BWW Blog: FIDDLER ON THE ROOF's Ben Rappaport- They're People. Just Like Us.

I must have been an incredibly naive 12 year old. As my family and I were leaving the Marriott Marquis Theatre after a performance of the revival of Annie Get Your Gun, we passed by the stage door. A hoard of people were crowded behind the barricades, eagerly clutching their playbills, sharpies, and cameras in hopes to snag an autograph or photo with Bernadette Peters and Tom Wopat. We were watching from across the street. A security person was guarding the door, and would escort Bernadette and Tom as they made their way through the crowd, greeting their fans. Once they were done, they each got into the back seats of their respective black Lincoln town cars and rode off into the night. What I couldn't wrap my head around, at the time, was....where do they go?

Well....home, obviously. But, at this point in my life, I had no involvement in the world of acting and theatre. It was all still a very mysterious and magical world to me. Actors weren't people, they were idols--mythological creatures with super powers. This all came back to me yesterday when a few other Fiddler On The Roof cast members and I were speaking on a panel at a diversity event at the MTA headquarters downtown. As we finished the discussion, Moshe, the man who was mediating, half-joked that it was time to open up the floor for questions--but, to remember that these actors are 'real people with real feelings'.

During my Broadway debut a few years ago in Picnic, we didn't really experience the proper stage door phenomenon. There are several ways backstage at the American Airlines Theatre, so the actors don't all leave out the same door. A lot of us would walk out through the lobby, mixed in with the last few patrons who were exiting the building. Sometimes there were a few theatre savvy fans waiting outside under the marquee, but it was all very fluid and unofficial.

The Broadway Theatre, on the other hand, has the proper stage door with the barricade and the whole nine yards. Over the past several months, I've finally gotten an intimate glimpse of the humanity that is exhibited after the show. Some nights are more crowded than others, but there are always at least a few audience members waiting there with tears in their eyes and gratitude in their hearts who just want to connect about the experience we all shared in the theatre together. And you get all colors of the rainbow. Often, we meet high school students who are currently doing a production of Fiddler at their school. They express how inspired they were by our production and what they learned. We meet older patrons who've seen every iteration of the show starting with Zero Mostel, then Herschel Bernardi and so on (I know this is especially meaningful to my friend and cast mate Michael Bernardi, who happens to be Herschel's son). It runs the gamut from 'were you an actor in the show?' to huge fans who have followed my entire career.

I want all of the fans out there who frequent the stage door to know that it fills my heart every day to meet all of you. All of us hugely appreciate it because you are what keeps our fire and passion for telling this story alive. I also hope this blog can demystify where we go after the stage door to all the twelve year olds who are like me at that age. I can assure you, most of us are walking home to our very normal apartments and very normal lives.

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Check back next Wednesday for more from BroadwayWorld's latest blogger, Ben Rappaport. Ben can currently be seen as 'Perchik' in Fiddler on the Roof, playing at the Broadway Theatre. Every week, he will answer questions from fans, so be sure to comment below, or tweet him directly at @Ben_Rappaport.

Ben was last seen on Broadway in Picnic with Ellen Burstyn, directed by Sam Gold. His Off-Broadway credits include: Sex Lives Of Our Parents (Second Stage),The Gingerbread House(Rattlestick/stageFARM). Regional: Alex Timbers' original production of Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson (Williamstown Theatre Festival). On TV, Ben is best known as the star of the NBC series "Outsourced". He currently appears as Carey Zepps on "The Good Wife"(CBS) and Ollie Parker on "Mr. Robot"(USA). He has also appeared on "Elementary"(CBS). Film credits include: Hope Springs opposite Meryl Streep, Tommy Lee Jones, and Steve Carell. The Brass Teapot, Stereotypically You (upcoming), and lead of the upcoming film Landing Up. Ben trained at Juilliard, where he received the Michel and Suria Saint-Denis Prize for Outstanding Achievement and Leadership in Drama.

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