At a Faculty Meeting on March 30, 2022, the previous Complimentary Ticket Policy (dated December 22, 2016) was revised to read as follows and was endorsed by majority vote of the Department faculty.
A. Performance Policy
Standard seating capacity of Mainstage 3,100 seats and Lab Theatre 750 seats per run.
- Department of Theatre and Dance regular faculty and staff may receive an unlimited number of complimentary tickets for personal review of Department performances with immediate family and are strongly encouraged to limit their redemption to opening weekend of Mainstage shows and Wednesday or Thursday of Primetime shows.
- Affiliate Graduate Faculty, Cooperating Graduate Faculty, Department lecturers, graduate assistants, Theatre 101 Teaching Assistants, and special graduate student hires as designated by the Department Chair may each receive two (2) tickets per department production for personal review. Recipients are strongly encouraged to limit their redemption to opening weekend of Mainstage shows and Wednesday or Thursday of Primetime shows.
- VIPs, media reps, donors, prospective donors, and persons making other types of contributions to the program may be given comps at the discretion of the Department Chair, faculty directors of the respective productions, or the Theatre Manager. Faculty advisors for student productions may submit VIP requests on behalf of those productions to the Department Chair or Theatre Manager for review prior to approval. Department regular faculty and staff may request complimentary tickets for distribution to special guests whose attendance and support directly benefit the Department of Theatre and Dance.
- Cast and volunteer crew members working at the performances of a specific department production may each receive two (2) tickets, not restricted to personal use. The Department’s Technical Director, Production Manager, Costume Shop Manager, Theatre Manager, and Department Secretaries may request comp tickets for other students, paid or volunteer, who have made a significant contribution to the show for personal review of the show. In consultation with the directors, cast and crew comps to some mainstage productions may be limited to certain performances, but a minimum choice of two performances will be made available for these productions. Cast and crew comps for Lab Theatre productions may be limited to opening night performances only, because of limited seating capacity in the Lab Theatre.
- Comps for special audiences to “paper” the house will be determined by the Department Chair, Theatre Manager, or faculty Director of the production in consultation with the Theatre Manager.
EXCEPTIONS: Every production will suspend the processing of new complimentary ticket requests when it reaches 75% capacity sold. This is to prevent last-minute comp ticket requests from taking seats away from students who are required to attend the production for academic purposes. Beginning 15 minutes prior to curtain and after the ticket purchasing line has been served, suspended comp requests may be processed if space is available at the discretion of the Operations Coordinator or Theatre Manager.
B. REDUCED CAPACITY PERFORMANCE POLICY
Below standard seating capacity of Mainstage 3,100 seats and Lab Theatre 750 seats per run.
- For reduced-capacity productions, Personal Review Complimentary Tickets (Faculty/ Staff/ GA/ TA/ VIP/ Cast and Crew) may be restricted to a pre-arranged dress rehearsal, comp show, or pick-up rehearsal as determined by the Department Chair and Theatre Manager in consultation with the show Director.
- For severely reduced-capacity productions, category allocations may be reduced. Personal review comps for department lecturers, graduate assistants, Theatre 101 Teaching Assistants, and special graduate student hires as designated by the Department Chair may be suspended if they do not have students in the show or are not measurably involved in the production.
- Every production will suspend the processing of new complimentary ticket requests when it reaches 75% capacity sold or 20 remaining seats, whichever is greater. This is to prevent last-minute comp ticket requests from taking seats away from students who are required to attend the production for academic purposes. Beginning 15 minutes prior to curtain and after the ticket purchasing line has been served, suspended comp requests may be processed if space is available at the discretion of the Operations Coordinator or Theatre Manager.