Playhouse Profile: Ali Forman

In about three seconds, you can inhale and exhale twice, change the channel three or four times and hit the snooze button from a dead sleep with amazing accuracy. If you're Ali Forman, that's how long it would take you to accept the job as Playhouse on Park's new house manager.

Ali Forman, a West Hartford resident has known about the playhouse for ages. She's known Artistic Director Darlene Zoller for over eight years, it was Ms. Zoller who offered her the job. "When she found out I was home from college, she asked me right away if I would help out as house manager for the year." Ms. Forman says of learning about the job.

Her initial reaction to the job, "Loved it." but admits "It can be hard having a theater and dance background and not be a part of the cast. I soon realized that every single one of us needs to work together to make sure the show runs smoothly. This is a team effort and I love being a part of it."

Of the playhouse itself, she has an equal amount of love. "As soon you walk in to the playhouse, you get a friendly, family vibe from the staff. It's hard not to love everyone, well...maybe James is an exception." I have to admit, I laughed out loud when I read that response, after all if you can't poke fun at your family, who can you poke fun at. Since I pride myself I clever retorts, here is my comeback to that comment 'Ha ha, what an infantile response reserved for the paste-eating, I'm rubber your glue crowd of our elementary school days.'

Good natured kidding aside for the time being, now that she had the job as house manager, she needed to be trained by the outgoing house manager, me. Her enthusiasm and love of theater combined with my affable persona and thorough knowledge of all things Playhouse on Park, has continued the tradition of exceptional leadership. Blog writer throws a shout out to himself, whoop whoop!

A house manager's primary job is to ensure the safety of the audience from the moment they enter, until the moment they leave. In between there's a lot to be done. "As house manager, you need to be able to trouble-shoot and multi-task to the best of your ability." Says Ms. Forman of her nightly responsibilities. "There are jobs every night that the house manager must complete, but it's a gift that the playhouse always receives wonderful volunteers to help." She adds.

Speaking of the volunteers, one of Ms. Forman's first big responsibilities was to organize and lead some usher training sessions. Something the playhouse hierarchy felt was necessary as we entered our third season and looked for ways to improve the theater-going experience. Many of the people who attended one of the two sessions had already ushered for us on multiple occasions. "The individuals who joined us for the sessions had wonderful questions and were very respectful." Says Ms. Forman of the attendees. "You would have never known we were boring them to death." She jokes.

As long as we're joking, I asked her what she would do if she encountered a below-average volunteer. "Lock them in a room with James for approximately forty seconds. They'll wish they were never born." Personally, if it's a good day, I could do it in twenty seconds. Of course We've only ever had great volunteers, so interrogations won't be necessary.

Her favorite night at the playhouse so far was during the annual Volunteer Potluck Dinner in September. "That night, I felt that everyone working at the playhouse, including the actors from Around the World in 80 Days made me feel as though I were part of the family, even though I was the 'new guy'. They made me feel right at home. It was a wonderful feeling that I'll never forget."

Ms. Forman does not plan on furthering her acting career any time soon, but she does still dance. "If Darlene ever needed a spare dancer, I'd jump at the opportunity as quickly as possible. but for now, I will help out at the Playhouse whenever possible." Though she does confess to being very excited if she were ever chosen for a role.

Long term, she plans on applying to graduate school for speech pathology. After graduate school, she hopes to work anywhere in the West Hartford Public School District as a speech pathologist.

For now, Playhouse on Park is fortunate to have Ms. Ali Forman as house manager. The next time you're at a show, be sure to greet her, or ask her how she can make your Playhouse on Park experience the best it can be. She's ready for whatever comes her way.

Puritan Furniture

Puritan Furniture is Connecticut's largest furniture store, it occupies a five acre showroom at 1061 New Britain Avenue in West Hartford, Connecticut. Puritan Furniture graciously donated a beautiful black leather sofa, love seat and matching end table to Playhouse on Park, which is now on display in our lobby.

The furniture perfectly matches the frames of the pictures of our current production and has become a focal point in the lobby. They are as comfortable to sit in as they are beautiful to look at.

Special thank you to Puritan Furniture's Owner, Bruce Singer who quickly responded to my letter of request for a donation. Thank you to Puritan Furniture's Merchandising Manager, Pedro Gomes who kindly greeted me and Darlene Zoller on the morning of our scheduled meeting and showed us the furniture they selected for donation. Mr. Gomes also accompanied the delivery of the furniture a couple weeks later and helped bring it in to the lobby.

The next show you see at Playhouse on Park begins in the lobby, when you sit and relax on either the sofa or love seat. If your in the market for new furniture visit Puritan's huge New Britain avenue showroom or browse from the comfort of your home at www.puritanfurniture.com. Just don't let your existing furniture see you, it might pop another spring or lose more stuffing before its beautiful replacements are delivered.