[Luc]

Just wondering what your customs are when it comes to the audience after the show is over. Do you like to get feedback from them? Do you just want to get home without talking to the audience? Other?

I like to be out of the dressing rooms as quickly as possible. It is SO great hearing [most] audience responses right there in person. It's also great having little kids ask you for autographs!

What about you?

Discuss.


EDIT: I'm referring to changing and then heading out into the lobby- not greeting in costume.

[Brock07]

We typically don't go to the costume rooms, unless someone really doesn't want to be seen in costume.

I just walk out and great people as I was on stage.

[reedzee]

One of the directors I work with gets furious when people greet the audience in costume. He feels it completely destroys the illusion.

I try to get changed as quickly as I possibly can. I love talking to the audience.

[Alexia Dark]

If a friend or family member is in the audience and I know they have limited time before going home/elsewhere, I simply wait about 2 minutes for the noise to pick up and most people to go the lobby, then I come out the side doors near the ASM booths. I don't just walk off stage and over to people, lol.

It was quite funny a few months ago, actually, greeting friends while wearing green face paint and tights for Little Shop.

Actually, for that matter, in both of my last shows I had tons of make-up on, so going upstairs to wash it all off and get changed would be far too time-consuming when I just want to say a quick 'Hi'. I mean, it's community theatre. No one cares.

[ChrisFitzpatrick]

For the high school shows I've been in, I get changed into my street clothes and clean up the dressing room then I go out. It gives me time to break character, review on how the show went and relax for a second before talking to everybody.

In the community shows I've been in, we exit through the audience so we have to talk to everybody. I prefer getting changed and relaxed.

[jax1491]

In all the community and high school shows I've been in, I don't stop to get changed. I just go directly to talk to the audience.

[Trevor reincarnate]

The people I want to see just end up having the right to come backstage.
I don't go out and see the general audience.

[wicked_boy]

Well...

If it's a profesional show, you have to wait for alllll the other kids in the cast to get changed because the chaperones have to take you all up together and "sign out" for legal purposes. For that reason, the audience will have gone. But people I know will be at the stagedoor to greet me.

If it's a community show, I will get off stage, on my way to the dressing room I will speak to a couple cast members. Then I get into my street clothes, hang up everything and tidy up my dressing room a bit. Whilst I'm tidying up, I will open my door so people (cast / crew) can come along and say "hi" etc.

If it's a school show, I'm super dupery quick so I can get an audience reation.

[LaurelDP]

I HATE this, but for my highschool shows we do Meet & Greets IN COSTUME.

Yuck. And it's like mandatory for everyone to go out.

Shows not at my highschool... I generally take my time getting out of costume and makeup, unless I'm expected in the lobby to talk to someone. I like to just talk and make jokes backstage while cleaning up.

I'm not a rushed person in general, but if we're expected to be out of the theatre quickly, I'll be the first one out, removing my makeup with a baby wipe as I go.

Talking to the audience doesn't matter to me... I hope that doesn't sound bitchy. If I'm a major role I realize that people will probably want to say hello, so I keep that in mind. But then again I'm not famous, so if I don't make it out to say hello, their world is not crushed.

[jackissensational]

If I'm in the ensamble I try to avoid the audience at all costs b/c I just find any conversation awkward. "You were great!" But there's not much you can mess up when you're in the enssamble.

If I'm playing a lead/supporting character I go and chat as soon as I take my costume off. And I take it off quickly. Too many people just rush out. People who come to the dressing room (audience members, mind you) annoying the living shit out of me!

[Beagle On Stage]

My community theatre has long roots as a musical melodrama company. We only transitioned to serious material in 2003, but our patrons still are attached to "the old ways." So, right after curtain call, everyone goes out the stage door to greet people on their way out of the theatre, in costume and makeup. I realise some people look down on the practice, but I don't consider it to be a big deal.

[kakoforever]

I generally move it, because either I have friends or family waiting for me, the cast is going out for drinks, or I'm tired as anything and want to get home and crash.

[nabla]

[home]

i take off my stuff and get out. how many times can you say "thank you" before you get angry lol?

[BroadwayLover210]

I go out to the lobby after, but not in costume. sometimes my friends/family will just go into the dressing room tho lol. one time a little boy ( he look really scared) asked for my autograph. It was so cute.

[happyguava]

Depends who is there. If I don't know anyone in the audience I won't be in any hurry to talk to the audience. But I always get changed really quickly to talk to the people who have come to see me.

[Amber]

I work at the same community theatre as ChrisFitzpatrick, so I go through the same deal of meeting with the audience immediately after the show. Not my favorite thing to do because sometimes stage makeup really looks harsh offstage. I'd much rather get settled and in normal clothes before I go talk to people. Lately there have been a lot of autograph-wanting people at our shows...There was a little girl who wanted to meet me after Into The Woods but she was terrified that I'd cast a spell on her or something. There was also a woman who had seen the OBC of the show and told me I reminded her a lot of Bernadette Peters...and I should be proud...That comment made my LIFE. I love meeting with the audience. <3

Plus my dad and mom are usually at the show every night, and then my uncle and his wife come with my cousin and HIS wife...and my friends come, and my favorite aunt and my cousins that I actually LIKE come to the show too, so I can't just rush out of the theatre.

[fjays]

well i usually like getting changed quickly and seeing the audience and so what.
coz a few years ago, my school did alice in wonderland, and us little year sevens were trees. no joke. yellow and green painted faces. we went out in our costumes and makeup. pretty funny...but awkward conversation.
so the moral of the story is don't go out in costume. but go out!

[Brock07]

The little kids in our area just love meeting the characters in costume and getting their picture taken with them....and who's to say that I don't enjoy it and the attention either....lol

[Matthew]

[Luc]

[TylerMcMahon]

Where i'm from we go out in our costumes to see the audience (90% of the time the audience comes up on stage to see us.)

[Kiwi]

[star2ballie]

Our HS costumer is a pro costumer (for 3 eq. houses, and she wardrobe managed on Bway), so she is BALLS TO THE WALLS nuts about going out in costume. Unless it's for a very special benefit (like doing a Q&A with a pre-arranged group of kids in the theatre), everything's gotta be put away before you even think about going out. I like it that way.

I change quickly, and we have dressers who help us keep things put away during the actual show, so I just clean up my stuff and hurry out. I love meeting with the audience and most of the times I have to (family!). Only once or twice have I left through our stage door, both times I was sick and didn't wanna hurt my voice talking.

Oh, when I was Dorothy at a regional, I had to stay in costume and then go sign autographs and do pics at a table. That stuff I don't mind (I stayed in character, so it was part of my performance), but I don't like breaking the illusion.

[actor]

I tend to try get out of the theatre as quickly as possible and while I don't "try" to talk to the audience if someone says something to me I will talk with them. However, this may be because of scary experiences I've had in the past. I've posted before about how I was followed home from the theatre. Also, last year, after playing Mr Sowerberry in a production of Oliver a creepy old man came over to me as I came out the stage door and asked me to be his undertaker. I know not all people are like this but these experiences have made me uneasy when leaving the theatre so now I just tend to want leave straight away. Also, I'm usually either exhausted and want to go to bed or I want to go to the pub with the cast and get pissed lol

[wicked_diva]

At the theatre I did Mattress and Mame with, we go out to the lobby in our costumes afterwards. The one where I did Ragtime with, I completely changed out of costume and got all my stuff ready to go, and then would go outside. At school (for Christmas Carol), other than when I was in the lobby collecting for Broadway Cares, I just changed and left out the back way. If I knew someone was coming to see me, I went out to collect the donations (which we did in costume).

[jackissensational]

You were followed from the theatre, actor?

Creepy...

[nycbound]

I've always worked in theaters that required that you change out of your costume before greeting the audience.

There's been an exception to that rule for two shows that I've done. When I was in Cinderella and A Christmas Carol, some of us went out to the lobby in costume after each show and signed autographs. Both of these shows are annual productions and they really cater to kids. Little girls would come to Cinderella in full princess garb. They were precious!

Most of my theaters have had pretty strict rules about audience members coming backstage as well.

So, typically I book it in the dressing room to get out to the lobby. Even if I don't have friends/family in the audience, I love to hear people's reactions.

[disneybeauty]

It depends on what theatre company I am working with. Most of the theatres here for some reason are into pushing the 4th wall so to speak, so we go out in costume to great the audience. I am always very polite and nice, but I don't really trust what the audience tells me. Usually I hear "you were great!", but honestly, what kind of audience member would tell you the truth? No one tells you "man you sucked like a Hoover up there" even if it's the truth.

[DaddyDiesel]

If I know someone I will stick around and chat. But if I dont then I move on.

[actor]

[LisaKitty]

[ConverseSneaker]

[hyperactress23]

All of the companies I've worked with around here (and all of them that I've gone to see) have the cast go straight to the lobby after curtain. We meet the audience and talk in costume, but we don't have to stay out longer than we want to. I usually go out and talk for awhile, then go to the dressing room and change, clean things up, make sure my props/costumes are set for the next performance, then leave in full makeup for wherever the cast is going.

[Buff Daddy]

I go out to the audience as being just a small community there is always at least one person I know and want to chat to. Never in costume though (the director would do his nut!)

Buff

[Beagle On Stage]

[thegirlfromack]

Today, after Seussical, all these younger kids (and their mothers) wanted pictures with me in costume and an autograph. But that doesn't normally happen. I usually don't like to talk to audience members after the show but just change and leave and sometimes hang out with the cast after.

[Tumnus1031]

I always go out and greet audience members in costume. After all, its usually just friends and family--plus I like seeing pictures of myself in costume. After I've said hi to friends and family and such, I go backstage, change, etc. Usually if its the last night the cast stays in the cafeteria (yes, our school has performed in a cafeteria for the past 50 years...but this year we get a real theater!!) and eats cake or something. This year for Oliver! we went to Applebee's afterwards and had a blast. I need to talk to my friends about making that a tradition.

[Annie]

[~GertrudeMcFuzz~]

Well, when I was in Seussical, we had a Meet and Greet in the lobby afterwards so the kids could take pictures with us in costume, but other than that I never go out in costume.

I normally change, get all my stuff together for the next show, reset props, and make sure I have everything with me, then go to the lobby. I change quickly, so most people are still there and if I had a significant role they'll come up to me and give me feedback, which I love. I like to see audience reactions to my acting. But most of the time, I just have friends/family that wait for me.

[EponineMNFF]

I change as quickly as I can and go out to see people if I enjoyed the show and I want to hear what they have to say. If I don't enjoy the show, I generally don't care and take my time putting stuff away.

I hate going out in costume as well, but for some reason, nobody else in my school had a problem with it. My family would always get so angry at me for making them wait while I changed that they would barge into the dressing room (bad. news. bears.) Especially if I have a lot of makeup or difficult hair. I wish they could just wait so I could put everything away properly!

[High-baritonne]

We usually just hang out with each other, sometimes we go out and chat with the audience, some times we just stay back stage. It really depends on our mood, and how tired we are.

[lt.shaw]

at our theater we walk off stage, and if you want to go and greet the audience. we go in full costume, no one is strict about the illusion of the characters not leaving the stage.

[broadwayxdoll]

it really depends on what everyone in the cast feels like doing. for the professional show i was in we all just changed before we went out.


other than that we just decide. like if one person just goes straight out after, we all do. unless you really have your heart set on changing

[Bookworm]

Depending on the professionalism of the show and my time constraints it really depends. If I have somewhere to go right after no matter if it's the most unprofessional show ever I change right after show and just get out of there.

[Clarabelle]

I agree with those who say it is unprofessional to appear in costume anywhere except on the stage, except in specific circumstances (eg in the panto company I am with, we go out in costume and do the charity collection afterwards in costume). For a normal show I would not ever appear in costume front of house.

There is nothing wrong with trying to teach professional stage etiquette in an amateur setting. There are other things I try to instil in companies I work with on a production basis (rather than if I am in the onstage company): things like not clapping onstage during the curtain calls, not clapping the band, the tech team not applauding, etc. It is actually a lot more fun when you know you're doing a show as the professionals do, even though you're not being paid- it makes everyone step up that bit more and adds more polish to the overall effect.

Plus, I always like to leave my dressing room tidy for the next day, which is why once I go back there, I sort it all out so when I leave, I leave and don't come back till tomorrow (so I can go straight to the theatre bar and then off out after that!).

[Baker]

I've only ever done community theatre and we nearly always go out in costume after. Especially for shows like Beauty and the Beast, Seussical, Annie, and The Wizard of Oz where little kids want to get their pictures taken with the main characters.

There's only two times I can ever think of that I've specifically changed before greeting an audience. The first was Peter Pan, because it was a director's requirement. That was kind of sad because it took some time to get out of harnesses and such and sometimes audiences would be half gone, and kids love getting their pictures taken with Peter, Hook, and Wendy. The other show was Cats, mostly so we wouldn't traumatize little children.

[littlemisstheatregirl]

I'm part of a small community theatre directed towards teens, so families always hang out afterwards. I generally change and then rush out to greet everyone who came to see me. Never in costume, though, our director would kill us. My school director, however, (who I don't work with at all) encourages going out in costume.

I loved getting asked for autographs. Little girls kept coming up to me after Cats and telling me they liked my makeup.

[Baker]

Another thing is that one of the theatres where I perform is very small and so if the audience wants to see us at all, they have to come down into the green room. Usually they're down there before us, so it's kind of lame to see them in costume, then duck into a dressing room to change before we talk to them. It just feels rude.

Also, whoever mentioned making Applebee's a tradition... it's kind of funny you said that, every theatre around here has a tradition of going to Applebee's or Cheddar's after shows.

[sephyr]

I go change into my regular clothes, wash the makeup off of my face, check my clothes in with the costumers, and head downstairs to talk to everybody Then we have notes...

[broadwaybelle22]

^I don't think its fair of a director to give notes once a production is up and running (unless its a very long run). After dress rehearsal is over its in the hands of the actors. At least, thats my opinion.

I don't go out in costume, unless its the director wants us to. Usually the director wants all the costumes safe and accounted for before we rush off to see our adoring fans. You never know what could happen .