Usage of 'box office' vs 'ticket office' for U.S. theater and concert halls

[John D. Hopkins]

Dear All,

May I inquire about the following on behalf of a colleague who needs this
information by tomorrow morning Finnish time (+7 hours EST).  As such he
would only be able to use responses sent by late this evening EST.  I
would appreciate responses directly to my address (see below), from which
I can forward the responses to him.  I could also summarize responses to
the list.

My colleague would like to ask about the term used by large multipurpose
stage theater, opera, concert and special event halls, similar to the
Kennedy Center in Washington, as one example, for the 'office' in that
institution which sells tickets and handles reservations.  This
information is desired by the "Tampere Hall" (see website at
http://www.tampere-talo.fi/english/ for photos, etc.), which is the
largest concert and convention center in the Nordic region, and the home
of the Tampere Philharmonia, Tampere Opera. etc.

The terminology is needed for this particular type of institution rather
than for a cinematic (movie) theater, or a large, cavernous structure
which is used exclusively for mammoth trade events, circuses, professional
sports teams, etc.  Madison Square Garden or the Cow Palace would thus not
qualify.

What we need is the terminology used in a similar institution in your
particular area, with a focus primarily on the U.S. but with responses
also welcomed from other English-speaking countries in which ADS-L members
may reside.  Specifically:

1.  Is the term actually used by the institution itself more likely to be
"ticket office" as opposed to "box office" or some other term?  Our
working assumption is that "box office" is generally used as a gross,
cumulative term (e.g. "box office receipts for the first week of film X in
the U.S. totalled YYY") and "ticket office" might be what an individual
institution would use, but there seems considerable variation.

2.  Is there variance between how the general public refers to the point
of ticket sales as opposed to how the institution itself describes it?
(e.g. might the institution have a "ticket office" which the general
public refers to as the "box office"?)

If you could kindly identify your location when responding, we could
determine if there is any regional difference in the responses received.

With appreciation for any assistance you could offer, and apologies for
the urgency of the inquiry,

John D. Hopkins
_____________________________________________

John D. Hopkins <John.D.Hopkins at uta.fi>
University of Tampere, Finland <www.uta.fi/FAST/JH>

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