WELCOME TO THE COWLES CENTER

When you enter through the front doors of The Cowles Center into the US Bank Atrium Lobby, this is what you’ll see. Straight ahead is the box office. Guests can purchase or pick up tickets

here, or ask for assistance or directions.

On the pages to follow we’ll walk through the lobby spaces on the first floor of The Cowles Center.

 

 

If you turn left while standing just inside the front doors, you’ll be looking into the tower wing of the building. Up that small ramp is the elevator, which leads to the building’s tenants.

Guests can also use this elevator (with staff accompanying them) to get to the Grand Tier without using stairs.

The shiny signs on the wall direct guests to the two independently run theaters in the building, The Illusion Theater

and the James Sewell Ballet TEK Box.

Now we’ll turn back and more fully explore the US Bank Atrium Lobby.

The water fountain is up this ramp and to the right.

 

 

Down that hallway you’ll find the answer to the

question you’ll get more than any other:

The restrooms. First inside the hallway is the

Gentlemen’s. A little further back is an accessible family bathroom with a changing

table and an outlet. Near the back of this small lobby is the Ladies’. It’s difficult to see in this picture, but there is a

sign reading “Restrooms ß” on the wall next to the

pictured wooden doorway.

This doorway leads backstage and is where performers

generally come from at the end of the performance.

Starting facing the box office, if we turn to the right

we’ll face a hallway and then the bar.  

 

 

If we keep turning right we get a nice view of the lobby and bar and then we’re facing the donor wall and the entrance to the Ted

Mann Lobby.

Each time you volunteer you’ll head

right from the entrance and into the Ted Mann

Lobby.

This is the entrance through which the

audience will enter and also the place where we’ll prepare for the

performance.

 

 

Because of its beauty, the Ted Mann Lobby is one of my favorite places in the theater.

As you enter the Ted Mann Lobby, the coat check will be to your left (it’s closed in the top-left picture). Volunteers can store their possessions and get a uniform vest in the coat

check when they arrive for their shift.

Exits are to your right. These are the closest exits in the event of an emergency, but are also exits that can be used

at any time. They do not open from the outside.

At the start of your volunteer shift, staff and volunteers meet right in the middle of the Ted Mann lobby for a pre-

show meeting.

 

 

One of the most difficult things you’ll need to remember while volunteering is which door to send guests to. Each guest’s ticket

will tell you that his or her seat is Right or Left.

In this picture, the Right Door is on the left

(confused yet?). Behind the other door is a staircase

that leads to the back of the theater. Staff will use this

staircase to seat late-arriving guests. Volunteers will also use this staircase

to find seats for themselves that they can get to without disturbing other guests as the performance starts.

Once you’re in the Ted Mann Lobby, the Left Door is actually

already behind you! To get to the Left Door you have to enter the lobby and then turn almost 180

degrees to your left.

When facing the coat check, the Right Door is on your right, the Left

Door is on your left. Both doors open onto the Orchestra Level and both have a staircase to the Grand

Tier level.

You’ll have time to reacquaint yourself with the theater before the

house opens each shift.