Live theater website: what sells the tickets

People come to a theater's website to find out what's on, when, and how to get tickets. After that, they want to know what it costs with fees, where to park, whether the show suits their kids and how to get a wheelchair seat. They also want to know how to audition, volunteer or sign up for camp.

In October 2026 we opened 11 community theater, playhouse and small professional theater websites in eight towns, on a phone and on a computer, and looked at what people search for. Almost all of them sold tickets well once you found the show. Many made people hunt for it, though, and left out fees, access and the practical details. This guide goes through them in order of how much they matter, with the steps to set each one up. (Run a movie theater? See Independent cinema website.)

Put the show on the first screen

Five of the 11 sites opened on a slogan, a mission statement or a video, with no show named. The ones that worked best put the current or next show, its dates and a Tickets button together at the top.

1. Open your home page and the Hero section. Make the headline the show's name, and add its dates.
2. Point the Hero's button at the show's page in your ticketing system (OvationTix, Ludus, ThunderTix and the rest each give every show its own link). Choose Another website… under Goes to and paste it.
3. Click Menu in the left menu. Under Header button, type Button text like "Tickets", going to your season page or your ticketing system.
4. Use a production photo from the current show, not a photo of an empty stage.

When the show closes, change the Hero the same week. One theater we looked at still led with a show that had closed the day before.

List your season as events

Your season belongs in your events list, so each show gets its own page, shows up in Google's event listings and drops off by itself when it's over.

1. Click Lists in the left menu, then Edit events, then Add event.
2. Type the show's name in Event name. Set Date to opening night and Last day (optional) to closing night. Set Starts at for evening shows.
3. In Full details, list every performance date and time, the run time and intermission, and an age guide.
4. Under Tickets or RSVP button, type "Get tickets" and paste the show's ticketing link under Goes to.
5. Type "Mainstage" or "Youth" in Category to group shows. Use the same spelling each time.
6. Click Publish.

Want each performance listed on its own? Add one event per regular slot instead, like Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30. Set Repeats to Every week, with Repeats until on closing night. Google lists each performance separately that way.

When a performance sells out, set its Status to Sold out. If one is canceled or postponed, use Cancelled or Postponed instead of deleting it, so people with the link see what happened. Then add an Events section to your home page, showing Upcoming events. See Events.

Show the full price, fees included

Only 4 of the 11 sites said what the ticket fee was, or that prices already include it. Since May 2025, federal rules require sellers of live-event tickets to show the total price, mandatory fees included, more prominently than any other price. California requires it for all tickets.

• Write prices with fees in, like "$25, fees included", in Price on each event and on your tickets page.
• If your ticketing system adds a fee, put the total next to the base price. Don't call it only a "processing fee" or "service fee"; say what it adds up to.
• List student, senior and group prices too.

Make accessible seats easy to buy

Five of the 11 theaters told wheelchair users to call or email the box office, while everyone else bought online. The ADA asks for accessible seats to be sold the same ways as other seats, with up to three companion seats beside each wheelchair space. Nobody can be asked for proof of disability.

Add a Text section, or an accessibility page from the Basic page template, that covers:

• Wheelchair and companion seats: where they are, and how to pick them online (most seat maps mark them with a symbol). The box office phone should be an extra way, not the only one.
• Hearing: your listening devices or hearing loop, and where to pick them up.
• Sight: audio-described performances, if you offer them, and how far ahead to ask.
• Sign language interpreted or captioned performances, and how to request one.
• Sensory-friendly performances, if you run them. One theater runs one every Saturday morning in its children's season.
• Getting in: accessible parking, the step-free entrance and restrooms.

Link the page from your footer. In Menu, under Footer links, click Add footer link.

Answer the plan-your-visit questions

These are the questions people otherwise phone about: when to arrive, how long the show runs, where to park, whether latecomers are seated and whether the show suits children.

• Put Regular hours in Business info for your box office, or turn off We keep regular opening hours and write "Box office opens one hour before each show" in Note under hours.
• Add an Hours & location section with a map to your contact or visit page, and describe parking under it.
• On each show's event, give the run time with intermission and an age guide with content notes, like "Ages 13+. Strong language." Five of the 11 theaters did this.
• State your late seating, exchange and refund rules in a Text section.
• For snow days, use the Announcement bar: pick Weather delay under Quick start, set the Style to Alert, and set Last day shown so it comes down by itself. If that performance has its own event, set its Status to Cancelled; if it's part of a run, say so in the run's Full details. See Business info and hours.

Sell the season

Ten of the 11 theaters sold a season subscription or a flex pass. Their perks were a discount, first choice of seats, no fees and free exchanges. They only sell if visitors can see them.

1. Add a Packages section to your tickets page.
2. Make one package for each option, like "Full season" and "Flex pass, 4 shows". Fill in Name, Price, Price note (like "saves 20%") and What’s included.
3. Point each package's Button at the subscription page in your ticketing system.
4. Turn on Highlight as most popular for the one you'd recommend, and put the exchange rules in Fine print.

Gift certificates sold through your ticketing system can go in the same section, or in a Buy & pay section. See Take payments with payment links.

Post auditions, volunteer jobs and classes

People search for "community theater auditions near me", "theater camps near me" and "community theater volunteer opportunities" about as often as for shows. Eight of the 11 theaters posted auditions, and all 11 asked for volunteers.

• Auditions: add each audition as an event with Category "Auditions". In Full details, list the roles, ages, what to prepare and whether roles are paid. Add a Form for sign-ups, with Form name "Audition sign-up" and More questions for the role, age range and conflicts. Turn on Let people attach photos for headshots.
• Volunteers: add a Form with Ask what they need help with turned on, and Topic choices like "Usher", "Box office", "Set building" and "Costumes".
• Classes and camps: with the Bookings & RSVPs add-on, turn on Take sign-ups on this site in each class's event. Set Spots and Waitlist when it's full, and turn on Take payment when they sign up if you charge. See Take bookings on your site.

Messages from every form land in your Inbox and your email. See Forms and your inbox.

Make giving one tap away

All 11 theaters took donations, and 8 said they were a 501(c)(3). Say it plainly, because donors look for it.

1. Click Pages, then New page, and pick the Donate template.
2. Paste your donation page's link (Zeffy, Givebutter or your ticketing system's donation page) into each amount's Payment link.
3. Replace the sample text with what each gift does, and answer the questions about tax deductions.
4. Add a "Donate" link in Menu, or make it your Header button on the off-season.

Thank your sponsors in a Badges & logos section, with each sponsor's name and logo.

A few rules, which vary by state:

• State registration. Many states require charities to register before asking their residents for money, and some require set wording on the donate page. Florida does, for example. Check with your state's charity office.
• Gifts with perks. When someone pays over $75 and gets something back, like gala tickets or a membership with free shows, tell them how much is tax-deductible.

See Take payments with payment links.

Credit the show the way your license says

Your license for a published play or musical says how the show must be billed. That usually means the authors' names, the licensor's line ("Presented through special arrangement with…") and the show's logo exactly as supplied, not cropped or recolored. A show's page on your site is advertising, so put the same credits in its Full details.

Don't post video of a licensed show unless your license allows it. Rehearsal photos and your own trailer of non-licensed work are fine.

Photos that sell the show

Real photos of your shows, your house and your people do more than stock photos. With permission from cast and parents, take:

1. Two or three actors mid-scene at the dress rehearsal, well lit
2. The building and its sign at dusk, with the lights on
3. The house from the stage
4. The lobby and box office with people in it
5. Volunteers backstage: the light board, the costume shop, a set going up
6. A class or camp in rehearsal

Add a Gallery of past productions to your About page. Until you have your own photos, Free photos has good ones for "theater stage curtain spotlight", "empty theater seats red auditorium" and "children drama class acting workshop". Skip the theater-building photos there: they're all real theaters with their own names on them. See Free photos.

Answer the questions audiences ask

Add an FAQ section. Questions theaters get most:

• How much are tickets, and are fees included?
• Can I exchange my tickets or get a refund?
• What's a flex pass?
• What time should I arrive, and what if I'm late?
• How long is the show? Is it suitable for children?
• Where do I park?
• How do I get wheelchair seats or a listening device?
• What happens if a show is canceled for weather?
• How do I audition or volunteer?
• Is my donation tax-deductible?

In Lists › FAQs, Suggest questions drafts more from your own site. See Use suggested questions.

Tips

• Give your home page a search title with your town, like "Community theater in Bend, OR". Most theaters we looked at used only their name. See Set a page's search title and description.
• Add a Newsletter signup section. Ten of the 11 theaters collect emails, and a season announcement email sells subscriptions. See Add a newsletter signup.
• Your history earns trust: "Our 50th season" or "Since 1978" in a Highlights section says you're here to stay.
• Read your site at the start of each season for last season's shows, prices and audition dates.