Fringe Friends With Benefits

During the Calgary Fringe Festival (August 1 - 10) you can visit us in Inglewood at Mandarine Couture, which is located at 1224B 9th Avenue SE (right across the street from Fringe Venue - From The Ground Up). Mandarine Couture is a fashion boutique that carries high-end designer clothing, accessories, and gift items from Asia, Europe, and North America. Theatre Junction is pleased to welcome them as a partner for the 08/09 season. Stop by the store when you take a break from The Fringe and sign up to receive a special savings on our Season Ticket packages.

Mandarine Couture hours:
Wed-Sun noon - 5:00 pm

Closed: Mondays and Tuesdays

Student Sales Junction

Throughout our 08/09 season we'll be putting together a student sales committee to expand our audience and in the process, give you an opportunity to save on Opening Night seats. If there's anything to expect on Opening Nights it can only be the unexpected and this season we'd love to have you and your friends there to share in the excitement!

The Student Sales Junction will work like this:
A) You must currently be a student or a recent graduate.
B) For every 3 Student Season Ticket packages ($75 each, includes all fees and GST) you sell, we'll give you a season ticket subscription ABSOLUTELY FREE! These season tickets will be for the Opening Night for each of Theatre Junction's 5 shows as part of our 08/09 season.
C) For each individual show starting with Radio MacBeth (Opening Night - Sept 24), we'll offer you a 10% savings on your own seat for every ticket you sell. This means if you sell 5 tickets you'll save 50%, and if you sell 10 tickets you'll GET YOUR TICKET FREE!
D) If there is a performance for which you or your friends can not attend on Opening Night, we'd be happy to exchange your seat(s) for any other night as long as you give us advance notice.

If you're interested in joining the Student Sales Junction, please email David Gardner, Theatre Junction Marketing & Sales Manager, for more details -- david.gardner@theatrejunction.com

See you at the Theatre!

Theatre Junction 08-09 Season

To GRAND or not to GRAND

Since making the GRAND theatre our home in 2005, we've wrestled with ideas of what to name the historic downtown building. Originally we thought to keep it The GRAND since that's what everyone in Calgary has come to know it by. We even named our website ATTHEGRAND.CA But ever since we bought the building and raised millions to restore it back to Calgary's 'Culturehouse', we were thinking...

Perhaps it makes sense for us to leverage our own company name. Hence, last year's name change to Theatre Junction at the GRAND. While it explained who we were and where we lived, the venue name itself was left the same. Thus, nothing really changed.

So did we ever really have a problem or did we just create one in our heads? Were the struggles with branding that we thought to conquer - justified? After all, the building has always been a Calgary (and Western Canada to boot) landmark, and ever since it was built in 1912 it always remained GRAND in some capacity. Should we dare change this?

While Theatre Junction at the GRAND seemed to be a temporary branding solution, problems did indeed arise. First, it was a little long and a bit of a mouthful. We grew tired of always saying, "Hi, I'm So And So from Theatre Junction at The GRAND." Eventually and expectedly, we became either from "Theatre Junction" or "The GRAND". One or the other got lost, leaving little to zero consistency. Ambiguity amassed. Secondly, it did little in raising awareness that Theatre Junction owns and operates this fabulously renovated theatre, ideal for the art we've been presenting - multidisciplinary and diverse. While we made it our mandate to introduce Calgary to the World's best in contemporary art and produce thought provoking New Creation, we still felt shadowed by the venue itself, with all its historic and grandiose charm.

When we began the restoration project, and unlike the multiplex movie theatre and golf domes of the past which moved in and out over the years, Theatre Junction was determined to preserve as much of the original theatre as possible. Take a look at our entrance and you may wonder if we're still in the process of fixin 'er up (To clarify, our indoor restoration is complete and keeping the holes from the original ceiling as well as choosing the half-modern-half-authentic walls were part of the plan. As for the ongoing outside construction, that's a whole other beast).

That being said, we recently made the tough decision. We renamed the building, our breeding ground, our home. We chose the best of both worlds.

Theatre Junction GRAND was unveiled recently as the name of the venue and while we know it will be a challenge for our patrons, partners, the press, media, and the people of Calgary to forget "The GRAND or GRAND Theatre", we believe we made the right decision. We like to think of it as naming our new baby after a deceased, but whose presence is always felt, GRANDparent.

We dared. We've always believed in shaking things up and challenging society's status quo and expectations. We've based our entire existence on such a vision. Now it comes back to you, the people of Calgary, and our audience.

What do you think of Theatre Junction GRAND? Does it work? Does it sound right? Is it selfish? Should we have done it from the get go?

Most importantly, do we have a hope in hell of getting people on board with it!?

p.s. We also renamed our website THEATREJUNCTION.COM -- it just seemed like the right thing to do.