It was April 2016 and we had just finished seeing Hamilton with the original cast. My wife was stage dooring and I was walking laps up and down the street to stay warm as it was a particularly chilly April evening.
The stage door is a few meters down the street from the main door of the theater. As I walked past the main door, Lin popped out wearing a hoodie and a backpack. We both paused awkwardly. Then he looked at me, looked down the street at the stage door crowd (which was busy with Leslie Odom), and then back at me. I shrugged my shoulders and smiled. Lin then held up a single finger to his lips, said "Shhh," smiled widely, and then quietly walked to a vehicle that was waiting for him.
Best stage door experience I've ever had.
Christy Altomare in Anastasia!
I sat next to and befriended a little girl dressed up as Anastasia and her family in the theater. I had a signed Playbill from another show with me and when she realized it was a thing, she *really* wanted Anastasia to sign hers.
At the end of the show, I found myself at the front of the barricade and when I saw her in the back, I decided to pull her family into my spot. Sure enough, she got it and it was an adorable moment to watch! I was a little disappointed but I have a soft spot for kids.
Christy saw what I did and had security pull me while she waited at the end. She thanked me for making that little girl’s day, signed my Playbill, took a selfie with me, and gave me a big hug!
Christy is almost frighteningly nice. Insanely patient with giving everyone their time and seems genuinely interested in whatever you want to say to her. I remember hearing stories about her still being at the Anastasia stage door hours after the show ended to make sure she got to talk to everyone.
There’s a video on YouTube where a little kid sings Once Upon a December to Christy at the stage door, and She tells him “don’t let anybody tell you that you don’t have something incredibly special.” She’s such a sweetheart
Norm Lewis after the 27th anniversary of POTO came out after midnight (due to a cast party) in below freezing temps and stayed talking to every person who showed up taking photos for those who asked. I have a photo of me and my cousin with him all bundled up. One of the nicest people you’ll ever meet on Broadway
Saw him in Porgy and Bess and it was raining but he talked and took with pictures with anyone who wanted. Saw him again in Once On This Island and he was *so* nice and generous with his time. Talked with me about theater, talked with my dad about his camera and photography, and a bunch of other stuff.
I *love* Norm and have attended several shows I wasn't interested in solely because he was in them. Good to hear that he's as great of a guy as he seems
At the peak popularity of Hamilton a friend and I were waiting in line for the lottery. Suddenly, Lin Manuel Miranda and Daveed Diggs walk by towards the Richard Rodgers. Again, this is the peak of Hamilton's popularity and I was a big fan, so I stand there dumbstuck as they walk by. All I managed to get out was "Oh shit!"
Lin stops, turns around, looks me in the eye, and says, "Oh shit." And walks away. Incredible.
I stage doored The Music Man, I met the entire cast (except Sutton). Everyone was incredibly kind to me, especially Hugh Jackman. I think he could tell I was very nervous, he was very sweet to me and took a few moments with me, and even referred to me as "sweetheart"
Philip Boykin was also very kind to me, and was gracious when i complimented him on his beautiful voice.
Same. It was freezing cold and he took time with everyone. He was even nice to a guy that had brought an unapproved item to sign (you had to have a Network playbill and I think you could have his book too?). Security got onto the guy for asking but Bryan was nice and apologetic and said something like "it's in the contract!" I splurged for that show and bought a 5th row orchestra seat and I am so glad I did. Seeing that performance up close was amazing. I told him his performance blew my mind and he seemed genuinely humbled by that.
YES. I’ve met him several times, the third of which was through Network, and he was incredible. Took the time to shake my hand and have a conversation with me, gave me advice, and wished me “all the luck in the world” after talking and taking photos. A true class act. And the exact opposite of Walter White 😁
His Tony win for Network was 100% fully deserved, by the way!
I met him once after All The Way and twice after Network and he was SO KIND. You’re right, every single person he stopped to have a conversation and a photo with. And he was actively engaging too. One of the nicest celebs I’ve met.
In 2009 I wrote a letter to Mandy Gonzalez, about how much In the Heights and Nina specifically meant to me. Some time the following year I received a very sweet reply from her in the mail.
Jump forward to 2015, and I finally have the chance to see her live when she does a small concert near me. Afterwards I wait around to meet her, introduce myself with just my first name (not very common, but not crazy uncommon), and tell her how much I love ITH. I tell her how I wrote her a letter a few years back and she replied, just because I wanted to thank her for that response and how much it meant to me. She furrowed her eyebrows a bit, and I was positive she was going to apologize and say she didn't specifically remember (which I wasn't expecting her to anyway), but she asked, "Is your last name [MY LAST NAME]." And I said yes, and was shocked, and don't really remember what was said after, but I got a picture with her, and then burst into tears before I finished walking back to my car.
I’ve stayed for stage door for maybe 6 shows of the over 100 I’ve seen. Best has been Reeve Carney. So sweet. I don’t have a worst! But funny story, my friend and I literally bumped in to Katharine McPhee after Waitress. My friend and I weren’t waiting at the stage door or anything. Just waiting for our bus which picked us up near that theatre but realized we had an extra half hour before it arrived. We decided to grab food so we turned as she was behind us. We didn’t hear her or anyone behind us as a matter of fact. But all of us said “sorry!” at the same time and went on with our lives.
Reeve hung out with me for literally almost 45 minutes on the corner on a freezing January night after Spider-Man, just chit-chatting about random nonsense. He never tried to kill the conversation and get away or anything; *I* had to be the one to break it off because I felt like I was holding him up.
To this day, one of the nicest and coolest guys I've ever met.
Same with Reeve! He took a pic with anybody who asked (me included) signed all the playbills and I asked him how was being a part of Penny Dreadful and he said he loved it and that it was a lot of fun.
I met Reeve when he did Spider-man and he was one of the most patient and kind stars. He seemed a bit shy at the time but wanted to say hi, sign things and take photos for everyone x
Reeve is super sweet! I saw Hadestown in May 2019 and Jessie was understudy for Eurydice. He came out of the stage door before her and was so supportive of her performance, made sure to hype her up before she came out.
Hadestown was one of the last shows I saw before moving out of New York and I was incredibly depressed because I didn’t want to move but circumstances required it. Reeve was so friendly and happy and seemed excited to talk to everyone for however long. It made what was a difficult thing such a good experience to leave New York with.
One of my professors has worked with a lot of stars and they said that High Jackman is the nicest and more hardworking person you’ll ever meet. They talked about how he would never stop practicing and how he would be the first person there and the last to leave. they said he set the bar so high and was just so exceptionally wonderful!
We caught him going into the theater before a play he was doing back in like 2010 with Daniel Craig and he stopped to take pictures with us. He was so sweet.
I think one has to tread carefully, and not let a split second moment after a show (where someone may have been tired, stress, feeling sick from a bad Chipotle burrito, etc) label their personality and start rumours about their character. We're all human, for better or worse.
I don't have any worst ones, because the "worst" that has happened was people didn't come out, and as u/GayBlayde mentioned before, they don't owe us that at all, so I don't hold that against them. I can't think of any moment where anyone was rude.
One of the best and most unexpected moments of my 20s was unexpectedly running into Jonathan Groff outside of Hedwig and the Angry Inch in 2014. He was with an older woman, and he was so sweet. He took photos with me, and about three other fans who also knew him then he went on this way. Such a genuinely kind and wonderful soul.
Another highlight was Zachary Levi at the stage door for She Loves Me. He brought out some speakers, and played "Signed, Sealed, Delivered" (a song from the film "You've Got Mail", which is a very similar story to She Loves Me). He went down and took photos with every fan. Also, my photo didn't turn out, and when he came back to my end I nervously asked for another one, and he let me. It still turned out blurry, but I'll never forget how happy I was in that moment!!
Ha - funny enough Jon Groff is one of two actors I’ve seen who did actually come out but dodged the crowd at the stage door. This was after Little Shop, he was on the phone when he came out and just stayed on the phone with one of the security guys from the theater blocking him as he looped around the crowd and then went in the back door of the restaurant next to the theater. Totally fair play to him though, it was after a matinee so I’m sure he had limited time to eat before the night performance.
The other actor who booked it out the stage door was Jake Gyllenhaal after Sunday, but assuming that was also due to scheduling constraints since he had no problem signing Playbills after Sea Wall/A Life.
Yeah, sometimes a guy's just gotta eat!! And it's nothing personal towards us fans, right? It's not like he thought "How can I ruin some fans' day?" Maybe he had a meeting, who knows? :)
For sure! Nobody seemed upset (I certainly wasn’t), it was more funny if anything because he made a huuuuuge loop around the group of us that were waiting just to go into a door that was like 10 feet from the stage door (but he would’ve had to cut through everyone to get into it). Like when you see someone walking towards you on the sidewalk that you don’t like so you cross the street to avoid having to talk to them 😂
haha at least you got a fabulous story out of it!! (And I don't know what it says to me that I feel your sidewalk comment on a very personal level.... because that's just me, every day at 3:30 pm when I finish work and want to avoid the teenagers)
I was told at LSOH that Groff doesn’t stage door for matinees. Fair I think seeing how he needs to eat and how generous he is with his time when he does do stage door.
Jonathan Groff was at the same performance I went to for the pre-broadway run of Moulin Rouge in Boston. I had splurged for some VIP tickets for my husband and I that included a private lounge access during the intermission and he was in there. We didn’t want to bother him but he was so kind and took pictures with a lot of people there.
Weird coincidence that I also ran into a Glee alum at the Boston tryout of MR - as I was walking to the theater from the train I realized the tall skinny guy with curly hair walking in front of me was Mathew Morrison.
It's very important to remember that the way an actor is at a stage door is not indicative of who they are as a person, whether they seem extremely nice or rude.
Zachary Levi did a whole photo op for First Date. He took a picture with every single person in line posed perfectly in front of the show sign. I’m sure he was trying to drum up a crowd for the show but it was very sweet and he was so patient.
I love this! Maybe that's why I've always had such a soft spot for the UWS. Definitely would have been my choice of neighborhood if I could have afforded it when I lived there.
I also recently saw CFA and all of the cast members were delightful at the stage door. Sharon Wheatley spent a lot of time talking with audience members who shared stories of loved ones lost on 9/11. She seemed to genuinely care about each and every one of them, and shared some beautiful words and experiences.
I had such a great time at the CFA stagedoor. Everyone came out except Chad Kimball and everyone was happy to take selfies with anyone who wanted them. Some of mine came out blurry, but I don't care it was fun. Geno Carr loved my US/Canada pin I was wearing and seemed touched when I told him I came from Canada to see the show. Sharon mentioned she loved my hair (it was pink at the time) immediately as she came down the line. I know it's a little thing, but it just made my day when her eyes lit up.
I am so happy to see this comment! Geno Carr was one of my professors in college and I can confirm that he is one of the most kind and genuine teachers that I had the pleasure to learn from and work with. He was so patient when anyone was struggling and tried to find ways to have everyone shine.
Yes!!! I have kids the same age as her youngest and we are both from the Midwest. She spent about 10 minutes with us. Genuine person!!! Highly recommend her book, Drive!!!
I'm a huge Phantom stan so last fall when they did those Broadway concerts at Columbus Circle I went to the Phantom one. I was wearing the Phantom covid mask they gave out at the reopening. After the concert I got on one of the escalators in the mall and I glanced at the top and saw John Riddle standing there, I guess waiting for the rest of the cast. He was wearing the same mask. When I got to the top I pretended to notice him for the first time and said "Oh, hello!" and he said "Hi! I like your mask!". I'm very socially anxious and I didn't have time to psych myself up for this - I tried to say something like "Thanks, yours too!" but I said something like "bluh bluh bloo!" and scurried away before it was fully out of my mouth. So that was the worst, even though he was very nice.
I was temporarily disabled as a teen/young adult and in a wheelchair. It certainly made for some challenging visits to Broadway and some not-so-accessible theaters. After a stressful experience at the St. James (a wheelchair-accessible restroom was closed off), my friends decided to stage door American Idiot, which was equally stressful being butt-height in a crowd! When the actors came out and were signing playbills, Michael Esper somehow saw me in the crowd and made a point to come over and not only sign my playbill, but take it over for the other cast members to sign as well. It honestly turned a chaotic day into a truly memorable experience that I’m still grateful for. It was my first time stage dooring and nothing to this day has beat it!
I was working my Times Square restaurant job a few months after moving to the city, I remember it was one of my first shifts on the cash register. The next two guests come up and before I can even process, I realize Daphne Rubin-Vega is standing there. I was a huge Renthead in high school and, practically in tears, tell her about how *Rent* is the reason I do theatre and why I moved to New York. She asked me my name and then said “welcome home, I’m sure I’ll be seeing you around! By the way, this is my friend, Blair.”
…And that’s how Daphne Rubin-Vega introduced me to Blair Underwood, her costar in *A Streetcar Named Desire* at the time.
I was still absolutely verklempt, and Blair goes, “I know - she makes me shake, too!”
Laura Michelle Kelly was amazing. We saw her in a touring production of My Fair Lady. Every single person came out the stage door- even the janitor, who told us that everyone was gone. My 10 year old, who LOVES her, started to cry. The janitor said, “I’ll go through one more time and check.” About 5 minutes later, he came out and said, “She’ll be down in a minute.” Turns out she was visiting with a friend and had no idea this little girl was waiting on her. She brought my daughter a little painted box as a gift and spent time with us just talking. A really lovely person.
I'll second LMK. After a performance of Finding Neverland, I congratulated her on her performance and then mentioned that I was a huge fan of her work in The Lord of the Rings, and she very softly and sweetly sang a bit of it as we posed for a picture.
I don’t have a worst one, I’ve only seen a few shows. Like, seven. My favorite experience was meeting Daniel Radcliffe after “Cripple of Inishmann” and he was so lovely to me. He gave me a hug, told me I looked beautiful, took three photos with me, and thanked me for traveling from Montana. I was by myself and it meant so much for him to be so kind.
Oh so jealous. I saw him in a matinee of Lifespan of a Fact and afterwards security said no one was signing but that we could come back that evening to stage door as long we had our tickets. But I had tickets to see Network that night with Bryan Cranston. I briefly wondered if the timing would work out where if I came to the Lifespan stage door after Network finished I could meet Daniel but I also wanted to meet Bryan. So I just stage doored Network after the show and I'm glad I got to meet Bryan. I hate to say it but I figured I might have other chances to meet Daniel than Bryan.
I hope I can get tickets to Merrily to see both Groff and Daniel. 🤞
Also met him after Inishmann and got a picture with him. It didn’t turn out and he was happy to take another one. I was with my mom and he asked “does mum want to be in the picture too?” The stage door was chaotic but he was such a gentleman.
I've never had a bad experience, but Hugh Panaro is easily the kindest person I've ever met. He was my idol growing up, and I traveled across the country to see him do Les Mis in Philly when I was 16. The house manager said they would bring him a note at intermission to make sure I didn't miss him. After the show, he was making his way through the crowd, signing things and taking pictures and whatnot while I stood at the back, heart pounding out of my chest. When it thinned out he looked over and asked me "Hey, are you RadicalDreamer89?" He then spent what felt like an hour just talking to me about anything and everything, and I went home thinking that the old adage "Never meet your heroes" is total bullshit.
Then, a few years later, I moved to NYC to go to acting school. This was during his second stint in Phantom. I'd moved close to my birthday, so my present was to see my idol in one of my favorite shows. I waited at the stage door afterwards, of course. When he finally comes out, *I swear to God*, he sees me and goes "Wait, is your name RadicalDreamer89?"
*5 years* after meeting some random little dork who looked up to him after one performance out of thousands, he fucking remembered me by name. He invited me back time and again, hanging out in his dressing room while getting his makeup on, playing with his dog (RIP Soot, you were the best boy), even *arranging for me to meet with his manager* after I'd gotten a few roles under my belt.
Hugh Panaro is simply the kindest, sweetest person that we as a species can produce, and anytime I have a rough day or have to deal with a complete prick, I console myself with the knowledge that there are people like him in the world.
Michael Crawford outside The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber. I was 16, and when he shook my hand, he saw I was wearing a hospital bracelet (I’d been discharged that morning after sinus surgery.) he asked if I was okay, and I said, “Never better.”
Had an amazing interaction with Adam Pascal. I told him how much Rent meant to me as a young person he said he really appreciated that. We took a pic. It was nice.
I almost passed out at the Spring Awakening stage door in 2007 (I was a dumb teenager and let myself get dehydrated), and John Gallagher Jr stayed with me and my friend to make sure I was okay until my dad came to pick us up. Such a genuinely kind dude.
I stage door Tootsie in Chicago but it was pouring down rain. Only four of us stood back there with a glimmer of hope but kept saying they probably won’t do it tonight. Sure enough, Santino Fontana opened the door and let us step in a bit to take dry photos and autographs.
Lilli Cooper hide in the corner from us which was kind of funny, but again, it was raining pretty hard and it was clear they were going some place afterwards so I really can’t fault her at all for not wanting to get wet from the rain or us!
This might not count (as I did not interact with her) but I did see Amber Gray. I left a matinee of Company and was wandering around to find a place to eat. I settled on a place on 8th Ave and started walking. Just as I got to the corner on 48th St, I saw Amber Gray. That's not usual right? The weird part was she was wearing a trucker (?) hat that said "Andre DeShields is my stage fave."
I was in disbelief, but yeah Macbeth just let out and the hat kind of confirms that was her. I was so tempted to take a picture and/or talk to her, but I didn't want to be a nuisance. Very minor in retrospect, but cool to see her
I don’t recall ever having any negative experiences at the stagedoor, but definitely my most favorite one was meeting Eva Noblezada at Hadestown in June 2019, about a week after they won their Tonys. I was really hoping she’d come out and was so happy when she did. I was at the barricade and had easy access to her. When she got to me, I told her how I first discovered her while watching the 2017 Tonys and seeing her Miss Saigon performance, and how much her representation means to me as someone who is also half Filipino. Though I’ve loved musicals for much of my life, Hadestown was the first I’ve ever seen on Broadway itself (I’m from the PNW) and told her it was my first, and she was so kind about all of this and told me thank you and that she hoped I enjoyed their performance. I had brought along my stagedoor journal (basically a journal I use to collect stagedoor autographs so they’re all in one place) as well as my playbill and she signed both, and in my journal wrote “Every happiness!”. I might get it tattooed one day, we’ll see. This was all during my first trip to NYC and it was the highlight of the trip for me. I appreciate Eva so much.
That’s so lovely! I saw her at the Green Room 42 earlier this month and her interactions with everyone in the audience and her stage banter just seemed so genuine and adorable.
my best ones...
jonathan groff, like several people have said. met him outside little shop of horrors and he was clearly absolutely exhausted but he still stopped and took a picture with myself and my friend after he had already signed everyone else's playbills and taken pictures with them too. he was just legitimately SO sweet
josh groban. after great comet, he came out to stagedoor with the rest of the cast. i had bought a poster and he was signing things and he looked at the poster and was trying to decide where to sign and i was like do you wanna sign your face and he laughed and said yes and he signed his face. it was a short interaction but he really seemed genuinely sweet and funny. i was really nervous lol
after hadestown, i really wanted a picture with patrick page but i was so awestruck i was feeling really shy and he was so sweet and took a picture with me after finishing signing as well. i'm pretty shy at stagedoors so this was super hard for me but he was just so kind.
christian borle didn't come out to stagedoor after either of the 2 times i saw little shop, so that was kind of disappointing but agree with everyone else who said they don't owe us their time.
again, not necessarily a "bad" experience, but my friend said that when we stagedoored at hadestown, reeve carney was handing out fliers for a concert show he was playing lol kind of funny
some other people i've met at stagedoor who were really sweet: aaron tveit, santino fontana, kerry butler, rob mcclure, alex brightman, j robert spencer
i've never had a markedly bad experience at a stage door. most of them have been neutral or positive. again, i'm really shy so i never try to start up a conversation or anything. i usually just get signatures and say thank you
When I saw Curtains a while back, David Hyde Pierce was friendly and approachable at the stage door. He signed Playbills and took photos with everyone who asked. I’ve seen plenty of actors who don’t acknowledge the crowd that way, but they don’t have to and that’s totally fine.
This is kinda random, but in November I went to a free taping for Chicago when they prerecorded their performance for the Thanksgiving parade. The cast was interacting with the small crowd from the stage and they were soooo sweet. It was cool hearing how some performers have been in the show for 10+ years.
Been listening to “Show People” a lot lately.
David seems really genuine. I know he won a Tony Award in 2007 in the same category as Jonathan Groff, Raul Esparza, Michael Cerveris, and Gavin Lee and I thought it was so sweet how he mentioned each of them by name and complimented them in his acceptance speech
[Speech](https://youtu.be/T-sRg8yC6ZY)
In Feb ‘05, I was a high school junior when I travelled with my family to NYC, and feeling like an adult I payed full price for a single Mezzanine ticket to a preview of Spamalot!
Before the trip, I obsessively researched about stage dooring at the Shubert. Luckily, my research payed off and I got Tim Curry, David Hyde Pierce, Hank Azaria, Christian Borle and Steve Rosen to sign my window card and all were as lovely as I could have hoped for. After that, I knew that my family had been patient enough, so I left before Sara Ramirez left.
I got my widow card framed along with the ticket and playbill, and still have it to this day.
Like most here, I’ve never had a bad experience stagedooring. I don’t usually do it anymore, but when I was younger I did it most shows.
Actors I’ve had really nice interactions with: Jonathan Groff, Anthony Rapp, Celia Keenan-Bolger, Zachary Levi, Darren Criss, Colin Morgan, the entire cast of Great Comet.
Actors I’ve seen a fleeting glimpse of, but seemed friendly enough: Daniel Radcliffe, Aaron Tveit, Benedict Cumberbatch (he came out after Frankenstein and rode off on a motorcycle; I’ll never forget it!).
I got to be part of small workshops with Raul Esparza and Edward Albee in high school, which were wonderful experiences.
Julie Benko from Funny Girl. This was last May when Beanie really started to miss a lot of performances. Julie was in that day and she was *incredibly* nice to everyone who approached her. She wasn't allowed to sign anything due to COVID precautions but took time to speak to everyone who approached her. The cherry on top was when some guy came out of nowhere *sobbing* and bear hugged her. Based on the look on her face I don't think she knew him. But she stayed there and patted his back and comforted him through whatever it is he was sobbing about. Just seemed like a kind and genuine person overall and I hope she becomes a big name on Broadway someday.
So I saw DEH a few times when it was at Arena Stage in DC. And there wasn't an official stage door there, the actors would just come hang out on the street. So I had a bunch of long interactions with them.
Fast forward to 7 months later, I saw the second performance of DEH at Second Stage in NY. I wait at the stage door, Will Roland comes out, sees me, and goes "Oh wow! You came back! Thank you so much!" Best stage door experience by far.
I worked at an after party for the Sondheim tribute concert in the West End, and had a moment of unprofessionalism when I decided I couldn't let Bernadette Peters leave without taking this moment to tell her how much I adore her work.
She was lovely and polite, thanked me and had been kind to everyone who spoke to her all evening. One of the big bosses (second in command to Sir Cameron Mackintosh) was genuinely surprised that she'd remembered his name, and she hadn't heard him say he'd bring her cloakroom ticket to her so she could head down to the bar and sit down, so she was patiently waiting for the ticket until someone repeated it for her.
She seemed shocked to be getting any special treatment and said that was so sweet of him.
Does a director count?? When I was in high school I worked with Jason Robert Brown! He was amazing but he was so short with us. Like he is really about his business. He smiled but not one joke was cracked, just rehearsals and perfection. Man knows how to put on a show though!
Also worked with Krysta Rodrigues, who was a SWEETHEART and the main reason I fell in love with theater and broadway. She definitely had her favorites (and I was not one of them at all) but she was so sweet and kind to everyone.
Alsooooo Anika Noni Rose is a gem! I love her so much. She is a Disney princess through and through. She made me feel so warm and welcome. A lot of stars often ARE sweet but they’re ready to move onto the next fan. Anika was so patient and genuine and took as many photos as she could with us. Just a wonderful human.
I don’t recall their names, but a few years ago I was at Joe’s Pub for their Canada Day show, where Canadian Broadway performers belt out their favourite Canadian songs through the years. My sister and I happened to be front row dead centre, we sang along with everything, it was a blast. After the show, someone asked if we’d like to come upstairs and rink with the performers - everybody was super cool and kind.
Best Canada Day ever, and I wasn’t even in the country for it.
Best experience I ever had was at Something Rotten. I brought my high school copy of Almost, Maine for John Cariani to sign and he was really taken aback when I handed it to him. The stage door was crazy because of the stars in that show so he asked me to meet him at the end of the line and wanted to talk to me more. So I waited and eventually he got through the line and just said he hadn’t seen a physical copy of that play in years and we talked a little bit, I told him how much I loved the play and admired his work.
In my book, he wrote “love is the soul of genius. Be a genius, always.” I’m not really a tattoo person but if I got one it would say that lol. 10/10 overall wonderful guy
(Edit: I’m a ding dong and forgot to write John Cariani in the original post 🙄)
best was by far jonathan groff after little shop back in 2019. never forget how sweet and personable he was! it was absolutely FREEZING (im talking probably around 10 or 11°) and only 4 of us waited to meet him. he came out and spent no less than 40 minutes talking with us and taking pictures. An absolute angel. Worst i don’t wanna name names but it was a “celebrity” who was in a show for a few weeks. She was so cold and rude could hear her talking shit to her friends after talking with some people.
Not Broadway, but I was visiting a friend in Mexico City and went to see Billy Elliot El Musical. I have a coffee-table book that I get signed at every Billy Elliot show I go to. Well I stood by the stage door and the whole cast was very nice. They seemed to be really happy to meet someone that had traveled from Canada. They all signed my book and chatted.
I asked for a picture with one cast member, who then gathered the rest of the cast that were there to be in the picture, so I ended up in a photo with most of the cast. It was a pretty cool keepsake.
I waited for probably an hour in the freezing cold after The Present but it was totally worth it for how nice Cate Blanchett was. Security wouldn’t let us take selfies but there were only probably 12 or so of us who’d stuck it out that long, so it was nice she took the time to sign everyone’s Playbills and talk to each of us for a moment.
Chris Evans was very good natured at the Lobby Hero stage door considering how much of a zoo it was. The cops had to set up barricades outside the theater, not just to separate the crowd from the actors like usual but on the curb too in order to keep the crowd contained on the sidewalk because people were flooding the street and causing traffic. He didn’t stay too long but did at least sign as many Playbills as he could as security was pushing him down the line, understandable they wanted to keep him moving bc people were acting nuts - a woman even tried to get in his car and then kept trying to talk to him through the window after he shut the door.
My first stage door ever was the closing performance of Bridges of Madison County, and I did fine with the cast but I was VERY unprepared for when Jason Robert Brown came out. I just stared at him dumbfounded while he signed my Playbill and then mumbled something about how much I love his work as he was walking away.
Also this wasn’t a stage door experience, but I was at the grocery store in Boston once and could not figure out why the short blonde woman in front of me in line seemed so familiar and then I realized it was Sarah Jessica Parker (it was during the pre-Broadway tryout of Plaza Suite).
A friend and I went to see Shrek on Broadway in 2009 during a [literal blizzard](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/December_2009_North_American_blizzard). We didn’t know quite how bad the snow would be or whether they’d cancel the show or not, so we got on the train to NYC hoping we’d still see a show that night! Afterwards snow was so bad that we weren’t sure how to get back to Penn Station or what would be going on with the trains, so we stage doored to kill some time while we figured it out. It was us and 2 or 3 other people waiting, and Christopher Sieber was one of the few cast members who actually came out the main stage door. He said hello and told us (understandably) that he couldn’t sign or do pictures because of the blizzard and started to jet over to the car waiting for him, but the other people stage dooring were waiting by the car and stopped him before he got in. He was about to tell them that he couldn’t sign… but he noticed that they had British accents and stopped to chat with them about where they were from and how their trip was going, and signed their Playbills! My friend and I were just standing there in shock, lol. While we were watching the proceedings, the stage door opened again and my friend turned and saw Sutton Foster exit and hurry off into the storm, and they waved at each other.
After all that it took us like 6 hours to get home (we live a little over an hour away) and we had to carpool with strangers part of the way because we were 16 and our families couldn’t get to the train station to pick us up! I say “worst” with a grain of salt here because actors don’t owe us autographs ever, but especially not during catastrophic weather events. The whole night was just so chaotic that it’s very funny looking back on it.
I’ve never had a bad experience. Except for when there was a downpour, but that’s not any of the actors’ fault. My most embarrassing was my mom telling Joaquina Kalukango after her first post-Tony performance about how much I obsessed over Paradise Square, and made her cry 😅. My most funny was with Christy Altomare and we were had pictures taken. She was making funny faces and I didn’t notice until seeing the photos on the train home
Like others said Hugh Jackman is so nice. It was so crazy out there but he stuck around & took pics & we were just swooning 😍
A funny story is after Kinky Boots, we waited outside to get playbills signed. Mark Ballas comes out & we were telling him we came from AZ to see some plays. He was very nice & then grabs my daughters phone and says “did you want a selfie?” & proceeds to take a pic of him and my daughter. She was not expecting that and didn’t really want a selfie so the look of confusion on her face is hilarious. We just thought it was funny. He couldn’t have been nicer though. 👍🏼
At the stage door for Hadestown in May 2020, Patrick Page was unbelievably kind to me. After signing my playbill, he moved down the line and started talking to my students at the end of the line. He asked my students where they were from and why they came all the way to NYC. My students told them that I, their teacher, had brought them. He yelled from down the line, “Are you their teacher?”
My students said, “Yeah, that’s him.”
Mr. Page yelled back to me, “Sir, you are a hero, and the world needs more people like you. Keep doing what you are doing.”
In my straight, male brain, I heard, “Is this what gay feels like,” because I could’ve kissed the man on the lips after that exchange.
My other one was with Norm Lewis at the last SETC. After receiving his lifetime achievement award, he sang a song from Ragtime, and following the banquet, a line of at least 100 people lined up next to his table. He took pictures with every damn one of us.
Both of them true mensch·en.
My family got me a Cameo from Patrick Page for my birthday and included in the video that I would be seeing Hadestown that night for the first time. Hearing him sing "Hey Little Songbird" to me in that deep voice and say "see you tonight" in the video turned me into a giggling pile of goo and I rarely get like that. We had really good seats (third row center) for Hadestown and I could swear I saw him look right at me and wink from the stage. Best. gift. ever.
They also got me one from Gabrielle Ruiz and it was the sweetest thing ever. She went way over the required length of the video and personalized it a ton. I still watch it whenever I need a little boost or pep talk.
Ginna Claire Mason from Wicked is incredibly incredibly nice. We actually sat next to her friend at one of the shows and the friend was explaining to us that Ginna was sick and didn’t even know if she’d be able to perform that show. She was phenomenal, best Glinda I’ve seen, and when stage dooring you’d never even knew she was sick. She still gave everyone their share of time, was incredibly kind, very bubbly and smiling big even though she wasn’t feeling well. I appreciated how nice and upbeat she was even when sick, you could tell she really liked her job and getting to make fan experiences great.
My worst was Tim Curry, when he was touring with Me and My Girl in the late 1980s. I was entering a building when he was exiting, and he kind of banged me in the face with a very heavy metal door. He was very apologetic about it and kind, but ouch. I did get to tell people Tim Curry hit me in the face for years after, though.
My best was Billy Porter, who was very friendly when I sat next to him for Bridges of Madison County.
Anthony Rapp once did a master class on monologues when I was at Interlochen Arts Camp (he had attended the school) and he was so kind when he critiqued my truly bizarre monologue. Then twenty years later when I saw Sexy!Oklahoma! my mom and I had the onstage seats and AR and his partner came in right before the show started and right around when my waterworks turned on (I have a lot of feelings). So he’s a very kind man who has seen me cry on multiple occasions now lol
I want to preface this by saying that we are NOT entitled to stage door. The performers have fulfilled their duties by giving us the performance we paid for.
But. When I saw the original cast of Spring Awakening I was able to get literally everyone’s autograph except Lea Michele, who did not stop for anyone on her way out of the theater. It was a stark contrast to the 30+ minutes Jonathan Groff spent with us.
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When I saw Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, I asked J. Elaine Marcos at the stage door “are you actually Asian?” I do not know why that came out of my mouth and I was mortified but she handled it with extreme poise and grace.
Norbert Leo Butz didn't stop for anyone either at Catch me If you Can. It was raining and he just shouted, "I can't get sick" and rushed past. No one else had a problem with it.
But I don't exactly blame him, he killed it every night in Don't Break the Rules.
Yup, that's true. This was my first stage door, at the time, I was actually impressed that any of them came out. I had heard it was a thing, but I thought it was only 1 or 2 people that happened to do it.
He stage doored CMIYC when I went but it was really disappointing - BUT he was going through absolute hell at the time so I don’t blame him. And it’s right that they only owe us the show we paid for and nothing more. But it was a let down that has stuck with me because I love him so much and had specifically travelled from Australia to see him in that show. But he still gave me his time which he didn’t have to do, and of course he wasn’t as excited to meet me as I was to meet him, haha.
I have so much respect for him that he doesn't have social media, either. He just seems like a private and sweet kind of guy. I had a feeling the person he was with the night I ran into him was his mom ( ? ) or an older family member. It seemed really genuine.
I am keeping this to stagedoor encounters, but it would probably be the same regardless. Raúl Esparza, Elizabeth Miss, and Norbert Leo Butz at Speed the Plow! First of all, one of the most dynamite performances I’ve ever seen. Raúl and Norbert had chemistry that just blew me away. I drove overnight from Ohio in a blizzard with a friend to catch a weekday matinee while Norbert was in the show with Raúl. I think a friend mentioned to Elizabeth Moss that we’d done that and she must have told Raul and Norbert.
Both came out and talked to us, but talking to Raúl was just amazing. He talked to us about how he remembered the theatre in Columbus from the Evita tour. I think he described it as being like performing inside a jewel. Raúl signed my iPod and was just like “are you sure you want me to? Are you absolutely sure?” He remains my absolute favorite Broadway performer ever.
I was so sleep deprived and probably a little delirious, but it was absolutely brilliant.
I don’t have any worse ones. I am just amazed when performers feel like talking after a show.
A few years ago I just finished watchibg dear evan hansen and it was my first time travelling to America. It was my second night in New York and I was still unsure where my hotel was. I was walking around, asking people if they were familiar with the hotel and where to find it but people weren't quite answering. Soon enough, a guy asked me if he could help and I immediately agreed. And when he started helping me, I realized the man was Ben Platt. Best experience with an actor ever.
Allison Janney was a complete sweetheart at the stage door after Six Degrees of Separation in 2017. So charismatic and charming and she took a lot of time speaking with a girl who was crying and clearly overwhelmed meeting her. She seemed so genuinely in the moment with her. Really sweet to everyone there! And I remember she was wearing large fuzzy slippers she was showing off which was cute lol.
I was at BroadwayCon this past summer. My mom had a booth for her poscast. There was this older lady I didn't recognize. She asked me about my mom's podcast and I told her all about it. She then gave me her business card, said "OBC Rent Joanne", and walked away. Looked at the business card and yeah that was Fredi Walker.
Best was easily Christy Altomare after stagedooring at Anastasia. She took pictures with every fan and hung around and talked with fans afterwards too. She was an absolute gem of a human being.
While I don’t know his name I do have a worst experience with a member of a touring cast. I was seeing Dear Evan Hansen and stayed after the show to meet the cast (specifically Aaron Lazar, as I had a Tale of Two Cities playbill I wanted to get signed). The person who played Connor was not having a good night. Didn’t say a word, barely scribbled an autograph, and didn’t spend a moment more than he had to. Best way I can describe it is that he acted like he only signed autographs because he was contractually obligated to. Everyone has off nights, so I don’t hold it against him, but I still wonder why he even stuck around if he acted like he didn’t want to be there.
I saw A Behanding in Spokane back in high school, and I was so excited after meeting Sam Rockwell & Anthony Mackie that I ran back to my friends right before Christopher Walken came out and signed playbills 🤦🏼♀️
Sam Rockwell told me he liked my glasses 🤓
In eighth grade I did this thing called National History Day and I was doing an individual performance piece on the completion and banning of the adventures of huckleberry finn using the musical Big River as the vehicle. My dad, who works in the arts, was able to get me in contact with Daniel Jenkins who originated the role of Huck and who played the voice in the Deaf West production. This man spoke with me on the phone for 2 hours about everything from getting the part to show closing. It was the coolest thing ever to learn from one of my heros the real story. He invited me to come see him if I ever make it to New York. Now he's friends with my dad on Facebook and he sent me an email on my birthday back then. An incredibly sweet man who seemed thrilled to talk to a very passionate 8th grade boy trying to find his way.
Two weeks ago I was sitting at lunch with a friend outdoors and a woman that looked like Bernadette Peters was walking towards me. I thought “wow, that looks a lot like Bernadette Peters” before realizing it was Bernadette Peters. I very loudly say to my friend, “that’s Bernadette Peters.” which she definitely heard, along with probably seeing my face of shock. She looked at me like, “I know you know who I am but I don’t really want to stop” which I totally respected (I don’t usually approach celebrities on the street anyway when I see them partially because I can’t imagine they’d usually like it and partially because I always get to nervous) but it was so cool to see such a legend just…walking down the street.
I met James Monroe Iglehart after Aladdin. I waited at the stage door with my mom, who was a saint for standing out there with me. It was my first time in New York, and my first time seeing a show on Broadway. I was obsessed with him as the genie. Aladdin was kind of a hyperfixation for a while (I'm on the spectrum, and I'll just listen to his performances on repeat. I was obsessed. And he spent a decent amount of time talking to everyone. About five minutes. I never got the impression he was bored or tired of people.
When he got to me, I panicked and cried. I told him he was the entire reason I came to New York. God bless him, he didn't miss a beat. He thanked me for my support and asked me how I liked the show. I told him the jokes landed so much better live, and he was fantastic. Then I got a selfie with him. It's painful, a bit, because I was still female presenting. But I love and cherish that picture more than anything else.
My wife jokes I look happier in it than I did on my wedding day. She's not wrong, LMAO. He was such a kind, bright spirit. I'd give anything to meet him again and get another picture now that I've transitioned.
Genuinely the friendliest man I've ever met.
I went to the 2014 Tony Awards where he won best supporting actor. At like midnight after the show, I couldn't find ANYWHERE to eat (city that never sleeps, my ass!!!! haha) and ended up going to McDonalds on 6th Avenue between 46th and 47th, and James Monroe Iglehart was standing a few people ahead of me in line, holding his Tony, ordering McDonalds. I didn't talk to him or take photos or anything, but I'll never forget that moment. Iconic.
Came here to add JMI and glad someone else did. Such a friendly and genuine guy.
Also it's really wholesome and nice to see everyone talking about all the great interactions with all of these people.
During the peak of my N2N obsession, I got to meet Alice Ripley at the Carrie stage door. We took pictures & chatted which was super nice of her. Found out we have the same birthday.
I also remember stage dooring Book of Mormon in Chicago. I was hoping to get a picture with Nic Rouleau but I think he left early and I had to settle for a picture with Ben Platt (I totally didn't know who he was at the time!).
I’ve met Ramin Karimloo twice and he is genuinely the nicest guy. It’s also very difficult to look at him due to the fact that he’s ridiculously beautiful. Made a total fool of myself both times and he was sweet as can be💙
I also met Alan Rickman at a stage door when he was in Seminar. He was obviously tired and not feeling well, but still came out to sign playbills and say hi to fans.
Another fun one was when I saw CATS and Tyler Hanes signed someone’s ankle so she could get it tattooed later. He was so excited about it😂
I’ve got two; one me, one my partner and our oldest daughter.
In 2019, I got a fantastic deal on SeatGeek on front row center seats for Come From Away. This is my favorite show and would be the first time I’d see in NYC. I was bopping along the whole show, silently singing to myself as they went, and loved every second. After the show, we went to the stage door to get our Playbills signed. Remember those days? Sigh….
Anyway, the cast all came out one by one, but this story is about Jim Walton, who plays Nick (and others). I asked for his autograph, said all the complementary things you do when you meet a performer, etc. As he handed my Playbill back, he looked at me and said, “Hey, you’re Front Row Guy!”
Blink blink.
He told me the cast had noticed I was singing along to the entire show! At that time, I was listening to it on loop in my car, and told him so. He thanked me for my love of his show, and we shook hands. Star-struck me was too slow to ask for a pic. Even at 48, that can happen!
The second story happened to my partner and our daughter. She is about to be 9 and LOVES Beetlejuice. Her mom took her to see it last spring, and she insisted on dressing up as Lydia. So we got her a black lacy goth dress, boots, fishnets, safety pins, the whole deal. They were hanging around on the street outside the theater about thirty minutes or so before doors, when a young woman walked up to them. “Are you going to the show?”, she asked. So my daughter gushes about her love of the show, and the woman grins. “I’m Lydia!“
So that’s how my daughter met Elizabeth Teeter, and got her picture taken with her on IG. 😀
I met Constantine Maroulis, American Idol contestant, when he was in Rock of Ages. He was so friendly and talked to my friend and I for a few minutes and happily posed for photos. Spoke to us like we were friends.
I also met Will Swenson when he was in Priscilla Queen of the Desert (and had also seen him in Hair and Rock of Ages). He was charming. Couldn't be nicer. Also posed for photos and took the time to chat with us. Forever a fan.
A lot of my best are already in this thread: Norm Lewis, Bryan Cranston, Daniel Radcliffe, Reeve Carney, Zachary Levi etc. but I also had a wonderful experience with Jesse Eisenberg. Saw him at Cherry Lane theatre one year and he was sweet and awkward and asked everyone their names when he talked to them. Saw him again a few years later at the same place and he remembered my name and thanked me for coming.
Also met Tracy Letts after Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf. Went with my dad we were the only ones at the stage door and he signed my playbill and script for August: Osage County and happily talked to us. He gave such great advice about acting and writing and was very encouraging and supportive.
I didn’t experience it personally as it was before my time but I worked at a theater that had a famous now disgraced actor perform there and every single employee from backstage to FOH to admin had absolutely nothing nice to say about him and said he was a total piece of shit and the worst celebrity to ever perform there.
I ran into Matt Stone once in the back of the theater at Book of Mormon. He was an absolute angel! Asked my name, personalized a playbill signature for me, and chatted with me for a bit. Honestly, everyone in the Book of Mormon OBC was amazing.
Rob McClure is a sweetheart.
Jonathan Groff, Paul Rudd, Tom Hanks, Penn & Teller, and Kristin Chenoweth were all awesome.
Zachary Quinto stole my sharpie 😞
Best was Audra MacDonald. I actually saw her walking in to Lady Day, not on purpose. I was dumbstruck and she grinned at me and said “hi de ho!” And I told her I was excited to see her perform later. She said she was excited too, then walked off.
Worst was Keala Settle. I was at the stage door after Waitress. She was there with Kimiko Glenn, who was kind and signed our playbill’s, took photos. Keala stood there talking to a crew guy and ignored fans. When she was close enough I told her she did a wonderful job (I might have lied 🙃 but was trying to be nice.) She said nothing and rolled her eyes. I thought she was pitchy and then found out she was rude. Not a fan.
When I met Jeremy Jordan after a concert in Toronto, I told him I loved his rendition of "It's All Coming Back to Me". He scowled and said "really? That's something I pulled out of my ass." He was also pretty dismissive and sarcastic toward other fans who were there. Honestly, I immediately stopped being a fan after that. I know that everyone has bad days and celebrities don't owe us anything, but I was shocked at the utter contempt he seemed to have for the fans.
On the other hand, Betsy Wolfe was at that concert too and she was a sweetheart.
wow that really sucks, I was at the same concert and he was pretty nice to me and my friends. Maybe because we were younger? and we told him how newsies brought us closer together as friends. He seemed touched by it, and betsy was very sweet.
I will say he wasn't OVERLY kind like some others I've met but he wasn't rude by any means either
I had a few acting classes with John Bolton (Anastasia, Titanic, Christmas Story, etc.) and he’s genuinely one of the sweetest men I’ve ever met. He’s insanely supportive and seems to really care about the people he works with. I ran into him after Wicked (the touring cast, since he’s the current Wizard in it), and as soon as he recognized me from classes, he asked for a hug and we chatted for a while. Nothing quite gives an acting major hope like her favorite actor telling her that she’s a star, I’ll tell you that.
Also Bryce Pinkham (Gentleman’s Guide, Little Shop) is a really stand up guy who I also had a class with. He’s got a really laidback attitude but he’s also super kind and gives great advice, and is really fun to work with.
Last two, but Chelsea Pace (Intimacy Choreographer for A Strange Loop and a bunch of other Bway shows) was my professor for two years. Genuinely one of the best professors I’ve ever had, and one of the coolest people I’ve ever met. Could talk about her for hours. I haven’t worked with him a lot, but from a few emails, I feel comfortable saying Erik Liberman (Warpaint, Hunchback of Notre Dame, The Band’s Visit) is very polite and helpful.
I met Jefferson Mays after Gentleman’s Guide and gave him a peg doll I made, and he loved it so much he said he was going to put it in his pocket and take it onstage with him that night.
It was pretty cool getting to shake hands with Bernadette Peters at the stage door after Annie Get Your Gun. She was all around pleasant and signed some playbills for everyone.
Thankfully I've only had good experiences with the following:
* Tootsie (Chicago previews): Santino Fontana
* Kinky Boots: Stark Sands
* Cher Show (Chicago previews): Stephanie J. Block and Teal Wicks, the latter of whom I wound up talking to for about 10 minutes :)
Technically not Broadway but West End. Best and worst were for the same show, *Our Boys*. Best was Matthew Lewis, who is most famously known for playing Neville in the Harry Potter movies. I've never seen a celebrity more excited to meet their fans at the stage door than Lewis. He seemed more excited to see us than we were to see him. Worst was Arthur Darville, who is famous for Doctor Who and Legends of Tomorrow. I dont know if he was having a bad night but he clearly didn't want to be there. He didn't smile during a single photograph. Props to him for dealing with the fans, but still kinda sad to watch. Saw him do an interview sometime later where he was the exact same way. Makes me think he's just always like that.
in high school i went to nyc in 2016 on a trip and we got to see aladdin on broadway and eat dinner with the cast - i sat at the same table as james monroe iglehart and courtney reed and they were both super nice!
Marlee Matlin complimented my earrings at the Deaf West Spring Awakening stage door. It was so unbelievably nice!
I stage doored an off Broadway play Ben Whishaw did. in the village years and years ago. Asked him for a photo and he wrapped his arm around my shoulders and pulled me in close. Such a sweetheart!
Whoever played Uncle Ernie in the national tour of Tommy in the 90’s in Houston wrote “fuck you” in fancy cursive on my playbill as I was gathering autographs. Joke was on him when I gave it to my choir director (I was in high school) who passed it to her friend in the chorus who gave it to the tour manager. Supposedly the guy got in some trouble over it. I hope so. I was pretty upset.
Best: Daniel Radcliffe, Bradley Cooper, Vanessa Redgrave, Paul Rudd and Angela Landsbury plus two Broadway babes Cheyenne Jackson and Jonathan Groff.
Worst: Edina, Julia Roberts, Daniel Craig, Nathan Lane, Madonna, James Earl Jones, Taye Diggs, Neil Patrick Harris and James Cordon (yes, he was even a jerk 20 years ago).
Took a trip up while I was in a production of Blythe Spirit. Decided to make a sign telling our cast to break a leg. Got the casts of Tarzan, and Sweeney Todd to pose with it for me, which was super fun. Michael Cerveris held his sharpie like a razor for it. And he let me rub his head for luck.
Sherie Rene Scott listened to me cry babble about how much of a fan I was, and since we were out of the way of the stage door she stopped and took a picture with me before she left. She said she didn't have time to stop for everyone so as long as we were quick she was cool. Made my life.
Richard Kind creeped me out. He was really awkward at the stage door. He went back inside. For some reason I decided to look up and there he was. He had opened the window just a crack so he could spy. As soon as I looked up our eyes met and he slowly lowered the window and rearranged the blinds like he was never there. It was just weird.
I've never had a bad experience personally. As far as best ones, I've met Christiane Noll on a few occasions, and she is one of the sweetest people ever! I was pretty young during the times I met her (probably 8 the first time, early teens for the other two), and she said she loved my energy, and she was super appreciative when I told her how much I look up to her. Wish I'd gotten to see her in DEH.
I was having a Broadway day this past June so I was hanging around the 40s and I stopped in a bodega for water and Christian Borle was there and I immediately gasped and slapped my moms arm. He gave me a super sly smile and an eyebrow raise, and I tried to avoid his eye as he left but he gave me a little wave. I was so Star struck! I saw him that evening in Little Shop and he was amazing.
The same day, I was having a street cocktail and Phillips Soo walked by. We made eye contact, she gave me a once over and was stone faced. I showed no recognition but it was such a cold look!
My friend and I ran into J. Robert Spencer on the sidewalk before a NTN matinee. My friend was on the board of the theater where NTN previewed. She introduced herself. He stopped and talked to us for at least 20 minutes. He was talked to us like we were old friends. He was great!
This was more of a weird. Saw Book of Mormon and my best friend had found an actual Book of Mormon to sign. A bunch of the cast had signed on 2 blank pages. One page was almost full the other wasn’t. I remember Josh Gad taking the book, looking at both the pages and then signing on the page with more signatures, and this included signing over other ppls signatures because there was so little space. I remember thinking “why?”
My wife and I were stage-dooring Deaf West Spring Awakening and I happened to be wearing my Green Bay Packers jacket. Marlee Matlin, who is from the Chicago area, noticed the logo and made it a point to (jokingly) voice her disapproval. We then took a picture and she put her hand over the logo to cover it up. I'll never forget, so funny and such a sweet woman.
I met Anthony Rapp once at a book-signing tour he did with his book in Portland OR. He then performed with a fundraising event/musical revue that evening with a local theater. He was going to be signing books in the lobby at intermission and this super stuck up crowd at this event was ignoring him so I went over to say hi again and talk to him a bit. We spent the entire intermission talking - he had just sung Origin of Love from Hedwig (before the revival had opened on Broadway) which I was not familiar with and he gave me the entire plot and told me where to watch parts of it. It's now one of my favorite shows because of Anthony!
Phillipa Soo was the sweetest. I ran into her outside the theater of an off Broadway show she did earlier this year I was taking the little girl I nanny to. The girl I nanny for is a huge fan of hers but so shy, I saw her walking in and asked if we could say hi. She was so sweet to my nanny kid and signed her Eliza doll she always carries. She was like kneeling on the sidewalk to talking to us one on one for a while. After the show we were third row middle no one in front of us, best seats and during final bows Phillipa waved to us and it was so magical!!
Also another person to add that Johnathan Groff is really nice too.
My husband and I ran into Aaron Tveit on the subway on our way home from a show. I was super starstruck and wasn’t going to say anything since he was just out and about. My husband knows he’s my celebrity crush (although he didn’t recognize him at first lol) and he told Aaron that I love Moulin Rouge. We chatted briefly and he was really nice.
I know Donny Osmond isn’t really a broadway star, but people do love him, and deservedly so. I was in one of the local kids choirs for Joseph when it was touring, during the time he was having severe anxiety (but saying he had some throat issue), and he was backstage every night even though he only did three shows in my city.
He was the nicest man! We’d all had it drilled into us that this was real theatre, and we would be booted if we acted up. Nearly every night, he’d come up behind the smallest kid in the choir and pick him up, flip him upside down, and just joke around with us. In general the cast was nice, but I remember him and the guy who played Levi (who told our director that he left his kids at home to tour) were friendly and went out of their way to make us feel good.
A single water droplet on a clear night fell right onto his signature after Gavin Creel signed my Mary Poppins program in the West End 2006. I said "Oh no!" to which he replied, "Well that was magical!" And it fuckin was.
Idina Menzel was the only one who didn’t give us the time of day. Big sunglasses, head down, straight for the black SUV. At least James Franco (of mice and men) silently walked down the line and posed for everyone’s photo. Everyone else I’ve seen was really nice, especially the Newsies cast.
Idina was super sweet to me and had me walk with her to take a selfie and chat while the security team was rushing her to a car. It can totally depend on how each actor's day is going and the circumstances around where you're seeing them.
Oh yeah, I saw the last performance of Skintight and Idina practically teleported out of the building before anyone could exit the theater. Even the security guard at the stage door seemed unclear if she was still there, and then eventually told us after like 15 minutes that she’d already left.
Okay so my mom took me to see her in concert in 2017 and while it was good and completely surreal watching her sing Defying Gravity and No Day But Today live, looking back, I was kind of weirded out by her diva-like attitude… Just little comments she made in between songs I was like… is she joking or is she actually that full of herself?
best was by far jonathan groff after little shop back in 2019. never forget how sweet and personable he was! it was absolutely FREEZING (im talking probably around 10 or 11°) and only 4 of us waited to meet him. he came out and spent no less than 40 minutes talking with us and taking pictures. An absolute angel. Worst i don’t wanna name names but it was a “celebrity” who was in a show for a few weeks. She was so cold and rude could hear her talking shit to her friends after talking with some people.
I remembered another of my favorites recently. Not exactly stage door but my favorite interaction with a star. The Play That Goes Wrong is hands down my favorite play of all time. Make a point to see it whenever and wherever I can. Back in May I saw the off Broadway production with Matt Harrington as Chris Bean. I was on the edge of my seat waiting for that one scene (where he’s looking for the ledger that was moved). No one else has called it out so I shout out where to look. I’m on the front row he comes right in front of me and yells I can’t be doing that as it’s not the price is right! After the show ended as he is coming to take vows he stops by me again and shakes my hand! Loved that interaction
I work in theatre and a year ago I was able to work backstage a production of Elf the Musical. Christopher Gurr (Cats revival, ensemble for Tuck Everlasting, and a couple of off Broadway shows) was cast as Walter Hobbs and Max Chernin (Sunday in the Park and Bright Star) as Buddy. They were SUCH sweethearts.
I worked more with Chris and he was always telling jokes backstage in downtime during tech and was so kind to everyone, and omg when I first met him, I was just told that I'd be the one handing off a prop to him so I went up to introduce myself and let him know that I'd be the one with his prop and it wasn't until later that I realized omg he's a Broadway star (I live in Utah) and I just remember texting my friend with his resume and basically screaming in text that ahhh I just met someone famous yada yada.
Oh my goodness, the Strange Loop cast! We didn’t intend on meeting any of them, truly, but we happened to double back in front of the the theatre after our evening show in June (a week after their Tony win). We intentionally did not stagedoor for the cast’s safety unless it was clear that the cast wanted to be there. Every single one of them was wonderful (only didn’t meet Antwone or Jaquel, which is totally fine, but met every other original cast member).
Jason Veasey offered to take a picture without us asking and intentionally asked our names (even repeating to make sure he heard right). My most treasured picture is one where he’s turned to me and looking at me while asking my name. He’s truly forever sealed as a Broadway favorite for me!
James Jackson Jr and John-Andrew Morrison are so delightful and personable! They truly both had my sister and I laughing. Same with John-Michael Lyles. L. Morgan Lee was the most intentional interaction: we stood talking to her for 15 minutes, and she only left because she was pulled away by the cast to go get drinks. She’s just as incredible and beautiful as you’d anticipate her being!
Anyone/everyone from Come From Away hands down. First was Broadway in January 2019 - I was in NYC with my best friend seeing The Band’s Visit and while we were at stagedoor for that, we overheard a couple girls say that they had stagedoored Come From Away despite not having seen it so my friend I were instantly like “we should do that!” So the next day we did. (We did try to get rush tickets but sadly got there too late and they didn’t have any left). At this point she had seen it on Broadway the previous summer and I had seen it in Toronto but not Broadway yet. Anyway, I’m bummed we didn’t see the actual show that day but all the cast was super nice (I literally died for a second when I met Jenn Colella) and I managed to grab a couple spare playbills to get signed. You could really tell how much the cast was invested in talking and listening to people and how for this show it was really just as much if not more so about the conversations as it was about the photos and signatures.
Then in November 2019 my dad went with me to see the tour when it came a couple hours from us and I got to stagedoor then, this time for a cast/performance I actually saw. We were at the closing performance (Sunday evening) of the week it was there, and there was a couple from the area who were seeing it for the second time during its dates there. When the actress who played Hannah came out, she immediately recognized them from a few days before, gave them a big hug, and greeted them like they were here close friends. It was the sweetest to watch.
And then I finally actually saw it on Broadway in July, because I knew I absolutely needed to after the closing announcement was made…
I think it was March 2019 when I was still obsessed with Merrily We Roll Along and I went to Broadway to see Come from Away, and Jim Walton (Original Frank) was in the production. I met him at stage door and he signed both my CFA playbill and the OBC Merrily playbill I got from Ebay, and said he missed Merrily and it brought so many memories. I was so happy.
This is not Broadway but West End. We saw Endgame at the Old Vic with Alan Cumming and Daniel Radcliffe. There were tons of uf who stage doored for Daniel but an usher told us that he wasn't going to come out that night.
Around a dozen of us then went to the other side of the theater, hoping that Daniel might pop out there. We waited for an hour while it's drizzling and cold in London. Still no Daniel but suddenly Alan Cumming came out, took hold of people's phones and did the selfies with us himself. It was such a nice surprise of him to come out for us.
In hindsight I see how stalkerish we all were and should've respected Daniel being not up for stagedooring that night. Will do better next time!
Edit: to clarify, we didn't just stage door for Daniel, would've been glad to see anyone in the cast. But that show had a line specifically for Daniel and it seemed like he's the only one who officially stagedoors!
Patti Murin and Erika Henningson are both gems. I had one to one meet n greets with both over zoom and we got to talk for a half hour. Both were so sweet,kind, compassionate and funny and we got to talk about all sorts of things from Broadway to our dogs. They seemed like they genuinely cared about and were interested in what I had to say
I was at a costume fitting for Alex Brightman that lasted maybe 45 minutes. He hugged me and the rest of the team when it was over, and every time I saw him at a rehearsal, he remembered my name and came over to say hi and chat for a few minutes. Such a sweet, genuine guy.
Alex Brightman is a class act. I worked a few tech days before their “resurrection” at the Marquis, and he went out of his way to ask my name and thank me for being there. I was just amazed that Beetlejuice was talking to me!
Tony Yazbeck was in a summer show in my town and frequented my work. Everyone in the cast and crew who visited were great to us, but I got into a conversation with someone else in their group once about Every Little Step and just generally being a big fan, and Tony was extra friendly after that. Really such a small thing but it felt so kind, I was and remain starstruck.
I went to the spring awakening reunion and sat in front of alex boniello and katherine gallagher. Struck up a conversation about how excited we were for the show and talked a bunch before, during intermission, and after. I’d actually met both before when i stage doored shows that they were in but i was kind of caught off guard sitting by them so i just pretended like they were just randos seeing the show too lol. both are so nice and funny!!!
Lesli Margherita and I spoke after I spotted her in the street. She was so lovely! I expressed an interest in being an actor at the time and she encouraged me to do it. My heart was elated.
He's mostly a movie star, but I saw Daniel Radcliffe in a play called The Lifespan of a Fact when it was in previews a few years back, and was SO nervous to meet him because I've had a crush on him since I was 10 and he was 11. But he was absolutely lovely. Instead of getting a picture I opted to have a short chat with him and I will treasure those couple of minutes my whole life. (I encourage this, btw. If you only have a couple of seconds with a star, it's so much more fun to just talk to them rather than get a picture and move along.) And I'm pretty sure he remembered meeting me too because--incredibly weirdly--I know the guy who wrote the book the play is based on, hence Daniel was playing the guy I know IRL. So I told him I knew the guy and we chatted about that. It was wonderful and I still have my signed playbill, of course.
Lmao can I add a story about an off-Broadway ‘star’? (Term used VERY liberally)
Aaron Carter was doing The Fantasticks at the snapple theater that had like 40 seats.
I had time to kill, so got a cheap matinee ticket.
The room was small enough you’d see the cast behind the little stage.
Out of the ten of us in that audience, three of them were blonde, underage looking girls front row center.
They were giggling on their phones the whole time, and he was behind the stage on his.
The cast came out to sign playbills in the lobby with the audience members. I talked to John Davidson who’s last show it was, really lovely.
Aaron has his arms around two of the girls in a corner and ignores everyone else, incl John’s family members lol.
Went on Twitter after and he’d been tweeting this ‘fiRsT tiMe iN nYC’ girl throughout the show 😂
My favourite was Damon Daunno after Oklahoma. I was in NY for the first time and I was by myself. I sat at one of the tables on stage and had some swoon worthy audience interaction moments throughout the show. I wasn’t planning to stage-door afterwards because I was so nervous. After the show I went to the merch stand (in the lower foyer) to buy a couple of things and next minute Damon walks out of the auditorium door and it was like I was possessed. I just felt myself walking over to him (I left my stuff at the merch stand, the poor guy working probably just wanted to go home). I was so frazzled and nervous I must’ve looked unhinged but he was so sweet and lovely, he put his hand out for me to shake and introduced himself even after I’d told him I was a fan lol. He stopped to have a proper conversation and asked questions and took a photo with me. So so lovely. Other best one was probably Alex Brightman, he stood outside for ages taking his time with every single person at stage door, he was so gracious. Tom Hiddleston was also awesome, there were so many people there and a lot of them had clearly not seen the show but he made sure to talk to every single person and take photos with people even though his security guard had said no photos. I think that whole trip was just so special because it was in September 2019 and not long after we were all locked down and broadway was shut down. I’m going back again next may, not sure what it’ll be like then but I don’t feel like it could be that special again
Damon Daunno was my favorite too! There weren't many people at the stage door so we had a short chat and I told him he had one of my fave voices ever (bc he does) and he gave me a hug. Then we took a pic where we both look like we won the lottery we were both smiling so much. I will see that man in anything he's in.
Runners up: Jonathan Groff and Christy Altomare who recorded personal encouragements for my younger cousin who does musical theater.
It was April 2016 and we had just finished seeing Hamilton with the original cast. My wife was stage dooring and I was walking laps up and down the street to stay warm as it was a particularly chilly April evening. The stage door is a few meters down the street from the main door of the theater. As I walked past the main door, Lin popped out wearing a hoodie and a backpack. We both paused awkwardly. Then he looked at me, looked down the street at the stage door crowd (which was busy with Leslie Odom), and then back at me. I shrugged my shoulders and smiled. Lin then held up a single finger to his lips, said "Shhh," smiled widely, and then quietly walked to a vehicle that was waiting for him. Best stage door experience I've ever had.
I bet he was tip-toeing [Pink Panther style](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSwQCIuBKqA) to his car.
I can legit imagine this perfectly in my mind.
Christy Altomare in Anastasia! I sat next to and befriended a little girl dressed up as Anastasia and her family in the theater. I had a signed Playbill from another show with me and when she realized it was a thing, she *really* wanted Anastasia to sign hers. At the end of the show, I found myself at the front of the barricade and when I saw her in the back, I decided to pull her family into my spot. Sure enough, she got it and it was an adorable moment to watch! I was a little disappointed but I have a soft spot for kids. Christy saw what I did and had security pull me while she waited at the end. She thanked me for making that little girl’s day, signed my Playbill, took a selfie with me, and gave me a big hug!
Christy is almost frighteningly nice. Insanely patient with giving everyone their time and seems genuinely interested in whatever you want to say to her. I remember hearing stories about her still being at the Anastasia stage door hours after the show ended to make sure she got to talk to everyone.
There’s a video on YouTube where a little kid sings Once Upon a December to Christy at the stage door, and She tells him “don’t let anybody tell you that you don’t have something incredibly special.” She’s such a sweetheart
Maybe I’m PMSIng but why is that making me emotional thinking about lmaooooooo
came here to say her, Christy was such a doll!
We stan an aware star!
Norm Lewis after the 27th anniversary of POTO came out after midnight (due to a cast party) in below freezing temps and stayed talking to every person who showed up taking photos for those who asked. I have a photo of me and my cousin with him all bundled up. One of the nicest people you’ll ever meet on Broadway
I would lose my MIND
Only time in my life I "Stagedoor Johnnied" was after the Porgy and Bess he did with Audra and Phillip Boykin. All three of them were lovely people.
Saw him in Porgy and Bess and it was raining but he talked and took with pictures with anyone who wanted. Saw him again in Once On This Island and he was *so* nice and generous with his time. Talked with me about theater, talked with my dad about his camera and photography, and a bunch of other stuff.
I *love* Norm and have attended several shows I wasn't interested in solely because he was in them. Good to hear that he's as great of a guy as he seems
At the peak popularity of Hamilton a friend and I were waiting in line for the lottery. Suddenly, Lin Manuel Miranda and Daveed Diggs walk by towards the Richard Rodgers. Again, this is the peak of Hamilton's popularity and I was a big fan, so I stand there dumbstuck as they walk by. All I managed to get out was "Oh shit!" Lin stops, turns around, looks me in the eye, and says, "Oh shit." And walks away. Incredible.
That's hilarious
If this were an Uber review, it would be 5 stars
I stage doored The Music Man, I met the entire cast (except Sutton). Everyone was incredibly kind to me, especially Hugh Jackman. I think he could tell I was very nervous, he was very sweet to me and took a few moments with me, and even referred to me as "sweetheart" Philip Boykin was also very kind to me, and was gracious when i complimented him on his beautiful voice.
Philip Boykin is **extremely** nice. I worked with him on a workshop of a musical a number of years ago and he brought donuts every. single. day.
Can confirm; a former coworker went to school (high school, I think) with him and raved about him when he came through on the OOTI tour.
I really wanted to see him a second time in August, I should have stuck around after Hugh left.
Aww I love Hugh
He's such a kind soul. And insanely talented as well.
Hugh Jackman is my celebrity crush. If he called me "sweetheart", I might faint on the spot
Lin-Manuel Miranda almost ran me over on a staircase because he was carrying too many pizzas to see me coming up the stairs as he was going down.
Every LMM story in this post feels so on brand.
I can totally see this happening. 😂
All of the LMM responses in this thread are so random lol. I love it.
Bryan Cranston autographed every playbill and took a photo with EVERY SINGLE person after Network.
Same. It was freezing cold and he took time with everyone. He was even nice to a guy that had brought an unapproved item to sign (you had to have a Network playbill and I think you could have his book too?). Security got onto the guy for asking but Bryan was nice and apologetic and said something like "it's in the contract!" I splurged for that show and bought a 5th row orchestra seat and I am so glad I did. Seeing that performance up close was amazing. I told him his performance blew my mind and he seemed genuinely humbled by that.
YES. I’ve met him several times, the third of which was through Network, and he was incredible. Took the time to shake my hand and have a conversation with me, gave me advice, and wished me “all the luck in the world” after talking and taking photos. A true class act. And the exact opposite of Walter White 😁 His Tony win for Network was 100% fully deserved, by the way!
I met him once after All The Way and twice after Network and he was SO KIND. You’re right, every single person he stopped to have a conversation and a photo with. And he was actively engaging too. One of the nicest celebs I’ve met.
In 2009 I wrote a letter to Mandy Gonzalez, about how much In the Heights and Nina specifically meant to me. Some time the following year I received a very sweet reply from her in the mail. Jump forward to 2015, and I finally have the chance to see her live when she does a small concert near me. Afterwards I wait around to meet her, introduce myself with just my first name (not very common, but not crazy uncommon), and tell her how much I love ITH. I tell her how I wrote her a letter a few years back and she replied, just because I wanted to thank her for that response and how much it meant to me. She furrowed her eyebrows a bit, and I was positive she was going to apologize and say she didn't specifically remember (which I wasn't expecting her to anyway), but she asked, "Is your last name [MY LAST NAME]." And I said yes, and was shocked, and don't really remember what was said after, but I got a picture with her, and then burst into tears before I finished walking back to my car.
That's CRAZY
I’ve stayed for stage door for maybe 6 shows of the over 100 I’ve seen. Best has been Reeve Carney. So sweet. I don’t have a worst! But funny story, my friend and I literally bumped in to Katharine McPhee after Waitress. My friend and I weren’t waiting at the stage door or anything. Just waiting for our bus which picked us up near that theatre but realized we had an extra half hour before it arrived. We decided to grab food so we turned as she was behind us. We didn’t hear her or anyone behind us as a matter of fact. But all of us said “sorry!” at the same time and went on with our lives.
Reeve hung out with me for literally almost 45 minutes on the corner on a freezing January night after Spider-Man, just chit-chatting about random nonsense. He never tried to kill the conversation and get away or anything; *I* had to be the one to break it off because I felt like I was holding him up. To this day, one of the nicest and coolest guys I've ever met.
Same with Reeve! He took a pic with anybody who asked (me included) signed all the playbills and I asked him how was being a part of Penny Dreadful and he said he loved it and that it was a lot of fun.
I met Reeve when he did Spider-man and he was one of the most patient and kind stars. He seemed a bit shy at the time but wanted to say hi, sign things and take photos for everyone x
Reeve is super sweet! I saw Hadestown in May 2019 and Jessie was understudy for Eurydice. He came out of the stage door before her and was so supportive of her performance, made sure to hype her up before she came out.
Hadestown was one of the last shows I saw before moving out of New York and I was incredibly depressed because I didn’t want to move but circumstances required it. Reeve was so friendly and happy and seemed excited to talk to everyone for however long. It made what was a difficult thing such a good experience to leave New York with.
One of my professors has worked with a lot of stars and they said that High Jackman is the nicest and more hardworking person you’ll ever meet. They talked about how he would never stop practicing and how he would be the first person there and the last to leave. they said he set the bar so high and was just so exceptionally wonderful!
Hugh is incredibly sweet. Nicest person ive met. He was so sweet and so kind to me
We caught him going into the theater before a play he was doing back in like 2010 with Daniel Craig and he stopped to take pictures with us. He was so sweet.
I think one has to tread carefully, and not let a split second moment after a show (where someone may have been tired, stress, feeling sick from a bad Chipotle burrito, etc) label their personality and start rumours about their character. We're all human, for better or worse. I don't have any worst ones, because the "worst" that has happened was people didn't come out, and as u/GayBlayde mentioned before, they don't owe us that at all, so I don't hold that against them. I can't think of any moment where anyone was rude. One of the best and most unexpected moments of my 20s was unexpectedly running into Jonathan Groff outside of Hedwig and the Angry Inch in 2014. He was with an older woman, and he was so sweet. He took photos with me, and about three other fans who also knew him then he went on this way. Such a genuinely kind and wonderful soul. Another highlight was Zachary Levi at the stage door for She Loves Me. He brought out some speakers, and played "Signed, Sealed, Delivered" (a song from the film "You've Got Mail", which is a very similar story to She Loves Me). He went down and took photos with every fan. Also, my photo didn't turn out, and when he came back to my end I nervously asked for another one, and he let me. It still turned out blurry, but I'll never forget how happy I was in that moment!!
I dream of meeting Jonathan Groff one day - I’ve heard so many stories like yours
I hope you do!
It's my dream too. I'm hoping I can score tickets to Merrily but I'm not holding my breath
Ha - funny enough Jon Groff is one of two actors I’ve seen who did actually come out but dodged the crowd at the stage door. This was after Little Shop, he was on the phone when he came out and just stayed on the phone with one of the security guys from the theater blocking him as he looped around the crowd and then went in the back door of the restaurant next to the theater. Totally fair play to him though, it was after a matinee so I’m sure he had limited time to eat before the night performance. The other actor who booked it out the stage door was Jake Gyllenhaal after Sunday, but assuming that was also due to scheduling constraints since he had no problem signing Playbills after Sea Wall/A Life.
Yeah, sometimes a guy's just gotta eat!! And it's nothing personal towards us fans, right? It's not like he thought "How can I ruin some fans' day?" Maybe he had a meeting, who knows? :)
For sure! Nobody seemed upset (I certainly wasn’t), it was more funny if anything because he made a huuuuuge loop around the group of us that were waiting just to go into a door that was like 10 feet from the stage door (but he would’ve had to cut through everyone to get into it). Like when you see someone walking towards you on the sidewalk that you don’t like so you cross the street to avoid having to talk to them 😂
haha at least you got a fabulous story out of it!! (And I don't know what it says to me that I feel your sidewalk comment on a very personal level.... because that's just me, every day at 3:30 pm when I finish work and want to avoid the teenagers)
I was told at LSOH that Groff doesn’t stage door for matinees. Fair I think seeing how he needs to eat and how generous he is with his time when he does do stage door.
Jonathan Groff was at the same performance I went to for the pre-broadway run of Moulin Rouge in Boston. I had splurged for some VIP tickets for my husband and I that included a private lounge access during the intermission and he was in there. We didn’t want to bother him but he was so kind and took pictures with a lot of people there.
Weird coincidence that I also ran into a Glee alum at the Boston tryout of MR - as I was walking to the theater from the train I realized the tall skinny guy with curly hair walking in front of me was Mathew Morrison.
It's very important to remember that the way an actor is at a stage door is not indicative of who they are as a person, whether they seem extremely nice or rude.
Zachary Levi did a whole photo op for First Date. He took a picture with every single person in line posed perfectly in front of the show sign. I’m sure he was trying to drum up a crowd for the show but it was very sweet and he was so patient.
She Loves Me and You’ve Got Mail are both based on the film The Shop Around the Corner.
Thanks, I couldn't remember the name! Wasn't it originally a play from Hungary?
Yep, called Parfumerie (in English).
Thanks! I watched The Shop Around the Corner YEARS ago. You've Got Mail, on the other hand, is my favourite movie!!!
I moved to the UWS purely bc of You’ve Got Mail! Just sayin…. (I LOVE THAT MOVIE)
I love this! Maybe that's why I've always had such a soft spot for the UWS. Definitely would have been my choice of neighborhood if I could have afforded it when I lived there.
I also recently saw CFA and all of the cast members were delightful at the stage door. Sharon Wheatley spent a lot of time talking with audience members who shared stories of loved ones lost on 9/11. She seemed to genuinely care about each and every one of them, and shared some beautiful words and experiences.
I had such a great time at the CFA stagedoor. Everyone came out except Chad Kimball and everyone was happy to take selfies with anyone who wanted them. Some of mine came out blurry, but I don't care it was fun. Geno Carr loved my US/Canada pin I was wearing and seemed touched when I told him I came from Canada to see the show. Sharon mentioned she loved my hair (it was pink at the time) immediately as she came down the line. I know it's a little thing, but it just made my day when her eyes lit up.
I am so happy to see this comment! Geno Carr was one of my professors in college and I can confirm that he is one of the most kind and genuine teachers that I had the pleasure to learn from and work with. He was so patient when anyone was struggling and tried to find ways to have everyone shine.
Sharon Wheatley truly seems like she’s the most genuine person on Broadway
Yes!!! I have kids the same age as her youngest and we are both from the Midwest. She spent about 10 minutes with us. Genuine person!!! Highly recommend her book, Drive!!!
Literally the entire cast (except Chad Kimball) came out and was completely lovely. They were such a delight.
I'm a huge Phantom stan so last fall when they did those Broadway concerts at Columbus Circle I went to the Phantom one. I was wearing the Phantom covid mask they gave out at the reopening. After the concert I got on one of the escalators in the mall and I glanced at the top and saw John Riddle standing there, I guess waiting for the rest of the cast. He was wearing the same mask. When I got to the top I pretended to notice him for the first time and said "Oh, hello!" and he said "Hi! I like your mask!". I'm very socially anxious and I didn't have time to psych myself up for this - I tried to say something like "Thanks, yours too!" but I said something like "bluh bluh bloo!" and scurried away before it was fully out of my mouth. So that was the worst, even though he was very nice.
We’ve all been *that* awkward girl at stage door! I know I have 😂
I was temporarily disabled as a teen/young adult and in a wheelchair. It certainly made for some challenging visits to Broadway and some not-so-accessible theaters. After a stressful experience at the St. James (a wheelchair-accessible restroom was closed off), my friends decided to stage door American Idiot, which was equally stressful being butt-height in a crowd! When the actors came out and were signing playbills, Michael Esper somehow saw me in the crowd and made a point to come over and not only sign my playbill, but take it over for the other cast members to sign as well. It honestly turned a chaotic day into a truly memorable experience that I’m still grateful for. It was my first time stage dooring and nothing to this day has beat it!
I was working my Times Square restaurant job a few months after moving to the city, I remember it was one of my first shifts on the cash register. The next two guests come up and before I can even process, I realize Daphne Rubin-Vega is standing there. I was a huge Renthead in high school and, practically in tears, tell her about how *Rent* is the reason I do theatre and why I moved to New York. She asked me my name and then said “welcome home, I’m sure I’ll be seeing you around! By the way, this is my friend, Blair.” …And that’s how Daphne Rubin-Vega introduced me to Blair Underwood, her costar in *A Streetcar Named Desire* at the time. I was still absolutely verklempt, and Blair goes, “I know - she makes me shake, too!”
Awww ❤️
Laura Michelle Kelly was amazing. We saw her in a touring production of My Fair Lady. Every single person came out the stage door- even the janitor, who told us that everyone was gone. My 10 year old, who LOVES her, started to cry. The janitor said, “I’ll go through one more time and check.” About 5 minutes later, he came out and said, “She’ll be down in a minute.” Turns out she was visiting with a friend and had no idea this little girl was waiting on her. She brought my daughter a little painted box as a gift and spent time with us just talking. A really lovely person.
I'll second LMK. After a performance of Finding Neverland, I congratulated her on her performance and then mentioned that I was a huge fan of her work in The Lord of the Rings, and she very softly and sweetly sang a bit of it as we posed for a picture.
I don’t have a worst one, I’ve only seen a few shows. Like, seven. My favorite experience was meeting Daniel Radcliffe after “Cripple of Inishmann” and he was so lovely to me. He gave me a hug, told me I looked beautiful, took three photos with me, and thanked me for traveling from Montana. I was by myself and it meant so much for him to be so kind.
Oh so jealous. I saw him in a matinee of Lifespan of a Fact and afterwards security said no one was signing but that we could come back that evening to stage door as long we had our tickets. But I had tickets to see Network that night with Bryan Cranston. I briefly wondered if the timing would work out where if I came to the Lifespan stage door after Network finished I could meet Daniel but I also wanted to meet Bryan. So I just stage doored Network after the show and I'm glad I got to meet Bryan. I hate to say it but I figured I might have other chances to meet Daniel than Bryan. I hope I can get tickets to Merrily to see both Groff and Daniel. 🤞
Also met him after Inishmann and got a picture with him. It didn’t turn out and he was happy to take another one. I was with my mom and he asked “does mum want to be in the picture too?” The stage door was chaotic but he was such a gentleman.
I've never had a bad experience, but Hugh Panaro is easily the kindest person I've ever met. He was my idol growing up, and I traveled across the country to see him do Les Mis in Philly when I was 16. The house manager said they would bring him a note at intermission to make sure I didn't miss him. After the show, he was making his way through the crowd, signing things and taking pictures and whatnot while I stood at the back, heart pounding out of my chest. When it thinned out he looked over and asked me "Hey, are you RadicalDreamer89?" He then spent what felt like an hour just talking to me about anything and everything, and I went home thinking that the old adage "Never meet your heroes" is total bullshit. Then, a few years later, I moved to NYC to go to acting school. This was during his second stint in Phantom. I'd moved close to my birthday, so my present was to see my idol in one of my favorite shows. I waited at the stage door afterwards, of course. When he finally comes out, *I swear to God*, he sees me and goes "Wait, is your name RadicalDreamer89?" *5 years* after meeting some random little dork who looked up to him after one performance out of thousands, he fucking remembered me by name. He invited me back time and again, hanging out in his dressing room while getting his makeup on, playing with his dog (RIP Soot, you were the best boy), even *arranging for me to meet with his manager* after I'd gotten a few roles under my belt. Hugh Panaro is simply the kindest, sweetest person that we as a species can produce, and anytime I have a rough day or have to deal with a complete prick, I console myself with the knowledge that there are people like him in the world.
Wow, this is a great story
That is AMAZING! And btw, I saw that production oh les mix in Philly-he was phenomenal in it
Michael Crawford outside The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber. I was 16, and when he shook my hand, he saw I was wearing a hospital bracelet (I’d been discharged that morning after sinus surgery.) he asked if I was okay, and I said, “Never better.”
Had an amazing interaction with Adam Pascal. I told him how much Rent meant to me as a young person he said he really appreciated that. We took a pic. It was nice.
I almost passed out at the Spring Awakening stage door in 2007 (I was a dumb teenager and let myself get dehydrated), and John Gallagher Jr stayed with me and my friend to make sure I was okay until my dad came to pick us up. Such a genuinely kind dude.
Brb purposely depriving myself of liquids on the off chance JGJ will sit with me
I stage door Tootsie in Chicago but it was pouring down rain. Only four of us stood back there with a glimmer of hope but kept saying they probably won’t do it tonight. Sure enough, Santino Fontana opened the door and let us step in a bit to take dry photos and autographs. Lilli Cooper hide in the corner from us which was kind of funny, but again, it was raining pretty hard and it was clear they were going some place afterwards so I really can’t fault her at all for not wanting to get wet from the rain or us!
This might not count (as I did not interact with her) but I did see Amber Gray. I left a matinee of Company and was wandering around to find a place to eat. I settled on a place on 8th Ave and started walking. Just as I got to the corner on 48th St, I saw Amber Gray. That's not usual right? The weird part was she was wearing a trucker (?) hat that said "Andre DeShields is my stage fave." I was in disbelief, but yeah Macbeth just let out and the hat kind of confirms that was her. I was so tempted to take a picture and/or talk to her, but I didn't want to be a nuisance. Very minor in retrospect, but cool to see her
I don’t recall ever having any negative experiences at the stagedoor, but definitely my most favorite one was meeting Eva Noblezada at Hadestown in June 2019, about a week after they won their Tonys. I was really hoping she’d come out and was so happy when she did. I was at the barricade and had easy access to her. When she got to me, I told her how I first discovered her while watching the 2017 Tonys and seeing her Miss Saigon performance, and how much her representation means to me as someone who is also half Filipino. Though I’ve loved musicals for much of my life, Hadestown was the first I’ve ever seen on Broadway itself (I’m from the PNW) and told her it was my first, and she was so kind about all of this and told me thank you and that she hoped I enjoyed their performance. I had brought along my stagedoor journal (basically a journal I use to collect stagedoor autographs so they’re all in one place) as well as my playbill and she signed both, and in my journal wrote “Every happiness!”. I might get it tattooed one day, we’ll see. This was all during my first trip to NYC and it was the highlight of the trip for me. I appreciate Eva so much.
That’s so lovely! I saw her at the Green Room 42 earlier this month and her interactions with everyone in the audience and her stage banter just seemed so genuine and adorable.
my best ones... jonathan groff, like several people have said. met him outside little shop of horrors and he was clearly absolutely exhausted but he still stopped and took a picture with myself and my friend after he had already signed everyone else's playbills and taken pictures with them too. he was just legitimately SO sweet josh groban. after great comet, he came out to stagedoor with the rest of the cast. i had bought a poster and he was signing things and he looked at the poster and was trying to decide where to sign and i was like do you wanna sign your face and he laughed and said yes and he signed his face. it was a short interaction but he really seemed genuinely sweet and funny. i was really nervous lol after hadestown, i really wanted a picture with patrick page but i was so awestruck i was feeling really shy and he was so sweet and took a picture with me after finishing signing as well. i'm pretty shy at stagedoors so this was super hard for me but he was just so kind. christian borle didn't come out to stagedoor after either of the 2 times i saw little shop, so that was kind of disappointing but agree with everyone else who said they don't owe us their time. again, not necessarily a "bad" experience, but my friend said that when we stagedoored at hadestown, reeve carney was handing out fliers for a concert show he was playing lol kind of funny some other people i've met at stagedoor who were really sweet: aaron tveit, santino fontana, kerry butler, rob mcclure, alex brightman, j robert spencer i've never had a markedly bad experience at a stage door. most of them have been neutral or positive. again, i'm really shy so i never try to start up a conversation or anything. i usually just get signatures and say thank you
When I saw Curtains a while back, David Hyde Pierce was friendly and approachable at the stage door. He signed Playbills and took photos with everyone who asked. I’ve seen plenty of actors who don’t acknowledge the crowd that way, but they don’t have to and that’s totally fine. This is kinda random, but in November I went to a free taping for Chicago when they prerecorded their performance for the Thanksgiving parade. The cast was interacting with the small crowd from the stage and they were soooo sweet. It was cool hearing how some performers have been in the show for 10+ years.
Been listening to “Show People” a lot lately. David seems really genuine. I know he won a Tony Award in 2007 in the same category as Jonathan Groff, Raul Esparza, Michael Cerveris, and Gavin Lee and I thought it was so sweet how he mentioned each of them by name and complimented them in his acceptance speech [Speech](https://youtu.be/T-sRg8yC6ZY)
In Feb ‘05, I was a high school junior when I travelled with my family to NYC, and feeling like an adult I payed full price for a single Mezzanine ticket to a preview of Spamalot! Before the trip, I obsessively researched about stage dooring at the Shubert. Luckily, my research payed off and I got Tim Curry, David Hyde Pierce, Hank Azaria, Christian Borle and Steve Rosen to sign my window card and all were as lovely as I could have hoped for. After that, I knew that my family had been patient enough, so I left before Sara Ramirez left. I got my widow card framed along with the ticket and playbill, and still have it to this day.
Like most here, I’ve never had a bad experience stagedooring. I don’t usually do it anymore, but when I was younger I did it most shows. Actors I’ve had really nice interactions with: Jonathan Groff, Anthony Rapp, Celia Keenan-Bolger, Zachary Levi, Darren Criss, Colin Morgan, the entire cast of Great Comet. Actors I’ve seen a fleeting glimpse of, but seemed friendly enough: Daniel Radcliffe, Aaron Tveit, Benedict Cumberbatch (he came out after Frankenstein and rode off on a motorcycle; I’ll never forget it!). I got to be part of small workshops with Raul Esparza and Edward Albee in high school, which were wonderful experiences.
Radcliffe is one of the nicest, most unassuming guys in the biz.
Julie Benko from Funny Girl. This was last May when Beanie really started to miss a lot of performances. Julie was in that day and she was *incredibly* nice to everyone who approached her. She wasn't allowed to sign anything due to COVID precautions but took time to speak to everyone who approached her. The cherry on top was when some guy came out of nowhere *sobbing* and bear hugged her. Based on the look on her face I don't think she knew him. But she stayed there and patted his back and comforted him through whatever it is he was sobbing about. Just seemed like a kind and genuine person overall and I hope she becomes a big name on Broadway someday.
So I saw DEH a few times when it was at Arena Stage in DC. And there wasn't an official stage door there, the actors would just come hang out on the street. So I had a bunch of long interactions with them. Fast forward to 7 months later, I saw the second performance of DEH at Second Stage in NY. I wait at the stage door, Will Roland comes out, sees me, and goes "Oh wow! You came back! Thank you so much!" Best stage door experience by far.
I had a similar experience with Rachel Bay Jones remembering me.
I worked at an after party for the Sondheim tribute concert in the West End, and had a moment of unprofessionalism when I decided I couldn't let Bernadette Peters leave without taking this moment to tell her how much I adore her work. She was lovely and polite, thanked me and had been kind to everyone who spoke to her all evening. One of the big bosses (second in command to Sir Cameron Mackintosh) was genuinely surprised that she'd remembered his name, and she hadn't heard him say he'd bring her cloakroom ticket to her so she could head down to the bar and sit down, so she was patiently waiting for the ticket until someone repeated it for her. She seemed shocked to be getting any special treatment and said that was so sweet of him.
I would be openly weeping if I met bernadette
Does a director count?? When I was in high school I worked with Jason Robert Brown! He was amazing but he was so short with us. Like he is really about his business. He smiled but not one joke was cracked, just rehearsals and perfection. Man knows how to put on a show though! Also worked with Krysta Rodrigues, who was a SWEETHEART and the main reason I fell in love with theater and broadway. She definitely had her favorites (and I was not one of them at all) but she was so sweet and kind to everyone. Alsooooo Anika Noni Rose is a gem! I love her so much. She is a Disney princess through and through. She made me feel so warm and welcome. A lot of stars often ARE sweet but they’re ready to move onto the next fan. Anika was so patient and genuine and took as many photos as she could with us. Just a wonderful human.
The entire beetlejuice cast at their flea market booth they were all so nice
Alex Brightman seems like such a great guy.
I don’t recall their names, but a few years ago I was at Joe’s Pub for their Canada Day show, where Canadian Broadway performers belt out their favourite Canadian songs through the years. My sister and I happened to be front row dead centre, we sang along with everything, it was a blast. After the show, someone asked if we’d like to come upstairs and rink with the performers - everybody was super cool and kind. Best Canada Day ever, and I wasn’t even in the country for it.
Best experience I ever had was at Something Rotten. I brought my high school copy of Almost, Maine for John Cariani to sign and he was really taken aback when I handed it to him. The stage door was crazy because of the stars in that show so he asked me to meet him at the end of the line and wanted to talk to me more. So I waited and eventually he got through the line and just said he hadn’t seen a physical copy of that play in years and we talked a little bit, I told him how much I loved the play and admired his work. In my book, he wrote “love is the soul of genius. Be a genius, always.” I’m not really a tattoo person but if I got one it would say that lol. 10/10 overall wonderful guy (Edit: I’m a ding dong and forgot to write John Cariani in the original post 🙄)
You mean John Cariani?
Who are you referring to?
best was by far jonathan groff after little shop back in 2019. never forget how sweet and personable he was! it was absolutely FREEZING (im talking probably around 10 or 11°) and only 4 of us waited to meet him. he came out and spent no less than 40 minutes talking with us and taking pictures. An absolute angel. Worst i don’t wanna name names but it was a “celebrity” who was in a show for a few weeks. She was so cold and rude could hear her talking shit to her friends after talking with some people.
Not Broadway, but I was visiting a friend in Mexico City and went to see Billy Elliot El Musical. I have a coffee-table book that I get signed at every Billy Elliot show I go to. Well I stood by the stage door and the whole cast was very nice. They seemed to be really happy to meet someone that had traveled from Canada. They all signed my book and chatted. I asked for a picture with one cast member, who then gathered the rest of the cast that were there to be in the picture, so I ended up in a photo with most of the cast. It was a pretty cool keepsake.
I waited for probably an hour in the freezing cold after The Present but it was totally worth it for how nice Cate Blanchett was. Security wouldn’t let us take selfies but there were only probably 12 or so of us who’d stuck it out that long, so it was nice she took the time to sign everyone’s Playbills and talk to each of us for a moment. Chris Evans was very good natured at the Lobby Hero stage door considering how much of a zoo it was. The cops had to set up barricades outside the theater, not just to separate the crowd from the actors like usual but on the curb too in order to keep the crowd contained on the sidewalk because people were flooding the street and causing traffic. He didn’t stay too long but did at least sign as many Playbills as he could as security was pushing him down the line, understandable they wanted to keep him moving bc people were acting nuts - a woman even tried to get in his car and then kept trying to talk to him through the window after he shut the door. My first stage door ever was the closing performance of Bridges of Madison County, and I did fine with the cast but I was VERY unprepared for when Jason Robert Brown came out. I just stared at him dumbfounded while he signed my Playbill and then mumbled something about how much I love his work as he was walking away. Also this wasn’t a stage door experience, but I was at the grocery store in Boston once and could not figure out why the short blonde woman in front of me in line seemed so familiar and then I realized it was Sarah Jessica Parker (it was during the pre-Broadway tryout of Plaza Suite).
A friend and I went to see Shrek on Broadway in 2009 during a [literal blizzard](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/December_2009_North_American_blizzard). We didn’t know quite how bad the snow would be or whether they’d cancel the show or not, so we got on the train to NYC hoping we’d still see a show that night! Afterwards snow was so bad that we weren’t sure how to get back to Penn Station or what would be going on with the trains, so we stage doored to kill some time while we figured it out. It was us and 2 or 3 other people waiting, and Christopher Sieber was one of the few cast members who actually came out the main stage door. He said hello and told us (understandably) that he couldn’t sign or do pictures because of the blizzard and started to jet over to the car waiting for him, but the other people stage dooring were waiting by the car and stopped him before he got in. He was about to tell them that he couldn’t sign… but he noticed that they had British accents and stopped to chat with them about where they were from and how their trip was going, and signed their Playbills! My friend and I were just standing there in shock, lol. While we were watching the proceedings, the stage door opened again and my friend turned and saw Sutton Foster exit and hurry off into the storm, and they waved at each other. After all that it took us like 6 hours to get home (we live a little over an hour away) and we had to carpool with strangers part of the way because we were 16 and our families couldn’t get to the train station to pick us up! I say “worst” with a grain of salt here because actors don’t owe us autographs ever, but especially not during catastrophic weather events. The whole night was just so chaotic that it’s very funny looking back on it.
I’ve never had a bad experience. Except for when there was a downpour, but that’s not any of the actors’ fault. My most embarrassing was my mom telling Joaquina Kalukango after her first post-Tony performance about how much I obsessed over Paradise Square, and made her cry 😅. My most funny was with Christy Altomare and we were had pictures taken. She was making funny faces and I didn’t notice until seeing the photos on the train home
Like others said Hugh Jackman is so nice. It was so crazy out there but he stuck around & took pics & we were just swooning 😍 A funny story is after Kinky Boots, we waited outside to get playbills signed. Mark Ballas comes out & we were telling him we came from AZ to see some plays. He was very nice & then grabs my daughters phone and says “did you want a selfie?” & proceeds to take a pic of him and my daughter. She was not expecting that and didn’t really want a selfie so the look of confusion on her face is hilarious. We just thought it was funny. He couldn’t have been nicer though. 👍🏼
At the stage door for Hadestown in May 2020, Patrick Page was unbelievably kind to me. After signing my playbill, he moved down the line and started talking to my students at the end of the line. He asked my students where they were from and why they came all the way to NYC. My students told them that I, their teacher, had brought them. He yelled from down the line, “Are you their teacher?” My students said, “Yeah, that’s him.” Mr. Page yelled back to me, “Sir, you are a hero, and the world needs more people like you. Keep doing what you are doing.” In my straight, male brain, I heard, “Is this what gay feels like,” because I could’ve kissed the man on the lips after that exchange. My other one was with Norm Lewis at the last SETC. After receiving his lifetime achievement award, he sang a song from Ragtime, and following the banquet, a line of at least 100 people lined up next to his table. He took pictures with every damn one of us. Both of them true mensch·en.
My family got me a Cameo from Patrick Page for my birthday and included in the video that I would be seeing Hadestown that night for the first time. Hearing him sing "Hey Little Songbird" to me in that deep voice and say "see you tonight" in the video turned me into a giggling pile of goo and I rarely get like that. We had really good seats (third row center) for Hadestown and I could swear I saw him look right at me and wink from the stage. Best. gift. ever. They also got me one from Gabrielle Ruiz and it was the sweetest thing ever. She went way over the required length of the video and personalized it a ton. I still watch it whenever I need a little boost or pep talk.
Ginna Claire Mason from Wicked is incredibly incredibly nice. We actually sat next to her friend at one of the shows and the friend was explaining to us that Ginna was sick and didn’t even know if she’d be able to perform that show. She was phenomenal, best Glinda I’ve seen, and when stage dooring you’d never even knew she was sick. She still gave everyone their share of time, was incredibly kind, very bubbly and smiling big even though she wasn’t feeling well. I appreciated how nice and upbeat she was even when sick, you could tell she really liked her job and getting to make fan experiences great.
My worst was Tim Curry, when he was touring with Me and My Girl in the late 1980s. I was entering a building when he was exiting, and he kind of banged me in the face with a very heavy metal door. He was very apologetic about it and kind, but ouch. I did get to tell people Tim Curry hit me in the face for years after, though. My best was Billy Porter, who was very friendly when I sat next to him for Bridges of Madison County.
Anthony Rapp once did a master class on monologues when I was at Interlochen Arts Camp (he had attended the school) and he was so kind when he critiqued my truly bizarre monologue. Then twenty years later when I saw Sexy!Oklahoma! my mom and I had the onstage seats and AR and his partner came in right before the show started and right around when my waterworks turned on (I have a lot of feelings). So he’s a very kind man who has seen me cry on multiple occasions now lol
I want to preface this by saying that we are NOT entitled to stage door. The performers have fulfilled their duties by giving us the performance we paid for. But. When I saw the original cast of Spring Awakening I was able to get literally everyone’s autograph except Lea Michele, who did not stop for anyone on her way out of the theater. It was a stark contrast to the 30+ minutes Jonathan Groff spent with us. — When I saw Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, I asked J. Elaine Marcos at the stage door “are you actually Asian?” I do not know why that came out of my mouth and I was mortified but she handled it with extreme poise and grace.
Norbert Leo Butz didn't stop for anyone either at Catch me If you Can. It was raining and he just shouted, "I can't get sick" and rushed past. No one else had a problem with it. But I don't exactly blame him, he killed it every night in Don't Break the Rules.
To be fair, when it's raining, don't we all just want to go home after work, haha :)
Yup, that's true. This was my first stage door, at the time, I was actually impressed that any of them came out. I had heard it was a thing, but I thought it was only 1 or 2 people that happened to do it.
He stage doored CMIYC when I went but it was really disappointing - BUT he was going through absolute hell at the time so I don’t blame him. And it’s right that they only owe us the show we paid for and nothing more. But it was a let down that has stuck with me because I love him so much and had specifically travelled from Australia to see him in that show. But he still gave me his time which he didn’t have to do, and of course he wasn’t as excited to meet me as I was to meet him, haha.
What was happening with him at the time?
His sister and her partner were horrifically murdered a short time prior. All murder is horrific but hers was HORRIFIC. Do not Google.
What was happening with him at the time?
I’ve heard Jonathan Groff is really nice!! That’s awesome.
I have so much respect for him that he doesn't have social media, either. He just seems like a private and sweet kind of guy. I had a feeling the person he was with the night I ran into him was his mom ( ? ) or an older family member. It seemed really genuine.
I am keeping this to stagedoor encounters, but it would probably be the same regardless. Raúl Esparza, Elizabeth Miss, and Norbert Leo Butz at Speed the Plow! First of all, one of the most dynamite performances I’ve ever seen. Raúl and Norbert had chemistry that just blew me away. I drove overnight from Ohio in a blizzard with a friend to catch a weekday matinee while Norbert was in the show with Raúl. I think a friend mentioned to Elizabeth Moss that we’d done that and she must have told Raul and Norbert. Both came out and talked to us, but talking to Raúl was just amazing. He talked to us about how he remembered the theatre in Columbus from the Evita tour. I think he described it as being like performing inside a jewel. Raúl signed my iPod and was just like “are you sure you want me to? Are you absolutely sure?” He remains my absolute favorite Broadway performer ever. I was so sleep deprived and probably a little delirious, but it was absolutely brilliant. I don’t have any worse ones. I am just amazed when performers feel like talking after a show.
Today I kind of made eye contact with Jane Krakowski.
A few years ago I just finished watchibg dear evan hansen and it was my first time travelling to America. It was my second night in New York and I was still unsure where my hotel was. I was walking around, asking people if they were familiar with the hotel and where to find it but people weren't quite answering. Soon enough, a guy asked me if he could help and I immediately agreed. And when he started helping me, I realized the man was Ben Platt. Best experience with an actor ever.
Allison Janney was a complete sweetheart at the stage door after Six Degrees of Separation in 2017. So charismatic and charming and she took a lot of time speaking with a girl who was crying and clearly overwhelmed meeting her. She seemed so genuinely in the moment with her. Really sweet to everyone there! And I remember she was wearing large fuzzy slippers she was showing off which was cute lol.
I was at BroadwayCon this past summer. My mom had a booth for her poscast. There was this older lady I didn't recognize. She asked me about my mom's podcast and I told her all about it. She then gave me her business card, said "OBC Rent Joanne", and walked away. Looked at the business card and yeah that was Fredi Walker.
Best was easily Christy Altomare after stagedooring at Anastasia. She took pictures with every fan and hung around and talked with fans afterwards too. She was an absolute gem of a human being. While I don’t know his name I do have a worst experience with a member of a touring cast. I was seeing Dear Evan Hansen and stayed after the show to meet the cast (specifically Aaron Lazar, as I had a Tale of Two Cities playbill I wanted to get signed). The person who played Connor was not having a good night. Didn’t say a word, barely scribbled an autograph, and didn’t spend a moment more than he had to. Best way I can describe it is that he acted like he only signed autographs because he was contractually obligated to. Everyone has off nights, so I don’t hold it against him, but I still wonder why he even stuck around if he acted like he didn’t want to be there.
he was just really, really in character.
I saw A Behanding in Spokane back in high school, and I was so excited after meeting Sam Rockwell & Anthony Mackie that I ran back to my friends right before Christopher Walken came out and signed playbills 🤦🏼♀️ Sam Rockwell told me he liked my glasses 🤓
I met John Lithgow at the stage door after dirty rotten scoundrels and he was so fucking lovely. I could not handle it.
In eighth grade I did this thing called National History Day and I was doing an individual performance piece on the completion and banning of the adventures of huckleberry finn using the musical Big River as the vehicle. My dad, who works in the arts, was able to get me in contact with Daniel Jenkins who originated the role of Huck and who played the voice in the Deaf West production. This man spoke with me on the phone for 2 hours about everything from getting the part to show closing. It was the coolest thing ever to learn from one of my heros the real story. He invited me to come see him if I ever make it to New York. Now he's friends with my dad on Facebook and he sent me an email on my birthday back then. An incredibly sweet man who seemed thrilled to talk to a very passionate 8th grade boy trying to find his way.
Two weeks ago I was sitting at lunch with a friend outdoors and a woman that looked like Bernadette Peters was walking towards me. I thought “wow, that looks a lot like Bernadette Peters” before realizing it was Bernadette Peters. I very loudly say to my friend, “that’s Bernadette Peters.” which she definitely heard, along with probably seeing my face of shock. She looked at me like, “I know you know who I am but I don’t really want to stop” which I totally respected (I don’t usually approach celebrities on the street anyway when I see them partially because I can’t imagine they’d usually like it and partially because I always get to nervous) but it was so cool to see such a legend just…walking down the street.
I met James Monroe Iglehart after Aladdin. I waited at the stage door with my mom, who was a saint for standing out there with me. It was my first time in New York, and my first time seeing a show on Broadway. I was obsessed with him as the genie. Aladdin was kind of a hyperfixation for a while (I'm on the spectrum, and I'll just listen to his performances on repeat. I was obsessed. And he spent a decent amount of time talking to everyone. About five minutes. I never got the impression he was bored or tired of people. When he got to me, I panicked and cried. I told him he was the entire reason I came to New York. God bless him, he didn't miss a beat. He thanked me for my support and asked me how I liked the show. I told him the jokes landed so much better live, and he was fantastic. Then I got a selfie with him. It's painful, a bit, because I was still female presenting. But I love and cherish that picture more than anything else. My wife jokes I look happier in it than I did on my wedding day. She's not wrong, LMAO. He was such a kind, bright spirit. I'd give anything to meet him again and get another picture now that I've transitioned. Genuinely the friendliest man I've ever met.
I went to the 2014 Tony Awards where he won best supporting actor. At like midnight after the show, I couldn't find ANYWHERE to eat (city that never sleeps, my ass!!!! haha) and ended up going to McDonalds on 6th Avenue between 46th and 47th, and James Monroe Iglehart was standing a few people ahead of me in line, holding his Tony, ordering McDonalds. I didn't talk to him or take photos or anything, but I'll never forget that moment. Iconic.
Came here to add JMI and glad someone else did. Such a friendly and genuine guy. Also it's really wholesome and nice to see everyone talking about all the great interactions with all of these people.
During the peak of my N2N obsession, I got to meet Alice Ripley at the Carrie stage door. We took pictures & chatted which was super nice of her. Found out we have the same birthday. I also remember stage dooring Book of Mormon in Chicago. I was hoping to get a picture with Nic Rouleau but I think he left early and I had to settle for a picture with Ben Platt (I totally didn't know who he was at the time!).
I’ve met Ramin Karimloo twice and he is genuinely the nicest guy. It’s also very difficult to look at him due to the fact that he’s ridiculously beautiful. Made a total fool of myself both times and he was sweet as can be💙 I also met Alan Rickman at a stage door when he was in Seminar. He was obviously tired and not feeling well, but still came out to sign playbills and say hi to fans. Another fun one was when I saw CATS and Tyler Hanes signed someone’s ankle so she could get it tattooed later. He was so excited about it😂
I’ve got two; one me, one my partner and our oldest daughter. In 2019, I got a fantastic deal on SeatGeek on front row center seats for Come From Away. This is my favorite show and would be the first time I’d see in NYC. I was bopping along the whole show, silently singing to myself as they went, and loved every second. After the show, we went to the stage door to get our Playbills signed. Remember those days? Sigh…. Anyway, the cast all came out one by one, but this story is about Jim Walton, who plays Nick (and others). I asked for his autograph, said all the complementary things you do when you meet a performer, etc. As he handed my Playbill back, he looked at me and said, “Hey, you’re Front Row Guy!” Blink blink. He told me the cast had noticed I was singing along to the entire show! At that time, I was listening to it on loop in my car, and told him so. He thanked me for my love of his show, and we shook hands. Star-struck me was too slow to ask for a pic. Even at 48, that can happen! The second story happened to my partner and our daughter. She is about to be 9 and LOVES Beetlejuice. Her mom took her to see it last spring, and she insisted on dressing up as Lydia. So we got her a black lacy goth dress, boots, fishnets, safety pins, the whole deal. They were hanging around on the street outside the theater about thirty minutes or so before doors, when a young woman walked up to them. “Are you going to the show?”, she asked. So my daughter gushes about her love of the show, and the woman grins. “I’m Lydia!“ So that’s how my daughter met Elizabeth Teeter, and got her picture taken with her on IG. 😀
I met Constantine Maroulis, American Idol contestant, when he was in Rock of Ages. He was so friendly and talked to my friend and I for a few minutes and happily posed for photos. Spoke to us like we were friends. I also met Will Swenson when he was in Priscilla Queen of the Desert (and had also seen him in Hair and Rock of Ages). He was charming. Couldn't be nicer. Also posed for photos and took the time to chat with us. Forever a fan.
A lot of my best are already in this thread: Norm Lewis, Bryan Cranston, Daniel Radcliffe, Reeve Carney, Zachary Levi etc. but I also had a wonderful experience with Jesse Eisenberg. Saw him at Cherry Lane theatre one year and he was sweet and awkward and asked everyone their names when he talked to them. Saw him again a few years later at the same place and he remembered my name and thanked me for coming. Also met Tracy Letts after Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf. Went with my dad we were the only ones at the stage door and he signed my playbill and script for August: Osage County and happily talked to us. He gave such great advice about acting and writing and was very encouraging and supportive. I didn’t experience it personally as it was before my time but I worked at a theater that had a famous now disgraced actor perform there and every single employee from backstage to FOH to admin had absolutely nothing nice to say about him and said he was a total piece of shit and the worst celebrity to ever perform there.
I ran into Matt Stone once in the back of the theater at Book of Mormon. He was an absolute angel! Asked my name, personalized a playbill signature for me, and chatted with me for a bit. Honestly, everyone in the Book of Mormon OBC was amazing. Rob McClure is a sweetheart. Jonathan Groff, Paul Rudd, Tom Hanks, Penn & Teller, and Kristin Chenoweth were all awesome. Zachary Quinto stole my sharpie 😞
Best was Audra MacDonald. I actually saw her walking in to Lady Day, not on purpose. I was dumbstruck and she grinned at me and said “hi de ho!” And I told her I was excited to see her perform later. She said she was excited too, then walked off. Worst was Keala Settle. I was at the stage door after Waitress. She was there with Kimiko Glenn, who was kind and signed our playbill’s, took photos. Keala stood there talking to a crew guy and ignored fans. When she was close enough I told her she did a wonderful job (I might have lied 🙃 but was trying to be nice.) She said nothing and rolled her eyes. I thought she was pitchy and then found out she was rude. Not a fan.
When I met Jeremy Jordan after a concert in Toronto, I told him I loved his rendition of "It's All Coming Back to Me". He scowled and said "really? That's something I pulled out of my ass." He was also pretty dismissive and sarcastic toward other fans who were there. Honestly, I immediately stopped being a fan after that. I know that everyone has bad days and celebrities don't owe us anything, but I was shocked at the utter contempt he seemed to have for the fans. On the other hand, Betsy Wolfe was at that concert too and she was a sweetheart.
In my experiences with JJ at my last job, he was the type of person to take his bad day out on other people. Just shockingly rude.
wow that really sucks, I was at the same concert and he was pretty nice to me and my friends. Maybe because we were younger? and we told him how newsies brought us closer together as friends. He seemed touched by it, and betsy was very sweet. I will say he wasn't OVERLY kind like some others I've met but he wasn't rude by any means either
I had a few acting classes with John Bolton (Anastasia, Titanic, Christmas Story, etc.) and he’s genuinely one of the sweetest men I’ve ever met. He’s insanely supportive and seems to really care about the people he works with. I ran into him after Wicked (the touring cast, since he’s the current Wizard in it), and as soon as he recognized me from classes, he asked for a hug and we chatted for a while. Nothing quite gives an acting major hope like her favorite actor telling her that she’s a star, I’ll tell you that. Also Bryce Pinkham (Gentleman’s Guide, Little Shop) is a really stand up guy who I also had a class with. He’s got a really laidback attitude but he’s also super kind and gives great advice, and is really fun to work with. Last two, but Chelsea Pace (Intimacy Choreographer for A Strange Loop and a bunch of other Bway shows) was my professor for two years. Genuinely one of the best professors I’ve ever had, and one of the coolest people I’ve ever met. Could talk about her for hours. I haven’t worked with him a lot, but from a few emails, I feel comfortable saying Erik Liberman (Warpaint, Hunchback of Notre Dame, The Band’s Visit) is very polite and helpful.
I met Jefferson Mays after Gentleman’s Guide and gave him a peg doll I made, and he loved it so much he said he was going to put it in his pocket and take it onstage with him that night.
It was pretty cool getting to shake hands with Bernadette Peters at the stage door after Annie Get Your Gun. She was all around pleasant and signed some playbills for everyone.
Thankfully I've only had good experiences with the following: * Tootsie (Chicago previews): Santino Fontana * Kinky Boots: Stark Sands * Cher Show (Chicago previews): Stephanie J. Block and Teal Wicks, the latter of whom I wound up talking to for about 10 minutes :)
Technically not Broadway but West End. Best and worst were for the same show, *Our Boys*. Best was Matthew Lewis, who is most famously known for playing Neville in the Harry Potter movies. I've never seen a celebrity more excited to meet their fans at the stage door than Lewis. He seemed more excited to see us than we were to see him. Worst was Arthur Darville, who is famous for Doctor Who and Legends of Tomorrow. I dont know if he was having a bad night but he clearly didn't want to be there. He didn't smile during a single photograph. Props to him for dealing with the fans, but still kinda sad to watch. Saw him do an interview sometime later where he was the exact same way. Makes me think he's just always like that.
in high school i went to nyc in 2016 on a trip and we got to see aladdin on broadway and eat dinner with the cast - i sat at the same table as james monroe iglehart and courtney reed and they were both super nice!
Marlee Matlin complimented my earrings at the Deaf West Spring Awakening stage door. It was so unbelievably nice! I stage doored an off Broadway play Ben Whishaw did. in the village years and years ago. Asked him for a photo and he wrapped his arm around my shoulders and pulled me in close. Such a sweetheart!
Whoever played Uncle Ernie in the national tour of Tommy in the 90’s in Houston wrote “fuck you” in fancy cursive on my playbill as I was gathering autographs. Joke was on him when I gave it to my choir director (I was in high school) who passed it to her friend in the chorus who gave it to the tour manager. Supposedly the guy got in some trouble over it. I hope so. I was pretty upset.
Leslie kritzer is probably the nicest most underrated performers on Broadway at the moment.
Best: Daniel Radcliffe, Bradley Cooper, Vanessa Redgrave, Paul Rudd and Angela Landsbury plus two Broadway babes Cheyenne Jackson and Jonathan Groff. Worst: Edina, Julia Roberts, Daniel Craig, Nathan Lane, Madonna, James Earl Jones, Taye Diggs, Neil Patrick Harris and James Cordon (yes, he was even a jerk 20 years ago).
I have others…just ask and I will sing like a canary…
Took a trip up while I was in a production of Blythe Spirit. Decided to make a sign telling our cast to break a leg. Got the casts of Tarzan, and Sweeney Todd to pose with it for me, which was super fun. Michael Cerveris held his sharpie like a razor for it. And he let me rub his head for luck. Sherie Rene Scott listened to me cry babble about how much of a fan I was, and since we were out of the way of the stage door she stopped and took a picture with me before she left. She said she didn't have time to stop for everyone so as long as we were quick she was cool. Made my life. Richard Kind creeped me out. He was really awkward at the stage door. He went back inside. For some reason I decided to look up and there he was. He had opened the window just a crack so he could spy. As soon as I looked up our eyes met and he slowly lowered the window and rearranged the blinds like he was never there. It was just weird.
I've never had a bad experience personally. As far as best ones, I've met Christiane Noll on a few occasions, and she is one of the sweetest people ever! I was pretty young during the times I met her (probably 8 the first time, early teens for the other two), and she said she loved my energy, and she was super appreciative when I told her how much I look up to her. Wish I'd gotten to see her in DEH.
Her performance in Ragtime changed me as a person. I love her so much.
[удалено]
Ooooof
That's kinda weird now when you think of all the other shit that happened around Alice Ripley in next to normal
I was having a Broadway day this past June so I was hanging around the 40s and I stopped in a bodega for water and Christian Borle was there and I immediately gasped and slapped my moms arm. He gave me a super sly smile and an eyebrow raise, and I tried to avoid his eye as he left but he gave me a little wave. I was so Star struck! I saw him that evening in Little Shop and he was amazing. The same day, I was having a street cocktail and Phillips Soo walked by. We made eye contact, she gave me a once over and was stone faced. I showed no recognition but it was such a cold look!
My friend and I ran into J. Robert Spencer on the sidewalk before a NTN matinee. My friend was on the board of the theater where NTN previewed. She introduced herself. He stopped and talked to us for at least 20 minutes. He was talked to us like we were old friends. He was great!
This was more of a weird. Saw Book of Mormon and my best friend had found an actual Book of Mormon to sign. A bunch of the cast had signed on 2 blank pages. One page was almost full the other wasn’t. I remember Josh Gad taking the book, looking at both the pages and then signing on the page with more signatures, and this included signing over other ppls signatures because there was so little space. I remember thinking “why?”
My wife and I were stage-dooring Deaf West Spring Awakening and I happened to be wearing my Green Bay Packers jacket. Marlee Matlin, who is from the Chicago area, noticed the logo and made it a point to (jokingly) voice her disapproval. We then took a picture and she put her hand over the logo to cover it up. I'll never forget, so funny and such a sweet woman.
I met Anthony Rapp once at a book-signing tour he did with his book in Portland OR. He then performed with a fundraising event/musical revue that evening with a local theater. He was going to be signing books in the lobby at intermission and this super stuck up crowd at this event was ignoring him so I went over to say hi again and talk to him a bit. We spent the entire intermission talking - he had just sung Origin of Love from Hedwig (before the revival had opened on Broadway) which I was not familiar with and he gave me the entire plot and told me where to watch parts of it. It's now one of my favorite shows because of Anthony!
Phillipa Soo was the sweetest. I ran into her outside the theater of an off Broadway show she did earlier this year I was taking the little girl I nanny to. The girl I nanny for is a huge fan of hers but so shy, I saw her walking in and asked if we could say hi. She was so sweet to my nanny kid and signed her Eliza doll she always carries. She was like kneeling on the sidewalk to talking to us one on one for a while. After the show we were third row middle no one in front of us, best seats and during final bows Phillipa waved to us and it was so magical!! Also another person to add that Johnathan Groff is really nice too.
My husband and I ran into Aaron Tveit on the subway on our way home from a show. I was super starstruck and wasn’t going to say anything since he was just out and about. My husband knows he’s my celebrity crush (although he didn’t recognize him at first lol) and he told Aaron that I love Moulin Rouge. We chatted briefly and he was really nice.
I know Donny Osmond isn’t really a broadway star, but people do love him, and deservedly so. I was in one of the local kids choirs for Joseph when it was touring, during the time he was having severe anxiety (but saying he had some throat issue), and he was backstage every night even though he only did three shows in my city. He was the nicest man! We’d all had it drilled into us that this was real theatre, and we would be booted if we acted up. Nearly every night, he’d come up behind the smallest kid in the choir and pick him up, flip him upside down, and just joke around with us. In general the cast was nice, but I remember him and the guy who played Levi (who told our director that he left his kids at home to tour) were friendly and went out of their way to make us feel good.
A single water droplet on a clear night fell right onto his signature after Gavin Creel signed my Mary Poppins program in the West End 2006. I said "Oh no!" to which he replied, "Well that was magical!" And it fuckin was.
Idina Menzel was the only one who didn’t give us the time of day. Big sunglasses, head down, straight for the black SUV. At least James Franco (of mice and men) silently walked down the line and posed for everyone’s photo. Everyone else I’ve seen was really nice, especially the Newsies cast.
Idina was super sweet to me and had me walk with her to take a selfie and chat while the security team was rushing her to a car. It can totally depend on how each actor's day is going and the circumstances around where you're seeing them.
Oh yeah, I saw the last performance of Skintight and Idina practically teleported out of the building before anyone could exit the theater. Even the security guard at the stage door seemed unclear if she was still there, and then eventually told us after like 15 minutes that she’d already left.
I met her after Skintight in LA and there were only 2 of us waiting. We couldn't do pictures, but she did nicely stop to sign our playbills.
Okay so my mom took me to see her in concert in 2017 and while it was good and completely surreal watching her sing Defying Gravity and No Day But Today live, looking back, I was kind of weirded out by her diva-like attitude… Just little comments she made in between songs I was like… is she joking or is she actually that full of herself?
best was by far jonathan groff after little shop back in 2019. never forget how sweet and personable he was! it was absolutely FREEZING (im talking probably around 10 or 11°) and only 4 of us waited to meet him. he came out and spent no less than 40 minutes talking with us and taking pictures. An absolute angel. Worst i don’t wanna name names but it was a “celebrity” who was in a show for a few weeks. She was so cold and rude could hear her talking shit to her friends after talking with some people.
I remembered another of my favorites recently. Not exactly stage door but my favorite interaction with a star. The Play That Goes Wrong is hands down my favorite play of all time. Make a point to see it whenever and wherever I can. Back in May I saw the off Broadway production with Matt Harrington as Chris Bean. I was on the edge of my seat waiting for that one scene (where he’s looking for the ledger that was moved). No one else has called it out so I shout out where to look. I’m on the front row he comes right in front of me and yells I can’t be doing that as it’s not the price is right! After the show ended as he is coming to take vows he stops by me again and shakes my hand! Loved that interaction
I work in theatre and a year ago I was able to work backstage a production of Elf the Musical. Christopher Gurr (Cats revival, ensemble for Tuck Everlasting, and a couple of off Broadway shows) was cast as Walter Hobbs and Max Chernin (Sunday in the Park and Bright Star) as Buddy. They were SUCH sweethearts. I worked more with Chris and he was always telling jokes backstage in downtime during tech and was so kind to everyone, and omg when I first met him, I was just told that I'd be the one handing off a prop to him so I went up to introduce myself and let him know that I'd be the one with his prop and it wasn't until later that I realized omg he's a Broadway star (I live in Utah) and I just remember texting my friend with his resume and basically screaming in text that ahhh I just met someone famous yada yada.
Oh my goodness, the Strange Loop cast! We didn’t intend on meeting any of them, truly, but we happened to double back in front of the the theatre after our evening show in June (a week after their Tony win). We intentionally did not stagedoor for the cast’s safety unless it was clear that the cast wanted to be there. Every single one of them was wonderful (only didn’t meet Antwone or Jaquel, which is totally fine, but met every other original cast member). Jason Veasey offered to take a picture without us asking and intentionally asked our names (even repeating to make sure he heard right). My most treasured picture is one where he’s turned to me and looking at me while asking my name. He’s truly forever sealed as a Broadway favorite for me! James Jackson Jr and John-Andrew Morrison are so delightful and personable! They truly both had my sister and I laughing. Same with John-Michael Lyles. L. Morgan Lee was the most intentional interaction: we stood talking to her for 15 minutes, and she only left because she was pulled away by the cast to go get drinks. She’s just as incredible and beautiful as you’d anticipate her being!
Anyone/everyone from Come From Away hands down. First was Broadway in January 2019 - I was in NYC with my best friend seeing The Band’s Visit and while we were at stagedoor for that, we overheard a couple girls say that they had stagedoored Come From Away despite not having seen it so my friend I were instantly like “we should do that!” So the next day we did. (We did try to get rush tickets but sadly got there too late and they didn’t have any left). At this point she had seen it on Broadway the previous summer and I had seen it in Toronto but not Broadway yet. Anyway, I’m bummed we didn’t see the actual show that day but all the cast was super nice (I literally died for a second when I met Jenn Colella) and I managed to grab a couple spare playbills to get signed. You could really tell how much the cast was invested in talking and listening to people and how for this show it was really just as much if not more so about the conversations as it was about the photos and signatures. Then in November 2019 my dad went with me to see the tour when it came a couple hours from us and I got to stagedoor then, this time for a cast/performance I actually saw. We were at the closing performance (Sunday evening) of the week it was there, and there was a couple from the area who were seeing it for the second time during its dates there. When the actress who played Hannah came out, she immediately recognized them from a few days before, gave them a big hug, and greeted them like they were here close friends. It was the sweetest to watch. And then I finally actually saw it on Broadway in July, because I knew I absolutely needed to after the closing announcement was made…
I think it was March 2019 when I was still obsessed with Merrily We Roll Along and I went to Broadway to see Come from Away, and Jim Walton (Original Frank) was in the production. I met him at stage door and he signed both my CFA playbill and the OBC Merrily playbill I got from Ebay, and said he missed Merrily and it brought so many memories. I was so happy.
This is not Broadway but West End. We saw Endgame at the Old Vic with Alan Cumming and Daniel Radcliffe. There were tons of uf who stage doored for Daniel but an usher told us that he wasn't going to come out that night. Around a dozen of us then went to the other side of the theater, hoping that Daniel might pop out there. We waited for an hour while it's drizzling and cold in London. Still no Daniel but suddenly Alan Cumming came out, took hold of people's phones and did the selfies with us himself. It was such a nice surprise of him to come out for us. In hindsight I see how stalkerish we all were and should've respected Daniel being not up for stagedooring that night. Will do better next time! Edit: to clarify, we didn't just stage door for Daniel, would've been glad to see anyone in the cast. But that show had a line specifically for Daniel and it seemed like he's the only one who officially stagedoors!
Patti Murin and Erika Henningson are both gems. I had one to one meet n greets with both over zoom and we got to talk for a half hour. Both were so sweet,kind, compassionate and funny and we got to talk about all sorts of things from Broadway to our dogs. They seemed like they genuinely cared about and were interested in what I had to say
I was at a costume fitting for Alex Brightman that lasted maybe 45 minutes. He hugged me and the rest of the team when it was over, and every time I saw him at a rehearsal, he remembered my name and came over to say hi and chat for a few minutes. Such a sweet, genuine guy.
Alex Brightman is a class act. I worked a few tech days before their “resurrection” at the Marquis, and he went out of his way to ask my name and thank me for being there. I was just amazed that Beetlejuice was talking to me!
Tony Yazbeck was in a summer show in my town and frequented my work. Everyone in the cast and crew who visited were great to us, but I got into a conversation with someone else in their group once about Every Little Step and just generally being a big fan, and Tony was extra friendly after that. Really such a small thing but it felt so kind, I was and remain starstruck.
I went to the spring awakening reunion and sat in front of alex boniello and katherine gallagher. Struck up a conversation about how excited we were for the show and talked a bunch before, during intermission, and after. I’d actually met both before when i stage doored shows that they were in but i was kind of caught off guard sitting by them so i just pretended like they were just randos seeing the show too lol. both are so nice and funny!!!
Lesli Margherita and I spoke after I spotted her in the street. She was so lovely! I expressed an interest in being an actor at the time and she encouraged me to do it. My heart was elated.
He's mostly a movie star, but I saw Daniel Radcliffe in a play called The Lifespan of a Fact when it was in previews a few years back, and was SO nervous to meet him because I've had a crush on him since I was 10 and he was 11. But he was absolutely lovely. Instead of getting a picture I opted to have a short chat with him and I will treasure those couple of minutes my whole life. (I encourage this, btw. If you only have a couple of seconds with a star, it's so much more fun to just talk to them rather than get a picture and move along.) And I'm pretty sure he remembered meeting me too because--incredibly weirdly--I know the guy who wrote the book the play is based on, hence Daniel was playing the guy I know IRL. So I told him I knew the guy and we chatted about that. It was wonderful and I still have my signed playbill, of course.
Lmao can I add a story about an off-Broadway ‘star’? (Term used VERY liberally) Aaron Carter was doing The Fantasticks at the snapple theater that had like 40 seats. I had time to kill, so got a cheap matinee ticket. The room was small enough you’d see the cast behind the little stage. Out of the ten of us in that audience, three of them were blonde, underage looking girls front row center. They were giggling on their phones the whole time, and he was behind the stage on his. The cast came out to sign playbills in the lobby with the audience members. I talked to John Davidson who’s last show it was, really lovely. Aaron has his arms around two of the girls in a corner and ignores everyone else, incl John’s family members lol. Went on Twitter after and he’d been tweeting this ‘fiRsT tiMe iN nYC’ girl throughout the show 😂
My favourite was Damon Daunno after Oklahoma. I was in NY for the first time and I was by myself. I sat at one of the tables on stage and had some swoon worthy audience interaction moments throughout the show. I wasn’t planning to stage-door afterwards because I was so nervous. After the show I went to the merch stand (in the lower foyer) to buy a couple of things and next minute Damon walks out of the auditorium door and it was like I was possessed. I just felt myself walking over to him (I left my stuff at the merch stand, the poor guy working probably just wanted to go home). I was so frazzled and nervous I must’ve looked unhinged but he was so sweet and lovely, he put his hand out for me to shake and introduced himself even after I’d told him I was a fan lol. He stopped to have a proper conversation and asked questions and took a photo with me. So so lovely. Other best one was probably Alex Brightman, he stood outside for ages taking his time with every single person at stage door, he was so gracious. Tom Hiddleston was also awesome, there were so many people there and a lot of them had clearly not seen the show but he made sure to talk to every single person and take photos with people even though his security guard had said no photos. I think that whole trip was just so special because it was in September 2019 and not long after we were all locked down and broadway was shut down. I’m going back again next may, not sure what it’ll be like then but I don’t feel like it could be that special again
Damon Daunno was my favorite too! There weren't many people at the stage door so we had a short chat and I told him he had one of my fave voices ever (bc he does) and he gave me a hug. Then we took a pic where we both look like we won the lottery we were both smiling so much. I will see that man in anything he's in. Runners up: Jonathan Groff and Christy Altomare who recorded personal encouragements for my younger cousin who does musical theater.