Broadway / Off-Broadway Ushering: The Quickest Customer Service Job Ever

During the recent stage hand strike on Broadway, off-Broadway theatre houses were packed. Tourists coming to New York to see "Mama Mia" compromised and saw "My Mother's Italian, my Father's Jewish and I'm in therapy" or "I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change", two plays currently seen at the off-Broadway venue The Westside Theatre. Located at West 43rd between 9th and 10th Avenues, it's within the vicinity of Broadway but on a much smaller scale. "Off-Broadway theatre is less expensive than Broadway, more diverse, less amplified" according to Off-Broadway.Com Although tourists were disappointed, at least they saved money!

The Westside Theatre's two houses each seat around 250 patrons. Before the strike, both houses reported half-capacity attendances. As mentioned earlier, the strike upped those numbers to around full-capacity for each show. The job of the usher is to seat each patron, make accomodations such as hearing devices if necessary, and remind patrons to turn off their cell phones. For the most part, things move smoothly, but there are always cases where these procedures, and the patrons, become problematic.

Sold-out shows mean there isn't an empty seat to put your jacket on for most people. To an usher, it means assuring patrons that although they are not completely satisfied with their seat, they cannot change it. A person should have an idea that when they purchase a ticket that says "Row A" that they are going to be in the first row. In most cases, they even chose their seats, so if someone is wondering why they're all the way in the back, they should have remembered that the letter P comes towards the end of the alphabet. Another problem with sold-out shows is that it increases the chance that people will arrive late for the performance. As is the case with concerts and ballgames, they have a right to the seats they paid for....no matter how late they are. Theatregoers become upset with the ushers because they have to communicate with the latecomers regarding their seats.

Not as if being upset or curt with theatre ushers is anything new. Although we greet each and every person that walks in with a ticket with a "Hi" or the ever-popular "How are you?" it's only half the time that ticketholders respond with anything. Another usher once lamented that most of the patrons view us as peons, as if we don't possess marketable qualities. On the contrary, most ushers have full-time jobs or are students, and ushering is something part-time for a few extra dollars in the pocket. One of the ushers at Westside is a playwright and went to Edinburgh for an arts festival she was taking part in.

One of the most memorable shows I ushered happened in the middle of a heat wave last summer. Seated at the back near the other usher, an elderly woman from a middle aisle walked over to me with concern about a woman in her row who appeared sick. I took her outside into the lobby to speak with my manager, who walked into the theatre and helped the sick woman out of the row. With the elderly woman standing next to me we watched as the sick woman soiled herself through her dress and onto the carpeting. My manager seated her at the back and had to put on gloves to clean up the mess in the aisle. The smell had spread, and like the parting of the Red Sea half of the patrons changed their seats to avoid the odor. Looking back, I wonder how different things would have been if it were a sold-out show. Can you imagine a group of tourists explaining to their friends back home that they weren't able to see a Broadway show but did manage to witness a scene straight out of a Depends commercial. On the plus side, the actor in the one-man show that is "My Mother's Italian, my Father's Jewish, and I'm in Therapy" managed to continue his monologue without missing a beat, and people were still able to enjoy him.

Next time you find yourself in New York and attend a show, whether it's Broadway or off-Broadway, be kind to the people that look at your ticket. Although kindness is a part of customer service, it's also appreciated in return.