Hello again! If you’ve read Jess’s post you’ll know that I’m working with her in the Front of House. Our main goal is to make sure everything is set so the audience can enjoy the show!
Basically, I’ve been working in the lobby and answering any questions you have when you come to see the show. I get to the theater two hours early and set up the lobby with Jess. We work with the Boston Center for the Arts Box Office to check on ticket sales for that night and make sure there haven’t been any problems. By problems, I don’t mean disasters, I just mean that we look to make sure every patron will be happy. For example, a few nights ago a woman mistakenly bought tickets for the wrong night and so we worked with the Box Office to get her new seats in the best place possible.
After checking with the Box Office, we check in with Emily, the stage manager, to make sure there are no problems in the theater. One night we entered the theater and there was music blasting from the ceiling. It sounded like there was a radio playing – not quite ideal for watching a play. Jess and I worked with the producers to get the music (which was from another theater nearby) turned down so that it was only barely audible for our show. After talking with Emily, we do a ‘sweep’ of the seats. We don’t literally ‘sweep’ the theater every night, but we walk through to make sure there are no programs or anything left over from the previous night’s show.
Finally, the crowd arrives and we communicate with Emily (who’s talking with the actors and musicians) about when to open the house. Once the house is open, I usually help people find their seats. Jess keeps running back between the lobby and box office to see if everyone has picked up their tickets – we try not to start the show if there are many tickets waiting to be picked up, but we also can’t hold up the whole show for only a few people.
Once the show starts, Jess and I can breathe. We clean up the lobby and start doing paperwork. Over the past two weeks I have also been watching part of the show to see how it’s going. I thought the show was really great when we opened but it has grown so much over the past three weeks.
Before I go get ready for tonight’s show, I want to put a plug in for ushering. For every show we need two ushers – one to collect tickets and one to sell concessions. While they’re volunteers, they get a free ticket to the show! It’s a great way to see the play. If you’re interested e-mail Jess at comps@companyone.org.
Alright now I’m off to the theater. I hope to see you there! I can’t believe we only have two weeks left! Buy your tickets and come see “After the Quake!”
* Grace
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