During our many theatrical escapades we have witnessed all sorts - and we mean all sorts. Mostly good...though there have been some events and experiences that have stuck in our minds more than others, though telling all would be ...unsavoury. Discretion is, after all, our middle name. But maybe one day when we're feeling loose lipped enough...
There is nothing quite like a theatrical atmosphere. It's difficult to single out a single thing in musical theatre - or theatre in general - that would be the one and only selling point. We love settling in our seats. We like watching other theatre goers take their seats. We like hearing the buzz of voices and sensing the excitement before the curtains go up. And leafing through a programme, turning the pages eagerly, seeing if we recognise any of the faces in the cast...and the orchestra tuning up, then the lights going down...so many different elements.
People make the experience.The nature of theatre tends to draw in people who are artistic, expressive and outgoing and the fairies like to include themselves amongst these select few who have, naturally, exquisite taste! We would be lying if we didn't admit that we quite like observing fans, genuine enthusiasts of theatre, who appreciate the same things that we do. Only they appreciate things, shall we say, more colorfully. Or vocally. Some come in wearing badges, some wearing t-shirts which show exclusivity, some we overhear saying have seen a show 20 times and counting...! We too love to frequent shows we love and would never deny the pull of a fantastic production with a great cast! And lets be honest here, there are a few leading men who have captured our hearts forever ... but what about when people attend exclusively for a particular cast member? Or see a show 40, 50, 60 times? And collect photos of themselves with cast members over and over again? And plan their day and route to the theatre incorporating the cast members journey,to manufacture 'chance' meetings? And hang around at stage doors cursing anyone else getting in the way, in order to have 'private time' with the object of their affection? That's where it starts getting a bit...shall we say, foggy. When does it start getting a bit too much?
There are some fans who are, in wont of a better term, slightly peculiar. Who appear to take 'fandom' to a completely new level. This post is dedicated to all those people who managed to get our attention more than the show we were seeing; the people we were talking about on the way home instead of discussing the music, or the cast...those who, for whatever reason, made us raise our spectacularly shaped eyebrows and doubt our own senses. We are, of course, talking about the Mega fans. You know who you are...
Don't get us wrong, we like enthusiasm and don't pretend to be perfect. Nor are we 'holier than thou'. Having seen so many productions in so many cities we could write the rule book on theatre etiquette (if we wanted to but we don't) and are not prudish about it! Part of theatre etiquette is behaviour during the performance, naturally.Most theatre goers reallise talking during a performance is a no-no. Getting up an moving around unnecessarily isn't good either. People who love theatre know the score. But what about before and after a performance? The cast have chosen to do the job they do and are prepared to be on show. They also love the adulation they receive at the end of the show from the audience. Actors feed off the audience reaction, that is often blatantly obvious. But the whole 'Stage Door' area is something of a grey zone. Again, many performers see stage doors as an opportunity to connect with fans. But what if they are always connecting with the same ones? Or when other theatre goers merely wanting to say thank you, or looking for an autograph as a one off are pushed out of the way by people who believe themselves to be personal friends and thus entitled to be first in the queue always? In case there was any doubt, there are no sour grapes here from the fairies, as stage doors are not our scene and our magical fairyness would dazzle everyone so much that they wouldn't get a look in, and as we are kind and generous, we take a back seat. Unlike some. Oh, where to begin....
We first discovered true madness at a stage door when seeing 'Joseph' at the Adelphi with the delectable little Mr Lee Mead. Great singer and a proper little sauce pot. 'As seen on TV'. In the flesh (and there was a goodly amount of that on show). But he sang too. Did we mention he sung nicely? Moving on. After the show he did 'signings' at the entrance of the Adelphi and we hung around out of curiosity. Or would have done had we not been pushed out of the way by handbags and flailing arms waved around by lots of ladies at an age when they should have known better. And here was the odd thing. For such a young, attractive man, his most ardent followers were mostly old enough to be his mother. And grandmother. Our research has shown that the largest supporter group are called 'Loppies' (Lee Obsessed People) and these supporters are present at everything Mr Mead does, including sneezing. This would also explain why, at a subsequent visit to 'Joseph' we noticed a flurry of matching t-shirts and badges and over heard a conversation of how to get in front of the scrum (?!?!) 'because he forgot to sign THIS one last time...'. In other words, once wasn't enough. These were obviously women who would go back as many times as possible just to have contact with him. Any kind. Lets face it, he's very pretty. And has that whole 'matinee idol' thing going on which may be the reason he appeals to the baby boomers. But do they know no shame???? We have heard of people lying in wait for him when he arrives at the theatre, having their picture taken & getting an autograph - and wait for it....stopping him again after the show with the newly printed out photo (from 3 hrs ago) for him to sign. "He seemed pretty surprised..." Can you blame him? We would venture possibly a liitle freaked out? And judging by freely available websites (the fairies do their research!) these are frequently the same people time and time again. We have since seen similar scenes at 'Wicked', where Lee currently resides as Fiyero.
Talking about Wicked... What a corker of a musical! Deserves it's own review, so we won't go into too much detail of that here. But the Wicked fans in London would appear to live and breath the musical, and appear to go out of their way to 'befriend' cast members. They are younger than Lee Mead fans, lots of squealey young women (and some men, equally squealey) who know every word, every song, every cast member, every costume, every seat in the Apollo...and every trick in the book to get day seats. The fairies had the pleasure of attending the Apollo Victoria 80th birthday gala and the rather dubious honor of being seated directly in front of a row of 4 ardent Wicked fans who screamed ear splittingly whenever a Wicked cast member was on stage (but curiously not when Lee Mead was on stage...apparently he's nothing compared to Ollie...? ) and discussed cast members as if they were personal friends. No eavesdropping here, the conversations were clear for everyone to hear within a two mile radius. What was evident, was that these fans attended the show on what sounded like a monthly if not sometimes weekly basis and waited outside the stage door for the cast members to arrive, had pictures taken, autographs, and then waited for them again after the show, often for more of the same. There's no doubt performers enjoy a degree of attention and recognition. But is this kind of adulation not slightly...dare we say...obsessive? Do fans who' adore' to this level really think that popping up all the time, demanding moments of cast members time constantly, is endearing? Do they think the actors hearts really skip a beat with joy when they see them standing there again? Or that they are winning the cast over as friends? Sure the actors are polite and friendly and smiley. They are ACTORS. This type of behaviour might be understandable in the very young, in the ones who still form crushes on pop stars and the boy in the next class, but in people over the age of consent, old enough to hold down responsible jobs...? And where do they get the money to attend so frequently? Because lets face it, us fairies cannot afford to go to the theatre daily or weekly. Sadly there are mundane things to be dealt with like mortgages and bills which only get covered with dayjobs. Fairydust isn't cheap.
We have encountered more of these fans during a few regular viewings of 'Wicked'. And, sad to say, have seen more of the same behaviour. It would appear Wicked attracts a fair few attention seekers who whoop and holler and distract from the actors on stage and these fans have earned themselves a bit of a reputation amongst theatre goers as being not just a tad rude. Naughty.
The marvellous Michael Ball is simply the most charismatic man ever to appear on a London stage and his fans know it...we've seen them. A terrifyingly dedicated bunch, not dissimilar to the Lee Mead Loppies in age and appearance (though the Ballites seem to favour more sequins...the Loppies favour a vaguely more tailored look) and the Ball Army has followed the man since the 80's. And, by all accounts, Michael is very good to his fans, very gracious, very smiley and chats readily. The websites maintained by Ballites (is that what they call themselves?) are testament to their dedication and love of the man. And when we say follow, these women follow him. Everywhere.
The fairies had the pleasure of attending a filming of the Michael Ball Show at the Beeb and lo and behold, there they were. Instantly recognisable, not easily missed, and curiously scary in their singlemindedness and brightly coloured kaftans. We observed from afar, whilst attending the touring version of Hairspray, women who literally dressed alike to show allegiance, right down to their hairstyles and jewellery, and who were oblivious to other people around them, unless you were recognisable as a Ball-fan. Standing up by their seats at the front of the theatre, scrutinising the audience and looking for people they recognised, shouting greetings to eachother. If anything, it reminded us slightly of Star Trek conventions you see on telly. Then suddenly, the show starts and at the first glimpse of Michael they turned into...teenagers. It's fascinating and terrifying in equal measures.
In our experience followers of Les Miserables like to think of themselves as a cut above the rest. Les Mis is the 'posh' musical after all. And we can say that because we love it above all others. Mizzies will frequently refer to 'the brick' (the Hugo epic tome) and talk of the various subtexts within the story, the characterisation and how each character relates to the other in intricate detail. The staging and the orchestration - oooh, these fans know every single difference between various versions and recordings and chaos reigned for a while with the introduction of the touring version for the 25th anniversary celebrations, as it introduced elements not seen in the Queens Theatre original. Despite this interest in 'the music' and 'the story', make no mistake; the vast majority of fans are there for the THEATRE BOYS. Only, being a more cerebral choice of stage musical this is not readily admitted to. But the truth is seen at the stage door, where, by all accounts, the same people gather time and time again. And if you read the forums - the reality is clear in all its multiple-squee glory. We readily admit that Drew Sarich and David Thaxton, for instance, were a big draw for us, as they are magnificent performers and amazing singers. We saw shows they were in more than once but drew the line at following them or 'stage dooring'. But lets call a spade a spade; fantasise and adore openly, don't try to wrap it up in academic twaddle and pretend it's only about the story. When you say you wanted to see an actor at the stage door to discuss the way they interpret the role and how much it matches Hugo's original vision, just be honest and admit it's because you fancy the socks off them. You can't pull the wool over our eyes...
The point of this post is not to pour scorn on anyones fantasies anymore than it is to mock anyone. We are genuinely intrigued by the effect theatre can have on normally rational people, that it would make them behave out of character and sometimes so irrationally. There's a very thin line between 'befriending' and 'obsessing', and also between appreciating a performer for their talent and invading their personal space before and after a performance. Arguments have been had about when an actors working day begins; is it inside the theatre or is it any time they are out and about, en route, if you like?
Obviously, some performers thrive on this extra attention whilst some are very private about their lives. There may be an element of fandom-seeking in this twitter age where performers can tweet their personal thoughts / schedules in return for an ever increasing army of "followers". Sadly the 'privacy wanting' performers quickly get a reputation for being 'cold' or 'distant' at the stage door. Is the price of a career on stage having to make yourself available to people ready to fling themselves at you at every opportunity, or otherwise being seen as boring, rude and distant through wanting privacy?
Are mega fans borderline stalkers, obsessed with the object of their affection, or simply people showing love and appreciation to talented performers?
You decide because we sure as hell can't.
Santa or Stalker?
On a final note - we link as evidence a 34 page (we kid you not) discussion on WhatsonStage.com regarding the pros and cons of buying your fave performer a birthday pressie. Seriously??? The very fact that the discussion thread itself had to be locked kind of says it all really! Happy Days!!
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