2. • Footloose was another successful show by Priestley
Production Arts and Performing Arts.
• This time around I felt even more challenged because my
job role involved much more than before, for example:
I was in charge of others; I had to display some leadership
and be responsible for all things related to Front of
House, from programmes to refreshments.
3. What We Did Differently…
• Taking on board what went well and what could have been
better in We Will Rock You, we knew we could improve the FoH
with Footloose.
• We did this by changing the way the tickets were handled.
Instead of wristbands, normal tickets were sold with a small
section to rip once they had been checked, similar to a cinema
ticket.
• Reserved tickets were also left at the door this time, before the
box office opened so we weren’t wasting time going back and
to the changing rooms finding the performers for their tickets.
• Next time it could be improved still by giving full responsibility
of selling tickets, to the Front of House team. This would save
confusion between roles of the tutors and prod arts students.
4. What We Did Differently/What Worked…
• In contrast to We Will Rock You, we decided to approach the
theme in a different way. We decided that instead of keeping
with the theme of the show, we wanted the FoH to look
professional and elegant. As seen in any other theatre such as
the Palace or the Empire.
• We did this by making signs to temporarily cover ‘Priestley
College’ banners and also change the Dance posters outside
the hall to Footloose themed posters, such as ‘Tonight’s
showing – Footloose 19:30’.
• We also played classical music and dressed smartly.
• I think this worked well because people commented saying
how professional it was. It also promoted a slight theatrical
atmosphere – we aimed to make it seem as less like college as
we could. I would definitely keep this the same next year.
5. What We Did Differently/What Worked…
• Differently to WWRY again, we decided on the last night
to leave questionnaires for the audience to get
constructive criticism, with honest opinions about what
could be improved and what they felt was good.
• Next time we will definitely hand out more questionnaires
and we will make time to think of the questions properly ,
as we were in a rush on the night of the last performance.
• Another thing to keep the same would be the float sign in /
out sheet. This was a great way to keep a check of how
much money we had and it kept everything organised.
It also ensured the money was safe and we had evidence
written down on paper about how much money we made in
1 night.
6. How It Worked…
• At the first meeting, I gave everyone a role to do on the
night of the performances. However these plans changed
because Jordi was needed on the bar in the theatre, to
serve drinks for the customers.
• This left Jordan and I in the Box Office. We usually
opened at 6:30pm and remained open until 7:30pm. The
doors opened at 7pm and we realised that 6:45 was the
busiest time, therefore both of us were behind the desk
selling programmes and drinks.
• At 7, Jordan and a member or 2 of the stage crew held
the doors open and stood behind the podium tearing
tickets. Meanwhile I stayed behind the desk.
7. Tokens…
• During the preparation process, we had the idea to sell
tokens instead of the usual way to sell drinks. Non
alcoholic drink tokens (fizzy pop, cordials and water) were
50p each and the Beer tokens were £1 each.
• They started off as both being £1 but we figured this was
unfair as the soft drinks were served in small plastic cups.
To sell them for £1 seemed unreasonable.
• We made all of the tokens ourselves on the computer and
cut them out as quickly as we could using a guillotine.
• I liked the idea of the tokens and they did work well. It
made the waitress’ jobs easier because it meant that they
did not have to deal with money as well as serving the
drinks.
8. Tokens…
• A disadvantage of this was that it was a little
complicated, especially for customers. However
eventually it did work well and it was easier once inside
the bar.
• I think it was a good idea, it was good to experiment as
tokens have not been used before and it could be used
again. I understand that for Footloose we had waitresses
as the setting was in a barn with a bar, however I would
personally choose not to use that method next time and
not have waitresses.
• Also, on the next show we should sell other alcohol
beverages, for example, wine as a number of customers
told us they would prefer a different option other than
beer.
9. What Went Well…
• Thankfully nothing went majorly wrong, in any department
but for Front of House everything was ready on time and
ran smoothly. This was because we were well prepared
when it came to the Tuesday night (opening night.)
• We worked well as a team and everybody inputted which
was good because we shared out the roles as much as
we could meaning everyone had an element of
responsibilty. We also communicated and shared ideas
over text and email which was an effective way of keeping
up to date with what was going on.
• At the end of each night we counted the cash and found
out that we had made a good profit. Which we were
pleased to know because it proved that we had been
selling enough programmes and drinks.
10. However/Next time…
• However, on the Wednesday evening we ran out of change.
We calculated that we would not have enough change for the
interval which was a problem because many people would be
thirsty.
• I went to Morrisons quickly and exchanged £15 into coins.
• This was not foreseeable but next time we could ensure there
will be enough change for the following night, not the following
act.
• Also, we ran out of fizzy drinks by the last night. We can
resolve this next time by keeping a stock count of what drinks
we have after each night, therefore we know what we need to
get before the next performance.
• Next time I think we should also advertise the show more. I’d
like for more people outside of Priestley to watch the
performances, not only students and families of the performers
but other members of the public.
11. Setting up:
• Setting up the FoH was straight forward every night. I
provided a checklist so we knew what we had to do prior
to the show.
• On the final night, we ran out of gaffa tape to stick up the
signs above the doors. We had to improvise and use LX
tape and blue-tac. It was not as strong however it did the
job for an hour or two.
• We has the idea in one of our early meetings that it would
be nice to have red white and blue lights going up the
wall. However we realised that this was not possible due
to plug sockets and safety , so we put 3 LED Parcans on
a boom and put them against a wall instead.
• It still worked well because it gave off the same effect, just
horizontally not vertically.
