As an Usher you’re consigned to the fact
that your stage is not the actual stage, but the foyers, bars and corridors
surrounding the auditorium. You may be able to hit every note of ‘Defying
Gravity’ from Wicked, know the
choreography of A Chorus Line inside
out, and have practiced dying on a barricade (the back of a sofa) at home for
when the call comes to join the cast of Les
Misérables, but that doesn’t matter.
(I may not be stagey but I know how to find the toilets, the difference between a programme and a playbill and where the spoon is located in an interval ice cream…)
Once you don the uniform and fix your five-star smile everything stagey is left behind and your focus is diverted to selling programmes and directing patrons to the toilets. Ambitions of taking to the real stage are held under lock and key until your stock is sold and the house is empty. It’s therefore utterly refreshing to watch a musical that turns the often-overlooked profession of Front of House into the subject of a West End show.
(IMAGE SOURCED FROM www.broadwayworld.com)
Recently opening at the Charing Cross
Theatre, original new musical Ushers
charts a single shift of a Front of House team. It’s Lucy’s (Carly Thoms) first
night as an usher, and she joins the theatre as fictitious company Theatre
Nation – run by the controversially named Sir Andrew Lloyd Mackintosser – is
premiering a new Britney Spears musical, Oops
I Did it Again. Her colleagues attempt to show her the ropes, from how to
use a float to how to record the show illegally (hiding a camera phone in West End Producer’s new book, dear), all the while evading the wrath of failed
opera-singer and lecherous manager Robin (Ralph Bogard).
There’s also appearances from potential new love interest Stephen (Ross McNeill) and trouble in paradise between Gary and Ben (Daniel Buckley and Liam Ross-Mills). It’s hilarious and occasionally alarmingly realistic, with brilliant original songs and endless jokes poking fun at the profession, the industry and the audience.
(IMAGE SOURCED FROM www2.broadwayworld.com)
There’s also appearances from potential new love interest Stephen (Ross McNeill) and trouble in paradise between Gary and Ben (Daniel Buckley and Liam Ross-Mills). It’s hilarious and occasionally alarmingly realistic, with brilliant original songs and endless jokes poking fun at the profession, the industry and the audience.
(IMAGE SOURCED FROM www2.broadwayworld.com)
From the wildly entertaining opening number
‘Welcome’ to fantastically choreographed ‘Spend Per Head’ to the sentimental
‘Dreams & Ice Creams’, James Oban and Yiannis Koutsakos’s songs are the
real highlight of the night. The musical numbers really capture the trials and
tribulations of working in a theatre, with satirical nods to difficult customers,
hideously overpriced theatre cocktails and the stereotypical stage school
background of most ushers.
The stand out performance of the evening was from the fabulous Ceris Hine as ditzy, leading-man obsessed blogger Rosie. Her comedic timing was perfect, and she seemed to revel in the audience’s every reaction and use it to her complete advantage throughout the evening. A shining example of comedy gold: a star is born.
(IMAGE SOURCED FROM www2.broadwayworld.com)
The stand out performance of the evening was from the fabulous Ceris Hine as ditzy, leading-man obsessed blogger Rosie. Her comedic timing was perfect, and she seemed to revel in the audience’s every reaction and use it to her complete advantage throughout the evening. A shining example of comedy gold: a star is born.
(IMAGE SOURCED FROM www2.broadwayworld.com)
It’s a very funny show, but there’s no
getting away from the fact that some aspects need serious attention. A
particular scene between long-term couple Gary and Ben by the bins stands out
for all the wrong reasons, verging on melodrama and being more ridiculous than
romantic. The low production budget explains the small sparsely dressed set – save
for a rudimentary merchandise kiosk and copious eye-catching fuchsia feather
boas – but it looks empty rather than minimalistic, and there are very few
props. Several scene changes were terrible and need to be a lot slicker if
the show is to be lifted to a more professional level. It does, however, show an awful lot of potential. The concept, original music and script are truly inspired and
with minor revisions could go from merely good to excellent. As a cast made up of
new musical theatre stars they are all destined to go on to bigger and better
things in the future, and Ushers is
certainly a solid foundation for them to build upon.
(IMAGE SOURCED FROM www2.broadwayworld.com)
Despite its faults, Ushers is an energetic and hilarious production, fit to bursting
with Front of House in-jokes. It’s the ideal production for theatre aficionados
as there’ll certainly be something that resonates and stands out for everyone
in this exposé behind-the-scenes of the most professionally happy people in
theatre. It may be rough around the edges but it’s undeniably charming. The
second the house lights came up after the cast had finished singing the final
ensemble piece ‘Goodbye’, they immediately took to the exits, directing patrons
outside and waving us off with a smile. Clearly once an usher, always an usher.
***
Ushers: the Front of House Musical
7th March 2014 - 19th April 2014
Thursdays, Fridays & Saturdays 10.15pm
Charing Cross Theatre, The Arches, Villiers Street, London, WC2N 6NL
More information about the production and ticket availability can be found here
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