Thoughts?- Page 2

[Wynbish]

Posted: 7/24/12 at 11:33am

^ I think that is just saying that people should not put so much value into their stagedoor experience.

[SahDu]

Posted: 7/24/12 at 11:36am

Well then, my apologies for an incorrect interpretation. I still stand by my statements that people should be free to enjoy receiving an autograph if the actor is kind enough to give it.



Updated On: 7/24/12 at 11:36 AM

[dramamama611]

Posted: 7/24/12 at 11:37am

I'm with newintown. TOO many people at stage door are looking for an experience that is owed to them. I don't stage door, but my 15 year old daughter loves it. She gets to pick one show a trip to do so. She gets autographs from everyone and pic with those whose work she most admires. She has no illusions to any relationships nor disappointments if someone isn't there.

Is she excited afterwards? You bet. But what she remembers is the show.

That there are threads upon threads that are solely about stagedooring exemplifies that most people are more interested in that then the performance.

Updated On: 7/24/12 at 11:37 AM

[SingAlongMOVIE2]

Posted: 7/24/12 at 11:59am

Updated On: 8/20/12 at 11:59 AM

[SingAlongMOVIE2]

Posted: 7/24/12 at 12:02pm

Updated On: 8/20/12 at 12:02 PM

[newintown]

Posted: 7/24/12 at 12:05pm

SahDu, just to be clear on this - what I wrote was brief and succinct, requiring no summary or re-wording. If you disagree, that's fine, but disagree with my actual words, not your translation, please.

[AngelorPhantom1359]

Posted: 7/24/12 at 12:05pm

Speaking of Evita and stage door, does anyone know if Elena Roger comes out after the Wednesday matinee? I know she doesn't perform at night, and I was hoping to get my playbill signed by her because I already have one signed by Christina DeCicco and would like to have both Evitas.

[nasty_khakis]

Posted: 7/24/12 at 12:06pm

I used to stage door a lot more in college. I can count each time I actually had a converstaion with an actor (not just a "good job/thanks") on one hand. I'm not saying they'd every remember me or I have a piece of them, but it's a fond memory for me to think of.

It never bothers me when they don't beacuse I never would unless I needed a Sally Field in Soapdish style pick me up.

It's a bit trickier when you're at a Hugh Jackman/Daniel Radcliff level of fame. Stage dooring helps keeps a fan base and good will towards you.

[mikem]

Posted: 7/24/12 at 12:07pm

I've gotten signatures from Jennifer Damiano, TV Carpio, Sutton Foster, Celia Keenan-Bolger, and Phoebe Strole. (I've never seen a show with Rachel Potter in it.) Some of them don't do the stage door thing very often, but it's not like they don't do it at all.

I personally don't know if I see a relationship between willingness to do the stage door thing and sex, but there are some weirdos at the stage door. I've never seen anyone get attacked, but I've definitely seen inappropriate behavior. I can see why a young woman might find weird fan behavior more unsettling than a young guy.

Updated On: 7/24/12 at 12:07 PM

[Kad]

Posted: 7/24/12 at 12:09pm

See, I would think that big stars like Hugh Jackman and Daniel Radcliffe need to stage door the least. It doesn't matter if Susie Nobody gets snubbed by them at the stage door- they're still Hollywood megastars. The rest of America doesn't know or care about that.

But a lot of Broadway performers are only marginally more famous than the fans whose Playbills they sign.

[SingAlongMOVIE2]

Posted: 7/24/12 at 12:13pm

Updated On: 8/20/12 at 12:13 PM

[dramamama611]

Posted: 7/24/12 at 12:16pm

Singalong -- I think perhaps your initial question put judgement on the actresses you "called out".

I will say this -- I've met a few of these women in more 'social situations' (NOT stage door) and some of them are just really shy/uncomfortable with people. NOT the people they know, but strangers.

Some are just trying their best to stay healthy and rested. While you could make the argument that stage dooring isn't asking all that much more of them realize:
-Germs galore are waiting at the stage door.
-A half an hour more at stage door being "ON" is still performing.
-Stage dooring is another 1/2 hour they are not home resting, relaxing, just being with family.

[SingAlongMOVIE2]

Posted: 7/24/12 at 12:19pm

Updated On: 8/20/12 at 12:19 PM

[SingAlongMOVIE2]

Posted: 7/24/12 at 12:23pm

Updated On: 8/20/12 at 12:23 PM

[dramamama611]

Posted: 7/24/12 at 12:48pm

I don't mean this to chastise you in any way. I'm sure you were being sincere in your op. I would advise you, that since your identity is obvious -- to those involved with your short film -- that you might want to think about the connection before you hit post. The b'way community is a small world.

I also meant to say in my previous post: John Gallagher, Jr. wrote about why he would seldom stage door while doing American Idiot. He mentioned how exhausting the role was for him, and how he felt he needed as much rest every day to stay heathly and be able to continue to perform.

[SingAlongMOVIE2]

Posted: 7/24/12 at 12:50pm

Updated On: 8/20/12 at 12:50 PM

[SFFrontRow]

Posted: 7/24/12 at 12:57pm

Funny story and a little off topic re: young actresses but on topic with the "not quite right" stagedoorers...

I went to see How to Succeed when Darren Criss was in it last winter. A tween age kid was crying by the main theater doors and his mother was complaining (to no one in particular):

"It's not FAIR, kids who PAID to see the show can't get close to the stagedoor because all these other kids who just hang out there and don't PAY get to meet the actors and get their autographs..."

[Phillytheatreguy10]

Posted: 7/24/12 at 1:17pm

When I saw Anything Goes the second to last weekend it played, Stephanie J. Block came out and was incredibly gracious and kind, as were the rest of the adult members who came out, but just about the entire youg chorus bypassed the line, very obviously, if you know the theatre it's got a glass vestibule at the stage door, we saw them all and not one came through the line! I agree, it's a bit rude to not greet your paying fans if you're able to have the opportunity, I also understand they have lives too and places to be, still its Broadway, and as a performer myself that's the ultimate goal, so why not take every opportunity to meet and greet potential fans for life? Also, this may not happen again in your career so embrace the love!

[dramamama611]

Posted: 7/24/12 at 1:23pm

It's not rude. Rude would have been going through the line with disdain. Wouldn't you rather meet those that are interested in meeting the public? If they don't want to be there, why would you want to meet them?

Nothing in your ticket price gives you the right to the actors' free time. They don't owe you anything.

[WestVillage]

Posted: 7/24/12 at 1:26pm

Honestly, with all the crazies out there, stagedooring for a performer has got to be frightening. No one ever thought they would be in harm's way going to a movie theater; same kind of thing can happen at a crowded stage door. Safety, for both the performers and the fans, should be of utmost importance, and stagedooring defeats that. It only takes one demented, disgruntled, attention-getting fan to wreak havoc and put lots of people in danger. As an audience member, I stay as far away from the stage door crowd as possible, and if I were a performer, I would take a different exit or wait til the crowd dwindles before leaving.

[booth0882]

Posted: 7/24/12 at 1:29pm

SFFrontRow brings up a good point however. I can understand stage dooring for a show you just saw, but just going there when you didn't see the show that night? I think that is a bit much. Although for the Darren Criss performances at least, I believe they had one side enclosed in barricades with security checking tickets as that half had been reserved for ticket holders for that evening. I find it rather sad that they had to do that, there were that many people that rather than seeing the show, were willing to wait 4+ hours for the chance at an autograph without seeing the show. I just find that off.

And I do agree, to an extent, with anyone who says that the actors job is done when the curtain falls. (Well technically it ends when he leaves the theatre, and even then it really doesn't end as he is still representing the production as a whole and his behavior reflects back at the production if he is recognized) Anything above the performance is above and beyond, and not mandatory. However, the extra effort in signing a few autographs and taking a few pictures can be a very beneficial thing to an actor, particularly one who is just starting up. If you sign the playbill and smile at a 13 year old waiting outside the stagedoor, you have likely won them and their parents over for life. They will remember that you were kind enough to stop. Now, of course the megastars are a whole different thing.

I, personally, don't even go near the stage door unless I actually know someone involved in a production. And when I do that I either make sure the SD manager knows before hand so I can just go in and great my friend there. So even then, I just avoid the whole stage door crowd. Although, I really don't have any reservations against anyone that does get some enjoyment out of stage dooring after a performance.

[Kad]

Posted: 7/24/12 at 1:29pm

It's not rude. Once the curtain comes down and they're out of costume, they are obligated to no one but themselves. Not everyone loves a throng of adoring fans, amazingly enough. A lot of performers are actually shy or uncomfortable around tight crowds.

Or, y'know, are tired and want to make their annoying commute home to Brooklyn.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 7/24/12 at 1:33pm

Additionally, they have the 'opportunity' 8 times a week. Maybe they just didn't do so when you were there.

And it's an "opportunity" that they don't get paid for. Do you volunteer to work overtime for free EVERY shift? Do you think any casting agents ask actors if they stage door? It doesn't come into play when getting a job. If you are going to chose performers based on whether or not they stage door, why bother going to see the show...just become a stagedoor johnny.

[newintown]

Posted: 7/24/12 at 1:46pm

I would say that going to the Broadway specifically to stand outside a door in order to get a close look at a lower-tier celebrity like Darren Criss, without even seeing his show, is a good indication of a decadent society (using the true definition of the word, i.e. characterized by or reflecting a state of moral or cultural decline).

This decadence can be seen in our ridiculous obsession with celebrity (countless magazines and television shows devoted to nothing but the mundane activities of celebrities), or by the fact that we pay teachers $35,000 a year while giving hundreds of millions of dollars to unnaturally enormous men who do nothing more than chase a ball around a field occasionally and try to injure one another. More examples are plentiful, to the interested observer.

Updated On: 7/24/12 at 01:46 PM

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 7/24/12 at 1:46pm

God, this board just gets suckier and suckier.