ushers gone bad: les miz 3/28 broadhurst theatre

[bandit964]

Posted: 4/9/07 at 9:27pm

ok he day was Wednesday March 28. I was in NYC again seeing the show a second time now that Lea Salonga was in the cast.

#1) the first time i went i sat in like the 6th or 7th row of orchestra and this huge bi^@# was our usher. She was on a major power trip and yelled at just about everyone there. I got yelled at for taking an extra playbill, an older woman was yelled at to get out of the way while she was taking someone to their seats. It was awful. The second time, I got TKTS tickets, and I sat in mezzanine, 3rd row from the top at the far house-left. the same girl was usher. i was in for a treat

#2) late people are not supposed to be admitted for like 14 minutes until the scene change into "at the end of the day" well they didnt follow that rule. i had to stand up twice during the first 10 minutes to let people in. i dont know how people could be late, cause i love getting there early to read my playbill, and talk to whoever im going with but whatever.

#3) again, i was on the far left 3rd row from the top, and the usher, was standing against the wall at the top of the stairs, beside the last row and was talking to a fellow usher for about 5 minutes. they were trying to whisper but i think everyone that side of the balcony could hear. i could have killed them

#4) someone 2 seats next to me was taking pictures, and on one of them the flash went off, and this usher went ballistic. she ran down to our row, put her foot on the back of my seat, and yelled at the person to give her the camera. she refused, and acted stupid. she kept yelling and it took about 30 seconds to finally get the camera from her. and she was yelling right above my head

#5) these same people talked and looked through their macy's bag the whole show

#6) this usher deleted the pictures, and decided to not wait til the end of the show or intermission to give back the camera, she put her foot on the back of my seat again and gave the camera back during the end of the first act during "do you hear the people sing" i think.

this usher needs to be replaced.

DOES ANYONE ELSE HAVE "USHERS GONE WRONG" STORIES?

[rocker05]

Posted: 4/9/07 at 10:00pm

The only bad experience I had with an usher was at The Pirate Queen last wednesday. I was late for the performance and I know that they have to wait for a break in the show to let people go to their seats. I was in Row AA and felt terrible about being late considering I was missing Steph's solo and had to watch it on a TV screen. When my friend and I were let in the usher had a family behind us that was in Row J. The usher (after looking at our stubs) seemed to think that we were in Row J. When we arrived at the other family's row, the usher decided to try and push me into the seat with my friend. I kept telling her "I'm in Row AA!" Finally instead of kindly leading me to my seat, she shoved me out of the way in a nasty manner to seat the other family. What a B**ch!

[BrunetteBombshell]

Posted: 4/9/07 at 10:02pm

When I went to see Wedding Singer there was this older, woman usher there. When we got to the mezz where we were going to be sitting she kind of yelled at us to show her our tickets and said something like "Well, what do you think they're for?!" She seemed to have a really negative mind-set, but it just made my mom laugh.

[Amneris]

Posted: 4/9/07 at 10:04pm

That's Mary (at wedding singer) She came with the theater :) I had the pleasure of seeing her be rude to customers every night and it was quite funny to watch her.. she would sometimes curse at them like CURSE and call them stupid as well. I am suprised she was never fired but since she is 1000 years old.. I guess they keep her. But, she is So rude.

[winston89]

Posted: 4/9/07 at 10:04pm

The ushers at the Broadhurst theatre or any Shubert theatre for that matter are really strict. But, last time I went I was in standing room. There were people that got there late and the were blocking my view and the talking between them and the ushers was annoying. So, I walked to the side and stood there till the At The End of The Day but upon doing so I got yelled at by an usher for not being at my spot. It wasn't like I was blocking anything at all I was leaning against the bar in the back of the orchestra. I tried to explane that I was just standing there till the group got back to their seats because A they were in my standing room spot and they were blocking me from seeing the show.

[CapnHook]

Posted: 4/9/07 at 10:12pm

At AWAKE & SING, I sat in the second to last row in the back of the Mezz. the last row was empty. The usher sat in the row. He fell asleep and snored. Repeatedly. Throughout the show, we woke him up at least six times. He always said "Sorry!" very loudly, too.

[ruthiefan_felix]

Posted: 4/9/07 at 10:23pm

wow.... sounds like Broadway theatres have b*tchy ushers! Every show I've been to in the West End, the ushers have been more than nice! I even chatted with some the guys in the bar at the Adelphi! And btw, strict ushers are different to rude ushers! I mean... the ushers at the Apollo Victoria (Wicked) and Victoria Palace (Billy Elliot) were both VERY strict but they were very polite and professional in the way they handled photographies during shows, latecomers...etc

I personally think you should write a complaint letter to the theatre about this lady usher! She was rude and she sounded like she ruined everyone's evening! She is an usher and she should know better not to have shouted out loud and disturb audiences during the show!!!! And talking 'quietly' with another fellow usher at the auditorium is just unacceptable! I mean... they have like SO much space at the bar, stairway, hall... WHEREEVER!

[dancingthrulife04]

Posted: 4/9/07 at 10:50pm

That's Mary (at wedding singer) She came with the theater :)

Oh, she was so mean.

[morosco]

Posted: 4/9/07 at 11:05pm

NYC theater usher terrorizing the crowd

[mattonstage]

Posted: 4/10/07 at 12:56am

I'm not excusing any of the ushers of your postings, I'm sure they were very rude and deserve some sort of reprimand, but, not being an usher myself, but working in the Broadway houses, imagine having a half and hour to sit 1600 people, getting them all a program that you had to stuff with replacement notices, making sure they are all in the seats they were assigned, making sure no one is taking pictures, making sure they don't have drinks, pointing the way to the bathrooms, bars, etc. There's no excuse for out and out rudeness, but a little tough love is sometimes required. They should behave in a more tactful way, but til you've walked in mile in their shoes...

[neddyfrank2]

Posted: 4/10/07 at 1:28am

Ahh my pals at the Broadhurst. My last visit there the usher took away my playbill! That was a fun experience...

[C is for Company]

Posted: 4/10/07 at 1:32am

Neddy please indulge us! Sing for us Aunt Edith!

[neddyfrank2]

Posted: 4/10/07 at 1:47am

Well when I went to see Les Miz the ushers there were yelling at us that we needed to each be holding our own tickets (so I could not be holding two tickets- one for me and one for the person I am with) in order to enter the theater. Well there was one woman who was there with her husband who had parkinson's disease and the man could not hold his ticket still enough for the usher to scan it. Well that is when the usher had a little conniption fit so I got my ticket scanned and since the ushers were dealing with the HUGE problem behind me I went and grabbed my own playbill. Literally the second I picked up that playbill an usher came to me out of nowhere, grabbed the playbill and said "This is a theater, not your home. Go sit down." I was almoust positive she was about to whip out an M16 and just blow my brains out, but I guess I lucked out!

[LifeofTheParty2]

Posted: 4/10/07 at 1:50am

My friends and I went to see Little Dog Laughed, and one of my friends had some kind of knee issue. There was a HUGE lump on it that just shouldn't be there. Anyway, we were three of about 10 people in our section, so she propped her leg up on the seat next to her. Not her foot, mind you. Pretty much just her knee was on the empty seat. The usher in the section SCREAMED down to her to get her foot down NOW! My friend complied, but the usher kept talking about it way after the fact. Meanwhile, the woman behind us had her feet in the seat below her, and nothing was said to her.

I'm assistant house manager at an Off-Broadway theatre, so I can oly imagine how annoying it must be in a much larger setting. However, it's still their job. They are ushers, that's what they do. They have presumably been in theatre for years, because most of them are in the union. There is no need to be extra rude to anyone, especially when they aren't even really doing anything on purpose to bother you. I get a little more terse with the patrons who choose to yell at me, or touch me, or whatever. But there's no need to be that much of a nightmare.

[chinkie azn jai]

Posted: 4/10/07 at 1:56am

I too have noticed that ushers are very strict when pople take Playbills that were not handed to them. At Sweeney Todd, I saw one person grap a playbill from a big stack off to the side and then an usher started yelling at him to put that back where he found it. Guess it has something to do with organization...?

[C is for Company]

Posted: 4/10/07 at 1:59am

Oh my! Well sounds like the Broadhurst really DOES earn it's reputation as the most abusive ushers currently in town for the second season running! Might I refresh everyones' memories? (much to your pleasure)

https://forum.broadwayworld.com/readmessage.cfm?thread=903692#2325297

[WickedOne2]

Posted: 4/10/07 at 2:08am

I became extremely irritated with an usher when I saw Jersey Boys for the third time in early September. JLY was out sick and Michael was on as Frankie. My mom and I were front row center of the mezzanine and a couple next to us overheard me say that I had seen JLY twice before and this was my first time seeing Michael. The woman asked who I like better and I said although Michael was great, I preferred JLY. Someone else chimed in "I like Michael" to which a nosy female usher said "Come November the role is his" and I replied "John has not announced whether he will extend or leave." The usher said "John is out, he has a ripped larynx." I knew she was full of s**t and was really pissed she was spreading the rumors.

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 4/10/07 at 2:11am

"At AWAKE & SING, I sat in the second to last row in the back of the Mezz. the last row was empty. The usher sat in the row. He fell asleep and snored. Repeatedly. Throughout the show, we woke him up at least six times. He always said "Sorry!" very loudly, too."

The EXACT thing happened to me in the EXACT same theatre. It's happened a few times I was there.


People are rude to me all the time, but I speak up. Do any of you speak up to any of these rude people or rude ushers? I find a lot of times that if I speak up, they realize that they're being obnoxious and really change their behavior. Don't take crap from anyone.

If an usher grabbed my hand, ripped my playbill out of it, and yelled at me to "Go sit down" for absolutely no reason, I would have her damn head. Seriously.

Grow some balls, people!


Actually, this has nothing to do with theatre or ushering, but someone was quite rude to me today - so I tracked down the corporate manager in Phoenix, Arizona and gave her an earful.

It works. Speak up.

[MaronaDavies]

Posted: 4/10/07 at 2:29am

The ushers at the Broadhurst do seem a bit out of hand!

As far as the Playbills, I've never understood why people feel the need to grab their own, or try to take them right out of the usher's hands. The usher's usually carrying a whole big stack of Playbills, she or he is obviously going to give you one when you get to your seat. If they're busy, well, give them a second to finish what they're doing so they can help you. The extra minute isn't going to kill you. Would you walk into a fancy restaurant and grab a menu from the maitre'd's desk?!

It's a mixed bag, I guess. Ushers are rude to the patrons; the patrons are rude to the ushers. No love lost on either side, I'm sure.

[FutureAladdinOnB'Way]

Posted: 4/10/07 at 2:35am

Good god these are some B*tchy ushers! I've only had problems with the stage managers being rude, but I never really thought the ushers could be this rude....

[COOOOLkid]

Posted: 4/10/07 at 2:42am

"It's a mixed bag, I guess. Ushers are rude to the patrons; the patrons are rude to the ushers. No love lost on either side, I'm sure. "

How does that make sense? Does that mean that waiters and waitresses can be rude to the customers since the customers are being rude? Theatre patrons pay money. Ushers get paid. So how does that argument make sense?

[i_heart_roger_bart]

Posted: 4/10/07 at 2:51am

You know, I'm a person who works in customer service upwards of sixty hours a week. If I had to deal with pretentious patrons eight shows a week, I would simply go mad. It's a hard job. And you know what, just cause they didn't fluff the damn cushion of your front row center seat doesn't mean they're rude. Every usher I've ever encountered has been wonderful and frankly, they deserve a little more respect and a whole hell of a lot more credit than you give them.

[MaronaDavies]

Posted: 4/10/07 at 2:52am

CoolKid, I wasn't saying that it was right for the ushers to be rude. It isn't. They're there to do a job, not to be nasty.

But by the same token, the audience doesn't have the right to abuse the staff or be rude to them. And a lot of the time, patrons really are openly abusive to the ushers, they don't listen, etc.

It works both ways. That's all I was saying.
Updated On: 4/10/07 at 02:52 AM

[neddyfrank2]

Posted: 4/10/07 at 2:57am

Munk- I did say something and I got my playbill back!

[FutureAladdinOnB'Way]

Posted: 4/10/07 at 3:04am

I would have told the usher " No, YOU go sit down and give me my d*mn Playbill!" haha