Measure twice, cut once department…
From the Ipswitch (U.K.) Evening Star:
HUNDREDS of theatregoers have today been asked to send back tickets to Ipswich’s Regent theatre after seat numbers had to be reallocated.
Though most shows are unaffected, theatre manager Hazel Clover has written to some customers asking them to send back tickets because seats were sold in advance of a £500,000 13-week refurbishment.
The letter said replacing the theatre’s 78-year-old 1,600 seats had resulted in some changes to row numbers and seat numbers.
One theatregoer, who did not wish to be named, said: “The main thing is the theatre is going to have lovely new seats. “I didn’t realise at first we would have to send tickets back. I don’t mind but it must be expensive for the theatre to send tickets to a fro.”
We know how costly mailing to a fro goes, I suppose. We prefer to count our seats before they sell them.
Toronto-based Audienceview has been a rising star among ticketing systems providers for arts organizations. Now, it’s expanding more into other areas, including big-time college athletics.
As Ticketnews.com reports, the company has added the University of Minnesota’s athletic ticketing to the arts side they already provided:
Toronto-based ticket solutions provider AudienceView, already ticketing the University of Minnesota’s Arts department activities, has now picked up the university’s Golden Gopher athletic events, which includes 25 men’s and women’s varsity sports teams in the Big Ten Conference and Western Collegiate Hockey Association. Ticket sales started August 15 at the box office, online, and by phone.
The athletic ticketing for Minnesota was formerly provided by college athletics powerhouse Paciolan, which is being purchased by industry leader Ticketmaster. Ironically, Paciolan just added the Concerts/Arts side of the University of Tennessee’s ticketing to its exisiting athletics contract.
Just ask Roger how he feels about Paciolan…
I don’t know how broadly the effects of an IRS ruling on taxation of free tickets might fall, but it might be something to think about. An article in SMU’s The Daily Campus reports:
SMU faculty and staff might have to make new arrangements if they wish to attend Mustang football games this season. Previously, as was the case with students, employees of SMU were able to get a ticket at the ticket office by showing their ID. That will all change.
In April, the IRS informed SMU that if the school continued to give free tickets to employees, the employee could be taxed. The tickets would be considered a part of an employee’s salary and would therefore be taxable income.
We have no idea whether athletic department personnel, players, etc. still get free tickets, or what the application to something like a Theatre Department for tickets on their plays would be, but it’s interesting to speculate…
Please come to the Graduate Acting beginning of the year presentation! The first and third year graduate actors will be presenting monologues and some songs next Wednesday, September 5th, from 4:00-6:00 p.m. in the Lab Theatre. This is a great way for the actors to begin to work together and with all of you, and a chance for us all to welcome the new class here. Look forward to seeing you there!
Jed Diamond
In case you’ve been too busy to notice, we’re approaching the Labor Day weekend — and in the case of Knoxville, Boomsday.
According to the Knoxville News-Sentinel, there will be several changes in traffic patterns not too far from the Theatre:
Road closures for Boomsday will begin at 1 p.m. Saturday when police shut down the Henley Bridge. At the same time, authorities will close westbound Neyland Drive from Walnut Street to Lake Loudon Boulevard.
All remaining lanes of Neyland Drive from Lake Loudon Boulevard to Walnut Street will close at 10 p.m. Saturday.
Keep this in mind, as we have two shows on Saturday and one Sunday afternoon!
After a little time away, UT Theatre alumna (and one-time Box Office Associate!) Angela Church has been using her acting training in some quite varied ways this summer.
First, there was the featured role in the promo commercial for Bridezillas, the TV show on the WE cable channel. Here’s a link to it on YouTube. (Be warned, it’s pretty scarry!)
A radically different setting is her role in a Chandelier Theatre Company production of The Child Dreams, by Israeli playwright Hanoch Levin, at the Kraine Theatre in the East Village, New York City. Angela plays the role of the mother.
Here’s the synopsis:
In the midst of genocide, a ship of refugees will head out to sea with hopes of survival. Those who board might live and those who will not will only have a chance to envy the living. How far will a mother go to save her child? Are compassion, care, faith and even love part of human nature? Or are they simply luxuries of peace time? This is perhaps the most challenging and controversial piece of Israeli literature. Written with the poetic genius and brilliant irony.
We’re going to try some updates on some of the activities of UT Theatre alumni…
UT Theatre graduate Logan Marshall-Green co-starred in the ABC series Traveler (9 episodes) this summer. However, the show wasn’t picked up for the fall. We’ll stay tuned to see if the show has a further life.
Here’s a show summary from a contributor on IMDb:
The series is about two graduate students, Jay Burchell (Matthew Bomerand) and Tyler Fog (Logan Marshall-Green), who on a dare from their long time friend Will Traveler skate around a museum for a prank. After they leave the museum it explodes and the FBI are called in when it appears to be terrorist related. The two friends soon become suspects and it appears that Will set them up to make it look like they did the bombing. Fog and Jay tell the FBI about Traveler but they are told that no one called Will Traveler ever existed. The boys find they have no proof as they never have a clear photo of him as he always hide his face, and he never spoke of his home life. Realising that they only way to prove their innocence is to find Traveler and find out why he’s trying to frame them, so they go looking for him and soon find themselves involved in a manhunt by the FBI. Written by DanDud88
It’s been a long, hot summer.
Those of us in the Clarence Brown Theatre Box Office have been busy converting to a new ticketing system. It hasn’t been an easy transition — and it’s taken our time away from other activities, such as updating our blog.
We apologize for neglecting our readers here.
The new ticketing system is up and running now, although with problems (subject for another post…), so we’re going to do our best to use this space to provide rapid communication about what’s going on relating to the Clarence Brown Theatre at the University of Tennessee.
We’ll take two or three minutes every now and again to just jot down here things. Expect to see posts from others, also — providing instant notification of official announcements, auditions notices, etc.
So log into here frequently, or just check the RSS feed on the front page our our intranet to see what we’re talking about.
Thanks for your patience, and we invite your participation!
Roger
