Broadway Ushering — Page 2

Yeah, that's all well and nice (and true) in theory, but we know that's not the way it plays out.

I always make sure that I'm more than friendly to people that serve me - whether it be in a clothing store, at a restaurant, or an usher. Always. I've done work like that - I know what it does to your day to deal with rude assholes.

I have never once "snapped" an illegal photo, talked on my cell phone in a theatre, stormed down the aisle attempting to seat myself, or disrespected an usher in any way, shape or form. Ever. I make it a point not to, actually.

However, more than half the time, I present my ticket to a crotchity hag who looks like she would rather throw herself off the balcony than assist one more patron. I'm sorry - if you don't like seating people, if you hate people, or if you just can't be nice, DO NOT BE AN USHER.

It's like teachers who hate kids. I don't get it. I realize that everyone has bad days, but there is no reason for half of the ushers to behave the way that they do.

About three years ago, I used to bartend in Broadway theatres. I used to constantly mingle with ushers from all of the different theatres - the Broadway, Shubert, Winter Garden, Ambassador, Majestic, Imperial, Lyceum - you name it. I was friends with quite a few ushers - in fact, the younger ushers were constantly pleased to be doing their job. However, the ones that were a bit older (particularly at the Broadway theatre), would literally sit down and BITCH about their job for the duration of act one while chainsmoking outside.

I've seen it first hand more times than i'd like to admit - most of them just hate their job. No matter how nice you are to people, you just can't break some of them.

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How does it depend on the theatre?

I all depends on the person...

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actually while younger is generally true, newer might be a better designation. Older ushers who are new are nicer in general.

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Yeah, the ushers at the Nederlander are like, a party all the time. I like them.

And the Eugene O'Neill definitely has some crotchety old ladies, but I think they're all in the orchestra. Every time I'm in the mezzanine, it's some sweet old lady who I wish was my Grandma.

As to why the usher was like "Hitler"

I was seing POTO with my mom and my friend and we were standing in the back. My mom was on one side of the audio and my friend and I on the other. Well my mom came over because she was lonely and the usher yelled at her and told her to get back to her own side and not invade other peoples areas. When we explained to her she said she wasn't listening. Then during intermission my friend and I went to the bathroom and when we came back we sat against the wall you stand up behind and told us we had to stand but a lot of others were sitting and she did nothing to them...

No, I have sitten down before and the ushers have done nothing about it. Iwasn't blocking traffic or anything, I was up against the wall. And the standing room wasn't sold out infact we were the only ones standing.

EDIT : I have asked ushers the last time I went and they said that we could sit down as long as the show wasn't in progress and the only time we had to be in the designated standing room spots was when the show was in progress and if we weren't crowding other people, and we weren't because It was just us.

Updated On: 3/17/06 at 07:19 PM

At no time should an usher EVER be rude. No matter how wrong the customer is. Granted, if an usher is reminding the same person for the fifth to not do something, then I can't begrudge him/her being rude. Even if the usher has warned a hundred people not to do something, and it's the first time (s)he has to warn you, there is no excuse to be mean or rude about it. One time while I was at Brooklyn waiting for the show I started playing a game on my cell phone. The usher (who was about 1000), rudely snapped at me that phone use was illegal and that if I didn't stop she'd confiscate it. Well, for one thing, only talking and listening into a cell phone is illegal (advantage of doing legal research for a living) so I wasn't doing anything remotely wrong; two, she has no power to confiscate anything, nor to threaten it, and three, she had absolutely no reason to be so nasty about it. She could have politely asked me to stop (which I would have refused anyway, since it was perfectly legal) but was instead rude. My experiences with ushers have been mostly positive other than her, but most don't seem happy at all.

RE: the standing room issue...

The first time I saw Mamma Mia, I did standing room. People tried to sit at intermission and an usher did come around and tell everyone to get up.

I'd imagine they can't let people sit on the floor because it's a hazard. Even if you're out of the way--if someone trips over you, you'll get hurt, they'll get sued. The usher should have enforced the rules for everyone, but all the same, it doesn't sound as if she was asking you to do anything out of the ordinary. It doesn't matter if you were allowed to do it on another occasion...you should listen to whatever the usher tells you at the time. When I flew, I'd frequently have people tell me, "but on Air Canada/British Airways/etc./etc./etc. it's this way...when I flew last year on your airline, it was like this..." Policies change.

Also...you're in a Broadway theatre. Maybe it's not considered good etiquette to sit on the floor?!

Updated On: 3/18/06 at 12:05 AM

hey, how old do you have to be to do this volunteer ushering thing?

I would say sitting on the floor (even in the designated standing room area) is common sense. It's an area of high traffic - who are you to sit there with your bags while people maneuver around you? It's just rude. Aside from rude, isn't it uncomfortable to be sitting on the floor with people constantly looking down and glaring at you because (as in most theatres, there's a bottleneck already) they're trying to get through?

But that's just me.

Speaking of sitting on floors, another HUGE pet peeve of mine is when you're in Barnes and Noble (doesn't seem to happen in Borders as much) and people feel like it's okay to set up camp in the middle of an aisle. When you come through to actually find a book, they act like you're in THEIR private space, moving aside with an unmistakable sneer. I can't stand it.

Okay, rant over.

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We seem to be in the same care a lot lately...

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But I have had some very nice encounters with ushers as well!

There are some nice ushers and then there are some mean ushers. At Jersey Boys, when I was waiting for the show to start, and I was in standing room, I saw a very pushy, rude usher, and a very nice blonde one. I think it just depends on the person.

An usher should not be rude. It's their job to deal with the people and seat them. They're a part of their theatre experience.