End of an Era

In 1982, I worked the light board for a gig at Meany Hall on the UW campus.  My stage manager also worked at Meany during the day.  She got me a job for the Arts Ticket Office, converting from hard to computerized tickets.  I didn't leave Meany, and the TO, until 1998.

The new TO Director came on in the Fall of '82.  She added this sign to the building on the corner of 40th and University Way. 

That first year, we sold tickets for five venues: Meany main stage and Studio, the Penthouse, the Playhouse (at that time called the Glenn Hughes - and with a very tangled history that deserves it's own post) and the now "sunk" Showboat.  The Showboat was a faux Mississippi steam boat moored along the lake shore near Health Sciences (and Oceanography).  Rumored to be haunted (of course), most drama students knew that the late night lights were due to the sound designer working on a new show - or crashing there ...  Built in 1938 with WPA funds, the Showboat had a revolving stage and a flyhouse - and so was important to drama students because it was the only proscenium theatre with a flyhouse that was exclusively dedicated to drama shows (Meany main stage is a rental facility as well as having its own productions and academic productions).  It was a beautiful little gem.  That season, however, was its last.  The venue closed and was eventually torn down, even though it was listed as an historic landmark.  One of our later cashiers was arrested for trespassing on it ...

The Showboat, much like the TO itself, was on the demolition list for years.  But the Ticket Office stayed on that list much longer.  in 1982, it was already slated for demolition.  Given that, improvements like the neon sign were hard to come by.  But slowly, the exterior and interior were improved, providing a more secure area for the cashiers and a much more inviting space for the customers.

Sometimes, while sitting in the office, we would hear a piece of plaster from inside the wall slide down.  Still, the building survived several earthquakes, including the Nisqually in 2001.  I was no longer working there, but the neon sign was still shining.

The design students in the drama department worked in a space next to us in the same building - the shop is about half a block south of this corner.  The remainder of the drama department, however, was in Hutchinson Hall (after it moved from various spots in the early 80's).  The design group is now in a new space over the old Hutchinson Pool.

The TO survived other major transitions: the move of the Penthouse from where the Astronomy-Physics building now is to the N-5 location, remodeling of the Playhouse (which is on its third name since 1982, and its fourth altogether).  When the Penthouse moved in 1991, the footbridge over 15th Avenue was lifted to accommodate both halves of the theatre as it was trucked by.  It was re-named the Glenn Hughes Penthouse at that point.  The Playhouse was remodeled in 2009, and officially became the Floyd and Delores Jones Playhouse.

It was announced around this time that the building the TO was in would be demolished in the summer of 2010.  As I worked near there that fall, the building still stood.  It wasn't until last week that I noticed it was gone.  I was driving the night dial-a-ride route, and realized there was even more construction than normal - as well as an unobstructed view of the College Inn from Brooklyn.  I was probably behind a bit, but in my defense, the block across from the Ticket Office and the one to the north west are both under construction.  15th is in the middle of being paved.  I was spending more time avoiding potholes, tractors and cones than I was looking at progress on projects.

The Office itself moved last summer, to where Parking used to be.  Parking, or Commuter Services, moved to a new building - and I spend a lot of time there now, working for shuttles and parking.  Another TO denizen is the Operations Supervisor for Commuter Services.

I am still in contact with several people from that era, and would love to reconnect with more of them.  Despite the falling plaster, the air conditioner that sounded like a DC-10 engine, the windows that fell out of the building - it was a fun place to work, with a great team, from the Ticket Office staff to the team at Meany Hall.  We had "horse races" when tickets were selling slowly, to try and get excited when a ticket actually sold.  The Director was known for practical jokes, calling cashiers at night with a disguised voice and outrageous requests.  We retaliated, of course, in the most convincing case making her think (on April 1st, no less), that everyone but myself had called in sick and that the only reason I was there was because she was out sick.  We had strategies for dealing with the old Penthouse theatre, which was either haunted or had really funky wiring - or possibly both - the most successful being to say hello to Glenn Hughes' ghost when you entered (otherwise ticket printers were known to spit out test tickets randomly, or even go through an entire stack of tickets).  After on cashier endured a particularly persnickety night on the part of the ticket printer, where every other cashier closed early to come to her rescue, she refused to work at the Penthouse again.  (It probably didn't help that test tickets on these old Boca "ghostwriter" printers sometimes printed a cute little ghost figure, or that every cashier who came to her aid was well aware of how haunted that box office was ...)  Located across the street from a (notorious) hamburger place that was open until about 2 am, the Ticket Office served as a observation point for the University Police, until Arnold's closed down and the Landscape Architecture students moved in.

It was a team that could do anything.  Those I am still in direct contact with have been supportive through some very tough times, in completely unexpected ways.  I am privileged to have had such great colleagues and good friends.

So here's to you: Sandra, Summer, Nancy, Matt J., Leilani, JP, Laurie, Jean, Tom, Dave B., Dave S., Anne, Michele, Jan, Mitch, Holly, John S., Julian, Jennifer, Cam, Deb, Mariann, Christie, Emmett, Glennis, Ronda, Kim, Randy, Martha, Sidney and a ton of others at Meany and around campus (Claudia, Kaye, Anne, Claire, etc.).  The TO is gone, Mr. Krashan is leaving the building and an era is ending - but the memories of the best part of the Ticket Office, its people, are still here.