Like many people, I go to the stage door after seeing a show. When I started to see shows more often, I didn't always go to the stage door for one of two reasons. Either I didn't know where it was, or I thought it would be too crowded. I had stage doored once before, but only got one signature on my playbill, which I still have. However, I very recently begun to go to the stage door more and I have had great experiences at each one.
1. Anastasia - I saw this show with one of my best friends, and we agreed that we would go to the stage door for a little bit before heading home. I was shocked when Christy Altomare, who plays Anya was the first one out of stage door. She was so kind to everyone and because we were lucky enough to get to the front of the barriers, I took a picture with her. Along with her, one of the chorus members came out who was so nice to everyone and signed everyone's playbills. We also got to meet John Bolton who plays Vlad, Mary Beth Peil who plays the Dowager Empress, Nicole Scimeca who plays Little Anastasia and Alexei, as well as Ramin Karimloo who plays Gleb and Derek Klena who plays Dmitry, both of whom we took pictures with. The entire cast was so kind to all of us and it was a lovely experience.
2. Come From Away - while this was not the show I saw after seeing Anastasia, it is the next one I stage doored. I was very lucky the night I went because there were not very many people there. Unlike Anastasia where there was a crowd going back several rows there were maybe 20-30 people there at the most. I got to meet Kendra Kassebaum, Geno Carr, Lee MacDougall, Sharon Wheatley, Caesar Samayoa, Chad Kimball, and Jenn Colella who was kind enough to take a picture with me. I also got to meet Josh Breckenridge, one of the stanbys who was on that night for Rodney Hicks. Everyone I met was absolutely lovely and I look forward to going again. The cast is incredibly kind.
3. Bandstand - two days later I found myself back on 45th street seeing Bandstand. I went with the same friend I saw Anastasia with and we loved the show. We got to meet several chorus members, several of the guys in the band, and Corey Cott! Unfortunately it started to rain while we were there so we didn't stay for much longer and while we didn't get to meet any of the ladies of the cast, everyone we met was so lovely and made sure everyone had their poster or playbill signed.
4. The Great Comet - This is my most recent stage door experience. I didn't stay for a very long time, but I was happy to meet four of the cast members. I got to meet two people from the ensemble as well as Gelsey Bell who plays Mary and Nicholas Belton who plays Andrey/Bolkonsky. The stage door for this show is insane. There were so many people there but the actors I got to meet were very nice and signed everything people asked them to.
These are my stage door stories so far, and with shows lined up for the future this list will likely expand. Stage dooring is a great part of going to the theater but remember that the price on your ticket is for the show, not for meeting an actor. So if someone doesn't come out, you can't blame them. They likely have very good reasons for doing so and are not required to meet everyone. When actors do come out however, be kind because they're doing the same thing.