Week 1:
Barefoot at 9000 Ft

May 29, 2018

This week was my first week working at Creede Repertory Theatre, and I can already tell that it’s going to be an amazing experience. It was a long road to get here (literally) but very worth it. I drove with Rosemary, a previous Cornell Fellow and current Creede Front of House employee from Chicago to Creede, almost 1200 miles. We drove through cities and corn fields, finally making our way up in the mountains to Creede Repertory Theatre (CRT), a regional theatre that sits 9000 ft up. I spent a lot of this week getting used to the elevation- I have to drink twice as much water and remember that exercise will tire me out a lot more quickly.

I was thrown right into the action this week as the company was working hard to open our first show of the season, Barefoot in the Park by Neil Simon. I was trained in two days for both my Front of House and Development responsibilities. My fellowship is split pretty evenly between the two departments. In Development, I work mainly with my direct supervisor, Graham Ward. Together, the two of us make up the entire Development department. This week, a lot of what I was doing was basic office work that needed to get done. I spent a full day sitting in a conference room, folding letters into tri-fold and stuffing envelopes to send out in support of CRT’s education program. I also spent a lot of time preparing for the opening of Barefoot. I spent several hours in the local community church, preparing skewers of meat, vegetables, and fruit for the preview with several community volunteers. My work with the development department is helping me understand the work that goes into gathering donations and preparing events- the behind-the-scenes work that often goes unnoticed but is incredibly important.

In Front of House, I work with several people, but my direct supervisor is Britney Sinclair. She is the one who trained all of us on our new ticketing system, Spektrix. Spektrix is what we use to make all sales, whether over the phone and in person. It replaced Vendini, our old system, and all of us are still learning the system and how to deal with it. It’s hard not immediately knowing what to do, but I always know that I can ask for help, and I’m still learning the system. So far it seems pretty straightforward, and I’m getting better at using it to help our patrons. I’m also learning proper phone etiquette and how to always be polite to patrons either on the phone or in person, skills I can apply to any customer service job I have in the future.

I am housed in the Bordello, which is a large house that used to be the Rio Grande Hotel. I have two roommates in a very large room and about 12 housemates in total. They all seem like good people to be around, and I’m excited to form more connections with them before, during, and after work hours. My first major interaction with my coworkers was at our company scavenger hunt. Rosemary and one of our other friends, Claudio, formed a group with two other company members (one in costumes, one in lights). We roamed around town looking for items and doing actions on a long list. Highlights include- staging a melodrama on the abandoned train tracks in town, a dance party in the middle of the street, and accidentally stalking another scavenger hunt group. I already feel a sense of camaraderie with my fellow company members, and I’m very excited about where this summer will lead me.