The Crappy Movie Theater Software of The Theatres (sic) at Canal Place

Last Saturday (3/12), while in New Orleans for the Society for Cinema and Media Studies conference, I attempted to attend a screening at The Theatres (sic) at Canal Place -- a "first class", elitist, ostensibly upscale theater that refuses entry to anyone under 18.

When I arrived at the theater, I went to the cashier to buy a ticket and she and the manager were tied up, trying to refund a woman's tickets and free the seats for them. You see, TTaCP is one of those stupid, crappy theaters that forces you to use reserved seats. What is this? The frakkin' opera? So, when the woman got a refund -- for what transgression by TTaCP I do not know -- they had to release the seats she had reserved.

I stood there patiently for 10 minutes while they fumbled with the computer. Eventually, I commented on the wait and the cashier referred me to a ticket-purchasing kiosk. As a final insult, the show I wanted to see was sold out. So, I left, angered by the incompetence of the theater's staff.

I am irritated by three aspects of this experience:

1. There is no obvious sign directing patrons to the ticket-purchase kiosk and the cashier did not think to refer me to it before I asked,
2. TTaCP's computer system is such crap (or TTaCP's employees are so poorly trained) that a simple refund transaction can gum up the works and
3. Reserved-seat systems in movie theaters are an abomination. Why would I want to choose my seat in the lobby? I'd much rather wait until I was inside the theater and could position myself as far away from potential noise/trouble makers. And what if someone beside/behind you takes a phone call? You're locked into your reserved seat and can't distance yourself from him/her.

I've managed movie theaters in New York and Chicago. I've been a professional film viewer/professor since 1980. This is one of the crappiest-run theaters I've ever seen.