Too Bad, So Sad...

Sometimes I hate being the cold and cruel box office manager.

At my theater, we are currently having a highly successful, sold out run of Present Laughter. Today was no exception. When curtain time arrives, we sell the empty seats to people desperate to get in on stand by and I sold every seat. (Thank you very much!)

After the show starts, 10 minutes after curtain time, a couple arrives in from the suburbs. Because I had sold all the empty seats to stand bys, I had nothing for them at intermission and certainly not for late seating.

Our usual option is to reschedule for a later show. We have a two week extended run, but unfortunately they were going to be out of town then. So, as a final gesture of goodwill without breaking the rules, I offered them a certificate to come back next season. Mr. Late Comer took it because he "had no other choice" but was going to "remember this the next time they got a letter asking for money!"

Ugh! That just makes me feel so mean. But we have limited late seating and no refunds. They knew that, even if they didn't pay attention to the warning when they bought the tickets.

All in all though, Mr. & Mrs. Late Comer are still beat out by the early ticket buyer, when unable to buy a ticket outside of business hours (I was in a meeting! What could I do?), told me that "the Alley [Theatre] is always open!" and walked out the door.

Signed Mr. McScrooge Box Office Manager