Staff Spotlight: Ellen Holt

Name: Ellen Holt

Title/Department: Ticket Services Manager

Years at Roundabout: 7 1/2

Q&A:

Q: Give us a brief background of your career leading up to Roundabout.

A: My first real theater job was working for David Merrick on the original 42^nd Street. We not only had the NYC show, but did 2 national tours and a London production. I then worked in company management for a couple of general managers, and after a few years made a 180 degree turn and went to work in the NY Yankees' ticket office, ending up as the Group and Season Sales Manager there (NB: I'm a Mets fan!). I returned to the arts at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark and then found a wonderful home here at Roundabout.

Q: As a child, what did you want to be when you "grew up"?

A: A paleontologist – I wanted to go to the desert and dig up dinosaur bones. I still love going to the Museum of Natural History. (PS grow up? What's that?)

Q: What is a typical day like for you?

A: Dealing with everything ticketing: staffing concerns, customer service questions, setting up new shows in our ticketing system, running reports for the business office, working with marketing on special offers, helping development with their programs and events, dealing with any other department that is looking for information on our productions, and so on. Right now we are getting set up for the 2011-2012 season.

Q: If you could change professions for one day, what would you be? Why?

A: Anything that would get me outside. Skiing instructor probably.

Q: What has been your favorite Roundabout show?

A: Musical: "The Pajama Game" (one of the 3 best musicals I've ever seen, along with "Fiddler on the Roof" and the original "A Little Night Music"). Play: "Waiting for Godot" (I saw it the same weekend as "Exit the King" – 2 Theater of the Absurd plays that made perfect sense). I also really loved "Big River".

Q: Any funny stories to tell from your time working at Roundabout?

A: Many – but none I want to repeat in public! Let's just say that spending the day with people who choose to work in the arts is a lot of fun.

Q: What is your favorite hangout in NYC? Why?

A: I'm a Jersey girl, born and bred (except for three formative years in Queens), so I don't really hang out in NYC. The museums, though, are what make the city special to me, and of course all the theatrical offerings.

Q: When you're not working you…

A: Are out hiking (there's lots of great hiking within 50 miles of Times Square, and I spent a week in the Swiss Alps in September), or at home reading history.