For that day, I was given the title of “Acting” House Manager during one of the show days. I learned about what is it that the house managers do before, during, and after the show is run for the day.

My job for the day started with helping to set up the box areas. Pat and Toni’s Sweet Things, up the road from the theatre, supplies them with some of their sweets, such as their chocolate covered strawberries. The wine comes from The Elusive Grape, a winery that is also up the road. The box seats are given a plate of chocolate strawberries, a charcuterie plate, record disc-shaped chocolates, and cookies, a bucket of ice, and drinks.

Following this, I was helping out with setting up the bar. There are three in the theatre: one each on house left and house right, and one in the lobby. I was situated on the house right bar. I was tasked with pouring wine, opening beer bottles, and giving the soft beverages, water, and snacks. The person in charge of the bar handed me the beer bottles and served the two special beverages (one of which was their version of a Shirley Temple called the Sandra D.). I also had to dry off the beer bottles before opening them since they were sitting in a cooler full of ice. There was someone else who was handling the money.

Guests were served before the show and during intermission. While pre-show was busy, intermission was when the rush really kicked in. Thankfully, I was able to keep up with it and kept things moving in a timely manner. There wasn’t anything for me to do during the show, so I was sitting by the tech bay to watch the show until I was called down to help during intermission.

Although it strays away from technical theatre, being positioned here helps me become multifaceted, something that I know is important in the theatre world. It serves as good as experience for me, and it allows me to improve more on interacting with others, forcing me to break out of my shell a bit more.