Week of Chaos

Center Stage is spastic. One week we can have nothing to do while the next we have 3 events. These lulls are caused by the fact that before ticket sales or the show date we are swamped in preparation.  This week’s cause for chaos is the fact that the tickets for biggest concert of the year for JMU go on sale on Wednesday at the Warren Box Office and online at upb.jmu.edu. To prepare for this event many things must occur. With a facebook group of over 5,000 people attending one has to take precaution. The most important part of this is actually having the tickets to sell. Last week I called up the Texas company that we use and ordered them to my surprise they informed me that the tickets would not ship until Wednesday. It takes a lot to rattle me so I just said ok next day shipping Monday morning works. This only gives us 2 days to sort 3000 tickets but with the manpower Center Stage has anything is possible.

Fast forward to this morning 9am, no tickets. In a state of panic I call Texas but with the time difference they are not working. The time from 9-11 goes trickles by and we get our ticket! No threatening emails need to be sent yet. 4 amazing committee members arrive at 11am to sort the tickets we begin the daunting task. When organizing the tickets we notice they did not send us 544 tickets for the floor. Great. Panic mode sets in, I thank God that my 930 class was cancelled so that UPB can have all of my attention to fix this problem. For the next 1.5 hours the tickets are sorted while I send the emails to Texas. After some conversation I am promised the tickets will be sent before 12pm Tuesday giving us enough time before they go on sale. It is only noon and I can tell its going to be a long Monday.

Here is when the gray sideways rain starts to fall. People in rain jackets and boots come into Taylor Hall drenched in rain. I stand there watching it fall in flip-flops and a cardigan. It was sunny and warm when I felt the apartment at 930. What a day. The tickets have another problem, the seating chart does not align with the amount we have. This could be a devastating problem akin to JMU’s own Superbowl 400 ticket purchasers who were not allowed in. I know I’m dramatic but it could happen.

The day ends leaving me anxious for tomorrow. But the next morning is not comparable. There are no clouds in the sky and the sun is shining. Perfect day of all three of Center Stage’s events that are scheduled to be outside.