Single Ticket Saturday was a huge success

Guess what the hot ticket was Saturday?

Saturday was the day that the RiverCenter for the Performing Arts sold single tickets for the 2008-09 season for the first time.

Mannheim Steamroller's holiday show on Nov. 22 was the top seller, followed by "An Evening with Natalie Cole" on Oct. 18. The next popular ticket was "A Skaggs Family Christmas" on Dec. 5. Fourth was the Neville Brothers and Dr. John on Feb. 26.

Single Ticket Saturday was a huge success as the RiverCenter's box office staff sold tickets for 6 1/2 hours.

"We let them in 8:30 a.m.," said executive director Enoch Morris. They sold tickets from 10 a.m.-4:30 p.m. The box office was going to close at its usual time of 3 p.m. But with people still in line, they stayed open until 4:30 p.m. Enoch said most people waited 2-2 1/2 hours to buy their tickets.

To keep them amused, they brought in food! In the morning, there was coffee and donuts. Around lunch time, my buddy Roy Cook brought 300 hot dogs. He ran out and had to get more!

Monkey Joe's brought those bouncy things for the kids.

Those great RiverCenter volunteers would even stand in line as people had to go to the bathroom!

The first year that Enoch did Single Ticket Saturday, he said the RiverCenter made about $7,000. He's a great guy, always giving credit to people. This time, he said Single Ticket Saturday was Kimberly Hickman's idea. And Kimberly doesn't even work at the RiverCenter! She's the Springer Opera House's tour manager.

Anyway, this year, the RiverCenter made $65,000 in ticket sales.

"People like to pick out their own seats," Enoch said.

OK. That's one reason this is so popular. The other reason this year was more popular: Broadway on Broadway single tickets were on sale for the first time. If you didn't buy them Saturday, you'll have to wait until they go back on sale, which is typically six weeks before each show.

Another reason: People were allowed to create their own season, using the Broadway shows they wanted to see. If you picked five or more shows from any of the season, you also got a 10 percent discount.

"It was a great, great day," Enoch said. "Every single show sold something. It was a fun, fun day. Everybody's exhausted. I need to do something for the staff."

I heard something for the first time today. Enoch said that there are special tickets for "Value-view seating." These are the last two or three rows in the balcony. You can see a show for $10!

If you want to build your own series, you can do so, and still get a 10 percent discount. The catch? The Broadway shows are not available any more. But the other series are.

Call 706-256-3612.