It was Tuesday night and Harry Potter was opening at midnight at the CineArts theater at Sanata Row. Marimona, Jonillip (Marimona’s boyfriend/husband), Rachel and Brian (me) had a simple plan: Eat dinner, then wait in line starting around 8:30 or 9. They would probably start letting people into the theater around 11:15 for the midnight show. Easy enough. Or was it?

After dinner (8:30) we walked the theater where a Theater Manager Who Shall Not Be Named told us we couldn’t wait in the lobby. No surprise there, we’ll just start forming a line outside. She told us that we couldn’t wait outside either – some rule of Sanata Row. The WTF meter starts to spike. She told us we had to go away, maybe wait in our cars, then come back at 10:00 when she would open the doors.

A few points to note: they are opening the doors at 10 for a midnight show. That means that everyone will be sitting in the theater for 2 full hours before the previews start. Riiiiight. Also, we can’t wait inside and we can’t wait outside. Interesting challenge, but we were up to it!

Apparently we weren’t the only people to think that getting to the theater early and forming a line was a good idea…there were many groups of people outside, NOT waiting in a line. Any time anybody started to form what might be interpreted as a line, You Know Who would come out and tell everyone to disperse…NO WAITING IN LINE. If anybody was caught forming a line, she would cancel the showing. WTF: SPIKE!

By 9:50, everyone was not waiting in line by waiting in the street. Safety first! What do you get when you have a large group of people with a single goal and no line? That’s right, a mob.

At 9:55, word spread that the doors were open and the mob moved into position…crowding the doors, separating groups, killing small animals and causing mass hysteria (I made the last two up). Of course, this is still five minutes before they are going to open the doors…and they wouldn’t let anybody in early…your two-hour wait time starts at 10, not 9:55! The threats of canceling the show continued.

Eventually they started taking tickets and letting people in. But there was no order (shocker). Someone (I didn’t do it, but I know who did!) yells out “LET US FORM A LINE!” and You Know Who stops taking tickets and starts yelling to the mob (easily a few hundred people): “WHO SAID THAT? SERIOUSLY, WHO SAID THAT?” That’s right…if nobody fessed up, she was going to turn this car around and nobody gets ice cream.

Eventually everyone got inside and waited for the final two hours. The movie came and went. It was a good flick.

Moral of the story: when a mob of people are desperate to organize themselves into a single file line so everyone is happy, don’t make them be an angry mob instead, even if that is the rule at Santana Row.

Thanks for sending your very informative letter to me regarding your experience at the Santa Row Theater. Customer comments really are the best way to understand where we need to improve and based on your letter, we need a lot of improvement. I can’t say how sorry I am that your visit to the Santana Row Theater was so bad on the night of our midnight showing of Harry Potter. Clearly the manner in which the crowd was handled was not acceptable. I promise you it will not happen again.

We have had many, very successful midnight shows at this location and this is the first time that we have experienced problems as you described. Having said that, I promise you that this will not happen again. Effective now, we will run a line just like every other theater in the country. For films with less “hype” and anticipation the manner in which the crowd was handled may work but not for a film such as Harry Potter. If you would like to make any additional comments I would love to hear from you on my cell phone which is (xxx) xxx-xxxx.

Once again I want to thank you for your comments. I would also like to send you some free movie tickets for a future visit. Would you be so kind as to send me your mailing address and I will get them out to you immediately. Please give us another chance, normally this theater runs very well and we appreciate your ongoing patronage.

Kindest Regards,
Robert H
Regional Leader

Thank you for responding to my letter. I agree that the crowd situation was totally out of control and could have been avoided. The most troubling aspect was the manager’s repeated threats to cancel the film. My entire group shocked. I don’t know if it was the theater manager’s idea or if the crowd management idea was handed down from a superior, but hopefully the reality is now clear. Whether or not a film has hype, if a large group of people wish to organize into a line, they should not be dispersed…all that comes from that is mob. Judging from your response, I’d say the point has been made and I doubt the situation will be repeated.

I’m happy that the Cinearts administration is the type of organization that listens and responds to customer input and goes out of their way to make sure that customers stay happy. I love movies and the Santana Row theater is a very nice venue in a fun part of town.