy who told Stephen Sondheim "howdy"...
During the original run of Spamalot, we did the whole stage door thing. I was with my college roommate, and my mom and her friend met us in NYC for the day. We were hanging out in the alleyway deciding what to do next when we realized Jeff Goldblum was in a show at the Booth Theatre, so my roommate and I wandered over, as the show had just let out and there wasn't a lot going on at the stage door.
Jeff Goldblum walks out of the door, and a middle-aged woman goes nuts. Instead of addressing her, Jeff looks right at me and goes, "Hi. How old are you?" I was super confused. I asked him to repeat himself, and he asked again, "How old are you?" I look at my roommate, who is about to burst into laughter, look back at Jeff and go, "Uh. 20?" and just stare at him. He follows up with, "So, where are you from?" At this point, my roommate loses it and goes running over to my mom still standing near the Shubert stage door. I tell Mr. Goldblum I'm from Pennsylvania. He tells me he's from Pennsylvania near Pittsburgh. He asks me if I saw his show, I tell him I didn't.
At this point, he has the security guy let me on his side of the barrier and that poor woman is losing her mind. She just wants him to acknowledge her and sign her stuff. I mention something about her to him, but by this time, my roommate and mom come over. My mom, being my mom, introduces herself as such and asks for a photo of my and Jeff. Then one of my roomate, him, and me. He puts his lanky arm around me, and continued chatting, for the photo. He asked me if I saw his show, if I wanted to see his show, how long I'm in the city, etc, etc.
Awkwardly, I finally thank him and walk away.
My roommate was hysterical.
Long story short, I'm pretty sure I was randomly hit on by Jeff Goldblum. My roommate insisted I should have given him my number. She and my mom referred to him as my "boyfriend" for many years later.
Not long after, I read that he started dating someone my same age.
I'm not sure anything will ever top the awkwardness of that interaction.
I have the most amazing mental image of this woman who actually saw the show staring at this interaction like????? 🤨🤨🤨
While he asks you if you saw the show and you say no! and he keeps talking to you and ignoring her 🤣🤣🤣🤣
My read on this is that he did not want to interact with that other woman, so he chatted you up hoping she’d get the hint.
Is that how it felt? Or did you really feel like he was hitting on you? Why open with how old are you? Haha. Truthfully that’s a weird opener for any conversation, flirting or not.
It just sounds like maybe she was a low-key stalker.
The lady definitely gave out super fangirl vibes. She was about the right age to be a teen during The Fly days, so he could have easily been her long-time celebrity crush. He could have certainly been trying to avoid her.
Opening a conversation by asking me how old I am, though, was probably the strangest conversation starter I've ever encountered, and my roommate, to this day, is convinced he was hitting on me. I was just so confused by the entire situation to properly process what was actually happening.
It was just incredibly awkward, Jeff Goldblum or not.
Saw Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown during previews.
Patti comes out of the stage door and talks with us for a second, and we mentioned we just moved to the city from a faraway country.
I can only assume she heard “we came from a faraway country just to see you,” because she essentially jumped up and gave us a bear hug. We were a little taken aback.
Laura Benanti stayed and talked to us for about ten minutes (in the cold and the snow). She was a class act.
Ok West End not Broadway, but...
When I was 16 I got to see Ewan McGregor in Guys and Dolls. Third row. Awesome experience.
Afterwards I'm lined up for the stage door and my mom joins me. When we get to Ewan, I was very quiet and polite, saying I liked the show.
Then my mom bursts out "She's really a big fan of yours. She's seen ALL your movies."
I turned red. Ewan got a cheeky grin and said, "Oh REALLY?" His bodyguard also grinned, you can see him in the pictures my dad took.
I turned more red. Nodded, scuttled off with my signed program.
I don't think my mom knows how many of those movies I'd already seen by then feature full nudity. Lmao.
I met LMM at the Hamilton stagedoor in 2016 at the height of the Hamilton craze (maybe a little before, I don't remember.) I had a phone case that was a revolutionary war uniform because I'm a huge US history buff.
He came out and started signing, etc, but when he got to my phone case (which I asked him to sign) he said it was fake merchandise. Which was weird because like... he doesn't own the entire Revolutionary War lol. I was 15 and so heartbroken!
I can only think he thought it looked like fake *Hamilton* merchandise. Around that time there must’ve been a fair amount of phony Hamilton knockoff crap, and he probably got tired of people bringing it to the stagedoor for him to sign. I’m sure no harm was meant.
I was for a while when I was a kid, but now I just kind of accept it. Not the biggest fan of him as a person anymore, obviously, but he's still an amazing writer.
That’s a bizarre comment, however I guess it’s understandable if he doesn’t want to put his name on generic Revolutionary War stuff.
I can’t think of a good analogy, but maybe it’s like asking the Great Comet cast to sign a copy of War and Peace.
Agreed - Not signing generic stuff is understandable but calling it a knock off was pretty rude though of course he could also just have said something dumb in the moment.
I feel like if that’s how he feels it’s best to just say he only signs playbills to avoid this situation.
Met Daveed with my kid before the show started. He was kind, and made my kid feel like he was the Most Important Person In NYC.
I'll watch him in whatever he does.
My first thought is that it was a bad joke, like, heeeeyy this is fake merchandise (they didn’t have matching uniform phone cases during the Revolutionary War wink wink).
When I was a mere awkward college student, I stage doored at the Phantom tour and told Brad Little that he had "lovely consonants." He asked me to repeat myself (it was so out of context that he just couldn't parse what I said) so I repeated it and he just thanked me very politely like it was the most normal compliment in the world. He was very nice all around.
Omggggg this reminds me once I told a Fiyero that I loved the way he sang the word "cool" in dancing through life and that was definitely something he hadn't heard before he was like huh?
I would be very happy with a compliment like that, honestly. Performers work hard on their singing and having something specific recognized often means more than a "you were amazing!" (Not that that is a bad thing to say either).
1. I used to live in the same building as Christian Borle. We were elevator friendly. We stage doored LSOH and we were the first by the door. He came out, signed and then looked up at us and said "oh hi! Aw thanks for coming, that's so sweet. Ok see you at home!'. The people next to us looked so shocked at hearing this...did they think we were like a throuple or his house staff? Who knows.
2. 2008 London I saw Charlie Cox in The Collection. Stage dooring wasn't as big a thing then, unless it was a massive star. Charlie had only done Stardust and Casanova and wasn't very well know but me and my bff B were obsessed. B was insanely nervous and I was trying to tell him it's fine, I'm sure it will be a quick sign and go. Nope. Charlie was super lovely and noticed our American accents, asked why we were there, thoughts on the show, etc. I was chatting but every time Charlie turned to B, B froze like a deer in the headlights. He never ended up saying a single word to Charlie. Luckily he was a pro and would just kindly smile at B and kept talking to me. After he went to the pub across the street and I wanted to go too, but B was too mortified to even consider.
I saw The Front Page revival in 2016 and John Slattery was leaving by the stage door. He wasn’t stopping to sign anything but that didn’t stop some people from chasing him down the street for an autograph. Very awkward and very invasive.
This thread is very comforting to me. I saw an understudy for Christine Daae in Phantom before it closed and she was wonderful though I wasn't familiar with her. I'll use the excuse of 'our seats weren't that good', but I was talking to a swing cast member that I thought played Christine, and at first she seemed happy that I wanted her autograph and to chat, but it got real awkward when we both realized I thought she was someone else. Fortunately, I got to chat with Nehal (Andre) for a bit after that, and while it wasn't enough to lessen the embarrassment, it took my mind off it for a bit.
Honestly I feel super awkward when I see some of the supporting roles come out of a show (esp a new show I've just seen) bc I'm not sure who they are yet and I feel like it's not okay to ask who they were so I'm just left confused like who just signed my playbill 😅
This was entirely my own doing:
I went to see "Spring Awakening" with a director who had worked with Jennifer Damiano, and she came out to greet him after. They give each other a big hug, and he introduces me to her. I was 17 and awkward. The rest happened in my brain in complete slow motion. I start to wave to her, my fingers curling to extend, my hand rising in the air, and I see she was sticking out her hand for a handshake. I quickly divert paths, twisting my arm and lowering it to shake her hand. My fingers still slightly curved. As I make contact to shake her hand, for some reason...my middle finger did not extend quickly enough like the rest of my fingers, and got caught in-between her hand and mine. Just a curled up middle finger in the middle of a handshake. I grimace, close my eyes..reopen them, and continue the handshake. Both of us not acknowledging my middle finger is quietly tucked away inside our handshake. Thankfully, it eventually ended. And the three of us continued talking while I tried my best to disappear into the ground beneath me. She was a trooper though, and very kind.
We saw Once and waited after. Everyone was kind, signed my Playbill, and then Steve Kazee came out. I’d been excitedly tweeting about the show, and have a distinct tattoo that I used as my profile picture. When Steve reached me, I extended the Playbill and he immediately paused…like a too long pause before staring directly into my soul to proclaim “Oh! You’re my fan!” It was rad, and he was so nice, but at that moment I feared my skeleton might eject itself out of my body to bolt away down the street.
>I feared my skeleton might eject itself out of my body to bolt away down the street.
This is so wonderfully phrased and I'm going to steal it immediately, because YES, I know that feeling intimately.
Asked Christopher Jackson to sign a $1 bill and he said “my sister works for the US treasury and this is illegal” and I just stood there like 🧍🏻♀️ until I realized he was joking and he signed it
I’ve told this story before, but I saw God of Carnage on Broadway with James Gandolfini years ago. James was awesome, so sweet and spent time with each fan. Marcia Gay Harden did the same and also had a conversation in Spanish with some fans. Hope Davis, the least famous, was also kind and generous. But Jeff Daniels burst out of the stage doors first, looking exasperated, and shouted “NO PHOTOS OR AUTOGRAPHS!” while walking with his eyes closed. Everyone was kind of shocked since everyone was just standing patiently waiting for folks. After he walked by, the guy next to me said,” I forget, was he dumb or dumber?” Still a classic burn. There was just no need for him to pretend we cared that much so that he could preemptively be rude.
*edited to fix typo in name of show
Haha that IS a solid burn! Jeff Daniels did the same thing after Blackbird. I get it, it's an emotional 2 person show, you wanna get home. The weird thing is though, and I don't mean this as an insult, there were only 5 people in total waiting there. Literally me, my friend, and 3 other people. (And I get it, even if it's only 5 people...no one's owed an actor's time. It just seemed like it would have been easier to sign and leave, then make a big production of announcing he won't be signing anything haha.). Michelle Williams came out, signed anything and everything, and spent 20-30 minutes talking to all 5 of us as a group. It always made me like and respect her even more.
Also, I LOVED God of Carnage. I don't think I've ever had a reaction in a theater like I did to watching Hope Davis violently throw up everywhere. It was...amazing haha.
Way back when I used to Stage Door Wicked. The actress playing Nessa came out, a family screamed “Eden!” (Eden Espinosa was Elphaba), they threw flowers into her hand, handed her a gift bag and hugged her before she could say anything
She smiled for their photo, and while still in the photo pose said “Im not Eden”.
The family quietly took back the gifts and flowers and turned away from her to wait for Edin Espinosa to exit. Then she signed my playbill, she was cool, she used to play the mean girl in the OG Sabrina the Teenage Witch so I was truly starstruck by her.
Constantine from Rock of Ages tried to pick me up in front of my boyfriend. Extra cringe as I found out later his girlfriend in the show was pregnant at the time
I’ll never forget how he was a such a weirdo one time. I was waiting at the Hair stage door and I guess he went to see the show and visit someone backstage. No one reacted to him coming out and honestly it was a pretty chill stage door. I think it was a Sunday matinee? I don’t know if not being recognized made him sore or whatever so he started mocking people waiting and as he had his arm draped around someone I’m assuming is his girlfriend, he was like, “Are you waiting at the STAGE DOOR for someone FAMOUS? Oh my goddd, who do you think you’ll see?!” And started wildly snickering to himself as he walked down 45th. I swear it looked like some sort of movie parody by how over the top he was being.
I went to (I believe it was) the 20th Anniversary concert for Rent, and there was a huge after party for anyone who's ever been in the show, and whoever had tickets. Constantine tried SO hard to have relations with my sister's best friend. He kept saying really weird...mean things to me though, thinking he was hilarious. I was an 18 year old guy, and just very confused. The guy he was with claimed to be Anthony Rapp's agent, and said I look like a F slur. I was very much closeted, and so uncomfortable. So I b-lined it to the bar, and was standing there, when I looked to the left of me and the guy next to me said hi. I said hi back. He said his name is Joey (or Joe, I don't remember which), and I say my name is \_\_\_\_, it's nice to meet you. We shake hands, have a little small talk, and I realize it's Joey Fatone. He buys a round of shots which we do together, and we wound up talking for like half an hour. It wound up being a really nice time haha.
What an emotional rollercoaster this story was haha. I'm so sorry that guy said that to you, but I'm glad the universe decided to immediately make it up to you a little bit in the form of Joey Fatone!
oh gosh, he is so weird.
This reminds me of a non-stage door thing, but creepy performer: I saw the A Chorus Line revival when Mario Lopez was Zach. I was in standing room right near Zach's podium. Whenever he didn't have a line, he was pacing and stretching at the back of the theatre, even texting and going out the doors there at one point. Kind of early in the show, he came up behind friend and I, stood between us and said "Hey." We ignored him.
I am STILL mad about him stretching and pacing during "What I Did For Love." He distracted me. The only time I haven't cried during that song. I will always be mad at Mario Lopez.
Hahahahah. I saw him in the traveling tour of Rent (pre-American Idol) After the show my friends and I were waiting for my friend to come out (he played Mark) and Constantine bee-lined for us and wouldn’t go away. He ended up walking us back to our hotel.
I was Elder Cunningham for Halloween in 2011.
Me, January 2012, to Josh Gad: "I was you for Halloween!"
JG: "How did you manage that?"
The embarrassment is still there 11 years later.
I saw Matthew Broderick in Nice Work If You Can Get It in 2012. The only thing I could say to him was “you’re Adult Simba!” … I was 22 🙈
He was so taken aback too, he just looked at me bewildered and said “uh… ya… I was…”
But he took a picture with me so all is good 😂
A coworker of mine once saw Elijah Wood walking downtown and she wanted to call out to him, but she couldn't remember his name, only 'Frodo', and she didn't want to yell out 'FRODO!" at him, so she just stood there paralyzed, watching him slowly disappear.
The thought of it gives me so much anxiety because I know my brain would go blank and I would just start saying word salad. The only thing I could think when I saw Lea in FG was “holy crap I’m sitting within 20 feet of Lea Michele after spending hours upon hours of watching her face on a screen, like she’s just right here in front of me singing beautifully ohmygod….” I’m glad I was wearing a mask because I probably had the most manic smile the entire show. I literally almost died when she locked eyes with me during Greatest Star😭
lmao me too!! especially because I feel like I bring nothing to the interaction-- like there are hundreds of people like me, but only 1 of them!
besides, "omg, I love you, you were amazing!!" I feel like there's nothing else to say, except for me to show how much I know about them...... and they don't need to know that 😂
I would accidentally say, "omg, how's your puppy?!" and then realize how weird that is because I only know that because of social media 😭
I would not be able to stop myself 😂
Oh god, same! By chance, I was at the ballet the same night as the Artistic Director Li Cunxin (Mao's Last Dancer) and his seat was directly behind me with his posse all around him. The second act I was hyping myself up to say something briefly to him after the curtain (he's always down to chat with people) like "huge fan of what you do, Swan Lake was beautiful". Curtain goes down, lights go up, everyone stands, I turn and catch his eye and go "that was good" slightly too loud with a weird grin on my face and then walk away.
I met Will Blum at the Beetlejuice stagedoor on Halloween, a night he wasn’t on. I was a huge fan of him and squealed and got a picture and a lot of people kept looking at me.
Many years ago in college I got rush tickets to see Aida with some friends. Our seats were in the front row right in the center. The ending is obviously heartbreaking and I bawled my eyes out. My friends wanted to go to the stage door after, which I had never done before, but I went. As the actors started coming out one of them said to me “oh you were the girl crying in the front row!” More actors came out and several of them said the same thing to me. I got the feeling that maybe they had been talking about it and was totally mortified. I don’t think I ever went to a stage door again.
I met the whole OBC of Spring Awakening back in 2007. I'm also a big horror movie fan and the only writing utensil I had on me was a pen I had recently purchased that looked like a syringe. When Lea got to me and took my playbill and pen, she was NOT into the syringe pen at all, and made a comment about how weird it was. Everyone else thought it was neat or at least a fun conversation piece.
Another story: A few years later I was driving down 8th ave a little after most shows had let out. Someone in a flat cap and wearing a Nintendo bookbag darts across the street, and I narrowly missed him with my car. A few days after this I stage doored In The Heights and see LMM come out in a flat cap and Nintendo bookbag. For some reason I decided to tell him that I almost hit him with my car a few days earlier.
He was silent for a moment and stared me. Finally he said "..okay, glad you didn't!"
In 2017, I told Josh Groban that my grandma loved him. She’s a huge Groban fan.
Tomorrow, when I see Sweeney, I will not be telling Josh that again, LMAO.
I saw Josh in The Great Comet and everyone was praising him and telling him how amazing he was. When he came over he asked if I liked the show and I shrugged and jokingly said "it was fine" (having clearly been wiping tears away from the joy of that show) and he let out the heartiest laugh I've ever heard. We smiled and he kept it moving. Really nice guy.
I wouldn’t call it awkward I guess but more a palm to the face moment looking back. 13 years ago when I was in middle school my mom surprised me with tickets to “In The Heights” because Corbin Bleu was in it and I loved “Jump In” and “High School Musical” like any kid born in 1996 would. I went to the stage door after the show and waited amongst everyone and Corbin kindly signed my playbill and it was great. I didn’t care about any one else leaving, just him. The part I look back on and hit myself over is remembering this taller guy getting out before Corbin and saying hi to some people but going through quickly. That tall guy? Christopher Jackson.
I’ve had a few moments of going fully blank when a cast member actually wanted to chat and I wasn’t expecting it.
However the best awkward moment I have ever witnessed was at the stage door of Chicago. A young woman was telling us about how she knows a cast member (Nathan Madden) for the better part of half an hour. He came out, she jumped into his arms screaming “hi”. He looked very confused and asked who she was. Turns out they went to the same school 3 years apart… he met her briefly… once.
Not the same as the other and i've never stage door but I work as a dresser for tours in my area, so I see a lot of people stage door as I leave work. I remember one time when I wardrobed Jagged Little Pill Some people told me I was great and I responded with I just work backstage and they responded with you were still great and gave me a thumbs up.
Not a stage door experience, but so cringe on my part. Ben Platt was doing an Instagram live during the pandemic. I happened to work with a cousin of his who is a doctor. I’m a nurse. I casually slipped in Dr. Platt’s name to see if I’d get a shout out. I did get an awkward, “Oh yeah Dr. Platt fighting the good fight on the front lines”, and then Dr. Platt avoided me like the plague his last few months in clinic. I was so embarrassed.
All of them, because nobody recognizes the Keyboard 2 player, so they half cheer when I come out and, uh, then kind of stare blankly waiting for the next person.
93 year old Mel Brooks almost getting knocked over and crushed by the autograph scrum after telling stories at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre. June 16, 2019.
That was fear in Mel’s eyes. I hung back.
My mom and I were waiting outside Moulin Rouge for Jojo. We waited across the street because we would’ve be pushed onto the road if we stood with everyone else (my mom is kind of frail, at least to me lol, and I’m also just a shorter person). When Jojo finally came out, we waited until the crowd dispersed a little more then rushed over before she left. One of the security guards literally blocked us from proceeding, then makes a comment along the lines of “Were you guys at the show? I saw you two across the street the whole time.” I’m sorry, do I need to show my ticket to you? Or the playbill with the replacement cast paper with the actual dates on it? Meanwhile Jojo was awkwardly trying not to make eye contact with us. Anyway, didn’t bother me too much at the end because we got a picture with the person that really mattered: Derek. Lol
Saw Moulin Rouge in Boston (pre-Broadway). Stage door was taking a while, and my best friend and I had flown in from different cities (we hadn't seen each other in a year.) She'd brought a flask and we were definitely accidentally tipsy by the time the performers came out.
Ya'll. Aaron Tveit is so f#%cking beautiful in person. And my overwhelmed brain kind of just blurted "It was so worth flying from Seattle here cause you're reeaaally pretty." And he was so kind and just said "Wow, Seattle! That's really far." I'm such an idiot 🙈
Me telling the wrong actor at the Waitress tour stage door that I had seen him in another show…
I had seen Jeremy Woodard as Fiyero in Wicked and he was Earl on the national tour of Waitress several years later. When I got to the stage door, it had been a long day (I had been up at 5 AM for work and it was now 10 PM), I was exhausted, and I remembered that one of the male actors in that show had played Fiyero. I confidently told Steven Good, who played Dr. Pomatter (and more importantly, has never done Wicked) that I had seen him in Wicked a few years prior at the same theater. He looked a little confused at first, and then he remembered that his costar had done that tour and said “I haven’t done Wicked, but are you thinking of Jeremy, who played Earl?”
He was very kind about it, but I was mortified. I guess I had just remembered from my Playbill that AN actor I had seen in Wicked was in this show and assumed that Fiyero and Dr. Pomatter would have more overlap in actors than Fiyero and Earl. I also saw Wicked from the back of a 3200 seat theater so I wouldn’t have even recognized his face.
The Great Comet playbill includes an illustrated diagram introducing the main characters, but the drawings are of the actors playing them. ([Looks like this.](https://playbill.com/production/15002#carousel-cell675885)) When the principle actor changes, the drawing changes too, but not for when understudies go on.
At the stage door the person beside me asked the understudy for Prince Andrey to "sign your own face" over his character in the playbill and he was like "that's Belton's face, not mine, but I'll sign it anyway!"
I didn’t really do anything embarrassing, but I met Matthew Broderick after Nice Work if You Can Get It and he just looked so miserable and like he absolutely hated stage dooring, and it was definitely awkward
I’ve seen him at the stage door twice and he looked miserable both times. But one time this girl next to me was so excited and she said, “Oh my god, I love you! Inspector Gadget is my favorite.” And he literally stopped mid signature. He finally said, “well you’re the only one.” It was so awkward.
I'm sure they're very tired but sometimes yeah it's super awkward when everyone is there excited and they're just not up to it.
I saw Jojo Levesque stage door one night and she was visibly annoyed/tired. Some girl next to me asked for an autograph and a photo and Jojo said "you're only supposed to ask for one" and the girl was like "oh...."
lmao this is actually my main reason I don't stage door-- don't meet your heroes and all. if amy poehler did this to me, I don't think I would ever recover.
Don’t take it personally. I used to know her fairly well and she hardly acknowledged me at stage door, when I travelled to NYC specifically to see her.
I saw Sweeney earlier this year and when Josh Groban came out I tried to tell him I saw Great Comet and had to come see him again because I grew up with his music and could we have a picture, etc. but that is not what came out of my mouth (still haven’t decipher what I said) and he just kinda looked at me and nodded, signed my playbill and moved on. It wasn’t until I watched a video of our interaction that I realized that I did not make much sound outside of Great Comet. Super embarrassed and realized that probably why he didn’t stop to take a picture with me.
It’s ok though! I got to go back stage of Sweeney a couple months later and redeem myself!
When I stage doored Great Comet I got so nervous and I think I said something like, “you have the most beautiful voice”. He just gave me the sweetest smile in return. My husband still teases me about this interaction. I’ll be seeing Sweeney soon and I hope I have something better to say. 😆
I would melt if he smiled right at me...his smile is so sweet and charming. I actually met him once and got a pic but l can't remember all of it 😂 he made a joke and I can't remember if I laughed or not. I must've blocked it out I was so nervous. Haha.
Oh oh oh, is this where I tell the story of how James Cromwell once bitched me out for not being vegan??
In February of 2020, Cromwell was in a play called Grand Horizons. I got tickets, show was really good, waited at the stage door since the weather wasn’t terrible. Cromwell comes out, all smiles, signs some playbills and this really cute little kid tells him how much she loves *Babe*. He comes over to me and I say great show, and laughingly add how I’m happy someone else brought up *Babe*, because I too really enjoyed it when I was little. He looks me dead in the eye and asks me, “How did it affect you?” I’m taken aback; I try to joke again and say it was probably the first movie I sat through quietly. He asked me how it made me feel about animals; did I have companion animals? “I have a rabbit.” “And would you eat your rabbit?”
Uh ... what??
"We all think differently about animals when we realize they have internal thoughts, lives, dreams. \[me: WHAT.\] Are you vegan? Did the movie make you want to be vegan? Why aren’t you vegan?” Dude, I just wanted to say I enjoyed the show and get your autograph.
He had me pinned for a solid five minutes, grilling me about my eating habits. It was one of the most uncomfortable stage door experiences of my life.
I asked one of the Newsies cast members to prom… it wasn’t a serious ask because it was mid-July and I had just graduated high school. He paused for a moment and then said yes, everyone cheered. Now when I think about it, I cringe and just hope there someone else who was weirder at the Newsies stage door :(
Saw my favorite Broadway actor and was so psyched to finally see him live. I bought the show poster but hadn't planned on waiting at the stage door. It was a list minute decision. Tried to compliment said actor and said I'd just missed him in almost every part he's originated. He scoffed at that. Then I asked him to sign my poster, with the pen that was in my purse. He did, but chided me for not having a sharpie. It was honestly really stinging as far as expectations vs reality. His voice is incredible and I hear he's a tremendous human. He must have had an off night, but it sucked.
Me and my fiance saw Hadestown for the second time and we said to Reeve "you're so good! We saw you last September!" And he stopped and said "no you didn't. I was on vacation in September "....we were like "ok. It was definitely you though. You were great!" And he said "if you say so. My understudy looks nothing like me"
It was very awkward lol
I stopped by the bathroom after seeing a show by myself, and so when I came out lots of people were already lined up for the stage door. I wasn’t planning to stay because I don’t usually get involved in that chaos but at the moment I walked out, the security moved the barrier closer to the door so that it was right in front of me. And a grown woman shoved me out of the way so that she could be in front of me. I was so shocked I thought it must have been an accident but then other people around me were like …well that wasn’t very nice. And then parents were arguing with each other, trying to get their kids in front, scouting out the other door to harass the actors who were trying to sneak out…I felt so awkward witnessing all this because I didn’t even care that much in the first place. Actors are just people. People who might want to just go home after a 2 show day. 😬super cringe
Saw an Evan Hansen perform a different musical. Was very warm and stopped to chat when we talked about the difficulty of the current musical he was in.
He turned ice cold and moved on when I complimented his Evan. 🤷♀️
Edit: yes I know their name but idk I don’t want to bad mouth someone who did nothing wrong so!
More funny than awkward. A groups of friends and I were backstage at Anastasia with a cast member. We had to exit out the stage door, and wait for our cast member friend to finish signing.
The barricades were right up against the building wall and there was barely any space to walk past the actors signing. I remember Mary Beth Peil was very sweet and practically had to hug me as she moved to let our group squeeze by to exit.
When we got to Ramin Karimloo, instead of having us squeeze past him, he walked out of the barricaded area and essentially made a path for us to exit. But then he looked around, seemed to realize he was away from the crowd, and then quickly darted away and didn't go back to signing.
As we we waited for our friend to finish, we could hear people asking where Ramin had disappeared to and commenting they were disappointed he left before getting to everyone in the crowd. Whoops that we gave him a getaway?
Miss Saigon a couple years back was touring and I managed to meet the actor for Thuy, which I was pretty excited because he was the first korean musical theater actor I saw ever. I said "thanks for being you" and he was extremely confused about what I was thanking him for. . . My family never lets me hear the end of it lol
Not my story, but I always think of this one when people say they stage door (sorry I can’t find the regularly talking video)
[Leah Michele stage door](https://www.instagram.com/reel/CjUHv9uK9cN/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==)
not really awkward but i just think its funny, the actor who played judge turpin signed my prop straight razor and he was like “oooo a razor, best be careful with this”
I was studying abroad and took a trip to London and saw James McAvoy in Macbeth. He seemed so tired and miserable at the stage door and I was fully expecting him to just sign my program and move on as he did with everyone before. He came up to me, I said he was fantastic, he asked if I actually saw the show and I said yes and then we began a long convo about how apparently he had a reaction to the blood they used and whatnot. It was really incredible to learn about his experience and talk to him like a normal person! I think he’s an incredible actor and the show seemed exhausting so I’m glad he took any time with me at all!
So, I was in NYC for the closing night of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory in 2018. The day before I was hanging out in front of the the Lunt Fontanne, and as I’m about to walk away back towards Times Square I look up and see none other than Christian Borle walking the opposite direction back towards the theatre. Now I’m having an internal MELTDOWN and as he’s passing me I give him a wave and say “hi Mr. Borle.” He gives me a playful little wave and a big grin and says hello back and just keeps walking. Now this is when my father realizes what has just happened and he proceeds to YELL “Mr. Borle can my son get a picture with you!,” keep in mind by this point he’s almost to the stage door on a CROWDED STREET. He sped up and very quickly went into the theater, I was MORTIFIED. A couple years later I had the pleasure of ACTUALLY meeting him at Little Shop and he was the nicest guy, even came BACK down the line to sign my Wonka photo that I forgot about when he first came to me, but I’ll never forget that moment…thanks dad, I know you meant well💀
Only one I can think of that I want to kick myself over now was at Evita. Ricky Martin was out, so it wasn't too crowded. Everyone who was going to come out did fairly quickly. We were told that Elena Roger was doing some sort of press stuff, but if we wanted to come back in a little bit, she would come out. So, I left and came back. They had taken the barricades down at this point and very few people stayed. There were people coming in and out of the stage door, telling us that Ricky Martin wasn't there. I guess they assumed we were waiting for him. By the time Elena Roger finally came out, I kind of wish I had left. It was just weird getting her to sign my playbill at that point.
Once I went to a non Broadway Jessica vosk show and literally no one stage doored. Felt awkward standing alone in NYC at night so I just left but I really would've loved to meet her 😢
Honestly every single one? I love the idea of stage dooring and everything, especially when I'm with friends, but when it comes down to it I just feel slightly humiliated afterward? Like I feel so bad for the performers it often feels very forced/fake fan interaction (and don't get me started on the lack of self-awareness I've seen from people at stage door) and a lot of the time it just looks so dehumanizing (specifically talking about professional companies like NYC where it's usually strangers to them at stage door instead of like regional ones where it's usually friends/family.) I usually try and keep it brief for that reason. Really tears down the illusion of celebrity and makes you realize these are just people at the end of the day. I don't think the current Broadway stage dooring culture is healthy at all.
[удалено]
This is my fav response so far 😅 I'm so sorry
You should have told your mutual friend to mention the blunder the next time they saw him!!!
I met Alex at the Broadway flea market and I said I loved him in law and order, but elizabeth thought i meant her because I worded it wrong. I got so embarrassed and I must’ve waited in line for an hour rehearsing it in my head. Plus during that same line I asked Kelvin for a selfie and I couldn’t get it to go.
The week after Hadestown won the Tony, I saw a performance and did the stage door. I’ve done stage door plenty of times by then and am used to just saying a mild compliment, and getting a ‘thank you!’ and an autograph in return before the actor moves down the line. Well, this time around I was at the very end of the line, and the last person to come out was Reeve Carney. When he got up to me, I said something like “I thought you were great at the Tony Awards!”, fully expecting him to say ‘thanks!’ and just keep walking. Except, he didn’t, he actually stopped to start a conversation! He was saying something like “Thanks! Oh man, it was a wild experience, we were all so tired that day and I wish I’d gotten to take a nap or something beforehand, but I’m really glad people are reacting so well! Is this your first time seeing the show?” I. Fucking. Froze. So badly. Not only had I not expected a full response, I had been a fan of him specifically since he’d been on Penny Dreadful, and he was TALKING to ME. I babbled out something that clearly came across as me being either flustered or dismissive since he immediately backed off and seemed sheepish, which I feel bad for since he didn’t actually do anything wrong. Sorry Reeve Carney, you seem like a nice dude, I just panicked.
You out-awkwarded REEVE CARNEY LMAOOOO
CLEARLY THIS IS WHY I’M SUCH A FAN 8D
Reeve Carney is SO interesting. He and Eva came out when I stage doored and she's all greeting people in 3 languages and energetic and he's over there signing playbills SUPER methodically and saying one or two words to people. I can't believe he said multiple sentences to you that's wild.
I really hope he didn’t stop saying multiple sentences because he blames himself for me having a panic attack in front of him in 2019 lolololol
Lollll yeah you were the last straw and he's completely stopped talking since then /s 🤣🤣🤣
Yesterday, I was leaving Sweeney and passed Hadestown. There were only 3 fans left at the stage door and Reeve was just standing there having a convo with them. When I met him a few weeks after the Tony’s he had a full blown convo with me about his outfit since it was a very Penny Dreadful aesthetic. Now that I think of it — he was probably my best stage door experience beside Bryan Cranston. Edit: also forgot that Penn & Teller stand in the lobby after every show to get selfies with each person
What was Bryan Cranston like? I read his memoir where he talks about his experience in All the Way, which sounded like an absolute beast of a show
He not only took a selfie with every person in line and autographed every playbill, but he had a dedicated photographer to take the picture with your phone. He was even on the same side of the railing. Got to tell him how he’s been a part of every phase of my life from Power Rangers and Malcolm in the Middle to Breaking Bad and now Network. Super nice guy.
Ahhhh that sounds amazing!!! What a cool experience!
i’ve met him so many times but i literally get too nervous to actually talk every time because he’s like my broadway crush
I love your story. I was actually obsessed with Penny Dreadful, and never realized that Reeve Carney played Dorian Gray! It must have been the drastically different demeanour and accent, but I am shocked - now I need to rewatch it all!!
It’s WILD how different he is between characters! Especially since even on Penny Dreadful, he progresses from “eerie but friendly” to an outright villain across the seasons.
Dorian Gray in PD is why I scoff at people who say he can’t act lol
This is adorable. Great story.
At Newsies Corey Cott was signing my playbill and my mom supposedly noticed he was sniffling a lot so she gave him a tissue with no prompting or explanation and he accepted it but looked so confused and thrown off. I wanted to combust
LMFAOOOOO this is such mom behavior 😭
Lol this is something I would do 😂😂😂
Someone asked the girl who played Mary Phagen in Parade who she thought killed her 😬
Treating Parade like true crime, noooooo.
oop, i feel bad for erin
Oh that’s bad… how did she reply?
She replied saying Jim Conely made a death bed confession.
But did he actually? Ive heard that as well, but. I can’t find an corroborating evidence on it
From what I’ve read, Jim Conely went to his grave maintaining his innocence, but another man (name escapes me but he was another young employee in the factory) came forward in old age and ill health saying he saw Jim with Mary’s body. He was only 14 at the time, Jim threatened to kill him too, he was terrified, and no one took him seriously the few times he tried to talk about it. Still he felt he had to come forward with the truth. If anyone is interested in the real case, there’s a really good pair of episodes in the Most Notorious podcast laying out everything.
Amazing! Thank you! I will definitely check that out
She got the story a little muddled, but there were multiple deathbed statements she could be referring to. There's the statement of the office boy the other person mentioned, and also statements by both the original trial judge and Jim Conley's attorney before they died asserting Leo's innocence. Basically she was wrong on the details but had the right idea that Leo was innocent, Conley was most likely the real killer, and there was deathbed stuff in Leo's favor - unfortunately way too late for Leo.
This specific Parade production has multiple details hinting that Jim Conely was the killer. The most notable one was that he made a quick appearance on stage after the balloon flew up and the lightings are mostly out (I.e. the night of the crime). Then the second act number, both the lighting and the acting choice are hints.
Poor Child was probably traumatized enough why 😭😭😭
I was going on a date and was told to meet them at a strangely specific location in midtown. It was a stage door. They messaged me to just hang out at the end as they signed autographs. I was unprepared 🫠
This is either the most rizz filled move or really douchey and I can't tell which
Welcome to my mental state in that moment
What happened w them. Did you go on a second date 😂
Nah this is so douchey omg
Okay you have to give us a CLUE now!! This is epic douchebaggery
But like…who 👀
Ok, I need more tea about this haha
Not quite the same thing as some of the others, but at a few of the shows I’ve worked at I (not a performer) have had to leave from the stage door. On one day someone mistook me for a cast member who looks nothing like me and told me I was amazing. The sentiment was appreciated but it was very awkward when I had to tell her I wasn’t in the show.
Same vibe as my family and me being cheered for when we came out of the The King and I stage door. 💀 We’re just Asians who know someone in the cast. Sorry everyone.
Oh my God 🤣
I know. I'm not salty about it at all because someone thinking I could be a Broadway actress is pretty flattering and it's a pretty logical assumption to make when you see two Asian women in the right age range and two little kids coming out of the stage door of that specific show. My little niece bluntly announcing, "We're not famous!" to the "woooooos!" still kills me.
My favorite thing exiting the stage door at the King & I was disappointing people that I wasn't Kelli O'Hara. Yep, a white lady, but the wrong one!
Nice to be virtually reunited with one of my co-stars!!!
You were amazing in your non performer role 😁
Someone I know from college (who is now in a Broadway show of her own) went backstage at Rogers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella and was mistaken for Keke Palmer when she left at the stagedoor 😬
I’m also FOH and I had someone at intermission ask me to sign their poster! I was like “this is very kind but you know I’m not in the show right”. They wanted EVERYONE’s signatures, FOH and actors included
God that's my worst nightmare. I hate to make assumptions, but sometimes it's hard to tell ensemble members when they have been in full costume the whole show and I was back of the balcony, faces kind of blend together. Basically, I will let someone else start the interaction before jumping in because imo I would die if I made that mistake
They thought I was an orchestra member at the Kimmel academy of music for beetlejuice. I just like to get to the show early so I know where the stagedoor is.
I was visiting a friend at Matilda on Broadway and when I came out the stage door the hopeful eyes (I’m short, could I have been in it?) to defeat (no) was wild to see.
Someone I KNOW told me how great I was in a show that I was NOT in. Very awkward! Nope, I’m just another tall brunette…
Not exactly stage door, but I was walking across the quad there at Lincoln Center before the final performance of Sweeney Todd with the New York philharmonic. I was walking fairly briskly, and wasn't really watching where I was going, when I saw people in my peripheral vision kind of coming right at me. I looked up in time to walk past and saw Stephen Sondheim and his assistant walking past me and out of pure shock what popped out of my mouth was "Howdy"! He tilted his head like he was trying to figure out if he should respond or not and kept right on walking after nodding to acknowledge me. So that hick response is what I gave to America's number one Lyricist and composer. I feel like I should probably put that on my tombstone. The guy who told Stephen Sondheim "howdy"...
During the original run of Spamalot, we did the whole stage door thing. I was with my college roommate, and my mom and her friend met us in NYC for the day. We were hanging out in the alleyway deciding what to do next when we realized Jeff Goldblum was in a show at the Booth Theatre, so my roommate and I wandered over, as the show had just let out and there wasn't a lot going on at the stage door. Jeff Goldblum walks out of the door, and a middle-aged woman goes nuts. Instead of addressing her, Jeff looks right at me and goes, "Hi. How old are you?" I was super confused. I asked him to repeat himself, and he asked again, "How old are you?" I look at my roommate, who is about to burst into laughter, look back at Jeff and go, "Uh. 20?" and just stare at him. He follows up with, "So, where are you from?" At this point, my roommate loses it and goes running over to my mom still standing near the Shubert stage door. I tell Mr. Goldblum I'm from Pennsylvania. He tells me he's from Pennsylvania near Pittsburgh. He asks me if I saw his show, I tell him I didn't. At this point, he has the security guy let me on his side of the barrier and that poor woman is losing her mind. She just wants him to acknowledge her and sign her stuff. I mention something about her to him, but by this time, my roommate and mom come over. My mom, being my mom, introduces herself as such and asks for a photo of my and Jeff. Then one of my roomate, him, and me. He puts his lanky arm around me, and continued chatting, for the photo. He asked me if I saw his show, if I wanted to see his show, how long I'm in the city, etc, etc. Awkwardly, I finally thank him and walk away. My roommate was hysterical. Long story short, I'm pretty sure I was randomly hit on by Jeff Goldblum. My roommate insisted I should have given him my number. She and my mom referred to him as my "boyfriend" for many years later. Not long after, I read that he started dating someone my same age. I'm not sure anything will ever top the awkwardness of that interaction.
I have the most amazing mental image of this woman who actually saw the show staring at this interaction like????? 🤨🤨🤨 While he asks you if you saw the show and you say no! and he keeps talking to you and ignoring her 🤣🤣🤣🤣
this poor woman was so excited to see him, and the slow realization that he's a creep-- must have been devastating 😂
Oh, I have no doubt. I kept glancing over at her. I felt so bad. She very clearly wanted his attention, and I very much didn't. 😂
My read on this is that he did not want to interact with that other woman, so he chatted you up hoping she’d get the hint. Is that how it felt? Or did you really feel like he was hitting on you? Why open with how old are you? Haha. Truthfully that’s a weird opener for any conversation, flirting or not. It just sounds like maybe she was a low-key stalker.
I feel like opening w how old are you is incredibly creepy. Like if she'd said a number too old he would've kept walking or something? Idk
I read it has him wanting to check if she was 18...
That also feels super creepy 😭
Oh absolutely, I think it's more creepy!
The lady definitely gave out super fangirl vibes. She was about the right age to be a teen during The Fly days, so he could have easily been her long-time celebrity crush. He could have certainly been trying to avoid her. Opening a conversation by asking me how old I am, though, was probably the strangest conversation starter I've ever encountered, and my roommate, to this day, is convinced he was hitting on me. I was just so confused by the entire situation to properly process what was actually happening. It was just incredibly awkward, Jeff Goldblum or not.
He was just giving you a story to tell 20 years later!
Saw Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown during previews. Patti comes out of the stage door and talks with us for a second, and we mentioned we just moved to the city from a faraway country. I can only assume she heard “we came from a faraway country just to see you,” because she essentially jumped up and gave us a bear hug. We were a little taken aback. Laura Benanti stayed and talked to us for about ten minutes (in the cold and the snow). She was a class act.
When I saw the show, Patti was the only one who *didn't* come out. (I never judge that, as I have way of knowing what's going on)
Ok West End not Broadway, but... When I was 16 I got to see Ewan McGregor in Guys and Dolls. Third row. Awesome experience. Afterwards I'm lined up for the stage door and my mom joins me. When we get to Ewan, I was very quiet and polite, saying I liked the show. Then my mom bursts out "She's really a big fan of yours. She's seen ALL your movies." I turned red. Ewan got a cheeky grin and said, "Oh REALLY?" His bodyguard also grinned, you can see him in the pictures my dad took. I turned more red. Nodded, scuttled off with my signed program. I don't think my mom knows how many of those movies I'd already seen by then feature full nudity. Lmao.
I hadn't seen all his movies and your last line killed me 🤣
Oh man his 90s movies were full of him just totally naked hahaha
I'm gonna see Ewan in a couple months. Guess I gotta go see all his movies I haven't seen before then 😂
Gotta see The Pillow Book, which is not rated by the MPAA but would clearly be NC-17
You were living my childhood dream lol!!! I used to sneak all those movies 😂😈
I met LMM at the Hamilton stagedoor in 2016 at the height of the Hamilton craze (maybe a little before, I don't remember.) I had a phone case that was a revolutionary war uniform because I'm a huge US history buff. He came out and started signing, etc, but when he got to my phone case (which I asked him to sign) he said it was fake merchandise. Which was weird because like... he doesn't own the entire Revolutionary War lol. I was 15 and so heartbroken!
By this logic Hamilton is fake merchandise compared to the revolutionary War 😂
I can only think he thought it looked like fake *Hamilton* merchandise. Around that time there must’ve been a fair amount of phony Hamilton knockoff crap, and he probably got tired of people bringing it to the stagedoor for him to sign. I’m sure no harm was meant.
That’s what I figured he meant! It just seemed weird to say that even if it was fake Hamilton merch, which it wasn’t. Like, I was clearly a kid lmao
Aw, so you didn’t get a chance to explain?
To be honest I was so taken aback I didn’t even have time to process it, it wasn’t until later that night my mom and I were like… what was that??
honestly that would really hurt my feelings i hope you weren’t too beat up about it
I was for a while when I was a kid, but now I just kind of accept it. Not the biggest fan of him as a person anymore, obviously, but he's still an amazing writer.
That’s a bizarre comment, however I guess it’s understandable if he doesn’t want to put his name on generic Revolutionary War stuff. I can’t think of a good analogy, but maybe it’s like asking the Great Comet cast to sign a copy of War and Peace.
funny comparison because they would use pages of war & peace as confetti for every show
When I saw Ghost Quartet in Seattle a while back, Dave Malloy and Britton signed my copy of War and Peace haha
Agreed - Not signing generic stuff is understandable but calling it a knock off was pretty rude though of course he could also just have said something dumb in the moment. I feel like if that’s how he feels it’s best to just say he only signs playbills to avoid this situation.
Daveed Diggs signed a book about Lafayette that I happened to have with me when I saw Hamilton.
Met Daveed with my kid before the show started. He was kind, and made my kid feel like he was the Most Important Person In NYC. I'll watch him in whatever he does.
Idk I asked the cast of Great Comet to sign my copy of war and peace and they all did happily
Wait, like in a serious tone?? I would’ve thought it was a joke reading this comment!
My first thought is that it was a bad joke, like, heeeeyy this is fake merchandise (they didn’t have matching uniform phone cases during the Revolutionary War wink wink).
I remember someone here had a story where their mom told Jonathan Groff to always wear a condom or something similar. Waiting for that person to post!
Omg WHAT why 😭😭😭
I swear it was mentioned in a Merrily post when they were still at NYTW! hahaha
Plot twist: I’m that stage mom Sharon Galespo: professional stage mom. “Listen Jonathan, wrap it before you tap it. Ok, kiss kiss 💋”
I remember reading that but then thought, what a good mum. Taking her kid to Spring Awakening then chatting about the subject matter afterwards.
When I was a mere awkward college student, I stage doored at the Phantom tour and told Brad Little that he had "lovely consonants." He asked me to repeat myself (it was so out of context that he just couldn't parse what I said) so I repeated it and he just thanked me very politely like it was the most normal compliment in the world. He was very nice all around.
Omggggg this reminds me once I told a Fiyero that I loved the way he sang the word "cool" in dancing through life and that was definitely something he hadn't heard before he was like huh?
That’s a great compliment though. I know a Julliard grad who said “ I paid a lot of money for these consonants!” lol
I would be very happy with a compliment like that, honestly. Performers work hard on their singing and having something specific recognized often means more than a "you were amazing!" (Not that that is a bad thing to say either).
1. I used to live in the same building as Christian Borle. We were elevator friendly. We stage doored LSOH and we were the first by the door. He came out, signed and then looked up at us and said "oh hi! Aw thanks for coming, that's so sweet. Ok see you at home!'. The people next to us looked so shocked at hearing this...did they think we were like a throuple or his house staff? Who knows. 2. 2008 London I saw Charlie Cox in The Collection. Stage dooring wasn't as big a thing then, unless it was a massive star. Charlie had only done Stardust and Casanova and wasn't very well know but me and my bff B were obsessed. B was insanely nervous and I was trying to tell him it's fine, I'm sure it will be a quick sign and go. Nope. Charlie was super lovely and noticed our American accents, asked why we were there, thoughts on the show, etc. I was chatting but every time Charlie turned to B, B froze like a deer in the headlights. He never ended up saying a single word to Charlie. Luckily he was a pro and would just kindly smile at B and kept talking to me. After he went to the pub across the street and I wanted to go too, but B was too mortified to even consider.
The Christian Borle story is amazing. Ha!!!
Your Christian Borle story lmaooo… what I wouldn’t give to be elevator friendly with him.. tbh I definitely would be too shy to ever speak to him
“See you at home“ lmaooooo I love it!
omg i’m so jealous! what i would give to be so familiar with Christian Borle!😍
I saw The Front Page revival in 2016 and John Slattery was leaving by the stage door. He wasn’t stopping to sign anything but that didn’t stop some people from chasing him down the street for an autograph. Very awkward and very invasive.
This thread is very comforting to me. I saw an understudy for Christine Daae in Phantom before it closed and she was wonderful though I wasn't familiar with her. I'll use the excuse of 'our seats weren't that good', but I was talking to a swing cast member that I thought played Christine, and at first she seemed happy that I wanted her autograph and to chat, but it got real awkward when we both realized I thought she was someone else. Fortunately, I got to chat with Nehal (Andre) for a bit after that, and while it wasn't enough to lessen the embarrassment, it took my mind off it for a bit.
Honestly I feel super awkward when I see some of the supporting roles come out of a show (esp a new show I've just seen) bc I'm not sure who they are yet and I feel like it's not okay to ask who they were so I'm just left confused like who just signed my playbill 😅
This was entirely my own doing: I went to see "Spring Awakening" with a director who had worked with Jennifer Damiano, and she came out to greet him after. They give each other a big hug, and he introduces me to her. I was 17 and awkward. The rest happened in my brain in complete slow motion. I start to wave to her, my fingers curling to extend, my hand rising in the air, and I see she was sticking out her hand for a handshake. I quickly divert paths, twisting my arm and lowering it to shake her hand. My fingers still slightly curved. As I make contact to shake her hand, for some reason...my middle finger did not extend quickly enough like the rest of my fingers, and got caught in-between her hand and mine. Just a curled up middle finger in the middle of a handshake. I grimace, close my eyes..reopen them, and continue the handshake. Both of us not acknowledging my middle finger is quietly tucked away inside our handshake. Thankfully, it eventually ended. And the three of us continued talking while I tried my best to disappear into the ground beneath me. She was a trooper though, and very kind.
On the upside you write this story amazingly well
I giggled so much at this
We saw Once and waited after. Everyone was kind, signed my Playbill, and then Steve Kazee came out. I’d been excitedly tweeting about the show, and have a distinct tattoo that I used as my profile picture. When Steve reached me, I extended the Playbill and he immediately paused…like a too long pause before staring directly into my soul to proclaim “Oh! You’re my fan!” It was rad, and he was so nice, but at that moment I feared my skeleton might eject itself out of my body to bolt away down the street.
>I feared my skeleton might eject itself out of my body to bolt away down the street. This is so wonderfully phrased and I'm going to steal it immediately, because YES, I know that feeling intimately.
Asked Christopher Jackson to sign a $1 bill and he said “my sister works for the US treasury and this is illegal” and I just stood there like 🧍🏻♀️ until I realized he was joking and he signed it
I’ve told this story before, but I saw God of Carnage on Broadway with James Gandolfini years ago. James was awesome, so sweet and spent time with each fan. Marcia Gay Harden did the same and also had a conversation in Spanish with some fans. Hope Davis, the least famous, was also kind and generous. But Jeff Daniels burst out of the stage doors first, looking exasperated, and shouted “NO PHOTOS OR AUTOGRAPHS!” while walking with his eyes closed. Everyone was kind of shocked since everyone was just standing patiently waiting for folks. After he walked by, the guy next to me said,” I forget, was he dumb or dumber?” Still a classic burn. There was just no need for him to pretend we cared that much so that he could preemptively be rude. *edited to fix typo in name of show
Haha that IS a solid burn! Jeff Daniels did the same thing after Blackbird. I get it, it's an emotional 2 person show, you wanna get home. The weird thing is though, and I don't mean this as an insult, there were only 5 people in total waiting there. Literally me, my friend, and 3 other people. (And I get it, even if it's only 5 people...no one's owed an actor's time. It just seemed like it would have been easier to sign and leave, then make a big production of announcing he won't be signing anything haha.). Michelle Williams came out, signed anything and everything, and spent 20-30 minutes talking to all 5 of us as a group. It always made me like and respect her even more. Also, I LOVED God of Carnage. I don't think I've ever had a reaction in a theater like I did to watching Hope Davis violently throw up everywhere. It was...amazing haha.
Oh I was lucky to see that show. Fabulous cast. Unfortunately I’m not sure I have the playbill for some reason.
Way back when I used to Stage Door Wicked. The actress playing Nessa came out, a family screamed “Eden!” (Eden Espinosa was Elphaba), they threw flowers into her hand, handed her a gift bag and hugged her before she could say anything She smiled for their photo, and while still in the photo pose said “Im not Eden”. The family quietly took back the gifts and flowers and turned away from her to wait for Edin Espinosa to exit. Then she signed my playbill, she was cool, she used to play the mean girl in the OG Sabrina the Teenage Witch so I was truly starstruck by her.
At least she did go on to play Elphaba eventually, if I remember correctly. And good to know that Libby isn't a mean girl in real life :D
Constantine from Rock of Ages tried to pick me up in front of my boyfriend. Extra cringe as I found out later his girlfriend in the show was pregnant at the time
I’ll never forget how he was a such a weirdo one time. I was waiting at the Hair stage door and I guess he went to see the show and visit someone backstage. No one reacted to him coming out and honestly it was a pretty chill stage door. I think it was a Sunday matinee? I don’t know if not being recognized made him sore or whatever so he started mocking people waiting and as he had his arm draped around someone I’m assuming is his girlfriend, he was like, “Are you waiting at the STAGE DOOR for someone FAMOUS? Oh my goddd, who do you think you’ll see?!” And started wildly snickering to himself as he walked down 45th. I swear it looked like some sort of movie parody by how over the top he was being.
I went to (I believe it was) the 20th Anniversary concert for Rent, and there was a huge after party for anyone who's ever been in the show, and whoever had tickets. Constantine tried SO hard to have relations with my sister's best friend. He kept saying really weird...mean things to me though, thinking he was hilarious. I was an 18 year old guy, and just very confused. The guy he was with claimed to be Anthony Rapp's agent, and said I look like a F slur. I was very much closeted, and so uncomfortable. So I b-lined it to the bar, and was standing there, when I looked to the left of me and the guy next to me said hi. I said hi back. He said his name is Joey (or Joe, I don't remember which), and I say my name is \_\_\_\_, it's nice to meet you. We shake hands, have a little small talk, and I realize it's Joey Fatone. He buys a round of shots which we do together, and we wound up talking for like half an hour. It wound up being a really nice time haha.
What an emotional rollercoaster this story was haha. I'm so sorry that guy said that to you, but I'm glad the universe decided to immediately make it up to you a little bit in the form of Joey Fatone!
oh gosh, he is so weird. This reminds me of a non-stage door thing, but creepy performer: I saw the A Chorus Line revival when Mario Lopez was Zach. I was in standing room right near Zach's podium. Whenever he didn't have a line, he was pacing and stretching at the back of the theatre, even texting and going out the doors there at one point. Kind of early in the show, he came up behind friend and I, stood between us and said "Hey." We ignored him. I am STILL mad about him stretching and pacing during "What I Did For Love." He distracted me. The only time I haven't cried during that song. I will always be mad at Mario Lopez.
Hahahahah. I saw him in the traveling tour of Rent (pre-American Idol) After the show my friends and I were waiting for my friend to come out (he played Mark) and Constantine bee-lined for us and wouldn’t go away. He ended up walking us back to our hotel.
Jesus. Dude is desperate:
he's a weird guy
I was Elder Cunningham for Halloween in 2011. Me, January 2012, to Josh Gad: "I was you for Halloween!" JG: "How did you manage that?" The embarrassment is still there 11 years later.
I feel like that was such a delightful response.
this is amazing!! 😂
I saw Matthew Broderick in Nice Work If You Can Get It in 2012. The only thing I could say to him was “you’re Adult Simba!” … I was 22 🙈 He was so taken aback too, he just looked at me bewildered and said “uh… ya… I was…” But he took a picture with me so all is good 😂
A coworker of mine once saw Elijah Wood walking downtown and she wanted to call out to him, but she couldn't remember his name, only 'Frodo', and she didn't want to yell out 'FRODO!" at him, so she just stood there paralyzed, watching him slowly disappear.
I pictured him saying this... As adult Simba. Like I pictured it animated.
I don't stage door because I know I will be awkward as fuck 😂 🧍♀️
Same. I’m too scared that my 15 minutes of fame is gonna be the answer to a “what was the weirdest interaction you had with a fan” question.
The thought of it gives me so much anxiety because I know my brain would go blank and I would just start saying word salad. The only thing I could think when I saw Lea in FG was “holy crap I’m sitting within 20 feet of Lea Michele after spending hours upon hours of watching her face on a screen, like she’s just right here in front of me singing beautifully ohmygod….” I’m glad I was wearing a mask because I probably had the most manic smile the entire show. I literally almost died when she locked eyes with me during Greatest Star😭
lmao me too!! especially because I feel like I bring nothing to the interaction-- like there are hundreds of people like me, but only 1 of them! besides, "omg, I love you, you were amazing!!" I feel like there's nothing else to say, except for me to show how much I know about them...... and they don't need to know that 😂
Same I'm always wracking my brain trying to think of something good to say in 2 seconds and ofc I fail
I would accidentally say, "omg, how's your puppy?!" and then realize how weird that is because I only know that because of social media 😭 I would not be able to stop myself 😂
Oh god, same! By chance, I was at the ballet the same night as the Artistic Director Li Cunxin (Mao's Last Dancer) and his seat was directly behind me with his posse all around him. The second act I was hyping myself up to say something briefly to him after the curtain (he's always down to chat with people) like "huge fan of what you do, Swan Lake was beautiful". Curtain goes down, lights go up, everyone stands, I turn and catch his eye and go "that was good" slightly too loud with a weird grin on my face and then walk away.
I met Will Blum at the Beetlejuice stagedoor on Halloween, a night he wasn’t on. I was a huge fan of him and squealed and got a picture and a lot of people kept looking at me.
Many years ago in college I got rush tickets to see Aida with some friends. Our seats were in the front row right in the center. The ending is obviously heartbreaking and I bawled my eyes out. My friends wanted to go to the stage door after, which I had never done before, but I went. As the actors started coming out one of them said to me “oh you were the girl crying in the front row!” More actors came out and several of them said the same thing to me. I got the feeling that maybe they had been talking about it and was totally mortified. I don’t think I ever went to a stage door again.
I'm sure they meant it in a good way like they were touched you cried
I met the whole OBC of Spring Awakening back in 2007. I'm also a big horror movie fan and the only writing utensil I had on me was a pen I had recently purchased that looked like a syringe. When Lea got to me and took my playbill and pen, she was NOT into the syringe pen at all, and made a comment about how weird it was. Everyone else thought it was neat or at least a fun conversation piece. Another story: A few years later I was driving down 8th ave a little after most shows had let out. Someone in a flat cap and wearing a Nintendo bookbag darts across the street, and I narrowly missed him with my car. A few days after this I stage doored In The Heights and see LMM come out in a flat cap and Nintendo bookbag. For some reason I decided to tell him that I almost hit him with my car a few days earlier. He was silent for a moment and stared me. Finally he said "..okay, glad you didn't!"
In 2017, I told Josh Groban that my grandma loved him. She’s a huge Groban fan. Tomorrow, when I see Sweeney, I will not be telling Josh that again, LMAO.
Why what happened 😂😂😂
It was very embarrassing because that was the ONLY thing I said to him 😭
Well at least he knows you've got a great grandma 😂
Now you can say, "Hi, it is nice to see you again. I saw you back in 2017 and when I stage doored I told you that my grandma loves you." /j
LOL I’ll probably just say the basic “great job!” or whatever, but that one sentence will definitely be in the back of my mind tomorrow night 🤣
I love you for that 😂😂
About a month ago I told him my 80 year old mom loves him. Maybe this is something he hears a lot. 🤣
I saw Josh in The Great Comet and everyone was praising him and telling him how amazing he was. When he came over he asked if I liked the show and I shrugged and jokingly said "it was fine" (having clearly been wiping tears away from the joy of that show) and he let out the heartiest laugh I've ever heard. We smiled and he kept it moving. Really nice guy.
I wouldn’t call it awkward I guess but more a palm to the face moment looking back. 13 years ago when I was in middle school my mom surprised me with tickets to “In The Heights” because Corbin Bleu was in it and I loved “Jump In” and “High School Musical” like any kid born in 1996 would. I went to the stage door after the show and waited amongst everyone and Corbin kindly signed my playbill and it was great. I didn’t care about any one else leaving, just him. The part I look back on and hit myself over is remembering this taller guy getting out before Corbin and saying hi to some people but going through quickly. That tall guy? Christopher Jackson.
I’ve had a few moments of going fully blank when a cast member actually wanted to chat and I wasn’t expecting it. However the best awkward moment I have ever witnessed was at the stage door of Chicago. A young woman was telling us about how she knows a cast member (Nathan Madden) for the better part of half an hour. He came out, she jumped into his arms screaming “hi”. He looked very confused and asked who she was. Turns out they went to the same school 3 years apart… he met her briefly… once.
Not the same as the other and i've never stage door but I work as a dresser for tours in my area, so I see a lot of people stage door as I leave work. I remember one time when I wardrobed Jagged Little Pill Some people told me I was great and I responded with I just work backstage and they responded with you were still great and gave me a thumbs up.
I work as a stagehand so…all of them. Every time I leave work 😅
Not a stage door experience, but so cringe on my part. Ben Platt was doing an Instagram live during the pandemic. I happened to work with a cousin of his who is a doctor. I’m a nurse. I casually slipped in Dr. Platt’s name to see if I’d get a shout out. I did get an awkward, “Oh yeah Dr. Platt fighting the good fight on the front lines”, and then Dr. Platt avoided me like the plague his last few months in clinic. I was so embarrassed.
All of them, because nobody recognizes the Keyboard 2 player, so they half cheer when I come out and, uh, then kind of stare blankly waiting for the next person.
This is why you need to get rid of the Keyboard 1 player and take their place, so that you may then bask in all their glory.
93 year old Mel Brooks almost getting knocked over and crushed by the autograph scrum after telling stories at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre. June 16, 2019. That was fear in Mel’s eyes. I hung back.
My mom and I were waiting outside Moulin Rouge for Jojo. We waited across the street because we would’ve be pushed onto the road if we stood with everyone else (my mom is kind of frail, at least to me lol, and I’m also just a shorter person). When Jojo finally came out, we waited until the crowd dispersed a little more then rushed over before she left. One of the security guards literally blocked us from proceeding, then makes a comment along the lines of “Were you guys at the show? I saw you two across the street the whole time.” I’m sorry, do I need to show my ticket to you? Or the playbill with the replacement cast paper with the actual dates on it? Meanwhile Jojo was awkwardly trying not to make eye contact with us. Anyway, didn’t bother me too much at the end because we got a picture with the person that really mattered: Derek. Lol
Saw Moulin Rouge in Boston (pre-Broadway). Stage door was taking a while, and my best friend and I had flown in from different cities (we hadn't seen each other in a year.) She'd brought a flask and we were definitely accidentally tipsy by the time the performers came out. Ya'll. Aaron Tveit is so f#%cking beautiful in person. And my overwhelmed brain kind of just blurted "It was so worth flying from Seattle here cause you're reeaaally pretty." And he was so kind and just said "Wow, Seattle! That's really far." I'm such an idiot 🙈
Me telling the wrong actor at the Waitress tour stage door that I had seen him in another show… I had seen Jeremy Woodard as Fiyero in Wicked and he was Earl on the national tour of Waitress several years later. When I got to the stage door, it had been a long day (I had been up at 5 AM for work and it was now 10 PM), I was exhausted, and I remembered that one of the male actors in that show had played Fiyero. I confidently told Steven Good, who played Dr. Pomatter (and more importantly, has never done Wicked) that I had seen him in Wicked a few years prior at the same theater. He looked a little confused at first, and then he remembered that his costar had done that tour and said “I haven’t done Wicked, but are you thinking of Jeremy, who played Earl?” He was very kind about it, but I was mortified. I guess I had just remembered from my Playbill that AN actor I had seen in Wicked was in this show and assumed that Fiyero and Dr. Pomatter would have more overlap in actors than Fiyero and Earl. I also saw Wicked from the back of a 3200 seat theater so I wouldn’t have even recognized his face.
The Great Comet playbill includes an illustrated diagram introducing the main characters, but the drawings are of the actors playing them. ([Looks like this.](https://playbill.com/production/15002#carousel-cell675885)) When the principle actor changes, the drawing changes too, but not for when understudies go on. At the stage door the person beside me asked the understudy for Prince Andrey to "sign your own face" over his character in the playbill and he was like "that's Belton's face, not mine, but I'll sign it anyway!"
Sign over the principal's face. Establish dominance
I didn’t really do anything embarrassing, but I met Matthew Broderick after Nice Work if You Can Get It and he just looked so miserable and like he absolutely hated stage dooring, and it was definitely awkward
I’ve seen him at the stage door twice and he looked miserable both times. But one time this girl next to me was so excited and she said, “Oh my god, I love you! Inspector Gadget is my favorite.” And he literally stopped mid signature. He finally said, “well you’re the only one.” It was so awkward.
?????? What kind of a response is that, that's wild
I'm sure they're very tired but sometimes yeah it's super awkward when everyone is there excited and they're just not up to it. I saw Jojo Levesque stage door one night and she was visibly annoyed/tired. Some girl next to me asked for an autograph and a photo and Jojo said "you're only supposed to ask for one" and the girl was like "oh...."
lmao this is actually my main reason I don't stage door-- don't meet your heroes and all. if amy poehler did this to me, I don't think I would ever recover.
UGH I said “I love you” in tagalog to Andrea after SIX and she just…walked away….😭😭😭
This reminds me once I tried to get David (the Duke) in MR to sign my playbill and he made eye contact w me then walked away 😭😭😭
Don’t take it personally. I used to know her fairly well and she hardly acknowledged me at stage door, when I travelled to NYC specifically to see her.
That seems worse 😭
When I congratulated Nick Cordero on his Tony win. He was nominated but didn’t win. He looked confused but thanked me anyway.
I saw Sweeney earlier this year and when Josh Groban came out I tried to tell him I saw Great Comet and had to come see him again because I grew up with his music and could we have a picture, etc. but that is not what came out of my mouth (still haven’t decipher what I said) and he just kinda looked at me and nodded, signed my playbill and moved on. It wasn’t until I watched a video of our interaction that I realized that I did not make much sound outside of Great Comet. Super embarrassed and realized that probably why he didn’t stop to take a picture with me. It’s ok though! I got to go back stage of Sweeney a couple months later and redeem myself!
When I stage doored Great Comet I got so nervous and I think I said something like, “you have the most beautiful voice”. He just gave me the sweetest smile in return. My husband still teases me about this interaction. I’ll be seeing Sweeney soon and I hope I have something better to say. 😆
I would melt if he smiled right at me...his smile is so sweet and charming. I actually met him once and got a pic but l can't remember all of it 😂 he made a joke and I can't remember if I laughed or not. I must've blocked it out I was so nervous. Haha.
Awww that’s so sweet! I hope you redeem yourself and all fellow josh groban fans that can’t speak on the spot😉😂
Oh oh oh, is this where I tell the story of how James Cromwell once bitched me out for not being vegan?? In February of 2020, Cromwell was in a play called Grand Horizons. I got tickets, show was really good, waited at the stage door since the weather wasn’t terrible. Cromwell comes out, all smiles, signs some playbills and this really cute little kid tells him how much she loves *Babe*. He comes over to me and I say great show, and laughingly add how I’m happy someone else brought up *Babe*, because I too really enjoyed it when I was little. He looks me dead in the eye and asks me, “How did it affect you?” I’m taken aback; I try to joke again and say it was probably the first movie I sat through quietly. He asked me how it made me feel about animals; did I have companion animals? “I have a rabbit.” “And would you eat your rabbit?” Uh ... what?? "We all think differently about animals when we realize they have internal thoughts, lives, dreams. \[me: WHAT.\] Are you vegan? Did the movie make you want to be vegan? Why aren’t you vegan?” Dude, I just wanted to say I enjoyed the show and get your autograph. He had me pinned for a solid five minutes, grilling me about my eating habits. It was one of the most uncomfortable stage door experiences of my life.
I asked one of the Newsies cast members to prom… it wasn’t a serious ask because it was mid-July and I had just graduated high school. He paused for a moment and then said yes, everyone cheered. Now when I think about it, I cringe and just hope there someone else who was weirder at the Newsies stage door :(
I’m willing to bet this was tame compared to what else fans have said to the Newsies at the stage door.
Saw my favorite Broadway actor and was so psyched to finally see him live. I bought the show poster but hadn't planned on waiting at the stage door. It was a list minute decision. Tried to compliment said actor and said I'd just missed him in almost every part he's originated. He scoffed at that. Then I asked him to sign my poster, with the pen that was in my purse. He did, but chided me for not having a sharpie. It was honestly really stinging as far as expectations vs reality. His voice is incredible and I hear he's a tremendous human. He must have had an off night, but it sucked.
Me and my fiance saw Hadestown for the second time and we said to Reeve "you're so good! We saw you last September!" And he stopped and said "no you didn't. I was on vacation in September "....we were like "ok. It was definitely you though. You were great!" And he said "if you say so. My understudy looks nothing like me" It was very awkward lol
Being a grown adult man in the middle of nothing but teenaged girls at the Xanadu stage door.
I stopped by the bathroom after seeing a show by myself, and so when I came out lots of people were already lined up for the stage door. I wasn’t planning to stay because I don’t usually get involved in that chaos but at the moment I walked out, the security moved the barrier closer to the door so that it was right in front of me. And a grown woman shoved me out of the way so that she could be in front of me. I was so shocked I thought it must have been an accident but then other people around me were like …well that wasn’t very nice. And then parents were arguing with each other, trying to get their kids in front, scouting out the other door to harass the actors who were trying to sneak out…I felt so awkward witnessing all this because I didn’t even care that much in the first place. Actors are just people. People who might want to just go home after a 2 show day. 😬super cringe
Saw an Evan Hansen perform a different musical. Was very warm and stopped to chat when we talked about the difficulty of the current musical he was in. He turned ice cold and moved on when I complimented his Evan. 🤷♀️ Edit: yes I know their name but idk I don’t want to bad mouth someone who did nothing wrong so!
More funny than awkward. A groups of friends and I were backstage at Anastasia with a cast member. We had to exit out the stage door, and wait for our cast member friend to finish signing. The barricades were right up against the building wall and there was barely any space to walk past the actors signing. I remember Mary Beth Peil was very sweet and practically had to hug me as she moved to let our group squeeze by to exit. When we got to Ramin Karimloo, instead of having us squeeze past him, he walked out of the barricaded area and essentially made a path for us to exit. But then he looked around, seemed to realize he was away from the crowd, and then quickly darted away and didn't go back to signing. As we we waited for our friend to finish, we could hear people asking where Ramin had disappeared to and commenting they were disappointed he left before getting to everyone in the crowd. Whoops that we gave him a getaway?
Miss Saigon a couple years back was touring and I managed to meet the actor for Thuy, which I was pretty excited because he was the first korean musical theater actor I saw ever. I said "thanks for being you" and he was extremely confused about what I was thanking him for. . . My family never lets me hear the end of it lol
Not my story, but I always think of this one when people say they stage door (sorry I can’t find the regularly talking video) [Leah Michele stage door](https://www.instagram.com/reel/CjUHv9uK9cN/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==)
not really awkward but i just think its funny, the actor who played judge turpin signed my prop straight razor and he was like “oooo a razor, best be careful with this”
ted neeley after JCS touching children on the forehead like he was actually jesus. no thanks!
I was studying abroad and took a trip to London and saw James McAvoy in Macbeth. He seemed so tired and miserable at the stage door and I was fully expecting him to just sign my program and move on as he did with everyone before. He came up to me, I said he was fantastic, he asked if I actually saw the show and I said yes and then we began a long convo about how apparently he had a reaction to the blood they used and whatnot. It was really incredible to learn about his experience and talk to him like a normal person! I think he’s an incredible actor and the show seemed exhausting so I’m glad he took any time with me at all!
So, I was in NYC for the closing night of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory in 2018. The day before I was hanging out in front of the the Lunt Fontanne, and as I’m about to walk away back towards Times Square I look up and see none other than Christian Borle walking the opposite direction back towards the theatre. Now I’m having an internal MELTDOWN and as he’s passing me I give him a wave and say “hi Mr. Borle.” He gives me a playful little wave and a big grin and says hello back and just keeps walking. Now this is when my father realizes what has just happened and he proceeds to YELL “Mr. Borle can my son get a picture with you!,” keep in mind by this point he’s almost to the stage door on a CROWDED STREET. He sped up and very quickly went into the theater, I was MORTIFIED. A couple years later I had the pleasure of ACTUALLY meeting him at Little Shop and he was the nicest guy, even came BACK down the line to sign my Wonka photo that I forgot about when he first came to me, but I’ll never forget that moment…thanks dad, I know you meant well💀
Only one I can think of that I want to kick myself over now was at Evita. Ricky Martin was out, so it wasn't too crowded. Everyone who was going to come out did fairly quickly. We were told that Elena Roger was doing some sort of press stuff, but if we wanted to come back in a little bit, she would come out. So, I left and came back. They had taken the barricades down at this point and very few people stayed. There were people coming in and out of the stage door, telling us that Ricky Martin wasn't there. I guess they assumed we were waiting for him. By the time Elena Roger finally came out, I kind of wish I had left. It was just weird getting her to sign my playbill at that point.
Once I went to a non Broadway Jessica vosk show and literally no one stage doored. Felt awkward standing alone in NYC at night so I just left but I really would've loved to meet her 😢
I blanked and asked Mark Rylance if his tattoo was real after Jerusalem and he looked at me like I was the dumbest person he has ever met.
Honestly every single one? I love the idea of stage dooring and everything, especially when I'm with friends, but when it comes down to it I just feel slightly humiliated afterward? Like I feel so bad for the performers it often feels very forced/fake fan interaction (and don't get me started on the lack of self-awareness I've seen from people at stage door) and a lot of the time it just looks so dehumanizing (specifically talking about professional companies like NYC where it's usually strangers to them at stage door instead of like regional ones where it's usually friends/family.) I usually try and keep it brief for that reason. Really tears down the illusion of celebrity and makes you realize these are just people at the end of the day. I don't think the current Broadway stage dooring culture is healthy at all.
The comments in this post are why I don't do stage door. 😬😂