stage door experiences
Even with all the theatre events I go to, I rarely, rarely, rarely stage door because I'm always by myself and I just feel awkward. So the fact that I was going to do it for Wicked was a huge thing. Even knowing I had a legit reason to talk to Carmen didn't stop me from hemming and hawing and almost not going through with it. I kid you not. That said, I ended up going twice.
Thursday matinee
I walked to the stage door parking area after the show but since it was a matinee, there were no other people waiting. I hung out at the end of the driveway kinda keeping one eye on the door while my brain was telling me to go back to the car 'cause I felt like an idiot by myself.
I had gotten out of the theatre fairly quickly and within a few minutes I spied Cliffton and DeeDee making their exit. I took a deep breath, sucked it up and got their attention. Both were very nice. I mentioned that I'd seen the show several times before and was always impressed with both their performances. They thanked me and DeeDee said she liked my shirt (it was a brownish color with a couple big black butterflies on it). They got in their minivan and left.
So now Vicky is left closer to the stage door feeling more awkward by herself. They're doing construction in the back area and the real stage door is blocked off and missing so a temporary one that's normally a loading dock is being used. I kinda positioned myself next to a chunk of chainlink fence and kinda stared down at my feet, occasionally glancing up when I'd catch movement from the stage door.
It wasn't long before Carmen walked out. I had to do a double-take because I really didn't expect her out so soon, but there was no mistaking her. Her hair was still pin-curled and she had a whole lotta green still left on her hairline/forehead and hands, like she did a quick clean so she'd be presentable to go out and come back to the theatre. Again, I sucked it up and got her attention.
I'm like, "Hey Carmen, remember me?" There was a second for recognition but then she's like, "How are you and what are you doing up here?" As she was signing my Playbill I told her how this is the area I'm originally from and that I actually went to school here at MSU. After she finished signing, she started walking and you could tell she was totally on a mission to get food or whatever. Since she was headed for the end of the drive I followed and we kept talking - about inane things like the nice weather and the beautiful campus and such. (She also did the whole "What's your name again?" thing so I was kinda getting the impression she may not have totally remembered me but was rather going along with it and hoping for the best.) At one point she gestured toward the parking garage and asked if I was going there, too, because someone had taken her spot in the stage door surface lot area. She was a couple levels below me but before we parted, I mentioned that I was coming to the show again so she said "See you on Tuesday."
Great, now I felt obligated to stage door again.
Tuesday evening
Even though I was with my mom, we made good time out of the theatre again. I walked her up to the car (I'd gotten a spot overlooking the stage door so she could watch while I was down there), saw a small crowd below and headed down.
Having other people around made me feel slightly less awkward but I still did since I was by myself. The group consisted of a dozen or so teenage fangirls and a couple moms, a gay guy and his dad and a few other random people. I positioned myself about six back from the staircase so that I was catching people as they were leaving. The fangirls were crowded at the front and I so didn't want to be around that.
When I got there, Paul Slade Smith was signing. While doing so, I glanced to my right and recognized Betsy Werbel, who was waiting on some other people. She was holding a random cake plate but even though I offered to hold it for her, she said she was good as long as I could hold the program steady. The only other ensemble signature I got was from Chistery (Mark Shunkey) because I knew his name to ask him. I recognized a few other people but didn't know their names off the top of my head and I'm not the type to just stick the Playbill in front of a person and ask for an autograph.
Mark's phone rang when he was signing the gay guy's poster. It was cute 'cause it was his wife and he's was like, "Honey, I'm signing autographs so I'll call you right back. [pause] Yeah, I'll call you back in a few minutes."
Myra Lucretia Taylor came out, followed by Cliffton and DeeDee. I got a good laugh from the fangirls at that point because they literally closed in around the bottom of the staircase when the two of them appeared in the doorway. I didn't think they were gonna let Cliffton and DeeDee get to the blacktop. After the multiple fangirl pictures, I got both their signatures again. Cliffton caught me off-guard when he said, "Hey, you're back." I told him I brought my mom this time and he thought that was really sweet of me.
There wasn't much downtime before Katie and her dog exited, with Carmen a minute or two behind. Again, I made my move once the crowd thinned and the fangirls left for the parking garage. Carmen had her own pen but since I thought it was black I said I had silver. She holds up her marker and says, "Or do you want green?" I say, "Ooooh, green! That's make you special."
Because of the recognition faux pas (spelling?) I thought I experienced on Thursday, I totally did the awkward "So I should have explained myself better the other day. I'm the zookeeper that was backstage with you in Cleveland." Carmen looked at me like I was crazy. She's like, "Yeah, I remember you." I told her I wasn't sure if she actually had or not but she assured me she recognized me when she saw me. Sigh of relief.
Carmen mentioned that she really liked the shirt I sent her with the blue "penguin" on it ("Flamingo." "You're right, flamingo." "Not even close." Laughter.) and that she wears it frequently. She asked if I was still at the zoo and how that was going.
At some point, Katie's dog started eating something so she was kneeling down next to it, trying to extract whatever it was. She was kinda talking over her shoulder to Carmen and apparently it was rocks. I don't know. Being me, I made the smart ass sarcastic comment of "They usually eat stuff like that for a reason. Maybe you're not giving him enough rocks at home." That got an absolutely huge laugh from Carmen, who told Katie I'd be the one to know since I'm a zookeeper. Katie looked at me, asked if I really was, I confirmed it and then she put her attention back on the dog.
Carmen and I talked a few more minutes, with her asking how I managed to get myself away from the zoo to come up here. I told her it was tough since we were still in the tail end of penguin breeding season and I'm the main keeper but that everyone needs a break at some point. She said it was quite the privilege to have me around then. I told her it was great to see her again and that I enjoyed the show as always, then I headed back to the parking garage.
Both were definitely awesome experiences and I'm happy I made the effort even though I did feel a little out of place.
Thursday matinee
I walked to the stage door parking area after the show but since it was a matinee, there were no other people waiting. I hung out at the end of the driveway kinda keeping one eye on the door while my brain was telling me to go back to the car 'cause I felt like an idiot by myself.
I had gotten out of the theatre fairly quickly and within a few minutes I spied Cliffton and DeeDee making their exit. I took a deep breath, sucked it up and got their attention. Both were very nice. I mentioned that I'd seen the show several times before and was always impressed with both their performances. They thanked me and DeeDee said she liked my shirt (it was a brownish color with a couple big black butterflies on it). They got in their minivan and left.
So now Vicky is left closer to the stage door feeling more awkward by herself. They're doing construction in the back area and the real stage door is blocked off and missing so a temporary one that's normally a loading dock is being used. I kinda positioned myself next to a chunk of chainlink fence and kinda stared down at my feet, occasionally glancing up when I'd catch movement from the stage door.
It wasn't long before Carmen walked out. I had to do a double-take because I really didn't expect her out so soon, but there was no mistaking her. Her hair was still pin-curled and she had a whole lotta green still left on her hairline/forehead and hands, like she did a quick clean so she'd be presentable to go out and come back to the theatre. Again, I sucked it up and got her attention.
I'm like, "Hey Carmen, remember me?" There was a second for recognition but then she's like, "How are you and what are you doing up here?" As she was signing my Playbill I told her how this is the area I'm originally from and that I actually went to school here at MSU. After she finished signing, she started walking and you could tell she was totally on a mission to get food or whatever. Since she was headed for the end of the drive I followed and we kept talking - about inane things like the nice weather and the beautiful campus and such. (She also did the whole "What's your name again?" thing so I was kinda getting the impression she may not have totally remembered me but was rather going along with it and hoping for the best.) At one point she gestured toward the parking garage and asked if I was going there, too, because someone had taken her spot in the stage door surface lot area. She was a couple levels below me but before we parted, I mentioned that I was coming to the show again so she said "See you on Tuesday."
Great, now I felt obligated to stage door again.
Tuesday evening
Even though I was with my mom, we made good time out of the theatre again. I walked her up to the car (I'd gotten a spot overlooking the stage door so she could watch while I was down there), saw a small crowd below and headed down.
Having other people around made me feel slightly less awkward but I still did since I was by myself. The group consisted of a dozen or so teenage fangirls and a couple moms, a gay guy and his dad and a few other random people. I positioned myself about six back from the staircase so that I was catching people as they were leaving. The fangirls were crowded at the front and I so didn't want to be around that.
When I got there, Paul Slade Smith was signing. While doing so, I glanced to my right and recognized Betsy Werbel, who was waiting on some other people. She was holding a random cake plate but even though I offered to hold it for her, she said she was good as long as I could hold the program steady. The only other ensemble signature I got was from Chistery (Mark Shunkey) because I knew his name to ask him. I recognized a few other people but didn't know their names off the top of my head and I'm not the type to just stick the Playbill in front of a person and ask for an autograph.
Mark's phone rang when he was signing the gay guy's poster. It was cute 'cause it was his wife and he's was like, "Honey, I'm signing autographs so I'll call you right back. [pause] Yeah, I'll call you back in a few minutes."
Myra Lucretia Taylor came out, followed by Cliffton and DeeDee. I got a good laugh from the fangirls at that point because they literally closed in around the bottom of the staircase when the two of them appeared in the doorway. I didn't think they were gonna let Cliffton and DeeDee get to the blacktop. After the multiple fangirl pictures, I got both their signatures again. Cliffton caught me off-guard when he said, "Hey, you're back." I told him I brought my mom this time and he thought that was really sweet of me.
There wasn't much downtime before Katie and her dog exited, with Carmen a minute or two behind. Again, I made my move once the crowd thinned and the fangirls left for the parking garage. Carmen had her own pen but since I thought it was black I said I had silver. She holds up her marker and says, "Or do you want green?" I say, "Ooooh, green! That's make you special."
Because of the recognition faux pas (spelling?) I thought I experienced on Thursday, I totally did the awkward "So I should have explained myself better the other day. I'm the zookeeper that was backstage with you in Cleveland." Carmen looked at me like I was crazy. She's like, "Yeah, I remember you." I told her I wasn't sure if she actually had or not but she assured me she recognized me when she saw me. Sigh of relief.
Carmen mentioned that she really liked the shirt I sent her with the blue "penguin" on it ("Flamingo." "You're right, flamingo." "Not even close." Laughter.) and that she wears it frequently. She asked if I was still at the zoo and how that was going.
At some point, Katie's dog started eating something so she was kneeling down next to it, trying to extract whatever it was. She was kinda talking over her shoulder to Carmen and apparently it was rocks. I don't know. Being me, I made the smart ass sarcastic comment of "They usually eat stuff like that for a reason. Maybe you're not giving him enough rocks at home." That got an absolutely huge laugh from Carmen, who told Katie I'd be the one to know since I'm a zookeeper. Katie looked at me, asked if I really was, I confirmed it and then she put her attention back on the dog.
Carmen and I talked a few more minutes, with her asking how I managed to get myself away from the zoo to come up here. I told her it was tough since we were still in the tail end of penguin breeding season and I'm the main keeper but that everyone needs a break at some point. She said it was quite the privilege to have me around then. I told her it was great to see her again and that I enjoyed the show as always, then I headed back to the parking garage.
Both were definitely awesome experiences and I'm happy I made the effort even though I did feel a little out of place.