There are plenty of jobs to try in Concord – many dirty and difficult ones and some that are just plain fun.
For this installment of Beyond the Cubicle, we decided to take it easy on ourselves for a change by trying one of the “fun” jobs – working as an usher at the Capitol Center for the Arts during a big show.
We put “fun” in quotations there because although this was certainly not a dirty job, it wasn’t exactly a walk in the park, either.
Marketing Manager Lynne Sabean set me up in several different stations throughout the night in order for me to really get the full experience. After all, most ushers – all of whom are volunteers, by the way – will fill multiple roles on a given night.
Last Thursday night promised to be a busy one – the 20th anniversary tour of the Broadway classic Rent was in town as part of its national tour. So in other words, this show was always going to be a very big deal.
And as it turns out, it was – the place was sold out and packed with well-dressed patrons.
My first assignment was working behind the glass at the box office. I sat down at the will-call booth, where I had the duty of asking people for their IDs, looking for that name in a Rolodex and giving them their tickets. This wasn’t exactly a grueling task – I nailed this assignment with ease.
Up next was scanning tickets. Back in the day, people stood at the doors and tore stubs off tickets, likely developing wrist and arm injuries in the process. In today’s high-tech world – which the Victorian-era theater is very much a part of – it’s all done on smart phones.
All I had to do for this job was take tickets and scan their QR codes under the cell phone, which was set up with a program that scans the code and then displays the name of the buyer and where the seats are. Not the most physically demanding thing in the world, but it did require patience, as the app tended to get a little bogged down when faced with high volume.
Before long, I had gotten into a rhythm and people were filling up the lobby area. Soon, I was told that we were at capacity until the doors to the actual theater opened up, so this signaled the end of my ticket-scanning shift.
My final assignment – or set of assignments – would take place inside the theater, where all the magic happens.
I was to shadow Bruce Banks, who had been volunteering as an usher for about eight years. Banks’s job was to stand at the top of the stairs as people entered the theater and direct them to their seats.
Since I had no idea how the seats were laid out, Banks gave me the super-quick version: even numbers here, odd numbers on the opposite side and the hundreds in the middle.
This made for some pretty vague directions on my part: “Yeah, just head down that way and someone will help you find your seat,” became my go-to line.
After a few minutes, the crowd really picked up and briefly overwhelmed both Banks and myself. He, being the pro that he is, managed to keep control and keep the line moving.
Meanwhile, not knowing exactly what I should do, I grabbed a handful of programs off the ledge behind me and started handing them out. It felt important at the time, and the patrons were actually pretty delighted to receive them as they made their way to their seats (which, given the directions I supplied, probably took a little while).
At the end of the night, I was exhausted – and I got out of there before the show even started.
Here’s the take-away: Next time you go to a show at the Cap Center, make sure you thank your usher for all of the hard work they do.
