Awkward Stage Door Moments

[StephenSondheimWHOO]

I LOVE this thread.
This wasn't my moment, but after Spring Awakening a huge group of kids on a trip from another state had a huge poster they were asking people to sign. One of the understudies was going by, and he stopped in front of them assuming they wanted an autograph and the girl with the poster says to the rest of the group loudly "Wait, do we really want HIS autograph." The actor laughed but you could kind of tell he was hurt

[Craww]

Long stories short?

My mom has a Company playbill signed by Cary Shields, signed "Cary Shields as April".

Skylar Astin telling me "I hear I'm very good" and me saying "from who, your mother?"

Luther Creek insisting on fixing my camera. Me responding with "and he's smart, too!" with the sarcastic implication that he was smart in addition to being handsome. Which he's not, which I think he got when he said "I like cameras". Sorry, Luther darling.

Jonathan Groff sweetly not understanding things. In general.

I guess those are actually just my awesome stories. The awkward ones are always just the little moments of cameras not working, or kind of ignoring someone when you weren't planning on stopping them. Or maybe just the existence of my unwanted picture with Lea Michele.

[agentpattycakes]

I love reading these - and it's moments like these I don't like to stage door.

But one time, a couple of my friends and I stayed behind in the St. James after a matinee of Gypsy to go to the bathroom and buy some stuff and by the time we came out the barricades had been set up and people thought we were in the show. I guess the stage door is close to or the same door we exited from. But everyone there got really excited to see the doors open and people come out - and I almost stopped to sign some people's playbills, but I was too shocked. It's very overwhelming to be on the other side of things.

[LizzieCurry]

At a certain West Coast touring venue, one of the actors had told us an easier way to get into the theatre (it was a newish venue and not a traditional theatre setup). Well, that night three of us went up to the door, which was on a landing with a set of stairs. I look down and THE LANDING IS MOVING AND OMG NO IT IS NOT AN EARTHQUAKE IT IS COCKROACHES WTF. Covered in cockroaches. I am not afraid of bugs nor easily startled, but all three of us SCREAMED and ran down the stairs, and the conductor was walking by and just stared at us...

(His face: o_O)

[andsym9001]

at wicked jenna leigh green came out and i was on opposite side of the raling as her and it was my first time seeing a clebrity at the stage door and i was shaking and went to the end of the railling to meet her. and she left and the security guard guy was like "ima need you to stay on the other side" i had no idea how i got onto the other side. hahaha

[xOnMyOwnX]

stage-dooring after Spring Awakening I got a little fan-girl over Groff. I started rambling like crazy. This was right after the Tony's and of course, in my daze, I mentioned his loss. He just made a face like "why would you mention that while trying to compliment me" and I just kept on talking. As soon as he left I turned to my friend and was like what the hell did I just say. But he was insanely nice anyway.

[bwayfan45]

At Spring Awakening, Brian Charles Johnson and Krysta Rodriguez came out of the stage door together, I didnt recognize Krysta as an ensemble member so, I asked for a pic with Brian. Krysta thought I wanted a pic with both of them. I said I just wanted one with Brian and after that Krysta signed by her bio and I realized she was in the ensemble! I felt so bad.

[Phantour]

The last time I saw Phantom in Toronto I was a little inarticulate. Even after I told myself to actually be coherent this time and express to the actors what I liked about their interpretations of the characters. D.C. Anderson was kind enough to give me a backstage tour so I met quite a few actors. Here are some embarassing moments (for me anyway):
*I met John Cudia in his dressing room and I got star strucked. D.C. Anderson already introduced who I was and my friend with but later on I said, "And this is my friend, Mike." My friend told me later he and John exchanged looks knowing they were already introduced, but played along. Anyway I could really only say, "You were so great," so after taking a photo with me he said it was nice to meet me and it was quite obvious he wanted me to leave. He wasn't rude about it, but I could tell I probably made him uncomfortable.
*I was talking to John Kuether and Kate Wray, who I knew were married. Anyway I recognized John from seeing him in the show before so I said, "And you play Don Attilio, right?" And when I turn to speak to Kate I was like, "And who did you play?" She told me Meg Giry. It wasn't really embarassing since she looks different offstage, but I met her a few years before and she was standing by John so I felt I should have put two and two together.
*Rebecca Judd gave me back my pen after signing my program and somehow it fell. She was like, "Oh I'm sorry!" and I just said, "Oh no, it was my fault."
*Marni Raab wasn't Christine that day, but was backstage just in case she had to go on. So I met her and wanted to show my appreciation for her work in the show, even if I didn't see her, so I asked for her autograph. She kind of looked at me weird, but signed anyway.

One day I'll be a little more calm when I meet actors, haha.

[Theatreboy49]

So this one happend when I went to Curtains back in september. I was chitchatting with this guy sitting behind me before the show and during intermission and he was a nice guy and seemed to know alot about the show. At the stage door he and his family went backstage and when he came out I asked him who he was and he goes Im Rupert Holmes I wrote the Book and im like wow would you sign my playbill and then everyone asked him to sign this.

[Fat Actor]

When I saw Chicago Kevin Chamberlain played Amos. After the show I went to shake hs hand and tell him good show, I said good show and he just stared at me for like five seconds and then turned around. I was certainly creeped out cause it wasnt just a stare it was a freaky hannibal stare.

[esparza 333]

That is so cool that you met the writer of Curtains theatreboy. I think Rupert Homes is a genius cause Curtains is so hilarious and he seems like such a genuine guy.

[lesmis]

I met Rupert Holmes a few years back and agree that he's a great guy.

[Ella_17]

me and my mom and sis went to California to see him Brunibar. It was great

[greybaby231]

My friend: "Oh! Cheyenne Jackson didn't sign my playbill. Did he leave already?"
Me: Yeah. "He's walking away. You could chase after him."
My friend: "I'll pay you five dollars plus dinner if you do it"
Me: "Okay" (I chase Cheyenne Jackson for three blocks before I catch up with him)
"Excuse me. Would you mind signing my friend's playbill?
Cheyenne Jackson: Sure (we actually walk the three blocks back to the stage door)
My friend: "oh no wait, you already signed it."
Cheyenne Jackson: "Well, s***" (walks away)

several seconds pass

My friend: "Wait. I wanted a picture with him."

[Eris0303]

Oh my goodness. You chased him for three blocks? Poor Cheyenne.

[osage08]

Lmao, that Cheyenne encounter was a good one. For my own non-Cheyenne but funny stagedooring moment see thread entitled "Did Mario leave A Chorus Line"

[dancingthrulife04]

I have another one from A Chorus Line with osage08 (Rose) today. Someone said something to Heather Parcells about "Ariel," which caused her to launch into this funny story about auditioning for TLM.

Rose: Who plays Ariel now, Sherie Rene Scott?
Me: No, she's Ursula...
Heather: I'm URSULA?!!

Hilarious, even though it was embarrassing.

[greybaby231]

I did feel really bad chasing after him. Still, I got free food for doing it . . .

[JudasIscariot]

I met that fool Shooter McGavin from Happy Gilmore in Baltimore after he was Billy Flynn in Chicago. When I asked him for a picture he said, "Hurry up, make it quick." So I was like, "No, that's alright, nevermind," because I was flustered and trying to turn my camera on as fast as I could because it had shut off. He didn't take my no for an answer, and just preceded once more to tell me to hurry up. I took the picture and he just walked away without saying anything. I kid you not, there were literally three people at the stagedoor, including my grandmother and myself. It was awkward, and he came off as really rude.

[NuggetMonkeys]

In the name of everything good and holy, someone tell us about Marian Seldes sucking face!

[SilentShadow]

This is my aunt's horror story, from way back. (1980).

She was going to see Amadeus with a couple of friends, when one had to bail suddenly. She and her other friend decided to try to sell the extra ticket, so they stood on the corner and started asking people if they were interested. One guy walked by, and they asked him if he wanted the ticket. He stopped, smiled, and said that he already had one.
Well, when the show began, they realized that the guy was in fact Ian McKellan. Yeah, he had a ticket already :).


And my awkward encounter...

I hate stagedooring (it's just not my thing), and this usually becomes a problem when I go see shows with my roommate, who is stagedooring junkie. When we saw Speech and Debate in the winter, we were standing outside the theater, arguing about whether we should wait for the cast or not. (This was in the Roundabout Underground, so there is no stage door, and it was only a cast of four.) Eventually I won, and we started walking down the block, still arguing about it. Finally I said really loudly "I am NOT waiting in the cold like some pathetic dork with no life, just to kiss up to some stupid actors who are OUR age!"
Just as I said that, Sarah Steele walked right past us. She said "Hey," and kept walking. She completely heard what I said, which was awful, especially because I really thought she was brilliant, and I loved her show! I wanted to chase after her and say something to the effect of "I didn't mean it!" I'm still kind of upset about it actually.

[Nick_2009]

Mine was when I saw the most recent Rent tour. Jade Hicks (Alexi Darling/Mimi US) came out. While we were having a small conversation and taking pictures, this old, drunk queen kept saying, "You were soooo amazing as Mimi! Faaaabulous, dahling." The only problem is that she wasn't Mimi... She leaned over to me and asked me if I could please correct him and ask him to stop. lol

[esparza 333]

that is so funny nick 2009

[andreabajita]

This definitely isn't as funny as a lot of the other experiences already posted...

But the other week, I stage doored a Thursday night performance of In the Heights. I had one of those clickie Sharpies, and I had it pre-clicked for the actors. When Carlos Gomez (Kevin) came out, he took the pen, didn't realize it was the clickie kind, and was trying to uncap it. But since it was already pre-clicked, he actually ended up drawing all over his hand. It was really embarrassing, and I was apologizing about my pen and he just sort of stared at his hand and walked off without saying much.

A little later, Luis Salgado (from the ensemble) came out, and was using the same pen. And he kept raving on and on about how smoothly it wrote and how it was the best pen he ever used and he was waving it in the air and stuff. Not necessarily awkward, but still sort of amusing.

[esparza 333]

Ok

At the Curtain's Stage Door David Hyde Pierce had just come out. My mom is a big fan of Fraiser and also a huge fan of DHP so as soon as he came out my mom started babbling about how good he was. David Hyde Pierce was waiting for her to stop.

[esparza 333]

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