When Alex Brightman was 8 his parents took him to see “The Who’s
Tommy” on Broadway. He still remembers every minute of the show and every
minute of what happened just after: At the stage door, the musical’s star,
Michael Cerveris, knelt down, shook his hand and thanked him for coming.
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Brightman went on to become a Broadway star himself, leading
musicals like “Beetlejuice” and “School of Rock.” Situated on the other side of
the stage door, he rarely missed a chance to interact with fans. “It is our
opportunity to thank people for spending exorbitant amounts of money — that
they could be using on food, mortgages and car payments — on entertainment,” he
said.
Last March, with the novel coronavirus already circulating in
New York, stage doors closed. Perks that Brightman was glad to offer — taking
fans backstage, meeting their kids, grabbing their phones and leaning in for a
selfie — were suddenly discouraged. Then Broadway shuttered entirely and
Brightman, sheltering in Oklahoma with his in-laws, did what hundreds of
theater actors have done. He took the stage door online.
Old platforms have pivoted, new ones have emerged. And now any
fan, with just a few smartphone taps, can arrange a video message, a live chat
or even a private coaching session with a favorite star. “The fans, what they’re
missing the most, it’s connection,” said Melissa Anelli, a founder of
BroadwayCon, an annual convention for theater obsessives, which has moved
online during the pandemic.
If it’s potentially weird for apps and websites to commodify fan
interactions that actors used to provide without cost, they offer a much needed
financial lifeline for the performers and a chance for fans to cozy up,
virtually, to the actors they love.
Bryce Zippi, a medical receptionist from Michigan, has booked
about a dozen experiences with Broadway Plus, so many that he has lost count. “Broadway
isn’t gone at all,” he recalled thinking after his first meet-and-greet, with
Yesenia Ayala, from the recent “West Side Story” revival. “It’s right in my
living room.”
Some of these apps launched when live connection was possible,
then swerved. Broadway Plus began in 2016, with the aim of folding VIP extras,
like backstage tours and photo ops, into Broadway ticket costs. BroadwayCon
began that same year, offering in-person meet-and-greets to convention ticket
holders. Cameo, a site that specializes in prerecorded videos, went live a year
later with a roster of mostly sports stars.
In 2018, it began to add Broadway performers. The site has more
than 500 now, including 22 from “Hamilton” alone. (Yelp-style reviews of its
talent all seem to be five-star. Here’s one for the Tony-nominated actress
Orfeh: “I AM DECEASED.”)
In 2019, Spencer Howard, a former Broadway actor, founded
Broadway Booker, which he described as “the Airbnb of booking Broadway stars
for private events.” Now those events are even more private.
And then there are the new platforms, like Stage Door, a spinoff
of the website Broadway World, which went live in May following a brainstorming
session when its creators asked what they could do to help the community and
keep their own lights on. Still other sites have emerged, specializing in
online master classes and coaching.
Some sites let artists choose their own rates, others set flat
fees. A site may take a percentage of an artist’s fee, rarely more than 25
percent, or it may tack on a service charge, typically low. Many platforms
allow artists to easily donate their fees to the charity of their choice. No
site demands exclusivity, so you can find the same names on multiple platforms.
Performers decide which experiences they want to provide, which range from
2-minute prerecorded videos, retailing for as little $30 or so, up to nearly
$100,000 for deluxe private concerts.
Performers determine their availability and set their own hours.
Laura Osnes, a Broadway lead (“Cinderella,” “Grease”) and one of the first
theater actresses to join Cameo, likes to let her requests accrue for a few
days. “Then I’ll sit down and do them all in one chunk, take half an hour and
make my videos,” she said on a recent video call. Liz Callaway, another
Broadway veteran, also does hers in a single day, mostly so she doesn’t have to
keep putting on makeup.
Fans hire performers to brighten birthdays and anniversaries.
One man hired Osnes to help him propose. “I was so honored,” she said. “Like, ‘This
is how you want this to go? You want me to be a part of that?’” Apparently one
of her “Cinderella” songs was their song, too.
Parents have bought videos for kids unable to perform in their
school musicals. “My favorites are the ones where they say, ‘Can you just give
them a pep talk? Can you just let them know it’s going to be OK?’” said James
Monroe Iglehart (“Aladdin,” “Hamilton”).
Patti Murin has entertained a child’s birthday party in costume
as Princess Anna from “Frozen.” (Other times, she sticks to soft pants.)
Clients will come in costume, too. Brightman is often greeted by customers
dressed as his Beetlejuice or the musical’s Lydia. He understands their
enthusiasm. If sites like these had been available when he was a teenager, he
figures he would have gone broke using them.
These sites aren’t necessarily expensive. Many offer lower tier
options, like Broadway Plus’ PlusPass, which for $19 per month promises an
event or two each week — usually reunions, group Q&As and concerts. Barring
the private concerts, almost nothing costs as much as a decent Broadway seat.
Monetizing the stage door experience, traditionally a free and
voluntary post-show extra isn’t always comfortable. When Callaway first joined
Cameo, she felt weird about people paying for her happy birthday wishes. But
then, in April, for her own birthday, her son surprised her with a Cameo from
her favorite New York Met, Pete Alonso. (Sample review: “Solid player and human
being.”)
“I burst into tears,” she recalled. “I thought, ‘Oh wait a
minute. Me doing something like that for someone can be very meaningful.’”
Brightman donates the fees from typical online meet-and-greets,
the kinds of fan interactions he used to provide without cost, but hangs on to
the payments for coaching sessions. For Lauren Patten, a star of “Jagged Little
Pill,” one-on-one online interactions require more emotional labor than a quick
selfie, which justifies the price.
“I’ve ended up having really beautiful, intimate conversations
with people about the themes of the show,” she said. “This is a level of
connection and access that I am never able to give at stage door.”
Kristy Poteat, a hairdresser who lives in North Carolina and
discovered online stage doors via a Facebook fan site for “Jagged Little Pill,”
agreed. Real stage doors are too hectic, she said: “You’re lucky to get a quick
autograph. To have an actual conversation with somebody that you admire, it’s
truly a one-of-a-kind experience.”
When Broadway reopens, stage doors probably won’t, not for a
while, anyway. When they do, they may not look the same. Masks may be required.
Gloves, too. Barricades may push fans even further away from stars, limiting
physical contact.
When will a selfie with a star be safe again? And will stars go
back to providing the typical stage door experience gratis, now knowing that
they can charge for it? The handful of actors we spoke to all said that they
would. “You want to give the fans a little something special,” Iglehart said. “You
want to give them that little bit of magic.”
But until there are doors, there are browser windows. “It’s not
the same,” Brightman said. “It is not even close. But I’m so thankful it exists
because if it didn’t, I don’t know where I’d be mentally or emotionally right
now.”
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