Reviews for theatre rentals.
March 2, 2006 12:42 PM Subscribe
Reviews for theatre rentals. Do they exist?
There are plenty of websites for consumers over the serives for restaurants, movie theatres, arthouse theatres, etc etc. But I have yet to come across something that gives me hints of how a theatre will treat companies that RENT theatres for putting on shows.
Our organization just did a show in a certain somewhat obscure downtown theatre in TO, and the service was HORRENDOUS. We got charged for a myriad of things that weren't talked about.
*The two people they did provide as stagehand and ushering were trainees (the usher has never done ticketing before)
*they didn't take out seats in the middle of the rows so in this 1000 people theatre, there was no center isle.
*They charged us money for bringing in OWN OWN food for OUR OWN musicians.
It was the worst experience in a theatre ever. And we've been to quite a few.
If only I could check out what other artists who rented this theatre before felt about it, then we wouldn't be a few thousand over budget due to unexpected costs. If only...
If this exists, I would join it. If it doesn't, I'm willing to shell out the resources to create it, because though it is a very small niche, as a community it might be able to keep theatres and unions in check over what they can do and not do (go out on smoke breaks in the middle of performances? I don't think so.)
This would be completely not for profit - the profit would come from being in a community of people who share their experience in a given theatre, and hopefully build a good database of how flexible theatres can be over one-time rentals.
So the questions is...
- does it already exist?
- If it doesn't, is there a need for it?
- Would people be afraid to speak their minds over whether the service they received from a theatre has been horrible?
There are plenty of websites for consumers over the serives for restaurants, movie theatres, arthouse theatres, etc etc. But I have yet to come across something that gives me hints of how a theatre will treat companies that RENT theatres for putting on shows.
Our organization just did a show in a certain somewhat obscure downtown theatre in TO, and the service was HORRENDOUS. We got charged for a myriad of things that weren't talked about.
*The two people they did provide as stagehand and ushering were trainees (the usher has never done ticketing before)
*they didn't take out seats in the middle of the rows so in this 1000 people theatre, there was no center isle.
*They charged us money for bringing in OWN OWN food for OUR OWN musicians.
It was the worst experience in a theatre ever. And we've been to quite a few.
If only I could check out what other artists who rented this theatre before felt about it, then we wouldn't be a few thousand over budget due to unexpected costs. If only...
If this exists, I would join it. If it doesn't, I'm willing to shell out the resources to create it, because though it is a very small niche, as a community it might be able to keep theatres and unions in check over what they can do and not do (go out on smoke breaks in the middle of performances? I don't think so.)
This would be completely not for profit - the profit would come from being in a community of people who share their experience in a given theatre, and hopefully build a good database of how flexible theatres can be over one-time rentals.
So the questions is...
- does it already exist?
- If it doesn't, is there a need for it?
- Would people be afraid to speak their minds over whether the service they received from a theatre has been horrible?
But wouldn't a site like that hurt more than it helps? You have a bad experience with a theatre, and you post about it. Then that theatre hates you, and what with the theatre community being so small, word spreads that you're a crab.... I dunno.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 1:44 PM on March 2, 2006 [1 favorite]
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 1:44 PM on March 2, 2006 [1 favorite]
Well, a site like this could allow anon posting. I guess the hope would be that bad theatre owners would clean up their act if they got bad reviews. The site could also be a place to promote GOOD theatre owners.
On a side note, I've considered starting a review site for bad acting teachers. There are many more of them than there are bad theatre owners -- and they do worse damage.
posted by grumblebee at 1:48 PM on March 2, 2006
On a side note, I've considered starting a review site for bad acting teachers. There are many more of them than there are bad theatre owners -- and they do worse damage.
posted by grumblebee at 1:48 PM on March 2, 2006
Response by poster: ThePinkSuperhero - Well, we could rant, we could rave. There are theatres that I would rave about. The St. Lawerence Centre in downtown TO has always been flexible and has great customer servie, all the fees are upfront, never hidden charges.
Honestly - I started touring at 18, and I'm 25. 80 locations a year, maybe 10-15 of them theatres. I can remember ONE good one. That's quite the representation that if I'm not happy with them, chances are, a lot of people aren't.
Grumblebee - theatresreviewed.com isn't taken. ;)
posted by Sallysings at 2:07 PM on March 2, 2006
Honestly - I started touring at 18, and I'm 25. 80 locations a year, maybe 10-15 of them theatres. I can remember ONE good one. That's quite the representation that if I'm not happy with them, chances are, a lot of people aren't.
Grumblebee - theatresreviewed.com isn't taken. ;)
posted by Sallysings at 2:07 PM on March 2, 2006
Maybe we should start a theatre-review site, Sallysings. Seriously!
i'm totally down to help with anything needed. I don't have a ton of experience with theatre rentals but I could use a site like this for future rentals.
Sounds like a great idea.
posted by freudianslipper at 5:56 PM on March 2, 2006
i'm totally down to help with anything needed. I don't have a ton of experience with theatre rentals but I could use a site like this for future rentals.
Sounds like a great idea.
posted by freudianslipper at 5:56 PM on March 2, 2006
I could certainly set up (and host) such a site, but it wouldn't be successful without a ton of participants. I doubt I have time to do that sort of recruiting.
posted by grumblebee at 6:03 PM on March 2, 2006
posted by grumblebee at 6:03 PM on March 2, 2006
Response by poster: More googling.
I managed to scronge up a few links, but it seems like England has them all. Weird.
The Safe Concert Venues - Not big on the details, just fire safely and etc. I like the form.
Roadie Jobs.com - quite small.
I'm going to look into actually setting something up. Something small to begin with. I think that "if you build it, they will come" and if I leave some cards for the radio station that plays our music, we could get other bands (who rent venues) and event planners (that we work with) involved. *wish me luck*
posted by Sallysings at 10:31 AM on March 3, 2006
I managed to scronge up a few links, but it seems like England has them all. Weird.
The Safe Concert Venues - Not big on the details, just fire safely and etc. I like the form.
Roadie Jobs.com - quite small.
I'm going to look into actually setting something up. Something small to begin with. I think that "if you build it, they will come" and if I leave some cards for the radio station that plays our music, we could get other bands (who rent venues) and event planners (that we work with) involved. *wish me luck*
posted by Sallysings at 10:31 AM on March 3, 2006
This thread is closed to new comments.
I've rented many theatres in NYC, and they've ALL turned out to be horrible -- except for one (78th Street Theatre Lab). Most of them were filthy, run by assholes who tried to interfere with the performance, run by assholes who didn't provide everything they promised and/or noisy.
I deal with this problem by (a) asking EVERYONE I know who rents space for their opinions; (b) making sure I get a thorough tour of the space before choosing it; (c) making sure EVERYTHING is is writing. If a theatre-manager says, "I'll get you some extra seats" but the contract doesn't mention them, I assume I'm NOT going to get the extra seats.
(d) I choose my shows based on available (good) space. This may seem like a backward way to work, but I'm resigned to it. The alternative is too horrible. In other words, I used to first decide on a show and then look for a place to produce it. Now, I look for space first. If a space I like is available, I think, "What show would work well there?"
posted by grumblebee at 12:55 PM on March 2, 2006