Celebrities not from the show coming out of the Stage Door

[Alex M]

I was out with a friend last night and we both began talking about a story that neither of us thought was that weird at the time but now thinking about it was odd. While we were waiting at the American Psycho stage door after a matinee; none other then Bradly Cooper walks out of the stage door and just kind of...stands there. Everyone at the stage door went silent and looked at him. He seemed pretty relieved no one wanted a picture or anything and simply walked away. As soon as he was gone someone yells "WAS THAT BRADLY COOPER?!?" and the stage door went nuts freaking out about him. Does anyone else have stories like this with huge celebrities coming out of a stage door for a show that they were not in.

[veronicamae]

Sarah Paulson attended the first preview of Skintight last week.

She exited and actually stage doored like she'd been in the show, taking selfies with those otherwise waiting for Idina. It was funny.

[Littleshopofcarrie]

I saw Fran Drescher leave the Dolly stage door and no one really noticed

[MannPhan24601]

Not really "celebrities" but when I saw the Les Mis tour,I spotted few former cast members of the Phantom tour come put and they were super surprised that somebody recognized them. I had a Phantom playbill on me for somebody in the show to sign (they were there to visit him) and they gladly signed it even though it was from after they all left .

[Kitsune]

When I saw Groundhog Day last September, I happened to catch nights when both Laura Bell Bundy and Tim Minchin were at the show.

In both cases they stopped to take pictures with fans. Tim also signed and chatted with people and was very warm and gracious.

[BrodyFosse123]

Annoying is leaving a stage door on Broadway with an actor friend and having people ask you for a selfie and/or to autograph their Playbills assuming you’re in also the show.  The desperation for anything Broadway.  They truly don’t care who signs their stuff.

[yesraccoons]

When I saw Bandstand Andrew Rannells left through the stage door the night I was there. He said hi to a friend and then left it was rather odd.

[nmartin]

When I saw Liza Minnelli at Carnegie Hall in the 80s, I was stunned to see Gregory Peck walk out the stage door. 

[haterobics]

The Hamilton stage door was like that after nearly every show for a while...

[smidge]

When I saw Kinky Boots, Katy Perry came out of the stage door. The paparazzi were already waiting around and were pushing audience members out of the way to get shots of her. It was chaotic but she still stopped to pose with some people.

[veronicamae]

BrodyFosse123 said: "Annoying is leaving a stage door on Broadway with an actor friend and having people ask you for a selfie and/or to autograph their Playbills assuming you’re in also the show. The desperation for anything Broadway. They truly don’t care who signs their stuff."

Or, OR, and this is only a wild suggestion...it's difficult to know whether or not a person was in the show unless you have memorized the entire cast, perhaps of more than 20 people, and are able to recognize them based on their headshots (which rarely look like post-show reality and certainly not on-stage recognizability) to know that it is indeed someone from the show so if you're not a stuffy know-it-all theater snob - and you aren't because such a person would NEVER stage door - you assume that anyone coming out of the stage door was in the show.

[BrodyFosse123]

Or, OR, and this is only a wild suggestion...it's difficult to know whether or not a person was in the show unless you have memorized the entire cast, perhaps of more than 20 people, and are able to recognize them based on their headshots (which rarely look like post-show reality and certainly not on-stage recognizability) to know that it is indeed someone from the show so if you're not a stuffy know-it-all theater snob - and you aren't because such a person would NEVER stage door - you assume that anyone coming out of the stage door was in the show.

Trust me.  I have a distinguishable trademark on my face.  You couldn’t miss me in New Jersey.  They’d have seen me easily on stage.  Even in a crowd scene.  That’s what makes it annoying.  Like, really people?   

[Rumpelstiltskin]

nmartin said: "When I saw Liza Minnelli at Carnegie Hall in the 80s, I was stunned to see Gregory Peck walk out the stage door."

I had the reverse experience (somewhat).  We walked by the stage door after seeing Pippin in the early/mid 70’s.  (This was merely a fluke.  I had no idea there was such a thing as a stage door back then.)  Suddenly a limo appeared on the street while Ben Vereen was exiting the door with Liza Minnelli.  The driver had them in the car and halfway down the street before I regained consciousness. 

[veronicamae]

BrodyFosse123 said: "Or, OR, and this is only a wild suggestion...it's difficult to know whether or not a person was in the show unless you have memorized the entire cast, perhaps of more than 20 people, and are able to recognize them based on their headshots (which rarely look like post-show reality and certainly not on-stage recognizability) to know that it is indeed someone from the show so if you're not a stuffy know-it-all theater snob - and you aren't because such a person would NEVER stage door - you assume that anyone coming out of the stage door was in the show.

Trust me. I have a distinguishable trademark on my face. You couldn’t miss me in New Jersey. They’d have seen me easily on stage. Even in a crowd scene. That’s what makes it annoying. Like, really people? "

Ohhh, see, clearly I was supposed to know that you were easily distinguishable from others and jumped to the snarky conclusion. lol

Next time I see someone with a notable facial trademark exit a stage door, I'll ask if it's you.

[wonkit]

I am so amused about being asked for an autograph at the stage door when I am visiting that I usually put an illegible scowl on the Playbill. But I don't do photographs! 

 

(I'm not in show business...)

[msmp]

Rachel Bloom attended a performance of War Paint last year and was backstage visiting Patti (who is both a fan of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend and has appeared in the show as Rachel's character's former rabbi). She stage-doored with Patti and signed a few Playbills for people who asked.

[S394206H]

I saw Jordan Roth and his family leave Falsettos the same night I went (which was pretty cool, since I'm not from the city) and saw James Monroe Inglehart at Charlie and the Chocolate factory- he didn't attend the show, but I watched him walk over from the Richard Rogers and pop into the stage door just to say hi to people, which I personally thought was hilarious!

[JBroadway]

Happens all the time. Most recently I saw New Girl's Max Greenfield come out the stage door of Boys in the Band. He took some selfies with people who asked. And speaking of...I saw Matt Bomer come out the stage door of She Loves Me. I remember seeing Brian Cox come out after a performance of Love Letters, and just recently I saw Stokes come out after Saint Joan. And these are just off the top of my head! 

Whenever big actors attend the show, they always either know someone, or they're invited backstage simply because of their celebrity status. And naturally they will leave and enter through the stage door. 

[haterobics]

The worst part of exiting the stage door as a civilian is when the crowd whoops it up when it opens, and then as soon as they see you're not famous, it just dies out instantly. ;-(

[Alex M]

haterobics said: "The worst part of exiting the stage door as a civilianis when the crowd whoops it up when it opens, and then as soon as they see you're not famous, it just dies out instantly. ;-("

This happened to me when I left the Great Comet stage door. But I managed to make the crowd laugh after saying I wasn't going to signing tonight.

[Nycat63]

James Cromwell at Dolls House Part 2, Bobby Cannavale at Falsettos and Joe Lo Truglio at Front Page, who also happened to be seated next to me during the play and was super nice. Cromwell smiled and waved to those waiting at stage door, Cannavale did not acknowledge anyone, but no one tried to engage him, either. Which I think is appropriate when a celeb is not in the show.

[Miles2Go2]

Nycat63 said: "James Cromwell at Dolls House Part 2, Bobby Cannavale at Falsettos and Joe Lo Truglio at Front Page, who also happened to be seated next to me during the play and was super nice. Cromwell smiled and waved to those waiting at stage door, Cannavale did not acknowledge anyone, but no one tried to engage him, either. Which I think is appropriate when a celeb is not in the show. "

Not technically a stage door experience since this happened at the Barrow Street Theatre after Buyer and Cellar, but Tony Shaloub was in the audience. He exited into the lobby afterwards with the rest of the audience. I spoke briefly to him when I was waiting for Michael Urie and he walked by me. I was able to tell him how much I enjoyed his work on Monk (I’ve since seen and loved him in The Band’s Visit). He was trying to stay relatively incognito as the lobby was still pretty crowded, but was polite.  I thought he left, but after the lobby cleared out and I was only one waiting for Michael Urie (who couldn’t have been lovelier), he came back out (from no doubt going backstage to congratulate Mr. Urie) and initiated a selfie with me (which he had respectfully declined earlier). He said something to the effect of “let’s get that photo now.” 

[Call_me_jorge]

I saw Caroline Rhea come out of the Dear Evan Hansen stage door. Also in Chicago I saw Gregory Treco come out of the wicked stage door.

[TravisOKC]

haterobics said: "The worst part of exiting the stage door as a civilianis when the crowd whoops it up when it opens, and then as soon as they see you're not famous, it just dies out instantly. ;-("

This has happened to me a couple of times when leaving exiting the stage door at the Gershwin.  I always almost want to sign the playbill, but ultimately don't do it. 

Also, back to OP, when I saw Next To Normal Ben Stiller was at the show...i cant remember if he and his now ex-wife Christine came out of the stage door or not, but they both hung around the stage door area for a bit. I visited with Christine for a bit while he was chatting it up with some cast members and stage doorers...she was super friendly and then introduced me to Ben before they left.  Ben was incredibly friendly an and Christine offered to take a picture of the two of us which he happily took with me!  Great experience!!

[singalongsong2]

Not huge celebs, but I did see Sinbad outside of Spamalot, Audra McDonald outside of Hair frequently (since her husband was in the show), Ace Young and Davey Havok outside of American Idiot (way before Havok joined the cast), and Caroline Rhea outside of Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson.