In the Office

Hi, it's Paige. This week I've been interning in the Tibbits Office. In high school, I was heavily involved in theatre as an actress and choreographer, but never experienced the other various aspects of the trade. As a future Theatre major at Michigan State University I wanted to learn more about the management side of the business. Luckily I was given the chance to experience this first hand at this amazing historical theatre.

My first day began with a detailed tour of the building, starting with the exterior, which is currently being restored to its original appearance when it opened in 1882. Chris Delaney, the Executive Director, showed me around the rest of the building giving me tons of historical information and fun tid-bits about the opera house. The tour ended in the Tibbits Business Office where I met the people I would be working with for the week.

Everyone was so welcoming and helpful. I was greeted with a smile by all. I have never met a group of people so friendly. Also, everyone in this office seems to genuinely enjoy working here, something that can't be said for the staff in most office buildings. They have made my time here much easier and more enjoyable.

I started my first day by writing a press release for Tibbits' final 2011 summer show, "Working." I had never written a press release, but again, the office staff was very patient as I asked a ton of questions about what should and shouldn't be included. It made my first experience less nerve wracking, knowing that people were there to help me out with anything I needed.

Since Monday, I have also called agents to gather info about booking their clients for shows during the winter season, learned to update calendars, and made phone calls to help out with a Tibbits Restoration advertisement opportunity with yard signs. I never realized how much was involved in the management side of things.

In addition to this, I've attended a couple meetings. The first was a small Arts Alive meeting held in the art gallery under the theatre. Here I learned a little about the ways in which this group of artists supports itself and its dealings with Tibbits. Today I attended a finance meeting to observe, since I'd never been to a finance meeting before. Both meetings were very informational and helped me to understand how everything works together around here.

Today I also worked in the box office for two hours and learned how tickets are reserved and sold. I didn't know what to expect, Steve was really funny and relaxed, andI actually had a lot of fun. I look forward to working in the box office tomorrow night for the opening night of "Out of Order" and later in the week for the Popcorn Theatre show.

I'm really looking forward to the rest of my week here at Tibbits. I've already learned so much about theatre management and I'm getting to experience so many different aspects of the management side. I'm so glad that I've been given this opportunity. I now have a new-found respect for the amount of work that the office staff does to ensure that the theatre stays up and running.