Ushers: The Front of House Musical
USHERS: The Front of House Musical!
 Original Poster | |
|---|---|
| Music | Yiannis Koutsakos |
| Lyrics |
James Oban Yiannis Koutsakos |
| Book | James Rottger |
| Premiere | 3 December 2013: The Hope Theatre |
| Productions |
2013 The Hope Theatre 2014 The Charing Cross Theatre 2015 Momentum Venues@The Edinburgh Fringe |
USHERS: The Front of House Musical is a musical with music by Yiannis Koutsakos, lyrics by James Oban, and a book by James Rottger. The musical premiered in 2013[1] with a workshop performance at The Hope Theatre (Kings Head Theatre), before transferring to Off-West End Venue The Charing Cross Theatre in 2014, with a cast including Daniel Buckley, Ceris Hine, Ross McNeil, Liam Ross-Mills, Carly Thoms, Ralph Bogard.
Synopsis
Set in a West End theatre, USHERS: The Front of House Musical follows a working shift in the lives of the stagiest people in the theatre - the front of house staff, portraying the hilarious, ridiculous and frequently moving stories of ice cream and programme sellers who dare to dream.
The entire cast meet and greet the audience as they enter the theatre ("Welcome"), after which they set up the stage in the manner of a traditional West End theatre (belonging to the fictional theatre company, Theatre Nation). Lucy, a young actress, arrives at the theatre for her first shift, where she meets the Ushers team: Ben (Front of House Assistant), an out-of-work actor, his boyfriend Gary (Front of House Supervisor), an actor on the cusp of moving to Austria to pursue his acting career - this puts a huge strain on his relationship with Ben during the show - Rosie (Front of House Assistant), a social networking aficionado with dreams of having a relationship with leading West End male stars, and Stephen (Front of House Assistant), a fairly successful actor who works at the theatre between shows. Lucy and Stephen fall for each other almost at first sight, but the moment is broken by the entrance of the appositely named Robin Pocketts (Manager of the Ushers Team), a failed opera singer prone to sexually harassing the more attractive ladies in his team, particularly Rosie. He explains the philosophy behind his money-grubbing style to Lucy, saying that "all I care about is spend per head" ("Spend Per Head"). Ben and Gary have a private moment together after the rest of the team leave to prepare for opening, in which we first see the cracks in their relationship.
Rosie shows Lucy around the auditorium, telling her of various timings and seating arrangements. (During this scene, depending if there are any latecomers to the performance, Robin improvises welcoming them into the auditorium as though in a game show, getting them to find their seats as quickly as they can.) Rosie and Lucy share their backgrounds in theatre, and Lucy is surprised to discover Rosie's social networking pages are almost exclusively angled towards her interest in "leading men" ("Leading Men" - during this number, the male members of the cast act as backing dancers). Back in the foyer, Stephen, in his attempts to make Ben feel better after his earlier skit with Gary, play-fights with him whilst imitating Robin, only to be caught in (for him) an extremely compromising position when Lucy suddenly enters, after which he amusingly attempts to reassert his straightness to Lucy. Gary suddenly enters and the team prepare to open the doors of the theatre. Lucy is helped along in her role as a member of Front of House, with the rest of the cast portraying caricatures of typical theatre goers ("Induction" - during this number, the cast use some of the hats, coats and other items of clothing they took from the audience in "Welcome"). Stephen and Lucy then begin setting up for the interval, during which they both learn that Lucy once saw Stephen on stage as Joseph from "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat". Stephen laments the fact that he always plays the romantic lead in shows, and tells Lucy how he wants to play the lesser role ("The Parts I Could Play"). Gary enters, asking Stephen to find Rosie, all the while busying himself with interval preparations. Lucy asks Gary about his upcoming job in Austria, and she begins to wonder about her own dreams in life ("Dreams and Ice-Creams"). Rosie suddenly reappears, and Lucy quickly asks her whether Stephen and Ben were a couple; Rosie misses the subtext behind the question. Robin then asks Lucy to find Ben, merely to have a moment alone with Rosie. Ben appears and catches Robin off-guard who hurriedly corrects himself. Robin tells him that he will be the man serving at a champagne reception for Sir Andrew Lloyd Mackintosser, the CEO of Theatre Nation. In the store room, Ben asks Gary for the key for the champagne fridge, a conversation which builds into a full scale argument about their failing relationship. Ben feels that Gary has paid no thought to his feelings in his decision to take up the job in Austria, and his tirade is only stopped by Lucy's entrance. Gary storms out, and Ben, after an angry outburst to Lucy about the uselessness of being an Usher, convinces himself it's time to end his relationship with Gary ("(It's Time to) Let Go"). Back in the foyer, the Ushers, without Ben (who is seen packing his bags and about to leave the theatre), conclude Act 1, preparing for the interval ("Interval Preparations" - this features a medley of many of the songs in the opening Act).
The Ushers welcome the audience back after the interval ("Welcome Back"), and then take stock of what they've sold. Rosie and Lucy leave to count their earnings, whilst Gary pulls Stephen aside, asking if he was making the right decision in potentially choosing his career at the expense of his relationship. He laments that he does not what to leave the relationship as a "half-finished story" ("Half-Finished Story"). Robin then bursts in and demands that Gary tell him where Ben was; since Ben had left the theatre just before the interval, Robin had to take his place on Front of House duty and no-one was left to cater at the champagne reception. Shortly after Gary leaves to go and find Ben, Robin takes a voicemail from Sir Andrew Lloyd Mackintosser's PA, telling him that he would have to report to a meeting to discuss his future with the company. Robin, in response, laments about his non-existent future ("The Ballad of Robin Pockets"). Meanwhile, Ben is sitting in a back alley outside the theatre, and conceals himself amongst the bins when Stephen, Lucy and Rosie enter, taking out the rubbish from the interval. When Gary enters asking if they've seen Ben anywhere, they all return back inside to look for him. Ben reveals himself to Gary from his hiding spot, and both apologise for not being able to give their other half what they want. In the end, they realise that all is definitely not lost, and they will be able to make a long distance relationship work ("Loving You Is All I Know"). Robin suddenly accosts Ben for potentially destroying his career with his actions during the interval, and despite the attempted interventions of both Gary and Rosie, who appears having heard the commotion, Robin blackmails all three of them in order to keep his job. As the Ushers return back inside for the get-out, Robin muses that he will end up firing all of them before the night is over ("The Ballad of Robin Pockets - Reprise").
Back in the foyer, Lucy and Stephen are still attempting to find Ben. Their feelings for each other have been becoming more and more apparent during the play, but just before they kiss, Gary enters still sporting the wounds from Robin's attack, shortly followed by Ben and Robin, who begins to deliver a final team-talk to the Ushers in preparation for the get-out. However, Rosie enters and stands up to Robin, showing how she recorded Robin's attempts to blackmail them on a concealed phone. After Robin successfully steals the phone, and thus the evidence, Lucy suddenly reveals that she is Sir Andrew Lloyd Mackintosser's daughter, and had been using a stage name to cover it up because she didn't want to get ahead in the acting business just because of who her father was. Robin, knowing that his word would not stand up against Lucy's, agrees to resign. The Ushers celebrate getting rid of their tyrannical manager, and Lucy tells the rest of the team that she knows a lot of contacts that could facilitate a successful career path for them all. Rosie leaves, thrilled at her potential job in the Theatre Nation Press department, followed by Ben and Gary, happy at reconciling with one another and at the possibility of new agents, leaving Stephen and Lucy alone on stage. The romance the two have built up over the course of the show finally reaches it's high point, and the show ends as they kiss. As the whole cast take their bows, the Ushers team say goodbye to the audience ("Goodbye" - this number also includes a tap-dance routine by all the actors).
Productions
The production came to fruition from twitters mysterious @WestEndProducers competition "Search For A Twitter Composer" at the Soho Theatre London, The production was in the final four of the competition.[2]
The Hope Theatre (Fringe) / (Off-Off West End)- December 2013
The Charing Cross Theatre (Off-West End) - March till June 2014
The Momentum Venues @ St Stephens (Edinburgh Fringe) - 5–30 August 2015
The Arts Theatre - 9 September - 18 October 2015
Current licensing
The Licensing and performance rights for "USHERS: The Front Of House Musical" are currently being distributed by Kouban Productions
Amateur performances
The Amateur premiere was produced by sunshine productions & exit stage left at the Blakehay Theatre Weston-Super-Mare in February 2016. Old Joint Stock Musical Theatre Company produced the show in March 2016, and the Durham University Light Opera Group (DULOG) will be taking the show to the Edinburgh Fringe in August 2016.
Musical numbers
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Cast
| Role | The Hope Theatre |
The Charing Cross Theatre - Late Night |
The Charing Cross Theatre |
Momentum Venues - The Edinburgh Fringe Festival |
The Arts Theatre |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lucy | Abigail Carter Simpson | Carly Thoms | Corrine Priest | ||
| Ben | Liam Ross-Mills | Rory Maguire | |||
| Stephen | Ross McNeil | Cameron Sharp | |||
| Gary | Will Jennings | Daniel Buckley | Ben Fenner | ||
| Robin Poketts | Ralph Bogard | Jacob Chapman | Harry Stone | ||
| Rosie | Chloe Brooks | Ceris Hine | Alexandra Parkes | ||
References
- ↑ "USHERS: THE FRONT OF HOUSE MUSICAL to Debut at The Hope Theatre". broadwayworld.com. Broadwayworld.com. 16 October 2013. Retrieved 30 April 2014.
- ↑ Theatre, Soho (June 23, 2013). "Whats On at The Soho Theatre". Retrieved 30 March 2014.