Alex Theatre, Glendale Community College launch ticket partnership

The curtain rose on a new partnership Tuesday as the operators of the Alex Theatre announced they were teaming up with Glendale Community College in an effort to better market campus performances and generate additional revenue for the theater organization.

Glendale Arts, the nonprofit that operates the Alex, has opened a ticket outlet on the college campus and will now market the school’s performances on its website, which gets about 60,000 hits a month, said interim Chief Executive Elissa Glickman.

College events will also appear in Glendale Arts’ social media tools and e-newsletter, she added.

Prior to the joint endeavor, the college could only accept cash and checks on the days of performances.

Patrons can now buy tickets online 24/7 using a credit card, Glickman said.

College officials are applauding the partnership.

“To say that this is an exciting new opportunity for us is an understatement,” Dawn S. Lindsay, superintendent and president of the college and a Glendale Arts member, said in a statement.

Glendale Arts branched out into ticket services last November through its website, tapping more than 17 years of experience operating the Alex Theatre box office.

By teaming up with the college, Glendale Arts will generate more money through a $2 convenience fee added to the price of every ticket, Glickman said.

She said initially the extra funds will mostly cover “hard costs,” such as ticket stock, printing and staffing needed to train college students to run the new ticket outlet.

Going online is ideal for marketing to college students, Glickman said.

“[College officials] are putting their product where their students are,” she said.

The Alex Theatre’s patronage will could also grow because students will go to the website to check out what’s happening on campus and then have access to other events going on in the community, Glickman added.

The new ticket center is located in the college’s auditorium building, 1500 N. Verdugo Road. It is open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Thursday and one hour prior to the start of performances.