Spotlight on Jackie Lotery - FOH Manager Extraordinaire!

There are many people who come and work at Walterdale to ensure that the show is successful. Often, we focus on the onstage people - they are the ones we see - but there are many other people who have committed to Walterdale in other very necessary ways. One of these jobs is FOH. Today we spotlight Jackie Lotery. Jackie is a long-time Walterdale member who has been onstage (Sinbad, Black Hearts in the Green Room, A Child's Christmas in Wales), worked as PM (You're a Good Man Charlie Brown, Beautiful Thing) and many other roles in the theatre. She was also singled out by the FOH Directors as being a FOH Manager that goes above and beyond!

Jackie, What does the FOH Manager do? As FOH Manager, I get a big very important set of keys from the lock box and proceed to unlock the front doors to let the audience in and take the tickets out of the mail box for the current night. I provide the Box Office and Coffee Bar volunteers with their cash boxes. I then check the washrooms and pick up any debris from the audience section of the theatre. I deal with any questions or issues audience members may have, find out from the stage manager what she needs from me, tear the tickets and let the audience in. When the audience is in, at 8:00 p.m. I let the S.M. know that she can start the show. If the actors are using the lobby in a show, I need to dim the lights in the lobby during the show. I am responsible for putting the Box Office and coffee bar cash in the safe. At the end of the night, I am responsible for locking up after the audience has left.

Why do you like this job? As a very long time member, one of the things I like about doing FOH is running into people I know, both audience members and actors. I also like any opportunity to help out at Walterdale and the idea of being in charge of something.

What is the most challenging thing about the job? My most challenging night doing FOH was on the last night of You`re a Good Man Charlie Brown when there was that huge storm ( I was also Production Manager of that particular show.) The theatre had to be evacuated just before curtain call and I was very glad that our administrator, Kent, was in the audience that night. The most disappointing part was that we couldn`t have the cast party at the theatre or strike until the next day. After the storm there was a huge power outage in the City and some people did not get their power back for two days.

Jackie, you have been with Walterdale for a long time, in many different roles, any fun stories to share? Over the years, I have acted, written the newsletter, stage managed, assistant stage managed, done lights, props, painted and partied. There are a lot of stories but one of my favourites was when I was the front end of the horse in the Christmas pantomime. My back end,whose name shall not be mentioned, happened to be in the washroom after intermission when we were supposed to come on so I had to enter as half a horse. She came running in and took her place much to the huge amusement of the audience – as you know, anything goes in a panto!