Center Theatre Group canceled four Hamlet performances during an LA curfew and kept patrons informed within minutes

Digital ticket status changed on every phone. Almost no one arrived unaware. Exchanges and refunds were simple.

Situation

In June 2025, parts of Downtown Los Angeles were placed under an 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. limited curfew following protests and riots tied to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids. The “No Kings” rally drew large crowds the same weekend. The curfew covered about a one-square-mile section of downtown and was reassessed daily by the mayor. As conditions shifted day-by-day, venues inside the zone, including Center Theatre Group’s Mark Taper Forum, made rapid, safety-first performance decisions.

When the curfew was announced, Center Theatre Group canceled the June 10 and 11 Hamlet performances. Later that week, CTG also voluntarily canceled the June 14 matinee and evening performances due to the scheduled No Kings protest. Within minutes, CTG was able to notify every patron through automated features built into the True Tickets digital ticket delivery service with deep Tessitura integration. Using the postpone/cancel function, True Tickets displayed a clear “Canceled” message directly in their ticket wallet on their mobile device.

Because CTG had prepared well in advance, the team followed its emergency SOP and used True Tickets to deliver instant ticket updates directly to patrons’ wallets. The result was a coordinated, professional response that kept patrons informed and the front of house calm.

What CTG did

1. Prepared in advance. CTG maintained a well-documented emergency SOP with a clear notification tree, defined roles, and step-by-step actions, plus ready-to-use assets including email templates and a robocall script.
2. Coordinated fast. Slack served as the internal command center for cross-department collaboration and real-time status updates across Marketing, IT, and the Box Office, keeping everyone aligned, speeding decisions, and ensuring consistent messaging.
3. Tested safely. CTG maintained a Tessitura test production to trial the postpone/cancel flag and capture screenshots so everyone could see exactly how the ticket would display before deployment.
4. Communicated Clearly. Led with a clear, patron-facing communication sequence.
   1. Email to patrons went out first.
   2. After a ~5 minute wait, they flipped Tessitura’s postpone/cancel flag so the digital ticket on each patron’s mobile phone immediately reflected “Canceled”
   3. Robocalls to patrons.
   4. Social posts for broader reach.
5. Paused sales. Prevented new purchases after cancellation for the affected performances.
6. Rebooked or refunded patrons quickly. Staff offered a simple choice to move into a later Hamlet date where available or receive a refund. With True Tickets, CTG could see ticket status and sharing history, confirm who held each ticket, and complete exchanges or refunds quickly with confidence.
7. Documented learnings. CTG ran a brief after-action review, captured what worked and what did not, updated the SOP and templates, and incorporated the changes into training to make a strong playbook even stronger.

Challenges

• Shifting curfew and safety risk. Orders changed daily inside a small downtown footprint, forcing go or no-go calls within hours while prioritizing patron and staff safety.
• Preventing ruined nights. The team needed to reach people before they left home so patrons did not travel into a curfew zone for a canceled show.
• Cutting through channel blind spots. Email and voicemail can be missed; CTG had to ensure the update was seen on the device patrons already check.
• Reaching the actual ticket holder. Many tickets are shared or resold, so communications had to reach secondary holders, not just original buyers.
• Coordinating under a two-hour window. Multiple systems and teams had to act in lockstep to pause sales, update tickets, and staff the front of house without duplication or delay.
• Protecting brand and front-of-house calm. Fewer surprises at the door meant fewer heated interactions and a smoother path to exchanges or refunds.

Results

• Minimal patrons inconvenienced. Before True Tickets, same-day cancellations would result in dozens (if not many more) of patrons arriving to the show unaware and upset. With the in-ticket status showing “Canceled,” only a few people arrived not knowing resulting in far fewer ruined nights and disappointed patrons.
• Brand protection at the moment of truth. Clear, consistent updates (email + in-ticket status + robocalls + social) reached people before they traveled, reducing anger at the door and protecting trust in CTG.
• One-touch resolution for many cases. Digital ticket history and sharing trails let staff easily verify the valid ticket holder and complete exchanges or refunds with confidence.
• Revenue continuity where it matters. Many patrons chose to exchange into later Hamlet dates, preserving revenue and seat fill; patrons received prompt refunds when preferred.
• Repeatable playbook, ready to run. Documented roles, templates, and handoffs reduce decision fatigue and training time, so staff can focus on helping patrons instead of recreating process.
  
  

Lessons for Other Venues

• Make the ticket the single source of truth for the current holder. Once a ticket is shared or resold, email or phone may not reach the right person; the in-ticket status is visible to the person who will attend, so almost everyone sees the update.
• Pre-approve decisions and centralize collaboration. Define who makes the call and by what time relative to curtain and run all communication in one real-time channel to speed alignment and avoid confusion/duplicate work.
• Control inventory and comms together. Pause sales for impacted performances and suppress promos for those events to avoid mixed messages.
• Prep materials and empower front of house. Keep pre-approved SOPs, email copy, call scripts, and social posts ready to deploy.
• Close the loop. Run an after-action review and update SOPs and templates; track simple metrics like unaware arrivals and time to ticket update.
  
  

About Center Theatre Group

Center Theatre Group is one of the nation’s leading not-for-profit theatre companies, programming the Mark Taper Forum and the Ahmanson Theatre at The Music Center in Downtown Los Angeles, and the Kirk Douglas Theatre in Culver City. This response reflects CTG’s commitment to serve Los Angeles through ambitious work and community engagement, even when conditions are changing by the hour.