Blog 9:
A Booming Season

July 24, 2018

This week, there were two major things that happened. The first was that I got the chance to solo house manage Boomtown, our comedy improv show! The second was a little less exciting and a little scarier- I had three mid-season reviews with three different people. Both were definitely good experiences to have, and they were both experiences that I’ve never really had before, making them especially educational for me. I can apply ‘preparing for a review’ to any office job I could have, and house managing gives me important managing experience, as well as experience with thinking on my feet and making quick decisions.

As I was getting set up for Boomtown this week, I felt nervous, but still very prepared to take on this role. The position of house manager basically means that I run front of house for a show. I clean up the lobby and the seats in the theatre after a show. If all of the seats are taken, I control when we release the house seats and who on the list gets to sit in them. For Boomtown specifically, because of the number of company members that go to every show, I keep track of everyone who wants to get in the show and get them tickets if I can. If there’s an emergency in the theatre, I’m in charge of dealing with it and contacting the sheriff. If people show up late to the show, I’m the one who decides when and if I can let them in. It’s a big responsibility, but one that I’ve been prepared for, both by Britney, my front of house manager, and my experience with management at Cornell and YSP, my summer theatre in middle school and high school.

As preparation for this role, I got to shadow house manage several times before this, with Will, one of the more experienced front of house people, helping me along, giving me advice, taking care of some of the house management duties, etc. Not only that, my experience with stage management and production management with the Student Theatre Council at Cornell definitely helped prepare me for house management. While they’re definitely not exactly the same job, they all require knowledge of the show, a confident and authoritative demeanor, and the ability to think on your feet in case something goes wrong. House management requires you to be calm and deal with issues as they come up and always put on a good face for customers. These are all good skills I can apply to whatever job I have in the future.

Also this week, I had three mid-season reviews with the various people who are overseeing my intern experience at CRT. The first review I had was with Johamy, head of the Education Department. This interview was focused more on ways that I can take advantage of this experience, from actively working on writing grant applications to auditioning with Jessica Jackson, the Artistic Director at CRT. This review was very helpful, as Johamy was able to give me advice and I was able to talk about my experiences with someone that I don’t work with daily, who could have more of an outside view. My second review was with Graham. This review was shorter and a little more casual than my review with Johamy. Mostly what I learned was ways that I could better work in an office environment- since Graham and I work in the same small office, it can be a little hard for him to focus if I keep asking him questions all the time. The third review that I had was with Britney, about my work in front of house. This interview was very affirming- she said that the only real worry that she had was about my confidence, and she could already see that that was improving. All in all, these reviews made me feel like I’m doing a good job overall at work and reminded me that I’m still learning and that there’s a lot of progress that I can make.