I saw the matinee of _Jerusalem_ today (7/24), and my husband and I thoroughly enjoyed the acting and staging of the show itself. Unfortunately, our experience was marred by the lack of organization and rudeness of the employees at the Music Box Theater. I see a lot dance, music, and theater performances in the city, and I have never seen such poor organization. Rather than either handing out programs at the top of the aisle and then pointing the way to seat (as at St. Ann's or PS1), or having several ushers per aisle to show audience members directly to seats (as at Lincoln Center), the Music Box had one usher per aisle walking attendees to seats, which meant that others had to wait at the top of the aisle to be seated (I waited a full ten minutes while others cut in front of me and, running into the usher halfway up the aisle, were seated ahead of me). When I tried to simply seat myself by picking up a program from the pile on the floor and heading directly to my seat, a very rude little usher insisted that I would have to go to the other row and wait until that usher was available to seat me. Furthermore, he insisted that I return the program that I had picked up from the floor, falsely claiming that there were just enough for the number of seats (at the end of the performances, there were several piles of programs left). This usher was utterly inappropriate and disrespectful, raising his voice and rolling his eyes at me. I do not come to plays to be insulted by surly young men, nor do I enjoy standing in the aisle because the theater has neither hired enough ushers nor allowed audiences to seat themselves. I understand that many Broadway customers are tourists, and that management is therefore more concerned to sell water and chocolates than to provide a professional and enjoyable experience that will bring repeat business. But this lack of professionalism was shocking even for Broadway, and I certainly hope that someone will do something to correct it. I for one will avoid the Music Box theater in the future, and will warn all friends and out-of-town guests to avoid this venue at all costs and to attend plays at places that will treat them with kindness and respect.
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