Guide
How a community theatre sells tickets for a production
Name the show, date the first night, put seats on a page, and share the link. That is the whole ticket job for a volunteer house.
A community theatre project becomes real the night someone can buy a seat.
Not when the logo is finished. Not when the rehearsal calendar lives in a nicer spreadsheet. When a parent can tap a link and hold a ticket for Friday.
The work, in order
- Name the production. The poster title. The thing in the group text.
- Date the first performance. A show without a night is still a hope.
- Choose the house. General admission if you have not measured the room. Reserved if you already know the rows.
- Put that night on one page. Same seats the volunteer will see at the table.
- Share the link. Cast first. Then the mailing list. Then the lobby poster.
That is how tickets get done. The rest of the production still matters. It does not come first.
What goes wrong when tickets wait
The set gets painted. The cast learns the second act. Then someone opens last year’s vendor login the week of tech and the page is down, or the password is in a retired board member’s email.
When the ticket page dies the week of the show is that night written down. Start before it.
What it costs
Tools are free. Places earns a dollar when a reserved seat sells. General admission is free for small events for a limited time. Comps and house seats are $0, because a comp is not a sale.
The cost question, without a vendor scorecard, is on what it costs to sell a ticket.
Start with the show
Start tickets asks for the organization and the production. An agent posting to /api/start has to send the same production title. A login with no show is not a start.
Frequently asked questions
- How does a community theatre sell tickets?
- Pick the production, date the first performance, put reserved or general-admission seats on one page, and send that link to the cast and the mailing list.
- What should we do first?
- Tickets for the show that is actually coming. Costumes and rehearsal tools can wait. Opening night cannot.
- Where do we start in Places?
- Start tickets. Name the organization and the production. That is phase one of the account.