The Wisconsin Union Theater (WUT) team at the Wisconsin Union has many devoted people who work tirelessly behind the scenes to bring the programming, performances and excitement we love center stage. Ted Harks’s role as the website and systems administrator impacts nearly everyone who steps foot into WUT’s performance spaces or visits the website. If you’ve purchased tickets to a WUT event online, chances are, you’ve interacted with Ted’s work without even knowing it.
Ted’s connection to WUT spans more than three decades. In 1994, he started as a student and held roles like usher, stagehand, member of the door staff and eventually became one of the first student supervisors for these roles. In 2000, he returned to WUT as assistant box office manager and was promoted to box office manager two years later. From 2007 to 2021, he served as arts ticketing website and systems administrator, which he returned to this year.
Ted’s various roles have given him insight into what makes WUT special. Along with learning a bit more about the behind the scenes at WUT, through our conversation in this story, we get to learn more about Ted, his role and what being part of the WUT team means to him.
Is your current role similar to your prior role(s)? If not, what has changed since you were previously part of the team?
As you might guess by the number of roles I’ve played, I love variety and to try different things, to learn different skills. I think one thing that drew me in and back to playing the website and systems administrator role is that it is always evolving. There are always new things to learn, and no two days are exactly the same.
Some of my colleagues on the Theater team are new to me. Others, I’ve known for a long time. I admire each and every one of them. The tools I use to communicate with my colleagues here and across campus are changing. But our goals of creating meaningful theater experiences for everyone remain the same.
What does a day in your life at the Wisconsin Union look like?
This question makes me smile for two reasons. One: no two days in my life here are alike. Two: that’s why I love working for the Wisconsin Union Theater. One day, I may be at my desk building an upcoming series of University Theatre events into our ticket sales software. Another day, I may be troubleshooting an unexpected hardware issue to ensure we can print tickets for an event at Hamel Music Center that night. Many afternoons feature meetings with colleagues on the Theater team or around campus. Most days feature a Peet’s cold brew coffee with oat milk.
What do you think people would be surprised to know about your role?
One thing that to this day still surprises me about my role is the number of people I get the chance to serve every day compared to my past experiences. I am the primary person managing all of the Campus Arts Ticketing website content and the ticketing system driving it.
When I worked in the Memorial Union Box Office, I gave first impressions of the Wisconsin Union Theater by serving guests at the window or over the phone during business hours. Today, far more people first interact with us when they come to the website for information or to buy tickets any time of day.
Campus Arts Ticketing provides ticketing not just for the Wisconsin Union Theater, but also for Mead Witter School of Music, University Opera, University Theatre, and the UW Dance Department as well as numerous student organizations. When I do my job well, guests have positive impressions and may never know that I had any part in delivering them.
What is your favorite part of your job?
My favorite part is every person I get to work with and to serve by performing my job. No two people are alike. No other person is like me. This guarantees that I can learn at least one new thing from anyone I get to interact with. And each new thing I learn from any person teaches me something about myself. And I love learning new things.
What do you think makes WUT special?
The Wisconsin Union Theater is special to me, because it is a place where history is made. Every individual ever involved in presenting any event here is a history-maker. Every individual who attends any presentation experiences history in the making. The Wisconsin Union strives to create experiences for a lifetime.
I think the Wisconsin Union Theater embodies this ideal and takes it to the next level. Experiences we create and share here reverberate over many lifetimes. I feel fortunate to get one more chance to add a few more of my own paragraphs to this incredible story.
What do you think people would be surprised to know about WUT?
I think new guests would be surprised to realize just how much students play roles in just about everything we do here. Students get to practice so many aspects of theater production, not just by studying them but by playing the parts.
They partner with my incredible colleagues to book top-tier artists and promote them. They serve guests by selling tickets to hundreds of different events and answering questions at our box office. They set up, run, and strike events in Shannon Hall and the Play Circle many days every week. They greet patrons at our doors, take their tickets and assist them with finding seats.
If you attend any event in either space, chances are very high that students are serving you in multiple ways during your experiences.
Is there anything I didn’t ask you that you would like our blog readers to know?
A big reason I’m back yet again is because I want to pay things forward to every guest in our spaces, especially students. I learned so much and discovered so many personal passions working here as a student.
I’m forever grateful to all the students, predecessors and performers who played their parts and delivered me those life-shaping experiences. I am happy when I can take what I have learned and am still learning to help create and deliver those kinds of experiences to others.
One thing I learned is that every person who comes to an event also plays a significant role in creating that experience with us. I like to think we are writing theater history together. I invite you and sincerely hope you will bring a friend to any event this season. Let’s make some theater history together, shall we?
If you would like to attend a WUT performance or event, check out what Ted and the rest of the WUT team have been working on here.