Ushering A Broadway Show

i also wonder that!
i'd love to do it as a summer job or something, but what age are you allowed to be an usher at?

Can anyone apply for the job, and does anyone know what the pay is like? I've always wondered.

Like Foanatic said, you need to join the union. It's been tough for me. I started submitting my app to Shubert about two years ago, constantly updating my info, and still no answer. Perhaps, it's cause i'm young.

I have ushered at the biltmore, though. That was fun. And I've worked a bunch of shows off-broadway. I suppose it's not entirely boring for me since I see a different show each time, so it doesn't get old. you should try it someday. you get to see the show for free!

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I've volunteered ushered at the roundabout which is always a lot of fun. Better to be downstairs though. I've always gotten really good seats and you see it for nothing.

Like someone else said, you basically have to know someone who can get you the job. Otherwise, it's quite difficult.

And I can honestly say that after working at a Broadway show for a while, you become very jaded. It's no where near as glamorous as you may think.

Just don't do what I did. I was a "volunteer usher" for "Bright Lights, Big City" at it's NYTW premiere.

I was with a friend of mine, and after we got everybody seated, we sat near the back and watched the show. It was horrifyingly bad, and we were laughing hysterically. Unfortunately, we were seated next to the composer's mother. She complained, and the house manager reamed us a new one. I believe the words "You'll never usher in this town again" were uttered.

"You join the union after you get hired--after you work 30 performances. It is not an expensive union to join or to pay fees on. An usher basically brings home about $270 a week or $35 a show. Thus, very few ushers can live on ushering alone."

After 30 performances, if you do not join the union, you are no longer permitted to work. The initiation fee is $350 (or something like that...), plus the quarterly annual dues. There is no additional 2% of pay, I'm not sure what jrb actor is talking about. It's not cheap, particularly if ushering is your only job (for whatever reason, and despite the above statement, most ushers have only that job, or occasionally supplement with another menial theatre job). Really the only way to be an usher is to know the head usher, or someone the head usher works with (and is a reliable employee). And then you'd only be hired as a sub (at first anyway). It's a difficult job to get if you don't know anyone, because there are friends of people who are already working in the theatre who are also trying to get those jobs. So in this case it really is who you know.

"compared to aea and other theatre unions, it is cheap."

That's a false comparison, since the type of work is extremely different (that's like comparing insurance premiums of a nurse to that of a doctor, where of course one is higher than the other, but when not compared to the other is still expensive).

Can you switch from ushering one show to another show? Like in the Nederlander group, can you switch from like RENT to Hairspray or something or does it not work like that?

Ushering for Broadway IS NOT a "need to know an insider to get the job" type of job.

"Ushering for Broadway IS NOT a "need to know an insider to get the job" type of job."

Ask ANY usher on Broadway how they got their job, and I guarantee you they'll say they got it through someone they knew.

ok so i work on the merchandising team at jersey boys and hairspray. we work harder than the ushers!

merchandise reps. arrive 1.5 hours before the show. so for an 8:00 show, i need to be there at 6:30.

we count the money, copy all of the figures from the previous night's ending totals onto a new sheet for the current day's starting totals.


we "run the line" on numerous deposits every night. then, we pull merchandise from the stock rooms if our counter is low.

restock all the counters, and THEN the house opens. we sell stuff until the show starts. restock on anything else we might need for intermission.

we make deposits at the banks in the area. we process deliveries and do inventory on all stock rooms every sunday.

so after we finish selling merchandise at the end of the show...

we have to count every last piece of merchandise that is in the counter and write all our numbers on a sheet. count all the money and total it in every denomination. see if we are short or over for the performance.

and THEN, we exit through the stagedoor. because by that time... 11:15, all other doors are closed.

not so easy, huh?