ushers gone bad: les miz 3/28 broadhurst theatre- Page 2

[MaronaDavies]

Posted: 4/10/07 at 3:15am

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

See, this proves my point. You don't have the right to be a jerk to them. Like it or not, when you're in the theatre, the house staff is in control. Not you. If they tell you to sit down, you should do it.

[EugLoven]

Posted: 4/10/07 at 3:16am

Any of you guys (or other members) work as house ushers at a theatre now or in the past? Just wondering.

[MaronaDavies]

Posted: 4/10/07 at 3:17am

No, but I've worked in another service industry where I've had to deal with lots and lots of snarky customers on a regular basis. So I do sympathize with what the ushers go through.

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 4/10/07 at 3:40am

Almost every job I've ever had has been assisting, helping, or serving people.

From waitoring to sales to customer service to bartending, etc. etc. (you name it, I've done it) - I was ALWAYS more than pleasant. I do respect the ushers, but when some people are just rude for no reason, they should be called out on it.

Just because they're in a tough field doesn't mean they're allowed to behave like skanks. Being stern about cameras is one thing. Standing in the back of the theatre and talking is QUITE another.

[bwaygal1]

Posted: 4/10/07 at 8:41am

I must say that I've not been to the Broadhurst in ages, so I can't speak from the jilted audience member perspective.

I have worked in house management and had any of my ushers behaved the way the ones I've heard described here have, I'd have gotten rid of them.

That said, I've got good things to say about recent experiences. The Kerr has some of the loveliest ushers I've ever encountered (even if one put someone in my seat by accident. That was resolved quickly and easily. I had my usual front row center orchestra seat, but someone was in that seat when I got there. The person's friend went and got an usher, who explained to the patron in my seat that they were in first row mezzanine. So, my seat was quickly obtained without any problems.) (Needless to say, from the countless times I've been at the Kerr, the ushers know me.)

[Amneris]

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

I was an usher off bway / at tom sawyer on bway for a LITTLE bit when I was 17.. I was always kind to people. There is no excuse to treat patrons bad. Especially when they pay so much to see the show.

[Anakela]

Posted: 4/10/07 at 12:19pm

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.

Serious word to this! I've never been a theatre usher, but one of my many p.a. stints from back in the day involved having to seat the audience of the (tv) show that I was working on.

I once had a guy refuse to sit where I directed him, because he wanted to sit in the 'better' section (better = the taped off VIP rows, natch), and so he was going to stand in the middle of the stairs and block my way of being able to work, and anyone else from being able to sit, until I gave him a seat where he wanted.

And so this escalated to the point that I needed to call over the lot security, let them know that this ass was preventing me from doing my job, and refusing to follow my instructions, and he could either sit or leave, I didn't care, but I just needed him the hell out of my way.

And so maybe some theatre ushers are rude, maybe not, but I have been in a majority of the Broadway theatres, and I can barely remember most of the ushers- my goal as an audience member is to not become part of some usher's story, where years from now she's going "...and then there was this one time that I had to call security on someone, cause he was acting like a 4 year old and decided he was going to 'get his way' by blocking the aisles and refusing to let me do my job..." and telling the story all over the internets. :)

[jordangirl]

Posted: 4/10/07 at 12:32pm

My parents are ushers at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center in Nashville, and the stories I hear from them about patrons... Most people are fine, but during things like "Dora" or "The Wiggles" and other children's shows, the stories about how the parents behave is hellacious.

They had some interesting stories about TLK's run there too. Including a couple who came from...I forget where...but they had a ticket for a performance in the show's previous location that they had not been able to get to and they just figured they could come to Nashville and use the ticket there. Insane! But they are never rude to anyone. My dad's worked in customer service before as a part-time thing...he took tickets at Opryland theme park when it existed, and one time a woman who was rather large insisted she could use the turnstile and she got stuck. So he had to stand there for the 30 minutes it took to get someone from maintenance to come and take the turnstile apart ~ all the time keeping a straight face while the woman's husband laughed at her and said "I told you so." (No, he wasn't small either, but he was taller so he didn't get stuck.)

When my friend and I saw "Spamalot" in SRO, we were nothing but nice to the usher while the three people next to us were horrendous ~ even sitting down in the empty seats in front of us the MOMENT the house lights went down. Sure enough, at the first seating opportunity, the correct occupants of the seats appeared ~ they had been checking their coats ~ and the three standers were extremely rude not only to the usher when she asked them to move, but the ticket holders as well. Within about 30 minutes, she told us we could go down front where there were some empty seats. But the three rude ones got the pleasure of standing the entire show. It can pay to be nice to your usher too! :)

Updated On: 4/10/07 at 12:32 PM

[Marianne]

Posted: 4/10/07 at 1:01pm

Yeah, the ushers at the Broadhurst are really strict. Most of my bad experiences were when I was sitting in the back of the mezzanine and the ushers spent the first fifteen minutes of the show talking about when they got to leave, or hung out in the aisle next to my seat the whole show, or walked up and down the aisles in the middle of the performance peering down each row for people with video cameras.

On the other hand, I've had mostly good experiences on the orchestra level. There are one or two guys there who are obviously having fun with their jobs, one guy was astoundingly polite with my friend over a suspected breach of the rules, and they seemed to be doing a good job considering how frazzled everyone was. I just really don't like having them breathing down my neck when I'm in the mezzanine.

[Magdalene]

Posted: 4/10/07 at 1:03pm

I volunteered as an usher for ten years at two local theaters, and while some of the other ushers could have used an attitude adjustment (we were all volunteers, unless we were scheduled to floor manage, and then we received the princely sum of $20 per show), I found that patrons (not all, of course), percentage wise, were usually worse than the ushers.

[devonian.t]

Posted: 4/10/07 at 1:14pm

In London, many ushers are current students at the drama schools. As a result they are a) interested and b) young and happy to get experience in a professional house.

I am always surprised how much older ushers are generally on Broadway, (and I'm not being ageist, just observing the relative ages). I've always been treated very nicely in Broadway houses. I remember seeing Wicked early on in the run and, having paid top price, being somewhere close to Central Park(!!!) The lovely usher said "oh you are lucky, these are the best seats". Bless her- it didn't fool anyone, but it was a nice gesture.

[jordangirl]

Posted: 4/10/07 at 1:24pm

I've always had great experiences with the ushers here. Guess I've been lucky. I do love how the ushers at the Gershwin all say "Congratulations!" when you show them a lotto ticket. That's the only house where that's consistently happened to me. The other's they're usually like "Yeah, see the person down front for your playbill."

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 4/10/07 at 1:33pm

I'm not talking about the ushers getting angry when patrons act like animals.

I'm talking about just plain bad moods or attitude problems.

[Fosse76]

Posted: 4/10/07 at 1:36pm

"I am always surprised how much older ushers are generally on Broadway, (and I'm not being ageist, just observing the relative ages)."

Well, this is one of the reasons why it is so difficult to get a job as an usher on Broadway. A lot of the ushers have been there since, literally, the so-called Golden Age of Broadway. Physically, it's an easy job. After 50+ years of seeing audiences deteriorate, let's see how you would react to today's crowd compared to even 20 years ago.

[sweeedboy]

Posted: 4/10/07 at 2:00pm

I find it funny that some say the patrons are rude to the ushers so that gives the ushers the right to be rude to the patrons! The difference is that the ushers are performing a job (and getting paid for it). They represent the theater and the show they work for. As a result they should be cordial even when someone is rude to them. Now i'm not saying there they should just take rude patrons lying down, but uncivilized patrons can be handled without stooping to their infantile behavior.

As someone who spent quite a few years in the rhelm of customer service dealing with upwards of 3000 people per day I find it imperative that one constatly bring a helpful attitude (and i dealt with some real b**ches). There is no excuse to be absolutely rude to a customer.

Kill 'em with kindness...it works everytime

[worrell4077]

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

"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."

Well, somebody was wrong, not about John's ripped larynx or acid reflux, but about Michael getting the role in November.

It didn't happen to me, but it kinda happened to my mom and she was telling me about it. The last time we saw Jersey Boys, it was my sister's birthday and she wanted to go see it for her birthday and we got matinee tickets. Now, the three of us each arrived at our seats separetely and our mom was the last one to show up, and when she did, she was saying that the usher gave her a dirty look, probably because of the recent scalpings and she probably thought my mom bought a scalped ticket. It's not exactly a B****** thing, but it was still kinda of rude that she did that to my mom, when there was a couple in the row ahead of us that clearly bought scalped tickets.

[ozone20]

Posted: 4/10/07 at 3:49pm

can i just tell u that i would light a firecrakcer up one of these rude usher's u know what. are u kidding? i mean for those of u who have had these experiences i'd like to ask why did u tolerate such rudeness? no way.
Updated On: 4/10/07 at 03:49 PM

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 4/10/07 at 3:57pm

"YOU"

not

"u"

!!!!!!!!

[ozone20]

Posted: 4/10/07 at 4:05pm

get over it LEZZIE.

[wonderfulwizard11]

Posted: 4/10/07 at 4:09pm

^Wow, what wit you have.

[Cape Twirl of Doom]

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

Try some capital letters once in a while.

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 4/10/07 at 4:17pm

I miss fengshuihellnyc.

Updated On: 4/10/07 at 04:17 PM

[Anakela]

Posted: 4/10/07 at 5:17pm

I do love how the ushers at the Gershwin all say "Congratulations!" when you show them a lotto ticket. That's the only house where that's consistently happened to me.

Funny, I never remember hearing/not hearing a congratulations at Wicked, but I *always* hear one when I show Golden ushers my lotto tix after winning Avenue Q lotto- I love those ushers.

[jordangirl]

Posted: 4/10/07 at 5:25pm

It's happened every time I've won Wicked. Haven't ever been one of the lucky 6 (or so) at Avenue Q *pouts*

[ClumsyDude15]

Posted: 4/10/07 at 5:39pm

My aunt to use to work at the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia and the stories she would tell were ranged from the crazy to the insane.

Examples:

A man at a Wings game [The lacross team for The Philadelphia area] screamed curse words at her and poured his beer all over her. She told me she wanted to castrate the bastard, but kept her cool.

A women while at a Cher concert had a dog in her purse [yes, the Paris Hilton type doggie.] She told me all her fellow employees laughed and didn't believe it.

So, I guess, thats sort of like being an usher. My aunt has talked to several ushers at different shows we have gone to. I know she had a nice converstation with a women at Spamalot and a women at Wicked.

Updated On: 4/10/07 at 05:39 PM