House Manager Appreciation Week!

Happy House Manager Appreciation Week 2013! And as your house manager blogger, I feel that House Managers definitely deserve your appreciation – here’s just a short list of all the work we do!

• I guarantee you – House Managers are the first to arrive and the last people to leave the theatre.
• We multi-task. Last week, I took over 1200 tickets for a Black Friday-sized crowd coming at me in two different lines, all impatient to get to their seats! Meanwhile, I’m watching out for wheelchairs that would need to use the lift, anyone who might ask for a hearing aid and for any ushers with a confused look on their face.
• I also work with the ushers, telling and teaching them what to do. Unless they don’t show up – then I have to do their job too. It happens more often than you think!
• We know directions. If asked, we can tell you the nearest available exits, where the bathroom/water fountain/coat room/restaurant is and what is the quickest way out of the theatre and to your car. Just ask.
• We are medically-trained! And if there was ever an evacuation, who do you think is responsible for the audience and theatre? 

• Did I mention that we are your cleaning crew? Before and after every show, I’m on my knees checking for trash, playbills and lost items. The things I find are incredible (my last show, I found a book, a scarf, $20 plus some change, a few water bottles, a Tim Hortons coffee and then four armfuls of trash).
• We deal directly with the audience. We are there helping people find their seats, making sure that they are happy with the temperature, that they have a playbill and are generally satisfied. We try to keep that half-hour before show go as smoothly as possible so the show can start on-time!
• We also deal directly with those BAD audience members. We aren’t afraid to be the bad guy: we’ll tell you that no photography/video is allowed and we’ll make sure that you put your phone away. No food or drinks in the theatre. And if you arrive late to the theatre, we are the ones who has the power to quietly sneak you in or shut the door and turn you away. I am not afraid to whip out a program with the theatre’s policy on late-seating to show you!
• Since we are the first (and last) people that the audience sees, we try to look nice. While I’m running around making sure that we have enough programs stuffed and also operating the wheelchair lift, I’m doing all of this in heels.

Like I said – this is a short list! House Managers deserve your appreciation and I am happy (and very appreciative!) to be a House Manager myself.