When I asked TO Tix attendant Ken MacAlpine, below, whether he considers himself a culture worker he pressed me to define “culture worker”.
“Someone who works in the cultural realm,” I responded. “Someone who facilitates the cultural life of the city.”
“Then I guess I am,” he affirmed.
Ken has been punching the clock at TO Tix for the past four months. He works six and a half hours per day, five days per week, selling tickets on behalf of Mirvish Productions, Ticketmaster and the Toronto Blue Jays. Unlike New York City’s famous TKTS booth in Times Square, which sells half-price passes to same day shows, TO Tix sells full price advance tickets in addition to a small selection of reduced price same day events. This morning, for instance, the Yonge-Dundas Square booth was selling cut-rate tickets to Jersey Boys, Yuk Yuk’s and Second City.
The question of whether or not manning a box office qualifies one as a culture worker is sort of moot in MacAlpine’s case since he’s a ticket seller by day and an actor by night: he moved to Toronto last summer from Halifax to further his career. So far, he’s landed parts with Alumnae Theatre and dinner theatre company, Big Time Murder, where he performs regularly.
MacAlpine says the best part of the TO Tix gig is the face-to-face contact with the public. “I’ve worked in call centres, too, and talking to people on the phone is not the same. It’s good to be able to see people’s reactions and to know that you’ve helped them.”
“We get a lot of tourism-related questions and we help where we can. We [Ken and his co-workers] are all residents of the city and although I haven’t lived here long, I’ve learned a lot about Toronto already. If there are questions we can’t answer, then we send them across the Square to the tourist info centre.”
MacAlpine adds that the busiest times at his wicket are at noon when the booth opens and around 4 pm, so if you’re looking for tickets to a Toronto show, now you not only know where to go, but when, too.
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