Notre Dame students already fed up with ticket sales could add another gripe to the list after long lines made the Keenan Revue ticket distribution last only 23 minutes.
Although ticket windows did not open until 2 p.m. Friday, the first students to receive tickets arrived at gate 10 of the Joyce Center as early as 10 a.m.
"A good portion of the line was formed by 1 or 1:30 p.m.," ticket manager and junior Steve Miller said.
A total of 1,300 tickets were allotted for the three performances of the annual shameless comedy show, with Saturday selling out first, followed by Thursday, then Friday.
"Everybody that was there before 2 p.m. received tickets," said junior Dave Fotopoulos, director of the Keenan Revue. For the people that came after 2 p.m., he said, "it was basically 50-50."
Miller said this year's ticket distribution was similar to last year's, since all of the 2004 tickets were taken within a half hour.
Fotopoulos noticed a difference in this year's event.
"It's [The Keenan Revue] in its 29th year," Fotopoulos said. "In comparison to last year's [ticket distribution], we had a lot more people."
Keenan's marketing strategies for the 2005 Revue were comparable to how they had been in previous years, said Fotopoulos.
"We already have a base audience," he explained.
Two advertisements for the comedy show ran in The Observer and posters were put up on campus.
Despite the completion of the DeBartolo Center for the Performing Arts, the Keenan Revue will still be held in Saint Mary's O'Laughlin Auditorium.
Miller said no performance space in the DeBartolo Center holds as many people as the O'Laughlin Auditorium, which seats 1,300 people.
"Playing to the largest audience possible is the priority," he said.
Another advantage to keeping the Keenan Revue at Saint Mary's is the familiarity that Keenan residents have with this venue.
"We're quite comfortable with the way things are set up there," Fotopoulos said. "We have a relationship with Saint Mary's."
Despite the large amount of students that will not get to attend the show, it is unlikely any standing room tickets will be offered.
Miller said as much as he wishes they could distribute additional tickets, the safety codes and their contract with St Mary's forbid them from doing so.
"I understand that other people have class [during the ticket distribution], but we do have a policy of two tickets per [student ID]," Fotopoulos said.
Students also have the option of asking friends from Keenan for tickets, since all residents of this dorm receive at least four tickets. The remaining seats are reserved for VIPs, Saint Mary's students and some faculty members.
"We try to keep it so that those that are involved in the show and those that live in Keenan Hall are not shut out," Fotopoulos said. "Pretty much every person in this dorm has handled the Revue in some way."
