Butts In the Seats: This last week I have gotten some real lessons in the importance of disaster planning.
During the quiet of the holidays I started a conversation with some colleagues about how we would handle inclement weather on performance days. Everyone keeps telling me how they try to shy away from scheduling shows in January because the weather is so bad. With that in mind, I wanted to have a plan for how we would proceed before the need arose.
Since we present a number of touring shows, we would be in a position of needing to pay artists per our contract unless the weather is so bad a state of emergency is declared. In that case, we would issue refunds to the ticket buyers.
3 comments:
When the polar vortex hit the midwest and the east coast, I did not even think about the repercussions it would have on the theatre industry. It is interesting, because you would think that bad weather would constitute more people wanting to attend the theatre, since there is not much to do in the winter months. However, when the weather is so bad that people cannot leave their houses without getting frost bite, it is a whole different story. This article brings up two points which I think are important to discuss: emergency disaster plans and refunds on tickets. First and foremost, it is definitely important for theatre companies to develop solid and well-known disaster plans. Often, I can imagine theatre companies may become preoccupied with other issues, such as ticket refunds, and forget that they have a building and people to protect in the event of a disaster. With that said, dealing with refunds in the event of extreme weather can also be tricky. No matter what a company decides on their refund policy, they should definitely be making it known to their customers upon purchase of tickets in the first place.
Like Jess, I really didn't think about weather affecting arts organizations, I was too busy making sure I had enough sweaters and socks to face the cold. It's kind of ironic to think that there are always so many back-up plans regarding what to do if something goes wrong during a performance, but such care and attention isn't always given to outside circumstances. I'd be interested to know what the SOD and the university's policies are regarding this type of situation.
I guess it really is a tough situation to make the determination whether "the show must go on" or if it really is unrealistic to perform that day. I would imagine that if a situation arose where a vast number of audience members are unable to make the performance, a show would have solid ground to cancel a show.
If nothing else, it seems like emergency preparation and potential for show cancellation are most certainly topics to discuss before they happen.
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