‘CAN YOU SIGN MY PLAYBILL” THE PHENOMENA BEHIND STAGEDOORING
Fans waiting outside the Lyric Theater for the actors of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child to come out.
Posted on October 30, 2018 by Lea Veloso for Journalistic Inquiry 003
After the curtain call of a Broadway show, you can expect the audience leave for their hotels after a long day out, eating at one of the classic Midtown diners after being hungry for three hours, or sightseeing the theater district around Times Square. But, for some devoted fans, it is a signal for them to quickly run outside towards the barricades that surround the stagedoor to catch a glimpse of their favorite actor.
“Stagedooring” has become a phenomenon among the Broadway community. After a show, scores of fans can be seen waiting outside in whatever weather condition— whether it’s 90 degrees or a bludgering snowstorm to spot actors on their way out of the theater. These fans will line up behind the barricades, congratulate an actor on their performance, or try to take a selfie with them, and actors will gleefully sign a Playbill program in return. Over the past decade or so, it has become a right of passage for Broadway fans to interact with their favorite people, in an effort to be seen and noticed.
The stakes are even higher when a highly known actor is headlining a play or musical. Take for example, when Armie Hammer acted in Young Jean Lee’s play Straight White Men, peaches were shoved in his face to sign from the notoriety of his role in the movie Call Me By Your Name which featured a notorious scene with Hammer’s character involving peaches as a sexual symbol. Fans will take great lengths to come to this little haven.
Lindsay Masiado came to the Lyric Theater stagedoor —where the six time Tony Award and critically acclaimed play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is currently showing —20 minutes before the show ended to be first in line to stagedoor. “I love the cast, especially with Sam [Clemmett]. This is my 5th time stagedooring, so I’m here all the time. It’s my birthday today and New York is a second home, I wanted it to be really special.”
However unlike when Beatlemaniacs fainted when they saw the Fab Four from a distance, there is this sort of reluctance that comes along the lines of meeting the actors when they come off the stage. Some people become flustered when they’re in awe in the presence of the actors.
“I don’t want to be a bother to [the actors]. Most of the time, I think, ‘Am I overstepping their boundaries?’or ‘Am I being creepy?’” reflected first time stagedoor-er (if that even is the right term for people who stagedoor) and Harry Potter fan Michaela Cabaras. “You don’t want to push it because you get lost because people always say ‘You did a great job!’ and you’re just one of the voices of people saying the same thing, but you just want to let them know.”
Capitalization of stagedoor culture is widely present in the world of the internet. The Broadway fandom has an informal marketplace and will trade specific Playbills signed by actors, some for different prices and if the show is closed or not. Other instances include Ebay scalpers coming up to actors with memorabilia of the previous works and having them signed it, which happened to Angels in America actor Andrew Garfield when he was constantly approached with The Amazing Spider-Man and The Social Network posters or even Armie Hammer, too. In that sense, stagedoor has been reduced to a materialistic autographic endeavor.
Stagedoor veteran Jarvy O’Neill is trying to change that scene when she works at security at the Lyric Theater. “[Stagedooring] was never about getting an autograph, but establishing connections with people. Not only with people with fans, but people who were interested in theater. When I do stand in the autograph line, I try to talk to people about the show. If they ask about a character or actor, I try my best to humanize them to my best of my ability. And doing so I’m still praising their performance. We have the luxury of knowing these actors as people and friends.” O’Neill works at the end of the autograph line at stagedoor and collects the Sharpies that were used by actors to sign Playbills as they go down the line and say their last goodbyes to the fans. “And the people on the other side, my impression is that they are more appreciative when we tell them that [the crew and actors] come here an hour and a half before and they’re exhausted and everyone’s tired and they love doing this stuff, but they are more appreciative of that, than when they actually try to meet them. It takes a bit of struggle to get to where you are. It’s establishing that common ground and it’s a mutual exchange of gratitude.”
