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Post by Deleted on Sept 30, 2016 12:31:55 GMT
I'm considering moving to London next year because I'm a book writer and lyricist and would like to get my musicals put on there. Of course I won't make much money off that so I'm considering working as an usher for a while to be able to support myself whilst living in London. Has anyone on here ever worked as an usher in a theatre in London? How's the pay (I mean specific numbers)? How many hours do you work every week? How long is your contract usually? Is it a temporary contract?
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4,369 posts
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Post by Michael on Sept 30, 2016 12:48:17 GMT
You've heard about this little thing called Brexit?
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Post by Deleted on Sept 30, 2016 12:52:55 GMT
You've heard about this little thing called Brexit? I have. That's not my question though |
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Post by Nelly on Sept 30, 2016 12:57:40 GMT
I'm considering moving to London next year because I'm a book writer and lyricist and would like to get my musicals put on there. Of course I won't make much money off that so I'm considering working as an usher for a while to be able to support myself whilst living in London. Has anyone on here ever worked as an usher in a theatre in London? How's the pay (I mean specific numbers)? How many hours do you work every week? How long is your contract usually? Is it a temporary contract? I cannot for the life of me remember how many hours exactly I worked when I was an usher but I seem to remember that the shifts generally started about an hour and half before the show and pretty much finished as soon as the theatre was clear which was probably max half an hour after the show finished. The contracts really vary, you could be zero hour, part time or full time. You're always contracted to the company the theatre is owned by. If it's a theatre that has a high turn over of shows then you will either be farmed out to other theatres when it's dark, be off for a few days if it's literally a few days before the next one starts or be called in for some office/admin/training days. Companies I'd aim for are either Delfont Mackintosh or ATG, they treat their staff very well and the pay is reasonable for the work you do. It's a lot of fun! |
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Post by Deleted on Sept 30, 2016 13:03:34 GMT
I'm considering moving to London next year because I'm a book writer and lyricist and would like to get my musicals put on there. Of course I won't make much money off that so I'm considering working as an usher for a while to be able to support myself whilst living in London. Has anyone on here ever worked as an usher in a theatre in London? How's the pay (I mean specific numbers)? How many hours do you work every week? How long is your contract usually? Is it a temporary contract? I cannot for the life of me remember how many hours exactly I worked when I was an usher but I seem to remember that the shifts generally started about an hour and half before the show and pretty much finished as soon as the theatre was clear which was probably max half an hour after the show finished. The contracts really vary, you could be zero hour, part time or full time. You're always contracted to the company the theatre is owned by. If it's a theatre that has a high turn over of shows then you will either be farmed out to other theatres when it's dark, be off for a few days if it's literally a few days before the next one starts or be called in for some office/admin/training days. Companies I'd aim for are either Delfont Mackintosh or ATG, they treat their staff very well and the pay is reasonable for the work you do. It's a lot of fun! Thanks. Those are some of the companies I'd aim for. But are they often hiring people? And do you happen to have an idea of how much you make in a month when working part-time and when working full-time? |
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Post by Phantom of London on Sept 30, 2016 13:21:16 GMT
You will need a 3rd job to supplement your writing and ushering to live in London.
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Post by Nelly on Sept 30, 2016 13:46:21 GMT
I cannot for the life of me remember how many hours exactly I worked when I was an usher but I seem to remember that the shifts generally started about an hour and half before the show and pretty much finished as soon as the theatre was clear which was probably max half an hour after the show finished. The contracts really vary, you could be zero hour, part time or full time. You're always contracted to the company the theatre is owned by. If it's a theatre that has a high turn over of shows then you will either be farmed out to other theatres when it's dark, be off for a few days if it's literally a few days before the next one starts or be called in for some office/admin/training days. Companies I'd aim for are either Delfont Mackintosh or ATG, they treat their staff very well and the pay is reasonable for the work you do. It's a lot of fun! Thanks. Those are some of the companies I'd aim for. But are they often hiring people? And do you happen to have an idea of how much you make in a month when working part-time and when working full-time? I'm really sorry but it's been so long since I've done it that I can't really remember how much it was. I do know that most will pay the London living wage. ATG are really good at advertising vacancies online and Delfont Mackintosh are good at that too. I think when I did it online applications weren't really a thing yet so it was a good old fashioned CV drop at box office or stage door. That might still work too. |
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Post by Deleted on Sept 30, 2016 14:02:57 GMT
Thanks. Those are some of the companies I'd aim for. But are they often hiring people? And do you happen to have an idea of how much you make in a month when working part-time and when working full-time? I'm really sorry but it's been so long since I've done it that I can't really remember how much it was. I do know that most will pay the London living wage. ATG are really good at advertising vacancies online and Delfont Mackintosh are good at that too. I think when I did it online applications weren't really a thing yet so it was a good old fashioned CV drop at box office or stage door. That might still work too. Thank you for your advice |
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Post by Deleted on Sept 30, 2016 14:06:22 GMT
You will need a 3rd job to supplement your writing and ushering to live in London. Yes, I was expecting that. I don't think I'll be able to consider the writing as a job because I doubt it will make me any money, at least for the first few years. We're talking off-West End/Fringe here, so I think we can be extremely happy if we break even. I was thinking working in some sort of coffee shop. The Theatre Café would of course be ideal if they're hiring  |
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Sept 30, 2016 14:08:50 GMT
ATG have an ad for FOH at the Piccadilly on their website at the moment. Doesn't say what the pay is but it's described as 30hrs a week "casual". The ATG venues in Manchester advertise their vacancies on Facebook, might just be specific to Manc though.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 30, 2016 14:14:21 GMT
ATG have an ad for FOH at the Piccadilly on their website at the moment. Doesn't say what the pay is but it's described as 30hrs a week "casual". The ATG venues in Manchester advertise their vacancies on Facebook, might just be specific to Manc though. Very interesting. Thank you |
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Post by Deleted on Sept 30, 2016 14:20:42 GMT
Would the fact that English isn't my first language be a disadvantage, even though I speak it very well? I think I can claim I'm fluent in English. I'm also fluent in Dutch (my mother tongue), proficient in French and have a basic knowledge of German. Maybe those last 3 could be an advantage?
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Post by Deleted on Sept 30, 2016 14:29:13 GMT
I'd say it's a definite bonus! You get a lot of international tourists (and residents) in London, and seeing a West End show is a thing to do! Let your fluency in English speak for itself (I didn't know it wasn't your first language, and that's seeing you posting here where you can't plaster over the gaps in the same way you can with spoken language), and definitely mention the others on your application.  |
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Post by Anniek on Sept 30, 2016 14:50:47 GMT
Ha! pointone another Dutchie here on board! Succes! |
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Post by Nelly on Sept 30, 2016 15:04:14 GMT
Would the fact that English isn't my first language be a disadvantage, even though I speak it very well? I think I can claim I'm fluent in English. I'm also fluent in Dutch (my mother tongue), proficient in French and have a basic knowledge of German. Maybe those last 3 could be an advantage? That could only work majorly to your advantage! |
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Post by Deleted on Sept 30, 2016 15:54:21 GMT
The Dutch seem to find it trivially easy to learn English. Back in the early days of the Internet when English was pretty much the only language there was the Dutch were everywhere. You could barely move for double vowels and the occasional lurking ij.
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Post by viserys on Sept 30, 2016 16:14:27 GMT
The Dutch are blessed with subtitled television and cinema.
I owe most of my early good English to the fact that I lived close enough to the border to watch Dutch television (back in the days of aerial reception) instead of being forced to watch everything dubbed into German (and ruined). To this day I rather drive an hour to a cinema across the border to see movies in their original version. Learning Dutch along the way because of the subtitles was a bonus!
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Post by Michael on Sept 30, 2016 17:50:30 GMT
Or Scandinavia/Northern Europe. Been to Copenhagen, Malmö and Helsinki last weekend (yes, all three in one weekend) and I was amazed at how good everyone's English was. Here in Germany, the average level of English is pretty basic and none of my friends would even consider seeing a movie in its original version.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 30, 2016 18:08:24 GMT
Yeah having subtitles forces you to learn English
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Post by Deleted on Sept 30, 2016 18:15:34 GMT
Ha! pointone another Dutchie here on board! Succes! Belgian actually. You probably know who I am now  |
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Post by Phantom of London on Sept 30, 2016 18:15:56 GMT
Speaking other languages will go in your favour.
It is a shame the British do not put any value on speaking languages, I mean you go in a hotel like Premier Inn you see the receptionist with their name badge, with the Union Jack on it, really wow - you can actually speak your mother tongue, but nothing else.
With Northern Europe they are exposed to English through movies and music, which they relax to. So they are have a good head start when they begin to learn it.
I am in Majorca now and the locals are very fluent in English and German as they know their livelihoods rely on it, also when they learn language at school they have great opportunities to converse with tourists, which we don't in the UK.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 30, 2016 18:35:36 GMT
The thing is there is nothing to really encourage native speakers of English to learn another language because everyone speaks English anyway.
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Post by DuchessConstance on Sept 30, 2016 18:57:25 GMT
Ha! pointone another Dutchie here on board! Succes! Belgian actually. You probably know who I am now Poirot?! |
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Sept 30, 2016 19:33:05 GMT
The thing is there is nothing to really encourage native speakees of English to learn another language because everyone speaks English anyway. I did a Spanish course last year. God it was hard and it was only for beginners! Problem is these days it's all done in this immersive style. You walk into the class as a complete newbie and there's a Spanish lecturer jabbering away at you in Spanish. How are you supposed to understand it? Might work with kids but it doesn't work with me. Give me a nice list of verbs and pronouns to learn and I'll do it but DONT TALK TO ME IN IT. Jejeje. |
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Post by Deleted on Sept 30, 2016 20:31:20 GMT
Belgian actually. You probably know who I am now Poirot?! How did you guess?  |
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