I'll say this:
I tried to meet them last night Stage and Greet style. I REALLY tried.
I first waited at the stage exit inside the building where the crew was coming out. I got to meet Ray.
I waited a bit longer until security told me to get out. So then I went outside and waited by the marked stage exit only to find people were coming out of a different exit.
So then I waited by the buses, but all three of them were close together and it took a while to figure out where people were actually coming out of the theatre to get to the busses: turns out, at least 2 different exits. I couldn't watch both exits at once and couldn't watch either of the exits and tour buses at the same time. Lastly, the busses were so close together and oriented in such a way that only one tour bus could really be observed at the same time.
So I basically had to stand in front of the buses pacing back and forth.
I felt really uncomfortable doing it, but I kept at it. People looked at me suspiciously (and rightly they should have), but nobody came and told me to leave.
I think I saw Eabha got on one of the buses, but she got on the bus really fast. From my vantage point at the time, I basically only had a split second to see her before she got on the bus. Not enough time. So then I stood in front of that bus on the door site (the theory being the other girls would probably be on the same bus). I waited about 45 minutes (at least an hour after the end of the show), but I didn't see any of the other girls get on. Maybe they already were on the bus at that point. Maybe still in the venue.
It was really cold (technically about 38 F, but with a strong wind a windchill well below freezing), so I eventually had to bail.
The moral of the story is that depending on the venue, their security, location of the stage door(s), proximity / orientation of the tour buses relative to the exits, and comfort level with basically standing awkwardly in front of the tour buses for an extended period, Stage and Greets are really, REALLY hard.
I'm not sure I'll try that again unless I somehow were able to arrange something with the girls in advance or knew someone at the venue that could provide a significant amount of assistance in facilitating it.
It's unfortunate I didn't get to meet the girls (again), but I really enjoyed the show.
I'll post a bit more about it when I get home tonight.
The way I see, as much it sucked standing out awkwardly in the cold for about 45 minutes, afraid of confronted by security or making the other people on the buses feel uncomfortable, if I had met the girls, it all would have been worth it. Just because I didn't meet them didn't make the effort any less justified (there just wasn't a payoff in this particular case).
The good news is I have a second show with an actual M+G in a couple of weeks. So I will meet the girls (briefly). I just have to wait a little longer. I'll put everything I wanted to say in the cards I made for them (assuming the custom cards arrive in time), but I soooo wanted to tell them how much they meant to me in person. I can't say I didn't try.
