Backstage
Backstage
#1Backstage
Posted: 2/11/21 at 3:29am
I’ve gotten back into shows since quarantine and now I’m just waiting for the lockdown to lift to go see some shows. I heard that if you get on a bouncer’s good side you have a better chance of meeting the cast and crew, I want to befriend a stage hand, any tips on what to say or how to start a convo?
Fosse76
Broadway Legend Joined: 3/21/05
Dollypop
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/15/03
Sutton Ross
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/20/13
#8Backstage
Posted: 2/11/21 at 11:16am
If the cast wants to greet fans, they will come out of the stage door and greet fans. No need to go backstage.
Granted, I have, on occasion, gotten to go backstage on Broadway - and on some of those occasions I've been lucky enough to speak with members of the cast who usually don't come out of the stage door. But I never got to go backstage because I befriended the stage-door attendant. The stage-door attendant's job is to keep people out of the backstage area unless they're allowed to be there, so it wouldn't be right to ask them to jeopardize their job by trying to use them to go backstage.
When I've gone backstage, it's been because I knew someone in the cast, or maybe I was with someone who knew someone in the cast. And the cast members I've been with have sometimes introduced me to other members of the cast. If I had been by myself, it would've been very rude and invasive to try to meet the cast backstage.
Dollypop
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/15/03
MattieIce2018
Leading Actor Joined: 5/8/19
#10Backstage
Posted: 2/11/21 at 2:07pmThose safety measures were released by IATSE before any vaccine news, over the summer. I don't think the guidance released at the height of the pandemic will be permanent (If stage dooring doesn't return, I'd imagine it would be because of the fan issues, not COVID precautions).
#11Backstage
Posted: 2/11/21 at 3:06pm
There once was a time when seeing shows gave me the chance to befriend/strike up convos with whoever conducted my performances. I never tried getting on any stagehand's nerve just for the sake of a backstage visit. Please don't try this, especially after COVID.
A few music directors across the industry have already said yes to Zoom or Skype conversations if I were to somehow see their projects in the coming years. It will take a lot of convincing for me to return to a packed theatre, though.
As for stage door, I imagine a combination of fan irresponsibility and COVID precautions will cause some/most actors to abstain from the practice. A whole slew of people have joined Cameo and Broadway Plus the last number of months, and I bet many more will follow. If you don't want to pay so much, send snail mail to a show's PSM, or hit an actor up on social media and hope for the best.
Life is the most precious gift in the world... embrace every moment
#12Backstage
Posted: 2/11/21 at 3:59pm
I have seen/heard of audience members getting to go backstage (and/or stand onstage) at Broadway shows but I think that in almost all of those cases they have had a personal connection (like a family friend or relative) to someone in the cast or someone working on the show. For most people to have interactions with the cast, the stagedoor is the place to do it.
Yes, stagedooring and backstage guests aren’t a thing currently due to the pandemic, and my guess is it’ll be a while after Broadway reopens before they return (at least until masks aren’t required anymore I would think) but for people saying that Covid has put an end to those things forever, I highly doubt that’s true. Once enough people have been vaccinated and the virus is behind us I fully expect those things to come back. Of course though, it’s up to the individual performers if they choose to come out to the stagedoor/invite backstage guests, and if they choose not to for whatever reason, their decision should be respected.
you found your heart but left a part of you behind <3
Sutton Ross
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/20/13
dramamama611
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/4/07
#14Backstage
Posted: 2/11/21 at 7:54pm
Stage tdooring and backstage admittance will come back....eventually. But the ops willingness to use people is a bit obnoxious. Pretend to be nice to the security to get backstage; then to befriend a random stagehand.....to get what?
Immediately after the show stagehands are still working....they aren't looking to be adopted.
You mKe friends with people for who they are, not what you can get from them.
If we're not having fun, then why are we doing it?
These are DISCUSSION boards, not mutual admiration boards. Discussion only occurs when we are willing to hear what others are thinking, regardless of whether it is alignment to our own thoughts.
dramamama611
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/4/07
#15Backstage
Posted: 2/11/21 at 7:54pm
Stage tdooring and backstage admittance will come back....eventually. But the ops willingness to use people is a bit obnoxious. Pretend to be nice to the security to get backstage; then to befriend a random stagehand.....to get what?
Immediately after the show stagehands are still working....they aren't looking to be adopted.
You mKe friends with people for who they are, not what you can get from them.
If we're not having fun, then why are we doing it?
These are DISCUSSION boards, not mutual admiration boards. Discussion only occurs when we are willing to hear what others are thinking, regardless of whether it is alignment to our own thoughts.
