Lyric Opera 2018-2019 Issue 5 Il Travatore

L Y R I C O P E R A O F C H I C A G O 38 | November 17 - December 9, 2018 The smoothness of Lyric’s front-of-house operation is due to an exceptionally dedicated staff, headed by Sheila Matthews and Chuck Tucker. They’re both in their second season as Lyric’s house managers, and they’ve come to Lyric with very different but equally applicable backgrounds. Sheila, who ran AT&T phone center stores and retired after 23 years, is also a former Lyric usher. Chuck served in the Air Force, ending his military career as a Major General. Central to the house manager’s role at any performance is “to make sure the curtain rises on time,” says Sheila, “and that everything goes well in the intermission. If there are questions, problems, or concerns, we’re here.” From every point of view, “it’s important to us that people have a great experience, from the moment they arrive to the moment they say goodnight after the performance.” Chuck notes that “we want Lyric’s ushers to present a particular demeanor. Our restaurants should be integrated with our security and our ushers, so there’s a flow to everything.” Regardless of where a patron is seated, they’re treated with the same courtesy, and “if you’ve been here before and our ushers have seen you, they’ll say ‘Welcome back.’ It’s that ‘Hey, Norm!’ Cheers experience.” How can audiences make the house manager’s job easier? “When patrons are here for the first time,” says Sheila, “they need to know that if they leave during the performance, they can’t go back in.” Sheila and Chuck would also like to remind patrons that Lyric has an app allowing them to pre-order and pay for their drinks and dessert. “They just have to pick them up,” explains Chuck. “At the Bistro, your table will be waiting for you, you’ll enjoy your cupcake and your coffee or whatever and be done in 25 minutes.” But other than being on time and turning their phones off, Sheila emphasizes that “it’s most important for them to be respectful of who’s sitting next to them.” That feeling of respect also describes how Lyric's front-of-house staff responds to anyone attending a performance. "I want to give a shout-out to all our outstanding usher supervisors, restaurant workers, bartenders, janitors, and ushers; they’re the people who really make the front of the house work," says Chuck. Chuck is proud of what Lyric does for patrons with particular needs. “We’ll take blind patrons backstage so they can touch the scenery. We have someone who does descriptions they can listen to during the performance.” That special care includes “helping you if you have a wheelchair or an oxygen tank. And if someone says, ‘There’s a seeing-eye dog next to me and I’m allergic to dogs – can I move?’, we’ll certainly move you if you tell us early enough.’ Someone might say, ‘My mother just got out of the hospital and she’s worried she may have to go to the bathroom,’ so we’ll try to seat her in an upper box so she can leave when she needs to. We‘re trying to accommodate everybody.” Of course, there are lines at the bathroom, “but they move fast,” Sheila declares. “No matter how long the line, no one has ever been late and we’ve never had to hold the curtain – ever! You know why? We have two ushers, one inside and one outside, keeping everyone in line and orderly. We know there’s a time limit, and we want them all to do what they need to do but get to their seats on time.” If one patron has a problem with another, “they’ll tell an usher, who will get the house manager,” says Sheila. “We find a member of our security team and address the problem.” Chuck remembers two non-American patrons, one of whom was making too much noise unwrapping candy. “They discovered they were from the same country and from different political backgrounds -- they began throwing epithets at each other. People can be pretty passionate.” On each floor, Chuck will stand at the back of the theater to see if there’s a problem: “Usually my presence, just being there looking at somebody, will make them stop doing what they’re doing.” Sheila views the house-manager position as “a gift from God.” She had breast cancer and had left ushering at Lyric to recover, “but I got word that [director of presentations and special events] Rich Regan wanted to talk to me.” When he offered Sheila the position, “I told him I was honored — truly honored.” The job has reinforced Sheila’s conviction that “music is a language that everyone understands. I love that we’re reaching out to youth, because we need to get them involved and educated so we can have opera for many, many more years to come.” Chuck served in seven wars, “and many of the things I saw at war are still things we’re discussing in theater, so there’s a catharsis for me in going through this. But more than that: having seen destruction, the idea that Lyric works with kids and with the community makes this such a good cause. It’ s not just that we’re perpetuating an art form -- we’re bringing humanity rather than strife to people’s lives. It feels good.” Dedicated to the Audience: A Talk with Lyric House Managers — Roger Pines Sheila Matthews and Chuck Tucker