HowlRound Theatre Commons: Paid front-of-house positions are few and far between, but they do exist in the field of theatre. In New York City, Broadway houses are unionized, so they have smaller staffs with more consistent hours. Front-of-house teams in Off-Broadway houses often consist of a much larger paid staff who do not receive full-time hours and benefits. Smaller theatres throughout the United States may have one or two paid employees backed by a roster of volunteers. The workers who perform these paid roles are official employees of the theatre company that they work for, yet their working conditions are not always favorable.
2 comments:
Before reading this article I had never really stopped to think about how important front of house workers are to a theater. But I think this article does a really good job of outlining all the vital jobs front of house workers provide for a show, because, at the end of the day, all the effort everyone else has put in from directors, to actors, to designers, to stage managers, will be completely pointless if there is no audience there to see it. It is also sad how predictable the mistreatment of these workers is, given that almost every service industry job has to deal with annoying customers making their life a living hell. I’m glad this industry is starting to move towards unionization so there is at least some system in place to safeguard against abusive clientele, and move towards a world where the work front of house workers gets the recognition it deserves.
Occasionally I worked FOH in high school and even that was exhausting. It takes a lot of people skills and patience that I don’t have. You get people who are angry with you for no good reason, people who refuse to listen, you need to be able to give clear instructions, etc. I’ve also worked shows that don’t have anyone FOH and it is hard without it. People come up to me at the sound desk asking questions that I don’t have the time or knowledge to answer. I can’t imagine how much larger scale working for an actual theater company, such as Shakespeare in the Park, is. Especially because Shakespeare in the Park is just that, in a park. It’s a lot less obvious where to sit, what the etiquette is, and so on. It’s not surprising that FOH workers are paid little and don’t have many benefits, but it’s disappointing nonetheless.
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