PROFESSIONALISM: Taking the house back against your HM's will

[On_Headset]

One of the House Managers at my current gig is a bit of a wimp. He doesn't like to rush people, he doesn't like to use the PA system, he'll hold the entire house for one single person at the box office... on one occasion, he held the house for a full 5 minutes because he saw someone walking vaguely in the direction of the building from the nearby parking lot. (They walked right past us.)

He's doing his best, and I don't want to browbeat the guy, but shows have gone in 15-20 minutes late as a result of him holding the house until he's absolutely positive that there's nobody else coming to see it, and that's a problem.

At what point do you consider it appropriate for a SM to say "I want the house back now. Close the doors, the show's going up, everyone else is a latecomer"?

[maximillionx]

At what point do you consider it appropriate for a SM to say "I want the house back now. Close the doors, the show's going up, everyone else is a latecomer"?

I do not think it's appropriate for an SM to say that.  A House Manager's job is to ensure to safety of the house, so if they need to take their time, all you can do is wait (even though it seems, from your description, that is not what this person is doing).  I do agree that waiting for 1 person is an inconvenience for both the cast and crew and the other audience members.

Does the director/PM mind if you are starting late? If you really are unsatisfied with this individual's performance, then I would suggest a discussion with them, or maybe even the staff at the venue (try to get an alternate HM).

[On_Headset]

I've discussed it with both the General Manager and the FOH Coordinator. The General Manager agrees that it's a problem, the FOH Coordinator doesn't, and that dynamic ensures that nothing ever gets done.

My understanding (and this is second-hand via the box office supervisor and an usher I know socially) is that this isn't a legitimate hold for the sake of patron comfort or safety, this is him being ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN that EVERYONE gets into the house before the show begins, even if it means holding up everything for 5-10 minutes so one person can buy a ticket, check their coat, wander through the art gallery and finally enter the House.

And starting late does have consequences: if we go up more than 15 minutes late, I have a meeting with the PM to discuss the reason why, and the memorandum from that meeting goes in my HR file. At this point I walk into the office and the PM goes "I see you had Mr. X on House again, eh?" and the memorandum is boilerplate, but it's still a drag and not exactly a comfort to have a twelve-inch-thick HR file.

[Rebbe]

I would be frustrated by your situation too, but I don’t think I would insist the show start unless there was a reason, such as Equity rules on when a show needs to end, public transit will be closed when post-show is over, some kind of timed effect that started at ½ Hour won’t work correctly with a long hold, or someone will go into overtime.  The decision about “how long is too long to hold” is something that I think needs to come from the producer.  In your case, if the General Manger is the top of the food chain and agrees with you, maybe you could ask them to speak to the HM directly to clear this up.

Before going to the GM again though, I would try to have a friendly conversation with the HM explaining why a long hold is problematic from your perspective, and ask him why he feels getting everyone in is so important.  He may not know that most theaters don’t operate that way.  You could point out that actors loose their momentum when your pre-show calls are timed to a certain point, and then they just end up standing around at places.  He might be worried about disrupting the show or distracting the actors, in which case you could give him a good point in the show for late seating and reassure him the actors are aware of it and won’t mind.  Maybe it’s a logistical issue, that no one has told him to dress the audience to the front of the house to leave seats at the back for latecomers to get into easily, and you could help him figure that out.  Remind him that delaying the show is unfair to the 95% of the audience who have arrived on time and are getting antsy.

I’ve worked at theatres where the policy is to start 5-8 minutes after the scheduled time.  Maybe you and the HM could agree to starting a certain number of minutes late every night as a compromise, so you can time your calls properly and he can give latecomers a grace period.  It might not hurt to tell him he’d be doing you a big favor by not starting more than 15 minutes late unless there is an emergency, since that requires you to do extra paperwork.

[loebtmc]

It's also unfair to the audience members who were there on time. The only way you can train your audience to come on time is to start on time (well, 5ish after except for emergencies)

And it is really unfair to the actors, once they've been called to places, to have to wait and lose all that energy. Plus getting out later can be devastating to the budget (in a union show) or to morale (in both AEA and non-AEA shows).

I always get a late-seating point from my director, and then we start on time (which is 5 after most of the time) unless we have more than (x) tickets outstanding (which is theater dependent), with late seating at the appropriate moment.

[On_Headset]

Come to think of it, I haven't tried playing for guilt.

"Really, I don't mind so much: if we start late, I get paid more. Works out beautifully. But what happens when we go up late is that the actors, who have been at places for ten, fifteen, twenty minutes, they start to get anxious, they start to get bored, they start to worry and they eventually wander off and turn up in the green room, in their dressing rooms, out back smoking... you know, as actors do. It's a big enough hassle to get everyone to places to start with, and having to keep them there for an indefinite period of time is even more difficult."

It's a slight exaggeration, but pointing out that it's creating problems for other people might be sensible, and if I'm careful with my phrasing, it won't seem like I'm disciplining him, either. (Which I can't do, nor do I really want to do.)

[missliz]

Have you talked with your HM about a late-seating moment? We start typically 5mins after, but I always give the HM a time when they can let in late seating (during a scene change, when an entrance is cleared, etc). Seems to help get the show going and still get everyone seated.