Ushering

[JakeB]

Posted: 11/6/04 at 6:34pm

Right, am I not getting something here? Can someone explain the concept of 'ushering' to see shows for free? You mean ushering as in 'show people to their seats'. If so, why aren't people paid to do this for a job? Why can just about anyone do it? I really don't understand. In England actors do it between jobs to get quick cash and still go to auditions in the day.

[Westopher]

Posted: 11/6/04 at 8:44pm

I imagine they don't pay people because people WILL do it for free. It's not exactly a job that requires skill.

Posted: 11/6/04 at 9:11pm

Actually, Westo, it requires a large amount of skill and attentiveness.

The curtain has gone up and what do you do if:

1. A gentleman comes up to to you to say that two people are sitting in the two middle seats, 117 & 118, in row H, the exact seat numbersd printed on your pair of ticket stubs; or

2. The Overture has started and a lady in the first row has fainted and is out cold on the floor, and patrons are screaming and jumping up from their seats; or

3. Everyone has filed back into the theatre for the start of the second act, and suddenly the fire alarm goes off; or

4. The male couple in the side box, Stage Right, have begun to argue loudly, and break out into physical fighting; or

5. The female patron in the first row of the Mezzanine is yelling out to the young male lead, and she won't quiet down.

Just a few examples of things that ushers need to be intelligent and discipline and skilled enough to handle.

[chinkie azn jai]

Posted: 11/6/04 at 9:23pm

Wow Jose', i never thought of it like that. I still would want to usher as a summer job.

[theatreguy]

Posted: 11/6/04 at 10:32pm

Ushers on Broadway are paid. Regional Theaters, though, generally just use volunteers. And as for all the stuff Jose listed, at theaters I've worked at those incidents are handled by the housemanager, who is paid. Updated On: 11/6/04 at 10:32 PM

Posted: 11/6/04 at 10:44pm

Ushers should know how to handle these situations, and many more.

Contrary to Westo's belief, ther are certain skills that are needed for an ushering job, whether paid or unpaid. Customer service skills are among the most necessary.

[Type_A_Tiff]

Posted: 11/6/04 at 10:45pm

Ushering isn't brain surgery, but it involves a bit more training that one would initially expect. I was an usher at Cirque Du Soleil a few years ago, and it's not that easy. A lot of it is more to do with being on your toes (literally and figuratively) all the time, and dealing with asshole patrons, even though it's not mentally taxing work.

[suchclumsytime]

Posted: 11/6/04 at 11:04pm

I must say that I've got quite a bit of respect for ushers at shows...and that I would LOVE to try my hand at it for a night or two!

Perhaps I'm just a great big cheese-ball, but the energy in a theatre just before a show can be so exciting if you let it, and ushers get to experience that night after night. Or, at least, it's exciting to me...but I guess it's because I get ridiculously excited about seeing shows, though. :0) Can you blame me?

[Westopher]

Posted: 11/6/04 at 11:04pm

I seem to have under estimated the art of leading people to their seats.

[Type_A_Tiff]

Posted: 11/6/04 at 11:13pm

Ushering 2700 upper-middle class (sometimes tipsy) snobs/people into a circular area in 45 minutes in the dark ain't easy. Especially when you've got a clown following you. *shudder*

[Ad_Libbing]

Posted: 11/6/04 at 11:13pm

As an usher in a large community theater, I can say that things aren't too tough. When weird situations arise, it generally -is- the house manager who takes care of things, since we ushers are all kids between twelve and eighteen. There are, of course, sticky situations that we take care of, sometimes in the wrong manner. xD For instance:

The theatre is all stadium-style seating, so everyone, save the front row sides and orchestra, is looking down on the stage. The center orchestra is twelve rows, and at the top, there is a wide walkway with a nine-row balcony above it. About three years ago, an older lady fell nearly all the way from the top of the orchestra, down to the stage, and into one of the monitors, halfway on the stage, halfway off. While some ushers stared and some ran down to her, one kid stood above her and said:

"Excuse me, ma'am, but we're going to have to ask you to get off the stage."

-Shakes head-

[Type_A_Tiff]

Posted: 11/6/04 at 11:20pm

Yeah, like I said, it's not brain surgery. But people have done less stuff and gotten paid. I mean, pressing a few buttons and "Do you want fries with that?"...

[Westopher]

Posted: 11/6/04 at 11:38pm

Creepiest. Clowns. Ever.

[Type_A_Tiff]

Posted: 11/6/04 at 11:42pm

Seriously. Yeah.

And the seats in Cirque are rafters, and this one fat Spanish clown would always go under the rafters before the show and watch the audience from underneath and this one night I see this eyes watching me under the steps, crept to the side and realized it was him. And since he was getting into character (and didn't speak english), he would just mime everything. Needless to say, I nearly inked myself. I don't do well with clowns. Or midgets. *shudder*

[rclocalz]

Posted: 11/7/04 at 1:23am

I've been ushering for a little over three years at my regional theatre that brings in the national tours, symphonies, operas, etc... well we definitely get paid and yes ushering is a fun job, BUT NOT JUST ANYONE CAN DO IT! You have to have the right personality that can deal with many different types of people. And gosh, there is a whole other training process for those darn Gospel touring shows that come in. I wish one day they would make a documentary in the life of an usher. That would be fun.

[Plum]

Posted: 11/7/04 at 1:24am

There's a reason I don't like customer service jobs. Over the long term, I just don't have the patience. And considering I do have the patience to work with toddlers, that's saying something.

[Broadway Matt]

Posted: 11/7/04 at 1:37am

I usher at a theatre, and I get paid for it. It's not the hardest job I've ever had, but it has potential to be much more stressful than the money is worth. Keeping old, rich people happy can be incredibly challenging. On my 1st day alone I got to deal with obnoxious school kids on a field trip making faces at the actors (almost causing the show to be stopped), multiple ancient Americans bitching about the temperature being too hot or cold, and someone's cell phone beeping every couple of minutes, severely upsetting the producers and authors of the show, who decided it was the fault of the ushers and stalked around me like sharks the whole 1st act. I don't want pity or to sound like I don't enjoy my job. I like ushering very much, and have done it for free often. I'm mainly posting because I don't like Westopher, and I hope he is sincerely unhappy in life.

[Irrational Number]

Posted: 11/7/04 at 6:26am

To "suchclumsytime": Ushering gets old really quickly. As an audience member, you get the excitement of a show about to start, it's a special occasion for you, you've looked forward to it, etc. As an usher, you're constantly juggling programs, collecting tickets, and showing people to their seats. You are literally running from the door to the seat, running back, back and forth, back and forth. There are older people who need extra time to store their wheelchairs, kids not paying attention, even the "easy" patrons are talking about their dinner or whatnot and not really watching where they're going so you have to steer them. By the time the lights go down, you're exhausted. And there's still the late people to seat...

[jacobtsf]

Posted: 11/7/04 at 8:55am

I usher for the mainstage in the theatre I work and I do not get paid, but I do get to see a $20 show for 20 minutes of work.

Years ago we had an old (our building is around 75 years old) cieling tile fall on a little old lady before the show started, so we had to rush down to her in the middle of a show, stop everything and get her out.

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 11/7/04 at 9:12am

you have to know what your doing in any situation. in my opinion, they should have an ushering training course so you can be prepared for all eventualities.

[erinrebecca]

Posted: 11/7/04 at 11:43am

theatreguy, there have been shows on Broadway where they used volunteer ushers. Cabaret comes to mind. I don't know if there are any others are the moment but Hedwig also used volunteers back in the day when it was at the Jane. So yes, it does happen in the city, too.

[JakeB]

Posted: 11/7/04 at 12:53pm

Thanks for all this. I still can't believe that ushering is taken so casually. You have to be really enthusiastic and talkative to be a good usher, I think it's really poor that they let kids do it just to watch the show for free.. they could be anybody and have no personality and just a total theatre nerd. Do you have to be interviewed to do it?

In addition to Jose's list - the usher is the theatre patron's only point of call in the theatre.. if they're unexperienced and unknowledgable then it not only defeats the object of an usher but gives the theatre a bad reputation. I think usher training scene is a bit extreme, sounds like something from Forbidden Broadway, but you Americans have a really weird system with ushering.

[pab]

Posted: 11/7/04 at 1:04pm

On my recent trip to Broadway, my wife and I played a little game, after the first few shows we saw, and it was to spot the Usher Nazis. They were some of the people who are full time ushers. The ones that will shine the flashlight in your face and scream, from a distance, so that everyone in the theatre can hear, "don't put your programs on the ledge". It's interesting what a little power can do to some people.

[Plum]

Posted: 11/7/04 at 1:05pm

I think usher training scene is a bit extreme, sounds like something from Forbidden Broadway, but you Americans have a really weird system with ushering.

What's wrong with giving a few hours of training? I'm not talking an EMT course, but just giving them a general idea of what to do in common situations, if only to make responses more uniform.

[jrb_actor]

Posted: 11/7/04 at 1:23pm

Ha HA! Pab--I'm one of those usher nazis! Except that it isn't about power--it's about doing my job--we actually get in trouble if we don't stop patrons from doing stupid things like leaving items on the railing (to fall onto other patrons or lighting equipment) or leaving their coats on hand railings (silly fire codes).

Oh, and if I tell people they can't bring their booze or sodas into the theatre or that they can't use their cell phones during the show or take pictures anywhere in the theatre (absolutely illegal), I'm REALLY a nazi then. And, you know what? Those might be vile requests, but God, can't I march!