Danville intelligencer. [volume] (Danville, Pa.) 1859-1907, 1905-03-17
BOX OFFICE TRICKS.
THE BERTH OF A THEATER TICKET
SELLER is NOT A SlNECURE.


Human Nature-The Art of "Dress-
ing" a Light House.
To the average theater goer the man
who sits behind the wicket in the box
office and sells tickets seems to have
one of the 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-
maticaliy the woman who wants dollar
seats for 10 cents and with the other
fellow who wants first row, CENTER
after the play has begun and that has
been sold for 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 in the box office has
otl 81" things to do besides sell tickets.
True, that is where he comes in con-
tact with the general public, and that
is all 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
thermore. he must serve them as
against the public IL need there be, and
it keeps him hustling to hold his job
to do it too.
The man behind the wicket is good
man If he can make you buy 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, ana
they especially have the price fixed in
their minds. Perhaps, psychologically
speaking, they are stronger minded
than the house treasurer. Then they
do get what they want, and he never
questions it. But the average man Is
not. The treasurer is trained in ticket
selling. 1t is his daily routine, while
it is an occasional act on the mans
part. Hence he is fortified for the pub
lie, and the latter is not for him, and
so when the people step up, especially
IL it is rather late and there is some
thing of rush, clever ticket man
can easily get the extra price out of
them for higher selling seat.
How does he do 1t? Largely by the
power of suggestion. He implies that
you want it, for instance, when you go
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 to the latter, at your sugges-
ton, he does 1t rather apologetically.
He has the higher rate tickets in his
hand, and If you do not take them he
reaches to the rack for the others, and
all the time the line is waiting, those
back of you are scowling, If not max
ing remarks, and every one within ear
shot of the window knows that you
have refused the higher seats for the
lower priced ones This is embarrass-
ing. Especially is it so If girl is with
you, waiting just outside the rail that
separates the mob from the line, and
the chances are 10 to l that you will
take the cue, involuntarily, and pay a
quarter more, when you had no inten-
tlon 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 a good
knowledge of human nature. Some men
wouldn't "stand for" that They would
be offended, and it might hurt the
house. That is for the treasurer to
beware. He must "slze up his GUS
toners and act accordingly.
There is great gain in time in sell
ing without a chart. A man will then
step up and ask for good seat"
about certain place. Running
through his lists, the seller finds him
something very near there, and he is
satisfied. That one man is finished In
n few seconds. 1t would take minutes
IL 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 a chart
enables the seller to dress" his house,
provided the sale Is light, and to keep
out "singles" If 1t 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 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 couple in ad-
Joining seats though he may have sew
eral odd ones left.
Dressing" house is the avoidance
Of this condition in one sense, but 1t
applies TO light houses generally. When
show is not doing well it is up to the
box office to make the house look full
even though it be only partly solid.
He does this by scattering the crowd.
Instead of selling a section solid and
leaving adjoining sections vacant he
sells a 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 good part
of the center section, scattering, and
then will work out on the left and
right. This Is because seats ON the ex-
treme 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 book. and he
knows early in the day whether or not
he will have crowd. Hence he acts