What's your best or worst experiences with ushers

[dreamz]

I was reading the board about the usher at Once and though this would make a good discussion.

[yankeefan7]

Never had anything special good or bad reagarding usher at Broadway show. They all have done their jobs by showing me a seat and handing me a Playbill.

[CockeyedOptimist2]

Had an excellent usher at Nice Work last night up in the mezzanine. She was efficient, but friendly and was able to control and organize a very crowded mezz with a confusing layout perfectly. At intermission, she headed for the ladies' restroom and worked her magic there, getting the long line in and out in a timely fashion. I was very impressed, though I didn't have much direct contact with her.

[broadwaydevil]

Apart from the experience I described in the ONCE thread, my recent experiences with ushers have all been pleasant. To me, an usher that shows you to your seat, hands you a playbill, makes sure no one is taking pictures/being disruptive, and is not obnoxious during the show (ie. talking or pacing back and forth) is a good usher.

The usher at the Jacobs may seriously be the usher from hell though. Other than that, the ushers at the Marquis in the mezzanine were fine but would constantly use this access door on the side that would slam loudly throughout the show. The only experience besides the one at ONCE that I can recall an usher being truly terrible was back at the Neil Simon early on in the HAIRSPRAY run when some crazed usher literally threw Playbills at people and couldn't be bothered to help anyone find their seats.

[Blockhead24]

Marjorie at the Booth is the best usher on Broadway.

[broadwaydevil]

^Is she the awesome black lady who's so nice, truly loves theatre and her job but doesn't put up with any bullsh*t or complete stupidity? If so, I know exactly who you're talking about and she's awesome!

[Blockhead24]

She is!

[broadwaydevil]

Ahh, yes! Love her!!

[quizking101]

I was at press night for GHOST (although I didn't know until the incident of the malfunction). There was a LOVELY Spanish/Filipino (it kills me that I dont remember) usherette who I had a nice long conversation with about newer shows (she worked Newsies a couple times and Had a blast, and was eager to see EVITA). She also took no prisoners with a*holes who took pictures of the curtain and the theatre's decor

She. may have been the best usher Ive ever encountered.

[thommg]

Went to see Stickfly at the Cort. I was seated in the balcony and there was an Indian woman ushering up there. She was quite pleasant. We had a chat about various shows playing and, since the balcony was almost empty, she invited us to fill in some lower rows. At intermission, someone complained to her about the women seated behind her who talked through the show. The usher went down and greeted them warmly then had a brief discussion with them about how loud they were talking during the show and that others around them were having a hard time concentrating, etc. In a matter of minutes she was able to get the women to see her point, agree not to talk during the show and also enjoyed a laugh with them. So deftly handled with no one angry or insulted. I was mightly impressed.

[Jane2]

Great thread! I can remember back when going to the theater included an automatic tip for the usher. We would go inside the theater with a dollar bill in hand, and although the usher simply walked us down the aisle and handed us a playbill, we handed her the bill. I'm surprised that it still happens on occasion. For instance, patrons have given us $5's and sometimes even $20's because they liked our services. of course, it's always been from older folk, but appreciated very much.

I had an unfortunate incident once when going to see Behanding in Spokane, the usher led me to wrong row and didn't give me a Playbill because he assumed I was with the party in front of me, but that was a minor infraction. Every other experience has been fine for me!

[Ejm105989]

Chatted with this nice usher during the previews of Ghost. All the playbills were stuffed w/ complementary Ghost themed postcards and she was nice enough to give me a playbill with all 4 postcards (usually they only put one in)

[EponineAmneris]

The ushers The Marquis when I saw FOLLIES were all amazing. Fun, kind and they even went out of their way to help a handicapped woman get a better seat.

The ushers at The Majestic/PHANTOM however...

[LizzieCurry]

The ushers at the Eugene O'Neill are really cranky.

[kevin5]

I miss the ushers that use to wear the black gowns and large white bibs. They all seemed to be proficient at their jobs. The ushers I have experienced now leave alot to be desired. Makes me feel more like i am at a ballgame instead of the theater. The WORST was a few weeks ago at other desert cities the ushers were actually making so much noise during the performance that a patron had to go tell them to be quiet, unbelievable.
I like the ones that scream throughout the house before the show starts about turning off cell phones. In the last few shows the ushers at the belasco and the walter kerr were good.

[wexy]

i don't remember. to be that means they are good.

[egnarotsew]

We had the nicest usher last Saturday at One Man, Two Guvnors. My mother is diabetic and right before the show was about to start her pump notified her that her sugar level was low. She needed to test her blood and was trying to do it as discreetly as possible. Our usher noticed her struggling (the lights were on but it was hard for her to read the screen) so he came over and shone his flashlight on her meter. Even before this we discussing how pleasant he was.

[redmustang]

Years ago, a friend and I were attending a sold-out Amy's View with Judi Dench and were seated about 8 rows up in the rear mezz. At about 5 minutes till curtain, an usher approached with another couple and asked to see my tickets. She looked from my tickets to the others' tickets several times trying to discern the discrepancy. Finally, she told me: "Sir, your tickets were for last night." I couldn't believe I had made such an error and was quite embarrassed. The usher told us to find the theatre manager. She said something like: "He'll be standing in the lobby with a red bow-tie on." We rushed down, found him, explained the situation, and were given two folding chairs that were placed on the walkway between front and rear mezz. This all took about 15 min. and they held the curtain. I could have kissed that usher for being so helpful during a trying moment.