Master of the House

At 6:30 p.m., 90 minutes to showtime, they file into the Auditorium. Already dressed in costume, they prepare for the impending show. They gather props and feverishly work to perfect the last pieces of the puzzle that will be their performance. As the clock counts down, the directors call the players together to give a pep talk and last-minute directions. \nThe group moves into the theater. Performers walk to their marks. Finally, the announcement is made: this is zero hour, showtime. Everyone is tense with excitement.\nAt about 7:30 p.m., the Auditorium doors open, and patrons file inside. Although the performance of Les Miserables doesn't begin for another half hour, the IU Auditorium ushers have taken the stage. Although the performers will receive the applause at the end of the night, the volunteer ushers also have completed another evening of performing. They're the stars when it come to directing and interacting with patrons to ensure the night at the theater is a good one. \n"(The ushers) do much more than show people to their seats," says Melissa McReynolds, house manager at the Auditorium. "They ensure that people have the enjoyable experience they have expected since the moment they bought a ticket."\nMy decision to become an usher is directly related to my inabilities as a singer and actress. My last successful theatrical performance was as a witch in the second grade. Although I was personally quite proud of myself, my third grade teacher destroyed by bravado by relegating me to cutting the window holes out of the fake house for our yearly play. In high school, I wished for the courage to try out for the part of Yente in "Fiddler on the Roof." Unfortunately that courage never surfaced. Despite all of this, I love going to the theater as an audience member. \nDuring Les Miserables' weeklong run in November at the Auditorium, many of the more than 300 students who are volunteer ushers found themselves working two, three or even four shows. Each night, I and the other ushers reported early, greeted guests and escorted them to the correct seats. After the show starts, ushers must locate patrons arriving late and delay them until they can inconspicuously enter the dark theater without interrupting the performance. Then we climb long flights of cement stairs up to the balcony doors. Finally, I can sit back and enjoy the show. \n"What we do on this side of the stage is just as important as what happens on the other side," McReynolds says. "That is why we require all ushers to attend training sessions and then, because every show is unique, to arrive 90 minutes early to be briefed on the particular aspects of each show."\nDespite missing the beginning, watching the shows for free is the main reason many ushers donate their time. Occasionally, the ushers also get a sneak preview. \nWhile the ticket-holders for the opening night of Les Miserables were still at home preparing, the ushers were already gathered in the orchestra section. We sat in the handicapped accessible row in the back of the theater watching the cast warm up. Still dressed in sweats or jeans, the actors and actresses were rewarded with applause from the group. By stretching forward in my chair, I could also hear the director give his pep talk to the actors.\n"It's the cheap way to be a theater buff," says freshman Stephanie Ulrich as she stuffed inserts into piles of programs before the opening night performance.\nAt another table, sophomore Nina Onesti and freshman Beth Ehrsam agree an usher's work pays off.\n"It's nice to hear them warm up. You kind of feel like you get a sneak peek," Onesti says. "You get to see the cast without their costumes or makeup."\n"It gives you a look at the personal side of the actors," Ehrsam says. "You get let onto their personalities. You see them without the mask."\nEnjoying a variety of personalities off-stage is another plus for the ushers. As sophomore Victor Neff sits in the foyer stacking programs, he said meeting interesting people was the reason he got involved.\n"You get to hang out with other IU students, and I enjoy that," Neff says. "When we all meet here for the briefing, I get to see friends and meet new people."\nEhrsam says being an usher lets the students play a small part of theater experience.\n"I seat people for 20 minutes, and then I see the show for free," Ehrsam says. "I should be paying them."\nMy sentiments exactly.