I am sitting in a plush VIP room in the Dominion Theatre, interviewing a group of performers. However, they are not the cast of the current show, The Devil Wears Prada. They are actually the theatre’s front-of-house staff. You can find them selling ice cream at intervals or filling up endless champagne flutes at the bar. You can also find them on TikTok, where they have amassed over a million likes for their videos promoting the show and the theatre.
One of the group, Kane Verrall, 31, said: “Front-of-house teams are quite easily overlooked. It’s been so nice to get this recognition for our work.”
Some of you may recognise Verrall. He stars in the theatre’s most viral video. Along with co-worker Zoe Aston, 26, they play the iconic theatre-kid duo, Ryan and Sharpay Evans of High School Musical. They dance all over the theatre to one of the finest songs in their catalogue: ‘Bop to the Top’. Due to their obvious talent and the fact that Verrall is a near carbon copy of actor Lucas Grabeel, who played Ryan in the films, the reaction towards the video was undeniably huge, reaching over seven million views.
Aston is still in shock, saying, “It’s hard to comprehend; You can’t really imagine seven million people in person.”
The person responsible for the TikTok account is Lara McMahon, the 23-year-old marketing assistant at Nederlander Theatres, the Dominion’s parent company. She used to work front-of-house at the Dominion and wanted to make the ushers the face of the theatre. To her delight, the team couldn’t wait to get on board.
She said: “Everyone was very up for it. Everyone was very willing to give it a go.”
Romy Smales, 25, loves getting involved in brainstorming TikTok ideas, and even suggested some earlier today. “I was so up for it,” Smales said. ”Every time I see a TikTok trend I think would be really good, I send it to Lara.”
TikTok has also become a great way to welcome new employees to the team, and they are all immensely supportive of everyone’s videos.
“We absolutely adored the Ryan and Sharpay TikTok”, said 28-year-old front-of-house worker, Freddie Alexander.
The Ryan and Sharpay duo came about organically. Along with Verrall’s doppelganger looks, Aston was known to regularly impersonate Sharpay while working at the Champagne Bar, the boozy centrepiece at the entrance of the Dominion theatre.
Their newfound fame spanned far and wide. Not only did the Prada cast love their videos (a few collaborations are in the pipeline), but they also garnered attention from HSM alumni. Ashley Tisdale commented on their video, and Corbin Bleu even made a TikTok with them.
Alexander said: “We all kept bumping into him around the theatre!”
Aston, who grew up on High School Musical, said: “I was just starstruck. That was my whole childhood.”
Even the very established CEO of Nederlander Theatres, Jerry Katzman, is a big fan of their TikTok account, with McMahon commenting that ”you can hear High School Musical playing from his office! It’s really sweet.”
The most wholesome interactions, however, are with audience members. Alexander has spotted customers re-enacting the choreography down the staircases, and audience members who have come from as far as Canada have recognised Aston and Verrall.
McMahon said: “It’s been a great way to promote both the show, the theatre, and the fact you’ll be met by these incredible front-of-house staff who will make your experience that much better.”
Ushers often lead busy lives with anti-social work schedules. At big West-End theatres, full-time front-of-house staff often work six days a week, with Saturday being the busiest day. Many ushers are also performers, using their spare time to prepare for auditions. On top of this, ushers have not received the best treatment from customers in recent years. According to a 2023 survey by Bectu, one in five theatre ushers have feared for their safety. More than one in five have been involved in or witnessed an incident where a venue had to call the police.
Along with the choreography, the front-of-house staff often make skits about behind-the-scenes operations, such as seating latecomers, catching people filming a show, and the stress of double-show days. They hope these videos have given people better insight into how the theatre world works.
The Dominion ushers want audiences to know that they are here to help and ensure that they have the best experiences possible.
Verrall also encourages everyone to arrive early: “I wish that people would arrive with time to enjoy the venue and revel in the whole experience.”
And there’s so much to enjoy! Along with bars aplenty and merchandise stalls, there are many photo opportunities and displays with glittering designer dresses.
If you are not attending the theatre anytime soon, however, you can rest assured that the Dominion Theatre ushers have a collection of fabulous HSM content ready upon your simple request!
Words by Harriet MacDonald
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