Posted: 2/24/16 at 10:58am
bwayphreak234 said: "To the OP - I would love to see you try spending just one day working a customer service job in the theatre industry.
"
i've done 30 hours a week for the last 5 years in midtown honey, ill gladly take a UNION gig at the Rodgers
Posted: 2/24/16 at 11:22am
This article is PR hype. Anything to let the public know the show is selling out.
Posted: 2/24/16 at 11:24am
It's kind of like when spoiled little girls go to Starbucks and cause a scene and act like entitled little bitches because they didn't draw a happy face on their hot chocolate and their grandparents think it's cute but when in reality, the barista should have taken it away from her and thrown it in her face. It's like that.
Posted: 2/24/16 at 11:27am
They could also just open the cages in the auditorium one at a time when it's interval.
Posted: 2/24/16 at 11:33am
What the hell is that one supposed to mean, you hateful sack of rat mucus?
Posted: 2/24/16 at 11:35am
This is a completely ridiculous article - or non-article actually. No one actually spoke to an usher...."insiders" know this. What insiders? And is this a consensus of each and every or the majority of ushers there?
At best, I bet someone said in a casual comment - ushering at this theater is tiring (and who has not said that about his/ or her job at one moment in life) and because it's Hamilton, it gets blown up out of proportion.
Talk about Hamilton overkill? Hello...
Posted: 2/24/16 at 11:43am
Scarywarhol said: "What the hell is that one supposed to mean"
Well, clearly because it’s "such a mob scene every night.” at this particular show with this particular audience, I assume they arranged some measures?
Posted: 2/24/16 at 12:56pm
PThespian, thanks for the insight.
Never would have imagined the experiences you shared.
Posted: 2/24/16 at 3:43pm
Bunch of wussies. Try working 12hr days, 6 days a week doing physical work.
Posted: 2/24/16 at 3:44pm
at this particular show with this particular audience, I assume they arranged some measures?
Old rich white people rampaging at the RR.
Last time I saw the show, I was next to an elderly lady in a straight-up Cruella Deville fur. It was magnificent.
Seriously, though, trying to keep people moving through that horrible tiny lobby every night would make me bonkers.
Updated On: 2/24/16 at 03:44 PM
Posted: 2/24/16 at 4:32pm
They are Ushers on Broadway, if they want to quit, there's a thousand people willing to take their jobs. A show is successful (A GOOD THING), it's busy, it's your JOB, deal with it and stop bitching. Like any other job.
Posted: 2/24/16 at 5:44pm
Dollypop said: "This article is PR hype. Anything to let the public know the show is selling out."
This. Ushers who are assigned to a house on a permanent basis (a "regular"
are only required to work an AVERAGE of 6 performances per week over a ten week period on a rolling basis (this isn't applied if someone needs to take a week or two off). If they are exhausted they can request two or three performances off, a take a break. Most of the ushers I know are laughing at the article.
Now, being an usher can be pretty taxing, especially to the ones who actually have day jobs/careers outside the theater. And dealing with the public, especially the privileged public, can be emotionally exhausting. Based on the amount of money people are (over)paying for this show, I wouldn't be surprised if the audiences are even nastier than usual. But I it's not like those ushers are being exposed to this type of behavior for the first time. These ushers are at work 4 hours every other performance, and only 90 minutes for the ones in-between. They can handle this.
And to those saying the ushers who complain should get another job if they are unhappy, I say to you: get a life. Unless you have never once complained about your job for ANY reason, then you have no right to suggest any usher who complains about the crowds to get another job. It sounds almost like you're jealous.
Posted: 2/24/16 at 5:46pm
Oh we've already reached the point where everything is being repeated in this thread.
Posted: 2/24/16 at 8:52pm
"I have no clue what you are trying to say. No clue at all."
Dolly understands
Updated On: 2/24/16 at 08:52 PM
Posted: 2/24/16 at 9:09pm
The article is completely inane, but I will say that I've seen four different shows at the Rodgers and two of the times my seats were on the right side of the orchestra (in the heights and if/then). For both of those performances, I was directed to the wrong seat by an usher. I then watched this woman direct others to the wrong seats and then have to move them when the rightful owners of the seats arrived. Given that it happened twice at two different shows (and has never ever happened at any other theater I've attended), I have to wonder if this is a frequent problem with a particular usher or ushers at the Rodgers. With a show like Hamilton where people paid huge amounts for their tickets and potentially more people than normal are not frequent theater goers, I wonder if the audience members are being less understanding in these situations.
Posted: 2/24/16 at 10:38pm
Huh? I think Page 6 needed emergency filler... I don't doubt that ushering has its challenges...my job does, too.
Posted: 2/24/16 at 10:42pm
Or they show you only one ticket with a group of 10. Or they pretend they are all sitting together until you look at the tickets and they are spread out over several rows. Or you take them to a seat and actually point which are their seats and they still sit incorrectly. Or you go to sit someone and people knowingly are sitting in their seat (because they moved down) and continue to sit even though you tell them they are sitting in someone's seats. Yeah...I don't miss it.
Posted: 2/25/16 at 1:03am
This might be a stupid question but is it an hourly rate? A nightly rate? And do people who have been with a theater for a long time get pay increases or is it a set rate for all?
Posted: 2/25/16 at 10:25am
LOLOL. Don't even get me started on RRT staff and the lack of efficiency that place works with. The management of the theater as a whole is a bit shoddy, and it shows everywhere from PR, to line monitors to ushers.
Not blaming the ushers specifically, but the management is probably not helping them or creating an efficient system to relieve their distress.
Posted: 2/25/16 at 12:13pm
Jesus, literally all this article is actually saying is "the ushers at the Rodgers are pretty stressed" and yet a lot of the reaction here is kind of like "HOW DARE THEY COMPLAIN THOSE WHINERS." Everyone bitches about their jobs, especially if it's like busy season 24/7.
Posted: 2/25/16 at 12:20pm
PThespian is a little inaccurate in that response.
The usher staff receive a flat rate per performance. It does not increase every year. It increases based on the contract, which is generally only once or at most twice per contract period. I think the next rate increase is later this year. (ushers working a play were actually paid less than those working a musical, but I believe the most recent contract eliminated that disparity).
Ushers also receive overtime if a show runs more than three hours, but there is a grace period of 2 or 3 minutes before they can collect it. And it doesn't count the curtain call. Only the time the final act ends.
Ticket takers in a two ticket taker house make LESS than ticket takers in a one ticket taker house.
Posted: 2/25/16 at 1:01pm
Bunch of wussies. Try working 12hr days, 6 days a week doing physical work.
No, thanks. It seems to cause people to act like @ssholes with severe inferiority issues. I'd rather be labeled a "wussy" by the likes of you any day, even if it's not actually true by reasonable standards.
I was a part-time usher in addition to a full-time job and acting gigs for 10 years.
Posted: 2/26/16 at 12:26am
I agree that the article itself was probably based on nothing and it was more of a Hamilton publicity ploy. It is actually kind of a ridiculous puff piece.
Posted: 2/26/16 at 12:33am
I saw If/Then a few times at the Rodgers and do have to admit that the ushers were very rude and obnoxious and unhelpful...and that was pre-Hamilton
But, definitely the worst experience was at Studio 54 in December at Therese Raquin, probably the worst and most unprofessional I have ever come across, it was actually very infuriating.
