When playwright Kenneth Lonergan’s Lobby Hero premiered Off-Broadway in 2001, he was in his first year of marriage and juggling the production with his first Oscars season (nominated for his You Can Count on Me screenplay). He had yet to see his work hit Broadway.
Now Lobby Hero—about four New Yorkers involved in a murder investigation—is back, and circumstances have changed: He and his wife J. Cameron-Smith have a teenage daughter; he won an Oscar for Manchester By the Sea; he made his Broadway debut as a playwright in 2014.
“I feel a little less grounded now,” Lonergan admits as Lobby Hero prepares for a March 26 opening at the newly renovated Hayes Theatre. “I’m a little fancier than I was then. And I feel a little less comfortable.”
The Second Stage Theater production, starring Michael Cera (Juno), Chris Evans (Captain America), Bel Powley (The Diary of a Teenage Girl), and Brian Tyree Henry (Atlanta), is Lonergan’s second time revisiting a past work for the Broadway stage. This Is Our Youth premiered Off-Broadway in 1996 before the 2014 production (also starring Cera). But both instances involved him doing little more than the occasional line revision.
“I don’t believe I would have the same insights into this story that I had when I was writing it,” he says. “You’re not the same person who wrote that play, and you don’t have any business fiddling around with it. I know other people who successfully rewrite their material or update it, but I don’t believe I could do that.”
Even without new text, the play’s issues remain relevant. As moral codes and personal behavior clash, a hauntingly familiar tableaux of abuses of power and sexual misconduct in a male-dominated workforce are on full display.
“The issues are just as alive now as they were then,” he says, but hopes the play’s relevance does not rely solely on the exploration of particular social movements.
“The play is really about a series of nearly unviable dilemmas. People are struggling against their idea of what the right thing to do is versus their personal feelings, which come into conflict with their own ideals. That’s something I think people will have to grapple with forever.
I thought as I can't fit a theatre trip to New York into my busy schedule of work, internet addiction and childcare I may as well read it. The postman dropped it off today and I just started reading it. I would LOVE to know how the audience reacted to this bit when Bill (Chris) is asked by Jeff (Cera) to sign the visitors book and he mistakenly thinks he really wants his autograph.
Surely, Chris being Mr Big Moviestar there must have been a bit of tongue in cheek comedy going on here. It made me laugh anyway. I just see Chris looking at the audience and raising his eyebrow when he delivers that line.
"The movie came to life every time you were on the screen." Stan Lee to Chris Evans.
"When you lose touch with inner stillness, you lose touch with yourself. When you lose touch with yourself, you lose yourself in the world.” —Eckhart Tolle
Nice Work if You Can Get It: Being a Volunteer Usher on Broadway By JOANNE KAUFMANMARCH 6, 2018
Greet audience members, take tickets, work the concession stands, run the elevator. Point the way to seats, restrooms, box offices and exits. These are some of the tasks of a volunteer usher at theaters across New York City.
The lure: a free ticket. The competition: increasingly fierce.
Richard Ponce, the house manager of the Helen Hayes Theater, said he has 250 more requests than slots he needs to fill for the 10-week run of “Lobby Hero,” which opens March 26, and has Chris Evans and Michael Cera in starring roles.
“It used to be this sort of secret thing,” Mr. Ponce said of the volunteer program. “Now there are hundreds and hundreds more people who want to do it.”
Comparatively rare at Broadway houses like the Hayes, volunteer ushers have long staffed Off and Off-Off Broadway theaters. Lately, they have been signing up in droves. Playwrights Horizons is fielding 10 more requests per month than it did in 2016. The Irish Repertory Theater, which uses volunteers in the interest of budget-trimming and community-building, now has a roster of almost 500 names to draw from.
Volunteer ushers are generally required to be at the theater an hour before the house opens to learn the particulars of the show and the lay of the land. Credit Nina Westervelt for The New York Times The word is out that “you can watch a show for free for a half-hour of work,” said Eddy Perez, the house manager of the Irish Rep.
Retirees with free time are jostling for slots, as are impecunious drama students who view ushering as a no-cost way to expand their artistic horizons and make connections with members of Off Broadway theaters. (Most Broadway houses employ unionized ushers.)
“To be able to see new work inspires me in my work,” said Anamari Mesa, 23, an actor and filmmaker who ushers at Rattlestick Playwrights Theater. “Going to a play can get expensive, so it’s a way to go without having to pay, and you get to meet the people involved with the production.”
Volunteer ushers are generally required to be at the theater an hour before the house opens to learn the particulars of the show (What’s the running time? Is there an intermission?) and the lay of the land (for example, the location of the theater’s restrooms).
In some cases, they are asked to stay around after a show and police the house for dropped programs. Though Rattlestick urges ushers to “come as you are,” most theaters require basic black (the outlier is Playwrights Horizons, where the dress code is black and white).
Maher Mahmood, left, and Anamari Mesa reviewing the evening’s program at Rattlestick Playwrights Theater. Credit Nina Westervelt for The New York Times “There aren’t so many rules for our volunteers, ” said Daniella Topol, the artistic director of Rattlestick. “The most important thing to us is that the audience feels welcomed and respected.”
Jordan Barbakoff, 61, a retired systems engineer and a frequent volunteer at the York Theater, the Mint and the American Airlines Theater, said that the work sounds easy enough, “but there are people who shouldn’t be ushers.” He added: “They just don’t get it when the house manager tells them that the odd-numbered seats are on this side of the aisle and even-numbered seats on the other side.”
And of course there are volunteers who do the bare minimum of what is asked, so they can see the show gratis. House managers maintain a black list of those who don’t wear the proper clothes, follow directives, show enough initiative, arrive on time or at all.
And don’t get Mr. Ponce started on the volunteers who complain about the location of their seats. “We just guarantee that they’ll see the show,” he said. “Sometimes they have to sit on a stool in the back. This is not a right. It’s a privilege.”
For their part, volunteers bemoan the frequent turnover among house managers, and thus the need to prove themselves again and again.
Sharon Ulman, 66, a retired staff member of the New York City Department of Education, ushers at Playwrights Horizons, the Signature and Second Stage, among other theaters. “You want your name to be on their brain and have them think ‘Oh, I know her; she’s good,’” she said. “But that’s hard when the staff keeps changing.”
Initially, she was unenthusiastic about ushering when the idea was suggested to her. “I had my memberships; I just wanted to go in and see my shows and not be bothered,” Ms. Ulman said. But now she is as dedicated a volunteer as you could hope to find.
“For someone who’s single, it’s a wonderful social connection because you’re there representing the theater, and it gives you permission to talk to anyone,” she said. “You kind of feel you have someone to go to the theater with, even if you’re ushering with people you don’t know.”
Because volunteers typically sign up well in advance of a show’s run, they have only a brief description to go on when mapping out their matinee and evening schedules.
Sometimes, they’re lucky enough to get in on the ground floor of a hit. Lori Wolf, a retired elementary schoolteacher, was an usher for the “The Band’s Visit,” “Dear Evan Hansen” and “Hand to God” before they transferred to Broadway.
“I remember walking out at the end of ‘The Band’s Visit’ and thinking, ‘what a great show,’” Ms. Wolf said. “Some shows you’re not as enthused about, but it’s an evening of theater. You take a chance.”
There are different attitudes among ushers on this issue. Some, like Ms. Wolf and Mr. Barbakoff, will see pretty much anything. Because Ms. Ulman never went to the theater or ballet during her childhood, she is similarly adventurous; she knows she has lots of ground to make up.
“Every show is new to me, even when, to my friends, it’s a revival,” said Ms. Ulman, who has a weakness for plays about dysfunctional families. “If that’s the subject, I’m definitely signing up to usher for it.”
Ms. Wolf, who grew up in what she described as a culturally rich household, will often go to the theater as a paying customer. The free ticket is lagniappe; her attraction to ushering is membership in a community of kindred spirits.
On a recent Wednesday, while she ushered for “Jimmy Titanic” at the Irish Rep, she said she felt as if she was part of the family at theaters around the city.
“This is an underground network,” Ms. Wolf said, as she headed downstairs to find her seat. “It’s a whole subculture. The thing that binds us together is our love of theater.”
So You Want to Be an Usher? Some tips from veteran volunteers:
SIGN UP Check theater websites for a list of volunteering opportunities and an email address to sign up. Alternatively you can inquire at the box office.
GET ALONG Different house managers and other volunteers all have their personalities and quirks. So do you. Be patient and respectful.
FOLLOW ORDERS If you’re told to wear all black, wear all black. Don’t accessorize unless you’re told to accessorize. Pick up the programs at the end of the show if that’s what the house manager requests. Don’t be a diva. Let the divas be onstage.
KEEP CALM You may meet celebrities who are in the show or who are there to see the production. Don’t gush or ask for an autograph.
DISCRETION MATTERS Don’t bad mouth the show, even if you didn’t like it. You never know who’s listening.
BE PROFESSIONAL You’re a volunteer, but you should treat the role as a job. Otherwise, buy a ticket.
I LOVE small theatres. My favourite is The Royal Exchange in Manchester. It's a great theatre. It's small and circular with the stage in the middle and the seats go all the way around full circle. The actors have to actually walk right past the audience to get in. You fairly often get well known actors there. Come to think of it, it would be ideal to stage Lobby Hero. Come on, guys. How much could it cost to nip over and do a couple of nights at the RE? Eh? Chris?
Well, I've finished reading it now. I'll be sure not to give anything away in case you're going to see it (but if you're not - Colonel Mustard did it with a revolver in the library!)
If I were an actor, the part I would most want to play would be Bill, which is Chris's role. There's loads to get your teeth into. It helped I suppose to have this present group of actors in mind as I was reading it. I can just hear Michael Cera in my head when reading Jeff. I know Brian Tyree Henry's voice but I've never heard Bel Powley speaking in an American accent so I had to use my imagination for that.
I can't believe how relevant it is! In terms of abuse of power, attitudes to women, who to trust and even the concept of truth. It's amazing. It's not overtly political but aspects of it do make you consider the idea of people getting on in life not due to skill or talent but exaggerated self-belief. Even in my own line of work (education) you can see that the people who get to the top are the determined ones who put themselves forward time and time again until they break through even though they are absolutely not the most suitable or talented. But if those who are suitable don't want to put themselves forward then what is the alternative. The play made me think of that in terms of characters who have qualities but probably won't fulfil their potential.
The play didn't actually follow the lines I thought it would in the end. What I really liked was that it threw a lot of questions into your head but didn't try to give you the answers. That's left to you to think about afterwards. So when Chris said he hoped people would go away thinking about it, I know why he said that now just having read it.
I dearly hope that at some point in the future we'll be able to see a recording of the performance with this cast, not just because of Chris but because by all accounts all four of the cast are outstanding and at the end of the day it's a team effort.
Credit - 
