The perks to being a reviewer

Last night I saw a play I am to review: Frozen, at the Curious Theatre in Denver. I've reviewed a few other plays for them, The Dead Guy and Bug. At The Dead Guy, my first play as a reviewer, I had no idea what to expect. To make matters more complicated, it was a red carpet event, as well. I was awed by the employees handing out champagne and the party after the play, but mostly I was amazed by the way I was treated. I went to the ticket desk and said - very professionally, I thought - "I'm Katharine Leppert, with Splash Magazine." Immediately I was given a press packet, and Michael and I were ushered to our seats. Even Michael commented on how we were treated like something akin to royalty.

At the next play I reviewed, Bug, the treatment wasn't much different. They couldn't find my tickets at the box office, so the guy working the office called for Mare, the marketing director. It turned out the editor hadn't confirmed my tickets; nevertheless, Mare welcomed me warmly, found me a press packet, and personally found us a pair of seats.

For last night's performance of Frozen, the editor had me confirm the seats myself. This time, our seats were reserved with my name, and Mare even asked as she seated us if we liked those seats, or if we'd prefer others.

It's really something to be treated like that. It's not particularly surprising if you think about it, of course - the media is a major source of exposure for these plays, and so it's in their best interest to treat their reviewers as well as possible. I'm sure admitting how delighted it makes me shows a great deal of my inexperience, but I can't help it - I love being treated as though I'm very important. Goodness knows, as a writer I'm more likely to get criticism than respect, so I'll take the latter whenever I can find it.