Attention Ushers & House Managers: WAKE UP!

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 1/8/07 at 10:28am

I thought this deserved its own appropriately titled thread.

[Fosse76]

Posted: 1/8/07 at 10:29am

Ummm...o.k.

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 1/8/07 at 10:31am

Why?

Weren't all of the other threads about rude audiences enough?

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 1/8/07 at 10:32am

No, ma'am. I wanted a billboard titled thread. So I created.

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 1/8/07 at 10:34am

Foster creates threads where others would merely post.

It's his "thing."

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 1/8/07 at 10:36am

Oh Rath. You flatter so.

[ShbrtAlley44]

Posted: 1/8/07 at 1:18pm

You know something? As an usher, I can't always see or hear everything that's going on, even though I'm watching the audience. I may not know that someone in the back row of the mezz is talking; I may not hear them. If there is a problem, how about you come tell me? I'd be glad to help you out. Don't just bitch about the ushers doing nothing - sometimes we can't tell. If I do see someone being disrespectful, I will stop them; I've done it in the past. But we can't be everywhere. When you're supervising over 200 people in your section and there's only, say, two of you, you can't always catch everything. Okay, darling?
Updated On: 1/8/07 at 01:18 PM

[rclocalz]

Posted: 1/8/07 at 2:03pm

Exactly my point, I usher in a house of 2,475 people amd there are only 10 ushers in the theatre to supervise all those people. You might say, "Well get some more ushers in the theatre", but money and budget issues won't allow that. I would be more than happy to assist with a problem if someone came up to me and told me about it. We can't catch EVERYTHING.

[darwhite915]

Posted: 1/8/07 at 2:21pm

Well, there are good and bad apples in every bunch. I've actually had ushers ruin shows for me.

I was seeing The Crucible at the Virginia and these two old women behind me were unwrapping candy constantly throughout the first act. At intermission, I asked if they could please open it before the second act, as we were in the back of the theater and it was difficult to hear back there. These women told us we could leave if we didn't like it, and told the usher we called the same thing and he didn't lift a finger.

At Wicked in Chicago, we're at the end of act one, and I'm sitting at the side of the house. "It's not her, I'm the one you want, it's Me....". Side door flies open, light comes flooding in on me, and the usher stands there in it through the end of act one.

I'm sure it's a thankless job. I've never left a show I enjoyed and thought "wow, those ushers did a good job." But I certainly notice when they aren't doing their jobs, and I definitely notice when they seat people in the middle of scenes. I'm a firm believer in "if you miss the curtain, see you at the next Act". Although, Broadway is much better about it than the West End. People over there stroll into the theater like they're going for a walk in the park.

[jrb_actor]

Posted: 1/8/07 at 4:10pm

Well most shows have a seating cue, which is usually on an applause moment. Not every theatre has the room to hold people in the back and there are fire codes.

Shbrt and rc are right. And from my experiences, most ushers are great--there are some bad apples, but that's true of any job in life.

[ShbrtAlley44]

Posted: 1/8/07 at 4:31pm

Darwhite, there are times we're instructed to seat the latecomers. Unfortunately there is no "see you at the next curtain" rule, although that would be nice.

[Broadway Matt]

Posted: 1/8/07 at 4:33pm

You know, my first reaction to this thread was to post something very unpleasant in response to this unnecessary and lazily-presented proclamation. But I actually do concur to some degree and understand where there might be some justifiable frustration.

Speaking as a frequent theatregoer and as someone who has ushered at some houses that don't have it together- it is unfortunate that there are all too many house staff employees who don't do a good job.

Speaking as a very good usher on an excellent house staff- get the hell over it and show some goddamn class.

[defyingravity11]

Posted: 1/8/07 at 7:59pm

I remember when I did Standing Room for the Les Miz revival, there were three ushers who stood behind me and talked through all of the first act. I was also told by (I think she was) the house manager that I could not put my bag on the floor next to me, even though there was open space next to me due to a column that blocked the view to the stage.

[ShbrtAlley44]

Posted: 1/8/07 at 8:02pm

If they were talking, you should have asked them to be quiet.

[Horton]

Posted: 1/8/07 at 8:18pm

The best usher i have ever seen starred in chicago (couldnt resist)

No, the best stff of usher's i have ever seen was in The Lion King in toronto, so nice to everybody, they even said to me that I could put my feet in the isle, just after the begining of the act, because the actors enter there only once.

[jrb_actor]

Posted: 1/8/07 at 8:49pm

Your bag was still a fire hazard--regardless of what space there was.

One thing that may help is to allow the possibility that something is being done or asked of you based on a reason you haven't yet realized. Don't we all go through this in our own jobs--people not understanding why you do something the way you do?

Think outside the box.

[neddyfrank2]

Posted: 1/8/07 at 9:12pm

Well I just must say that while I do appreciate ushers and are thankful for them to shut up the people next to me, the ones over at the Broadhurst Theatre were real bitches. They first had a man at the front yelling "Everybody must be holding a ticket to enter" and their was an elderly man who could not hold his ticket. Well the usher would not let him enter until he held that ticket in his hand which made NO sense to me. Then when I entered the people in front of missed their sharp right by accident and that usher really let them have it. Then when I finally got to my seat the usher wouldn't give me a playbill because I should have asked for one when I was at the back of the theater. So I had to walk to the back of the theater and get my playbill. Also during the pre-show announcement (which I thought was a pretty rude announcement) they all began to applaud at how cell phones are illegal in theaters.

[Fabrizio2]

Posted: 1/8/07 at 9:17pm

I have never once had a bad experience with an usher.

[defyingravity11]

Posted: 1/9/07 at 1:10am

I understand that they have a reason for everything they do, but I felt that that particular request was uncalled for as the bag took up about two square inches of floor space and it wasn't in an isel, it was right by my feet. There was a good four feet of space between me and the isel. It was problably just the attitude of the staff that got to me. I'm not saying that all ushers are like this. I have many friends who are ushers. It's just that there are quite a few that put forth a bad image.

[miss pennywise]

Posted: 1/9/07 at 1:25am

For me, nothing will ever top the usher up in the mezzanine screaming to the star of AT LIBERTY, "No, Miss Stritch!!! Don't start yet!!! I'm not ready!!!"

Boy, did she have guts or what?

[jrb_actor]

Posted: 1/9/07 at 1:31am

What was Ms. Stritch's reaction?? LOL I mean that's horrible, but I can just imagine she found it hilarious---one of those "I thought I had seen everything" moments.

[miss pennywise]

Posted: 1/9/07 at 1:40am

Funny you should ask, Jerby, because I know what Ms. Stritch's reaction was.

For reasons I will not go into here, I wound up being the last audience member to leave the theatre that night. Ms. Stritch was on stage bitching like you wouldn't believe. (Well, yes, you would, because it is, after all, Ms. Stritch!)

As far as the show went, Ms. Stritch totally ignored the usher and just began her show normally. And I must say that Ms. Stritch was such a pro that she didn't seem rattled by it in the least, but, then again, how would I know? She always seems bitchy to me! (And I mean that as a compliment. )

[cello_dude]

Posted: 1/9/07 at 1:50am

Actually in response to the ushers at the Broadhurst Theater I do understand why they did some of those things, working as an usher myself I am constantly told by supervisors that EVERY ONE needs to hold a ticked as they come in. Sometimes they will be watching and if I do not enforce that, its me who gets in trouble. It has to do with so many scams there are, esp. with popular shows. Also every usher gets a certain amount of playbills for their section. I know by experience that if i give out a playbill to a person who just asks for one thats not in my section, soon more people will ask for them and I wont have enough playbill to hand out to my section.

[Broadway Matt]

Posted: 1/9/07 at 2:39am

thanks to all who are making an effort to relate. it's not like ushering is a hard job by nature, but we are the 1st line of defense against any variety of crazy/mean/confused/drunk theatregoers. on the other side, we are a buffer zone between the wants of the audience and the wants of the entire production hierarchy. because of that, ushers have to be ready for a huge variety of personalities and scenarios, and the only constants are the certain rules and codes that are dictated by the law, theatre, or production. none of us give a crap personally if you sit on the stairs, but the fire marshall does.

as for holding tickets, it's just common sense. would u spend $100-$300 on a product and throw away the receipt before you leave the store? it's mainly a matter of keeping everything organized ahead of time so as to cause as little disruption to the performance as possible- a precaution to help give the audience as a whole their money's worth by not dealing with avoidable confusion after the lights go down.

it's customer service, and the customer service industry worldwide has no shortage of disgruntled malcontents who hate their jobs and might not be as nice to you as you'd like. but in the end, the only goal is to keep the show going by answering questions and flying within the clear-cut rules. any pleasantries beyond that are purely gravy. no it isn't the hardest job in the world, but it very unique in its quirks/challenges and very demanding on a person's time.

it is a thankless job, but only to those who decide to make it one. attitude is everything. For my part, I have a great time at work almost every shift. It's frustrating and tedious a lot of the time, but I'd rather be frustrated and bored at a Broadway show than at any other service job. My point is, give the staff a break. we're not all bad.

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 1/9/07 at 2:41am

If they were talking, you should have asked them to be quiet.
Those employed as ushers should know better than to talk through the show and should not have to have an audience member tell them how to be considerate in the theatre.

To the ushers that have posted, yes, you personally might consider yourself to do a good job and believe that there's nothing more that you can do, but what about all the people that have had negative experiences with ushers? I'm sure those ushers all insist they do a good job as well.

My sister and I were abandoned by an usher in the aisle before Wicked started because a couple was in our seats and refused to move. The usher's response? "Well, I can't make them move." Well, that's your job. After three songs, we had to hunt down another usher to get the people to move and had disrupted half the second tier of the Kennedy Center by the time we sat down. You say that you can't see/hear everything, but how do you justify behavior like that? There are bad apples, they can ruin the show and people are allowed to complain about them, whether you think you do a good job or not.