Tim and Heidi Discuss Her Path from Fan to Usher to House Manager | ShowbizU x Broadway League

Well, hi. Would you please say your name to our lovely audience?

My name is Heidi Geovine. I'm the house manager at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre, but before I became a house manager, I was a Broadway usher.

Well, I would love to hear the story of how— what got you to this chair today? How did you find out about all of this wonderful world?

I've always loved the theatre, and I've always loved going, and when— and I used to volunteer as an usher, like, at nonprofits. Because you could see shows for free. That was just like the best thing ever. And then, and I, but then like there were certain shows that didn't have availability to usher and they were on Broadway. So I was spending like all my money on tickets and I was like, oh, I can't really keep doing this, you know. But Hair was up and I had done Hair as a stage manager in college and I loved it. So I went, I got, it came up on TDF And I got a ticket and I was in the last row of the rear mezzanine, all the way up the stairs to— if I'm facing the house, house right, second seat in. It was awesome. It was a great production. And a good friend of mine had recently died, so I was a little sad. And during the "Be In," the actor who played Wolf ran all the way up the stairs and my friend was sitting on the aisle. Leaned over my friend, kissed me on the cheek, handed me a daffodil and said, "You are loved." And I was like an emotional mess. So after the show, my friend and I, we were talking about the whole thing and what the actor had done. And one of the ushers said, "We really need to clear the house." And I looked up and I was like, "You know what? I can't act, I can't dance, I can't sing, can't direct, can't do any of that, but I can usher." And I literally, the next day, I sat down at my computer and I said, "How do you become a Broadway usher?" And they said, you know, you have to join the union, and if you have Wednesday matinees, that's a great open, that's a great way to start. And I had a day job, but I was like, I have plenty of vacation time. And so they said, you know, put up a resume, and I called Local 306, which is the ushers union, and I said, hey, I said, I'd love to come talk to you about being a Broadway usher. I said, I'm polite. I said, I can do stairs. I said, "I look great in black." And the woman who answered the phone, who was Mim Pollock, who was head of the union at the time, she was like, "You know, you sound very—" I don't know what word she used, but she was like, "Come on down and talk to me." And I went and I chatted with her and she said, "Come do South Pacific at Lincoln Center." And so she sort of watched me for 2 performances and then she called me and she says, "You want to go to Phantom?" I'm like, "I'm there!" And I ushered at Phantom. And before— when I had called the union, I had also— what I had read, they had said apply to the chains, to Shubert, to Janssen, Nederlander. So I had already faxed over a resume, and I had called the Shubert HR, and they said, oh, we're not hiring, but if they use you as a sub, then they have to hire you in their system. So the woman called me, and she goes, you subbed for us last night. She goes, didn't I just talk to you? I said, yeah. I said, I guess the door is open. She's like, come on down. And so I worked at— I applied for every chain, and depending on what show I wanted to see, I would focus in on that and get myself in. And then finally, the Shubert Organization— somebody said to me, if you want to move up in the Shubert Organization, you should, you should settle down. And I was like, well, Once is playing at the Jacobs. I really like Once. I'm like, all right. And then The, the woman who told me this, she swears that she had— she didn't have this ulterior motive, but 3 months later they posted, um, apply to be an apprentice house manager. And I didn't think I would get it, but I thought maybe if they liked me they would make me a chief. And the reason I wanted to be a chief usher was because I had observed that all the chief ushers make sure— made sure that they all saw each other's shows. And I saw, well, this is fantastic because I can I can be a regular usher and work at the— and work there, and then— but I got hired as the apprentice, and so that's how I got— that's how I got here. Wow. Crazy story. It's—

somebody needs to write this as a musical or as a play. You're like the Rudy of theater in that way.

What people should realize is that as long as you have transferable skills, You don't know where it's going to take you, you know. I've always been good with people and interacting, and I've always been good with numbers. But if somebody told me, like, that's what you need to be a house manager, I would have had no idea what they were talking about. Because when I was coming up 100 years ago, these programs didn't exist. You didn't know. So I got into it late, but I'm so glad that I did.

Well, let's drill down on that then. For somebody that's now incredibly inspired by your story and wants to follow in the career footsteps, what would be some of those skills? What, what can they do to prepare themselves?

To be a house manager or to be an usher?

Let's start— let's work our way up. So let's say first they just want to be an usher, and then from there, if they want to move into, say, a house manager.

Well, I would say anyone who's interested in ushering There are so many arts organizations out there who need volunteers, so volunteer and see if you like it. That would be the first thing I would say. But if you like dealing with people, that's at the top of the list. If you're someone who— you should notice things. So like ushers will come to me and say, Heidi, somebody over there, they're wobbling. As they're approaching the stairs, or someone's sitting in this seat and their head is down and, you know, I'm not sure if they're asleep or something is going on because they're the house— the ushers are your house manager's eyes and ears. Because I always feel that I can only be as good of a house manager as I can be if my ushering staff is good. You know, they see somebody approaching them with a walker, they don't wait for them to come to the aisle. They go to them and to see how they can help. So that's a— those are two very important things. You also have to be the type of person who's a little laid back and you're not gonna let— I often say to my ushers, they're in your lives for 30 minutes, don't give them the power. No matter what they say to you, your job is to make sure they have a nice evening. You don't know what they're bringing in with them, so you want to make it the best experience for them as you can. Um, it's also important that you know how to be part of a team and that you work well with others, because if something happens, if there's a safety issue, you want to know that you can count on the people around you. But I would just say, if you have a love of theater and you feel you're good with people, give ushering a shot. You know how the expression that they say, You know that saying, nothing is too good to be true? I think ushering truly is. You get paid to watch a Broadway show. Like, just imagine, right? You don't have to pay hundreds of dollars to see Hamilton. You can get paid to be at Hamilton. I mean, how great is that, right? So you get to see, you get a master class in acting and in design and in lights every night you're there. So if you're interested in acting or stage management or direction or design, How could it be better than being an usher? That's how I feel anyway.

Tell us a story, because you alluded to this earlier, about— you truly are critical to the overall experience that people have when they come to the theater. Absolutely. Give me one or two stories that just make you smile when you think of an interaction you've had.

There was a patron last night was standing to the side, and I said to him, can I help you? And he says, no, no, no. He said, I'm waiting for my lady friend to come up from the restroom. And I said, oh, I said, OK. I said, and I am sure you are worth the wait. And he was like 80 years old, and he took my hand and he kissed it. And that was really sweet. And then there was— I get hugged at least 2 or 3 times a week, like people find lost and found items and, you know, and you hand it back and they're like, oh my God, you saved me, and they, you know, and they hug you. But really the best thing is that when at the end of the night when people are leaving, I usually say for Betrayal, you know, like, thank you for coming to Betrayal, you know, get home safely, and people will compliment my staff and that That really means a lot because the ushers are, you know, a lot of times they're unseen, you know, and they really do such a good job and their job is so important.

You are single-handedly changing that grumpy New Yorker thing that people say about New York.

It's just wonderful. No, I mean, but it's, I mean, what is better than going to a Broadway show? To me it's nothing, nothing, and I just think it's a privilege that people get to see it, you know. I mean, you're seeing the best acting in the world on Broadway, you know. So I want to make it as good for them as possible.

To the world of people that love our art form, what's just some inspiration that you can give them?

Oh my God, I don't know. I would say if you don't want to work on Broadway, go see a Broadway show anyway. Because it's the best thing in the world. You know, you get to sit in a room with strangers and you have a shared experience, and that makes us all better. But if you want to work on Broadway, start off and be an usher. There's a pension, there's health benefits, and you get to see the best acting in the world. So come, send your resume to the Broadway League. They'll get it to me, and I'll pass it along to the Shubert Organization.

All right? How sad. That was brilliant. Oh my God.