House Managers
carried out these responsibilities and survived.
GENERAL DESCRIPTION
Your responsibility is to provide a pleasant experience for our customers in the lobby and in the auditorium.
• an attractive lobby
• showing them to appropriate seating and providing a printed program
• insuring clean washrooms
• assistance with various emergencies
• refreshments
GETTING STARTED
• determine how many ushers will be needed at each performance
(we do not use reserved seating, therefore we do not need to show people to a specific seat)
> start early to recruit competent ushers from our list of members and friends, from families
of performers, from among your own friends
> keep an organized chart of date, names, and phone numbers
• start early to arrange someone to provide refreshments at intermission (and before the show?)
they do the work and provide the food, they make the profit
check on some questions with your Production manager
> if at PBP, ask Karen Moe if we need to approach their year-round contractor first
> if at BSU, ask Kay Robinson if the ‘Theater Unlimited’ student group wants to do it
> church youth groups, girl scouts, school drama clubs are potential sponsors
• consult with Production Manager as to what decorations are appropriate and/or available
make arrangements with appropriate people to accomplish this decoration
THINGS TO FIND OUT
• appropriate ways and facilities to deal with first aid or other emergencies
> have a cell phone if an installed phone is not easily available
• appropriate greeting and seating of wheelchair-bound, deaf, and other special customers
(at BSU, check out the wheelchair route to enter the elevator, it is inconvenient)
• consult with Stage Manager to determine relationships between the two of you concerning:
> when to open and close the ‘house’ (the auditorium space)
> seating late-comers
> length of intermission
BEFORE EACH SHOW
• call ushers a day beforehand as a reminder, be prepared to quickly locate substitutes
• check washrooms for cleanliness and for adequate supplies (towels, tissue, cups if at PBP)
• have ushers arrive one full hour before ‘curtain time’ for instructions and familiarization
> arrange who is to handle signaling customers that intermission is about to end
> arrange who will guard doors to prevent food or drink from entering the auditorium
• check with providers of refreshments as to satisfactory arrangements
SERVING THE CUSTOMERS
• ushers control the auditorium doors, take tickets (save, then give to Box office), hand out
printed programs, stop unwanted traffic
• IF almost all seats are sold, ushers must help customers locate empty seats.
(perhaps asking people already seated to move sideways to ‘bunch-up’ empty seats)
• at intermission, monitor the lines at the washrooms, and consult with Stage Manager as to when
to close the house and begin the second act
• guard against anyone carrying food or drink into the auditorium (this isn’t a movie theater)
AFTER EACH SHOW
• ushers patrol the aisles to pick-up trash, & search for lost-and-found items (take to box office)
• empty waste baskets in lobby and washrooms (if it is our task)
• check-up on tomorrow’s supply of printed programs
Call ushers to thank them.