John Raymond Barker is an actor, singer, writer, and voice over artist living in NYC where he recently made his network television debut guest starring on Law & Order: SVU. New York theatre credits include several new works (including Lee Feldman’s Greene) and appearances throughout the cabaret and nightlife scene, including many at the historic Stonewall Inn. He co-wrote the devised work, Gold Coast, with Stages on the Sound for Metropolitan Playhouse’s Gilded Stage Festival under the guidance of Tectonic Theater Project’s Scott Barrow. In January 2019, John made his network television debut guest starring as Karl Patton on Law & Order: SVU on NBC.
Broadway is a community of hundreds and hundreds of employees who all help make its crazy wheel go round, eight times a week. And of all of the jobs, ushers talk to more of our ticket buyers than anyone. I reached out to my friends over at Jujamcyn Theaters and asked for their help in picking one of their experienced vets to help me understand what was happening on the front lines.
And they introduced me to John, an actor whose “night job” is ushering at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre. Listen in to this podcast to hear John’s first hand knowledge and insight on things like . . .
- What’s the biggest complaint our audience has about going to the theater?
- How training for ushers is different than it was ten years ago (at least for some of the theater chains).
- How can we make Patti LuPone sleep easy at night and improve theater etiquette?
- How texting is the least of our problems in the theater.
- The solution to the bathroom debate.
Keep up with me: @KenDavenportBway