PORTLAND CIVIC PLAYERS INTRODUCES NEW RESERVATION SYSTEM

Theater patrons will now have a more convenient way to purchase tickets for Portland Civic Players (PCP) productions.

“Our patrons have expressed some frustration with our old online ticket system” says PCP board president, Mary Teachout. “They could purchase tickets through our website, but they couldn’t choose their own seats online and didn’t always receive accurate email confirmation for their reservation. The experience was confusing for our patrons and created a lot of work for our box office volunteers.”

PCP responded to the situation by partnering with Ticketleap to deliver a new online ticketing experience that’s similar to those used by much larger performing arts venues. A link on the group’s website, PortlandCivicPlayers.com, will allow patrons to select their own seats and pay for their tickets all in one place when reserving via desktop or laptop computer (individual seat selection is not available when reserving online via smartphone or tablet, the “best available” seats will be automatically assigned). Tickets are then delivered automatically by email. Patrons can print a paper copy of their tickets to bring with them to the performance or present their electronic tickets to the usher on their smartphone.

“There is a small convenience fee for each ticket purchased online,” says Teachout. “It’s about $1.50 per ticket, depending on individual ticket prices, but there’s still no fee if you buy your tickets by calling or visiting the box office.”

The new system is also designed to help the group minimize lost revenue due to unpaid reservations.

“We’re a non-profit organization that keeps the theater open through ticket sales, memberships and donations” says Teachout. “The old system allowed patrons to reserve seats without payment. If they canceled at the last-minute or didn’t show up, the theater had little or no time to re-sell those tickets.”

The new system integrates all online and box office sales, which requires all ticket reservations to be paid in advance. However, refunds can still be made up to 7 days before a performance.

“We’re really excited about the new technology and hope it makes things more convenient for our patrons,” says Teachout. “We’re also working on a whole new website that should be ready by summer, but we wanted to make sure the new ticketing system would be available for our spring production of Ken Ludwig’s Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery, that will go on pre-sale for our members Monday. Public sale dates of tickets will be announced soon. We encourage people to watch our Facebook page to keep up on everything going on.”

Portland Civic Players is a non-profit, volunteer organization dedicated to entertaining and inspiring the local community with first-class family theatre productions, Summer Theater youth programs, and partnerships with local community groups. Learn more at PortlandCivicPlayers.com