Photo: Amir Hamja for The New York Times.
Bracelets sent to Gabrielle Nevaeh, the former star of Nickelodeon’s That Girl Lay Lay, who is in Stranger Things: The First Shadow on Broadway. “It’s a reminder that my work is reaching people,” she says.
Did you ever ask for an autograph? Mail a fan letter? Throw “jelly babies” at the Beatles?
I have sometimes written a letter to an actor or author, but mostly to argue about some interpretation. I am not sure anyone would consider me a true fan, but there are people out there who go to enormous lengths to connect to the object of their admiration.
At the New York Times, Sarah Bahr shares what she has learned about them.
“The fan mail landscape in New York theater is alive and well. Across the theater district, stage managers and theater employees collect fan art, stuffed animals and other gifts of appreciation that are sent to stars, ferrying the items to mailboxes and dressing rooms.
“ ‘It’s so cool that people still send me things after all these years,’ said Joey Fatone, the former ’N Sync singer who recently ended his run in the Broadway musical & Juliet.
“He estimated that each week he received about a dozen handwritten letters and several packages, including one containing a track suit emblazoned with “& Joeyet,” a play on his name and the jukebox musical’s. ‘I read as much as I can, but there’s so much,’ said Fatone, 48. …
Somewhat unexpectedly, these decidedly analog gestures have endured in the age of social media.
“Fans are combing stars’ Instagram feeds and TikTok reels for clues to their favorite snacks, their astrological signs and even the names of their pets.
“ ‘It’s surprising how well they know your interests,’ said Elizabeth Gillies, 32, the Victorious star who recently finished a five-month run as Audrey in the Off Broadway revival of Little Shop of Horrors.
“During the run, a fan sent her a large pillow with a photo of her French bulldog, Otis, and another got her a set of miniature cans of Canada Dry Ginger Ale, a favorite drink. She also received a custom hat with the plumbob mood icon that floats above characters heads in The Sims, which is her favorite video game. One even drew a picture of Otis dressed as Audrey, and her co-star Milo Manheim’s spaniel, Louie, dressed as Seymour.
“ ‘The creativity and the attention to detail are extraordinarily impressive,’ said Gillies, who framed the portrait. ‘It’s incredibly heartwarming to know that people are not only paying attention to your artistry, but they’re also paying attention to you.’
“Gabrielle Nevaeh, the former star of Nickelodeon’s That Girl Lay Lay who is in Stranger Things: The First Shadow on Broadway, likes to read letters in her dressing room during intermission.
“ ‘It’s a reminder that my work is reaching people,’ said Nevaeh, 20, who plays the strong-willed high school student Patty Newby in the show.
“So what do people write to stars? Often, Fatone said, people express gratitude — for his music, for the joy his performance brought them, for his decades-long career.
“ ‘I get letters that say, “Thank you so much for being in my life all these years,” ‘ he said.
“Michelle Williams, the former Destiny’s Child singer who is playing the mysterious Viola Van Horn in the stage adaptation of Death Becomes Her on Broadway, said it makes her day when she reads a letter from a writer who is struggling and has found inspiration in her work.
“ ‘Someone sent me a letter last week saying, “I deal with depression and anxiety, and I see how you’ve overcome and you’re back on Broadway,” ‘ said Williams, 46, who took a break from the Broadway musical Once on This Island in 2018 to seek treatment for depression. …
“Some of the letters are typed; some are handwritten. Fatone said he also receives invitations to weddings and bar mitzvahs — or sometimes requests for him to sign the invitations themselves. …
“As much as the stars said they have appreciated the mail, it just isn’t possible keep all of it.
“ ‘I can’t throw away anything handmade or handwritten,’ Gillies said on a recent afternoon, shortly before clearing out her dressing room — including two large storage bins of fan mail — at the Westside Theater following her Little Shop run. ‘So I’m sort of an organized hoarder for all of the fan letters and fan gifts that I’ve received.’ ” More at the Times, here.
I once wrote René Auberjonois to see if my family could visit backstage at Big River. He wrote back a welcoming postcard, and we got to chat a bit after the show.
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