Welcome to ISU Theatre
We are so excited you’ll be coming to our show! This Accessibility Guide offers information on finding our performance venue, parking, who you might meet on your way in, and theatre etiquette.
Fisher Theater is located at 1805 Center Dr, Ames, IA 50011.
The nearest parking lots are F1 and F2.
Nearest Bus stops
- Lincoln Way at Beach Avenue Eastbound
- Beach Avenue at Sunset Drive Southbound
- Beach Avenue at Sunset Drive Northbound
- Lincoln Way at Beach Avenue Westbound
Fisher Theater offers hearing assistance:
RF listening devices with aux input compatible with most 1/8" plug-in headphones/devices are available for performances. Listening devices and singular over-the-ear headphones are available upon request at no charge from the box office. Large print programs are available at the box office.
People you might interact with on your way through the lobby:
House Manager
The house manager is responsible for the “front of house” operations at the theatre. This means they will be managing traffic, offering instruction to ushers (see below), communicating with the box office, and ensuring audience members are where they need to be.
Box Office Manager
The Box Office Manager oversees the selling and distributing of tickets. We have moved to an open seating ticket plan at Fisher Theater
Ushers
Ushers are here to help make sure you get a program and to help you with any questions you may have about seating or if you need to ask where the restrooms are located.
Other Audience Members
Most of the time, the house (where the audience sits) doesn’t open until 30 minutes before show times. This means you will likely spend some time milling about the lobby - which is a great time to grab that last drink of water, use the restroom, or eat the candy bar in your backpack. It’s also a great time to strike up conversations with your fellow audience members and make new friends.
Theatre Etiquette
Theatre is a collaborative art. Not only does it take many people to bring a show to life, but it requires a live audience as well. If you’ve never attended a live theatre show before, you might have some questions about audience interactions. Theatre events can have different rules depending on the play that is being performed and the venue its performed in. In fact, even the geographical location of the venue can influence how audiences are expected to interact. So it’s important to remember that one theatre’s “rules” don’t necessarily equal every theatre’s rules.
Here are some etiquette guidelines for ISU Theatre events:
- Try to arrive early. Live theatre generally starts on time and, unlike movie theaters, there aren’t trailers before the main event. It can also take a while to navigate the lobby, get your tickets, and find your seat, so it’s a good idea to arrive 10-15 minutes early to account for this. If do you arrive late:
- You may be asked to wait until a scene-break before being allowed to sit, which is a bummer, but is for your safety as the theatre can get very dark.
- If an usher doesn’t greet you, enter the theatre and sit down in the nearest possible seat. Do not congregate on the landing or in the aisles as this is a fire hazard AND you never know if an actor is scheduled to come running/dancing down the aisle.
- Keep aisles clear - for many reasons including your own safety. You never know when someone will need to exit for a bathroom break or emergency. Additionally, actors may be performing in/making entrance and exits from the aisles, so it’s important to remove any obstacles that might get in their way.
- Make sure you turn off your cell phone or put it in airplane mode. Even on “silent” a phone can vibrate, which can be distracting for audience members and the actors on stage.
- Make sure to keep your phone off and tucked away for the duration of the play. Checking messages at intermission is fine - but during the show, the light from your phone will be seen by everyone near/behind you and can be very distracting.
- No photography or filming is permitted. This is for a few reasons: plays are copyrighted material AND it’s distracting to the audience members around you.
- Be considerate of the people around you. Remember that we are a community, and may respond to the show differently. You are encouraged to gasp, laugh, cry, and otherwise be a human. But please do NOT talk during the show - this will distract your fellow audience members and the actors on stage. If you need to have a conversation, head to the lobby first.
- Oftentimes after our shows, the actors will come to the lobby to greet people. You are always welcome to hang out in the lobby to meet the cast!