Clarke courier. [volume] (Berryville, Va.) 1869-1997, 1905-01-18
BOX OFFICE TRICKS.
The BERTH or a THEATsR TICKET
SELLER IS NOT A SlNEcURe.

To the average tleater goer the man
who sits behind the wicket In the box
Office and sells tickets seems to have
one OF tie sinecures OF earth. True. he
has TO answer many fool questions and
deal with many fool persons who are
often ugly because others with more
foresight have picked up early all the
good seats. He has To handle diplo-
matically the woman who wants dollar
seats for 40 cents and with the other
fellow who wants first row. center"
after the play has begun and that has
been sold for a week ahead. But all
these things seem but his share OF the
minor Ills OF earth. outside OF them
apparently his job is what is generally
known as SNAP"
But the man I'm the box office has
other things to do besides sell tickets.
True. that is where he comes In con-
tact with the general public. and that
is al that is usually thought about his
duties. But at the same time he is
serving the public he is working for
two masters behind the scenes, the
proprietor OF the house and the mana
ger OF the attraction, and he must
serve them equally. while their inter
ests sometimes conflict sharply. Fur
thermorO he must serve them as
against the public II need there be. and
II keeps him hustling TO hold his job
to do Il too.
The man behind the wicket is good
man II he can make you buy n seat
that costs you more than you intended
TO invest TO see that particular "show"
all attractions in a playhouse are
shows" in the parlance. be they opera,
comedy or vaudeville. Now, most men
think they know what they are going
to get when they visit theater, and
they especially have the price fixed In
their minds. Perhaps. psychologlcally
speaking. they are stronger minded
than the house treasurer Then they
do get what they want. and he never
questions IL. But the average man Is
not The treasurer is trained In ticket
selling II is his daily routine. while
il Is an occasional act on the mans
part. Hence he is fortified for the pub
lic and the latter is not for him. and
so when the people step up. especially
IL il is rather late and there is some
thing OF n rush. n clever ticket man
can easily get the extra price out OF
them for higher selling seat
How does he do ftp Largely by the
power OF suggestion. He implies that
you want Il. for instance. when you 80
up. In other words. he puts the ques-
ton as to what priced seat by asking
you about the higher ones before he
mentions the lower ones, and when he
does refer 10 the latter. at your sugges-
ton. he does Il rather apologetically.
He has the higher rate tickets in his
hand, and II you do not take them he
reaches 90 the rack for the others, and
all the time the line is waiting. those
back OF you are scowling, IL not max
Ing remarks. and every one within car
shot OF the window knows that you
have refused the higher seats for the
lower priced ones. This is embarrass-
ing. Especially is IL so II n girl is with
you, waiting just outside the rail that
separates the mob from the line. and
the chances are 10 TO that you will
take the cue. involuntarily, and pay a
quarter more. when you had no inten-
ton OF doing so when you approached
the clever man In the box.
That is one way. 1t doesn't require
any falsehood. 1t does require q good
knowledge OF human nature. Some men
wouldn't stand for" that They would
be offended. and il might hurt the
house. That is for the treasurer to
beware. He must "size up" his Gus
toners and act accordingly.
There is great gain in time in sell
ing without n chart a man will then
step up and ask for a good seat"
about n certain place. Running
through his lists. the seller finds him
something very near there, and he is
satisfied That one man is finished in
a few seconds. 1t would take minutes
II the sheets were there. Time is i'm
portant when the orchestra is playing
and the curtain about to go up.
Still further, the absence OF n chart
enables the seller to dress" his house
provided the sale is light, and TO keep
out singles" II it is heavy. Singles"
are seats left alone when the adjoining
pairs have been selected from a chart
singles" are hard to sell because very
few persons attend a theater alone. Al
most all seats are sold in pairs. A
treasurer with a bunch OF ''singles'' ON
his hands, even with a house threaten
Ing to sell out. is up against it." for
often he will lose sales that would
have meant capacity but for the fact
that he cannot place a couple In ad-
Joining seats. though he may have sew
eral odd ones left
Dressing" a house is the avoidance
or this condition in one sense. but II
applies to light houses generally. When
a show is not doing well II is I'D to the
Dox office to make the house look full
even though it be only partly solid.
He does this by scattering the crowd.
instead OF selling q section solid and
leaving adjoining sections vacant he
sells n few here, a few there, and thus
the empty spaces are not concentrated.
Men usually dress a house from the
center out. They will sell a good part
OF the center section, scattering, and
then will work out on the left and
right. This is because seats on the ex-
IRENE edge OF the house are not so
good, and people expect them to be va
cant except in heavy house anyhow
and do not notice them so soon. He
knows his house like a book, and he
knows early in the day whether or not
he will have a crowd. Hence he acts
accordingly.-Kansas City Journal.
The Opposite Way.
lie was Rhodes scholar at Oxford
lie had come from Germany and 1zas