OLV’s NYC Field Guide opens with a chapter about Broadway, and for good reason. Broadway is the one consistent place in NYC where fans can see their favorite stars in person, and not just on stage.
Waiting by the stage door as a Broadway cast leaves is a tradition that is still going strong, maybe a little too strong. We waited by the stage door of Finding Neverland a few weeks ago for a glimpse of Matthew Morrison. But, the door was quickly swarmed by more than 100 people who were either waiting for their Playbills to be signed, or were just joining the crowd out of curiosity, causing us to gave up before he came out.
This isn’t always the case though. One of our contributors, Denise, waited for Anne Hathaway after a performance of Grounded at the Public Theater on Saturday and was the only fan there. “I was hoping there would be a regular set up for autograph seekers like you see on Broadway, but there wasn’t,” she explained. “These off-Broadway shows are harder to judge with how it’s going to be. I didn’t see any autograph dealers hanging around and I didn’t see anyone waiting after the show and it seemed like a bad sign. I just happened to notice 2 photographers hanging around down towards the end of the block so I thought ‘they know more than me what she’s going to do,’ so I waited near them. Once they spotted her, they ran across the street and I followed. She got a little annoyed by them and said something like “okay, we’re good” and obviously wanted them to stop.”
On Wednesday, Denise also caught Jim Parsons near Studio 54, right around the corner from David Letterman’s studio and, because it was Dave’s last week, there was massive crowd. The complete opposite of her experience with Anne Hathaway. But, she was still able to at least get a glimpse of Jim, who is currently starring in An Act of God and given the number of people there, she still got some great pics of the Big Bang Theory actor.
Both of these experience reminded us exactly why Broadway is the best place to see celebs in NYC, maybe even the world!
Check out her photos in the gallery below and let us know about your experience seeing stars on Broadway in the comments!