Sweeney Todd, NOT AS SCAREY AS THE USHERS!
Sweeney Todd, NOT AS SCAREY AS THE USHERS!
Sweeney Todd, NOT AS SCAREY AS THE USHERS!#0
Posted: 11/8/05 at 11:35pm
I love the show, it is brilliant. I have had the good fortune to work at the Eugene O'Neil theater as an usher,a"Sub" as I was refered to by the head usher as she glared at me as though I had the plague!The directress and another usher made some sort of comment about my sweater and the ordered me upstairs.
You would think that being in a Broadway house one could escape the homophobic -small mindedness, Well not @ the O'Neil, these women are the meanest, most foulmouthed humans I have ever met in my life!! thank goodness the house manager is HOT!!!
re: Sweeney Todd, NOT AS SCAREY AS THE USHERS!#1
Posted: 11/8/05 at 11:46pmSometimes I want to say to those people "It's not my fault you work here!"
re: Sweeney Todd, NOT AS SCAREY AS THE USHERS!#2
Posted: 11/8/05 at 11:47pmI was at CHICAGO last week and boy, are some of those ushers unhappy people who hate their job and want to make sure your experience is as miserable as theirs.
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/25/04
re: Sweeney Todd, NOT AS SCAREY AS THE USHERS!#3
Posted: 11/8/05 at 11:51pmYou're so right. I found the ushers particularly rude at Sweeney Todd (especially this one witch who asked a woman if she'd been helped just as another usher approached her husband, and when the woman stumbled for an answer, the witch snarked in that condescending special-bus-driver tone, "Are you with him? Yes? Then what are you looking at me for?") and, to a lesser degree, Spamalot.
"Good luck returning my ass!" - Wilhemina Slater
"This is my breakfast, lunch and f***ing dinner right here. I'm not even f***in' joking." - Colin Farrell
re: Sweeney Todd, NOT AS SCAREY AS THE USHERS!#4
Posted: 11/9/05 at 12:02am
The female ticket taker (long brown hair) is a DOLL! Befriend her!
The things is--subs are treated that way until they get to know you and see that you aren't a jerk off, which more than enough subs are. Just play it cool, they will warm up to you when they see you are nice, professional, and do your job well. Trust me on this. Don't give attitude back, but don't let people walk all over you. And anytime you work with a new usher in a new spot or same spot, you will be given different rules for how to do your job. Just be flexible, but always defer to what the manager or head usher has asked of you.
PM me if ya need anything else.
re: Sweeney Todd, NOT AS SCAREY AS THE USHERS!#5
Posted: 11/9/05 at 1:36am
The Shubert, Neil Simon, and the Ambassador have the rudest ushers I've ever encountered.
The ones at the Shubert are rude in the way that they stand in the back and talk, not even whisper, talk amongst each other. If you have standing room, it's very distracting.
The ushers at the Ambassador are just ass holes. There's no two ways about it. Oh, and they too carry on conversations in the back of the house.
And finally, the Neil Simon. I saw Hairspray for the millionth time tonight and good Lord...the rudest women I've ever encountered. Their job, whether they like it or not, is to direct people to their seats. I watched all four ushers in the mezz tonight and not one of them even so much as pointed in the right direction. I'm sorry, but some people don't do well with "You're in J, tenth and eleventh seat on the right." And when those people have trouble locating their seats, the usher stands at the bottom of the stairs and yells at them.
They're probably all just pissy because they know the college kids selling t-shirts in the lobby are making more money per show than they are.
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/25/04
re: Sweeney Todd, NOT AS SCAREY AS THE USHERS!#6
Posted: 11/9/05 at 1:40amFunny you should mention the Shubert and standing room. They made me carry my purse and shopping bags the ENTIRE show for "fire hazard" reasons. I couldn't even put them between my legs or in front of my feet. Is this always a rule, or did they just particularly want to antagonize me? Even the Spelling Bee theatre, whose SRO has substantially less aisle space than the Shubert, encouraged me to rest my arms and leave my bags on the ground!
"Good luck returning my ass!" - Wilhemina Slater
"This is my breakfast, lunch and f***ing dinner right here. I'm not even f***in' joking." - Colin Farrell
re: Sweeney Todd, NOT AS SCAREY AS THE USHERS!#7
Posted: 11/9/05 at 1:45am
Yeah, I was going to say, I plopped my bag down on the ground at Spelling Bee and no one objected. It wasn't particularly heavy or anything, but it was more convenient.
I can't believe it would be a fire hazard. You can grab your bags and be out of there fast, before all those people slowly filing out of the audience seats with no leg room, carrying all THEIR bags, even make it the standing room section.
Wanting life but never knowing how
re: Sweeney Todd, NOT AS SCAREY AS THE USHERS!#8
Posted: 11/9/05 at 2:23am
One of the times I saw SWEENEY in previews, I sat in the mezz, on the house right side.
This older female usher I guess was tired of standing, and she kept sitting on the stairs, but every time she did it, she had to go over to the stack of playbills (by my chair)and noisily pick two and then walk over and put them down on the step for her bony ass. She would sit for about a minute and a half and then get up, noisily iron out the crinkles in the programs with her hands and then set them back in the stack (by my chair). After about three minutes, she'd come back and repeat the entire operation. This happened about four times. I was like -- LADY - if you cant' stand for two hours -- RETIRE.
I've had a lot of bad experiences with ushers in NYC theatres. I think they need to get rid of the union. It's absurd to have people who are either mean spirited or can't do their job.
re: Sweeney Todd, NOT AS SCAREY AS THE USHERS!#9
Posted: 11/9/05 at 3:23am
Yes, the Eugene O'Neill ushers are NOTORIOUSLY rude - especially the white trash beast with no teeth.
I was there all the time for NINE, and they were awful.
re: Sweeney Todd, NOT AS SCAREY AS THE USHERS!#10
Posted: 11/9/05 at 7:18am
Well, using Playbills to sit down is terrible. But an usher shouldn't have to stand for 2 hours, no.
And, no, they shouldn't get rid of the union--the ushers don't make enough to live on as it is. The union at least outlines protections on breaks, responsibilities, etc.
re: Sweeney Todd, NOT AS SCAREY AS THE USHERS!#11
Posted: 11/9/05 at 8:36am
I've seen Sweeney three different times from three different locations and have encountered three different ushers~all were unforgivably rude. I remember the ushers there being rude from my experiences at Caroline... and Nine there, too.
The Ambassador ushers are very rude, as well. I recently revisited Chicago, and had a front row (general rush) seat in the Left Orchestra. As I was sitting down in my seat, the usher practically exclaimed "DO NOT PUT ANYTHING ON THE STAGE EVER DURING THE PERFORMANCE, EVEN AT INTERMISSION!" I was like, "Okay...Wasn't gonna..."
I've also had bad previous experiences with the Box Office attendants at the Marquis and the Belasco.
re: Sweeney Todd, NOT AS SCAREY AS THE USHERS!#12
Posted: 11/9/05 at 10:52amI was just appalled at how the Ambassador ushers treated the patrons. Newsflash - not everyone knows the Ambassador layout by heart - and if they did, these ushers would be out of a job. They are paid to show the customers their seats, not ridicule and yell at them because they don't know where they are.
re: Sweeney Todd, NOT AS SCAREY AS THE USHERS!#13
Posted: 11/9/05 at 11:15amI can't believe these women get away with treating people like dirt. I have had a few run ins with the toothless directress(F) @ the O'Neil and her menatally challenged sidekick(C).When I worked Caroline or Change, the few time that they were actually in the house and not standing outside, they were either singing or talking.Most of the ushers @ the O'Neil are great but there are 4 who are MISERABLE! and try to take the enjoyment out of what for me is a great experience.That house needs an overhaul starting with the chief! the 4th usher I speak of is kind of non-descript except for the behive & big glasses, she just glares at you, may be she is on medication, If she is I apologize for being unfeeling.
re: Sweeney Todd, NOT AS SCAREY AS THE USHERS!#14
Posted: 11/9/05 at 11:19am
Oh if we're going to talk box office - I had a note to leave for Debra when I knew for sure I had a ticket, letting her know I was going to be there (cause who wouldn't want to know that??), and when I used to work on B'way shows, the company manager would often pick up mail for the cast from the box office. Therefore, I assumed I could give the b.o. personnel this note for her as well - it was in a sealed envelope, not some folded piece of paper or something. Anyway, I ask him if I can leave it with him, and he honest to God looks at it and says, "Who's Debra Monk?" - with some serious attitude, I might add, as if I were at the wrong theater.
Now I understand that CHICAGO has a high turnover, but anyone working in a box office on Broadway should know who Debra Monk is, even if she's not in your show, wouldn't you think?
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/20/03
re: Sweeney Todd, NOT AS SCAREY AS THE USHERS!#15
Posted: 11/9/05 at 11:39am
Perhaps it's my sparkling personailty and animal magnetism...but I've NEVER encountered a rude usher in my life...not that I don't doubt there are some...perhaps many.
But after witnessing the true social retardation of many of the audience members at a matinee of WOMAN IN WHITE, I don't understand how an usher has not snapped and open fired on them. Truly terrible people.
My favorite usher was perhaps the one at CATS. During the opening number she kepts saying, 'What are they saying?? What are those damn cats saying??? What's a Jellicle cat????' You could tell she worked there since it opened and still hadn't figured out what the show was about.
re: Sweeney Todd, NOT AS SCAREY AS THE USHERS!#16
Posted: 11/9/05 at 11:43amCan't blame her, robbie!!
re: Sweeney Todd, NOT AS SCAREY AS THE USHERS!#17
Posted: 11/9/05 at 11:45am
I have a problem with most ushers.
There are a few nice ones, but as a whole they are snippy and holier-than-thou. It smells like a petty little person has gotten a little tiny bit of authority (not really any, since it often falls to the house manager) and they ride it like there's no tomorrow.
It's too bad, because in most regionals, they're volunteers... but they still have the white collar attitude.
re: Sweeney Todd, NOT AS SCAREY AS THE USHERS!#18
Posted: 11/9/05 at 11:47amWhat's interesting is how this has changed over the years. When I worked in theater, the ushers were for the most part quite pleasant and friendly and understood the term "customer service." I have no idea what's happened.
re: Sweeney Todd, NOT AS SCAREY AS THE USHERS!#19
Posted: 11/9/05 at 11:49amI truly don't understand. You hand them your ticket stub, they hand you a Playbill, they walk you down the aisle to your row. You say thank you. What am I missing?
re: Sweeney Todd, NOT AS SCAREY AS THE USHERS!#20
Posted: 11/9/05 at 11:50am
Has ANYONE figured out what Cats was about??? I'm suprised she didn't go nuts working tha show!
I have to admit as well -- I've not encountered these evil ushers...when we saw Sweeny last week ours was quite nice...
re: Sweeney Todd, NOT AS SCAREY AS THE USHERS!#21
Posted: 11/9/05 at 12:03pm
It's the additional situations.
A cell phone rings 3 times in one act, you ask them to speak to the person, they look at you like you're Hitler.
You happen to be 6'4 and your knee strays 2" into the aisle and you're told to keep your "leg" in the row, with a look of disgust like you just killed a puppy.
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/21/04
re: Sweeney Todd, NOT AS SCAREY AS THE USHERS!#22
Posted: 11/9/05 at 12:08pmHaven't had a rude usher yet. Overzealous ones, perhaps. But not rude...
re: Sweeney Todd, NOT AS SCAREY AS THE USHERS!#23
Posted: 11/9/05 at 12:10pmStill don't get the annoyance factor. Don't worry ... be happy.
re: Sweeney Todd, NOT AS SCAREY AS THE USHERS!#24
Posted: 11/9/05 at 12:11pm
They also didn't open the house until 7:45 that night, so it was CHAOS. I don't know what that was about. But as I got to my spot (standing room) I went to listen to my voice mail (there were still about a gazillion people to be seated before the curtain could rise) and an usher yelled at me NO CELL PHONES AT ALL!!!!! so I quickly put it away.
Meanwhile, during the show, a lady's cell phone rang three times, and she ANSWERED IT, and HAD A CONVERSATION, and NO ONE STOPPED HER.
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