#BWWPrompts: What Is Your Favorite Stage Door Story?
By: BWW Prompts Apr. 17, 2020
We want to hear from you! We're starting #BwayWorldPrompts, where each day we'll be asking our readers on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram questions to spark some theater conversation.
Today we asked: What is your favorite stage door story?
Read some of our reader's answers below!
"For my birthday this year i went to Beetlejuice. After the show I went to the stage door and without me knowing my parents held a piece of paper over my head saying it was my birthday and the biggest inspiration in my life, Kerry Butler, wished me a happy birthday. That was easily the best day of my life" @livbellin
"Christy Altomare. The Queen of the stage door. I got too nervous to say anything, but she hugged me. She sang happy birthday to everyone at the door. She is a real-life princess" @jennmitchell
"I went to see The Band's visit after Les Mis audition in the morning. I was listening to "Haled's song about love" on the loop the whole time at the audition to keep me focus and calm. Then after the show, I didn't plan to wait at the stage door but there was almost no one there so I stayed. Then @arielstachel came out and I got to talk to him. I've never experienced a star struck moment before but that night I was so excited to meet him and get to talk to the man whose voice I was listening to the whole day. He was not just so nice but also asked a lot of questions. He had just a brief conversation but I walked to subway like I was floating" @jazzsmusical
"I got this! So when I saw The Boys In The Band I got into the city early, so I went to the theatre store next door to the theater where they were selling posters from the show, and got one. I waited at the stage door of the first matinee and everyone came out (besides Jim and Zachary, of corse) but Andrew Rannells didnt - who I really wanted to meet because he is my favorite Broadway actor. So I went to the security guard and asked him if Andrew was going to be coming out, and he said no, but he will probably come out tonight. So I saw the play (it was incredible) and waited at the stagedoor that night. Once Andrew Rannells came out my dad accidentally covered me with my poster (I'm pretty short) so the security guard from earlier comes over and lifts the poster, asks me my name and says "Andrew this is, *my name*, she was here to see you earlier" then Andrew said "hi *my name*", signed my playbill, poster, and Falsettos mug, then let me take a photo with him - and I spent the rest of the night crying. That was a great day." @whizzerwins
"I saw Be More Chill the day before it closed. My mom was exploring the city while I was watching the show, and she decided to come early to wait for me. She thought the guard rails by the stage door were for construction, so she leaned up against one. She didn't realize why the rails were up until a throng of people started circling around her, but she refused to budge until she saw me struggling to get close. When I got close, she pulled me in and swapped places. Now I was in the front of the line and George Salazar came out, but a bunch of girls shoved me behind them to take a picture. George waved me forward and refused to leave until I got a good picture with him. He and my mom are such angels" @hollypgouge
"went with two of my best friends to see @JasonDanieley and @MarinMazzie in Next to Normal. They were very nice at the stage door, and their performance was stunning, absolutely one of my all time favorites. <3" @landwarnsinasia
"I went to see @Chita_Rivera in Chita and All That Jazz in Philly. We waited at the stage door even though it was snowing hard. Chita invited us inside and waited until our ride picked us up. She signed my original CHICAGO poster and told us all about Yony Walton's logo design." @richardamelius
"@BeltingBonnie being SO nice and gracious to my 13 yo niece after I took her to see Head Over Heels- you made a fan for life- thank you!!" @bxeileen
"I gave Eva Noblezada some Selena stuff and she was said Mi Amor when she saw what I gave her. I also gave her and Reeve Carney gifts and they were so thankful and so kind! I love them so much!" @itsjuliaholz
"When I saw Anastasia on tour on my 19th birthday and the whole cast sang happy birthday to me it was so fun!" @bands89863215
"May 2019. My first trip to NY and I saw Beetlejuice with the OBC. I went to the stage door and talked with all of them. Alex was so nice! I told him Beetlejuice is my first musical I had ever seen ON Broadway. And he's like "Oh no way! Where are you from?" I tell him Minneapolis. Shakes my hand and says how awesome that is. Then he turns around to everyone else at the stage door and points to me and says "Hey! First Broadway show." And everyone cheers. He did NOT have to do that but it shows his true loving character. Alex is the real deal." Dan Howard
"I've been lucky to have some good ones, but the one that sticks out most is stage door of She Loves Me. Most of the cast came out, and were so sweet. Laura Benanti was sick that evening (still performed), so she sent someone out with pre-signed playbills, and took a quick second to wave as she left for her car. And Zachary Levi came out with a boom box placed on a chair, and proceeded to play some music while he took time with many of us there. That was my first musical I saw on Broadway, and that experience made it that much more sweet and memorable" Nicole Ferguson
"When I met and Spoke with Robin Williams outside of Bengal Tiger. He was so kind and stood there and spoke with me for a while. I asked him for advice to bring back to my high school students. He said - Performing is like a rollercoaster. It has some incredible highs and the lowest of lows. But buckle up and hang on cause it's one hell of a ride! I hang this quote in every room I teach in. He was amazing" Tori Clemens
"My best friend and I are HUGE Hugh Jackman fans and saw The Boy From Oz. We made t-shirts that said "I Need An Older Man Like Hugh" and "Quiet Please Hugh Is On Stage" that we wore to the show (with skirts, so we were still dressed for the theatre - also, please remember, we were only 19 or 20 at the time!) and we decided we were going to try to have Hugh sign them after the show. So we got to the stage door and it was an absolute mob scene. We were several people back in the crowd, so we called out, "Hugh! We made shirts for you! Will you sign them?" He looked up and said, "What, hun?" So after we swooned, we said it again and he said, "Let them up to the front." Of course, nobody was letting us in front of them and then his security came to put him in his car. He was about to get in and he turned around and said, "Where are the girls who made t-shirts?" We started yelling and jumping up and down and he had his security person bring us over to him. He read the shirts, he laughed and then - hand to God - Hugh Jackman said, "Gotta turn around, hun. Can't sign the boobs." He signed the back shoulder of our t-shirts and, to this day, we take every single opportunity to tell people what a gem of a human being Hugh Jackman is." Jessica Sawyer
"A group of 100 of us drove to Canada from Michigan to see a tour of Titanic the Musical. My students were in rehearsal for the production themselves (this was 2004, pre most social media etc). The touring cast heard about us before the show, and we were quite the excited audience for a matinee I guess, because we were asked to stay afterwards. The tour cast came out, looking for the students who played their subsequent roles (which was SO special to the kids) and we finished our lengthy chat time by singing the finale together with them. It is quite a memory." Elizabeth Joy Stuart
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