USHERING

 

          When I was working, I always wanted to volunteer at the 5^th Avenue or the Paramount. I knew people who did, but whenever I checked into the possibility, the theaters didn’t need any more volunteers.

          I now don’t remember quite how my friend and I decided we would volunteer. I also don’t remember which one of us took the ticket by the stub and looked into the possibility. Doesn’t really matter.

          We began volunteering at the Village Theater in Everett the beginning of 2022. Then, we became volunteers at the 5^th Avenue. We both really like it and we’ve seen some amazing shows as a result without a cash outlay. I believe we are going to do it again for the 2023-2024 season.

          We take turns driving. For Everett, we have to drive up I-5, but for the 5^th Avenue, we drive to Northgate and take the train. I think the volunteer coordinators for both places began to wonder if we could tell time. For some reason, we were always late to Everett. For Seattle, somehow, we managed to stay on the train several stops past University Street which is where we wanted to debark. Good thing the planners leave a cushion for us late arrivals. Eventually, though, we finally got our shit together and began arriving on time.

          As ushers, we are the keepers of the doors. We keep attendees from going into the venue until the proper time arrives. There is wine, soda, maybe beer, cookies and other eatables available during the wait time for the early birds. Once the doors are opened, we greet the attendees, “Good afternoon.; Enjoy the Show.; Can I help you find your seat?; and give them a program. Once it’s time for the show to begin, we close the doors and find our allotted places from which we can watch the show. We’ve usually been told about the intermission and end, so we can be ready to jump up and open the doors. When the show’s over, we thank people for coming and tell them we hope they enjoyed the show.

          Then, it’s time to clean up after the show goers. We go row-by-row to pick up cups, bottles, programs and other detritus. We’re provided with gloves for this job, but it’s amazing just how little is actually left behind by the folks filling those seats.

          My favorite job is greeting and scanning the tickets of people coming through the doors. I’ve only done that once, but I’m hoping I can request that position this year. Once you get in the groove, it’s quite possible to catch the fact that some folks just don’t look at their tickets or maybe their calendars. The one time I did the doors, I had two sets of people who showed up on the wrong day…one was for the week before and the other for the week after. Staff take these folks under their wings and try to make arrangements so they can attend that particular show. Just depends on whether there are seats available.

          I know we tried to become ushers at the Paramount; however, it’s a whole separate system and those volunteers also work other locations, i.e., Seattle Rep, Moore, Neptune, ACT. We were unsuccessful, but I now know someone who has been doing it for years. She told me they definitely need volunteers, so I’m going to reach out to the volunteer coordinator and use my friend’s name. Perhaps that will get us in the door and we can stretch our volunteer wings.

          The 5^th Avenue will be showing “The Little Mermaid,” “Cambodian Rock Band,” “Irving Berlin’s White Christmas,” “Something’s Afoot,” “Spring Awakening,” and “Clue.” We haven’t yet been asked to sign up for shifts at the Village Theater, but I’m sure we’ll do that as well. Now, if we can just get on the volunteer list for the Paramount et al., we’ll have even more events to work and enjoy.