Ushers: July through November Rental Schedules

The schedules for rental events in the theater from July through November have been emailed and posted.

Here are the events which correspond to the dates on the schedule:

July 13 - Balalaika and Domra Association of America Concert
August 17 - Carreno Dance Festival
September 13 & 14 - Artist Series (These dates may change to 14 & 15.  In that case, those who are scheduled for the 13th will work the 15th as available.  I will keep you posted on this.)
September 21 - Fred Astaire Dance Studio (This date may change to October 6.  If you are not available for October 6, please let me know.)
October 12 - Sarasota Orchestra
November 22 & 23 - Sarasota Ballet

If you have any questions, please contact Scott.

To sign up for ushering at rental events at the Opera House, please click the link below and fill out the form.

Please remember that signing up for an event does not mean you are scheduled for that event.  Schedules will be sent to those ushers who will be working on the following schedule:

April 29: May thru July events
May 15: August thru December events

http://www.jotform.us/SarasotaOpera/rentalsignup

Note that each usher must fill out a form, couples cannot fill out one form for the both of them.  There is a space at the bottom of the form to note who you usher with, but each person who wishes to usher must fill out the form.

If you have trouble filling out the form, please call Scott at 941-366-8450, ext. 228.  Do not email your preferred dates in lieu of submitting this form.

If you have usher friends who do not use email or the Internet, please pass the word on to call Scott so that he can fill out their form.

USHERS: Rental Event Sign-up through December

Shortly, you will see a form here for signing up for rental events through December.  You will also receive an email with the form later today.

This is a new system we are looking at for scheduling.  You simply check the dates (by clicking with your mouse) that interest you and submit the form.

I will get a report which has all of the data automatically filled in with everyone's choices.  That data will then be used to build the schedule.  If this works out for these rental events, we will probably switch to this for the regular season scheduling.

For the few ushers who do not have email, they will need to call me, and I will fill out the form for them.  Please spread that word to your ushering friends who do not use the Internet or email.

I will be taking submissions until Friday, April 19 for the remaining events in April, and Wednesday, April 24 for the other events.  Schedules for the May through December events will go out in two phases:

Phase 1 on April 29: May, June and July events
Phase 2 on May 15: August thru December

If you have any questions, please contact Scott at 941-366-8450, ext. 228.

Changes To Look Out For

Now that things have calmed down a bit in the Sarasota Opera offices, it's time to take hard look at what worked this past year and what didn't

Over the next couple of months we will be introducing some changes that we hope will make your volunteering experience a better one, particularly in the Usher Corps.

We can take the first step today by announcing the time-line for the 2013-14 usher schedule:

July 15 - July 29: Sign-up Period
July 30 - August 9: Scheduling Period
August 12: 2013-14 Usher Schedule Released (Fall & Winter)

We will be reaching out to you in early July to explain the changes we've made and what you will need to do to sign up for ushering assignments.

Please note that we are not taking any requests for the 2013-14 opera season until July 15.

Keep an eye out in your email and here on the blog!

USHERS - April Rental Events Schedule

Here are the schedules for the April rental events.  Click the link below (titled "April Rental Events Usher Schedules") and a PDF will pop up with a list of the performances and the ushers assigned to them.  This is in a different format from the season schedules and will hopefully be easier to read.

These are also posted on the Usher Schedule page of this blog and will be emailed on Tuesday.

April Rental Events Usher Schedules

UPDATED SCHEDULES

The usher schedules have been updated on the schedule page.  Click the "Sarasota Opera Usher Schedules" link on the left side of the page to see the changes.

There are still holes to fill, particularly for TURANDOT performances.  I will be updating the list of coverage needs shortly, but please take a look at the schedules and see if you can fill in on some of the performances where we need folks.

A HUGE thank you to those who have volunteered already to fill in!

Volunteer Appreciation Event

The Volunteer Appreciation Event will be on Thursday, April 4, 2013 at 4:30pm on the stage of the Opera House.

An invitation will be sent out in the next week with more information as well as RSVP information.

LIST: USHERS NEEDED

We have a lot of holes to fill in the usher schedule, particularly in the last weeks of the season.

Below is a list of how many ushers we need based on the performances.  If you would like to volunteer for any of the performances below, please email Scott with the dates you would like to work.

Date - Opera - Call Time - # of ushers needed; # opera club needed

Wed, February 20 - Turandot - 7:00pm - 2 ushers; 1 opera club
Thurs, February 21 - Pearl Fishers - 7:00pm - 2 ushers; 1 or 2 opera club
Sat, February 23 - Turandot - 7:00pm - 4 ushers; 1 opera club
Sun, February 24 - Pearl Fishers - 12:30pm - 2 ushers; 2 opera club
Wed, February 27 - Pearl Fishers - 7:00pm - 2 ushers
Thurs, February 28 - King for a Day Dress Rehearsal - 11:30am - 10 ushers
Thurs, February 28 - Turandot - 7:00pm - 1 usher; 2 opera club
Fri, March 1 - Pearl Fishers - 7:00pm - 3 ushers; 1 opera club
Sat, March 2 - King for a Day - 7:00pm - 1 usher
Sun, March 3 - Turandot - 12:30pm - 5 ushers; 2 opera club
Tues, March 5 - King for a Day - 1 opera club
Thurs, March 7 - King for a Day - 1 opera club
Fri, March 8 - Pearl Fishers - 12:30pm - 10 ushers; 2 opera club
Fri, March 8 - Verdi's Times - 7:00pm - 4 ushers; 2 opera club
Sun, March 10 - King for a Day - 12:30pm - 2 ushers; 1 opera club
Sun, March 10 - Turandot - 7:00pm - 19 ushers; 2 opera club (!!!!!!)
Tues, March 12 - Mice and Men - 7:00pm - 2 opera club
Wed, March 13 - King for a Day - 3 ushers; 1 opera club
Thurs, March 14 - Mice and Men - 7:00pm - 10 ushers; 2 opera club
Fri, March 15 - Turandot - 7:00pm - 12 ushers; 1 opera club
Sat, March 16 - Pearl Fishers - 12:30pm - 2 ushers
Sat, March 16 - King for a Day - 7:00pm - 13 ushers; 2 opera club
Sun, March 17 - Mice and Men - 12:30pm - 1 usher; 1 opera club
Tues, March 19 - Turandot - 7:00pm - 25 ushers; 2 opera club (!!!!!!)
Fri, March 22 - Pearl Fishers - 7:00pm - 8 ushers; 2 opera club
Sat, March 23 - Mice and Men - 12:30pm - 4 ushers
Sat, March 23 - Turandot - 7:00pm - 20 ushers (!!!!!!)
Sun, March 24 - King for a Day - 12:30pm - 17 ushers; 2 opera club
Sun, March 24 - Verdi Bicentennial Concert - 7:00pm - 2 opera club; 1 McCorkle Lounge

Updated Schedules Now Posted

The Usher Schedules have been updated and can be found on the Sarasota Opera Usher Schedule page.

As you can see, there are holes to fill.  If you see a performance you would like to usher, please let Scott know.  An email will be going out shortly with a list of personnel needs.

Thank you all!

USHERS - Week 7 Schedule Now Posted

The schedule for the final week of the Winter Season has been posted.  Mark your calendars...this is the first schedule that has been released ahead of when I said it would be...even though that deadline was a revised deadline from a month and a half ago.  Small steps.

As you can see, there are lots of holes to fill.  I'll be sending out an email with a list of performances that need ushers soon.

Thank you all!

**UPDATED to add: If we have spoken and changed your schedule, or added you into the schedule in the past week, those changes will not yet be reflected in the posted schedules.  I will update the posted schedules tomorrow and send out the weekly scheduling email as well.**