Taking steps forward as a venue in live music, theatre and comedy, is The Box Office.  A recent relocation from Street 244 across Wat Botum Park to Street 258 has allowed a re-visioning and expansion of the premises formerly occupied by Voodoo Boulevard.  I sat down with owner Paul Glew to discuss, among other things, business, beer, tourists, streets and the road ahead. 

“I’m excited about this year in many ways,” says Paul.  “We’re hoping to be a bit more vocal about what we’re doing.  We are now committed to music every Friday on the outside stage, undercover.  We’ll often have something on separately in the theatre, and we can run two events at once.  A few weeks ago we had Shining Hearts outside, quite loud, a full house, and we had a movie going on inside.  We’ve never had that luxury before.  At the old place we’d pipe the sound outside to where people were sitting and listening, but the room itself might be empty, which is frustrating for a performer.” 

So we can expect more regular live music shows at The Box Office?  “We’re trying out monthly residencies – Adam Marsland on Fridays in January, in February it’ll be Loopy Reggae for three weeks – this is the third year we’ve had them.  We’ve got The Lazy Drunks coming up.  For interested bands, the outside stage is fully equipped, including a drum kit.  11 pm is the neighbourhood cut-off for live music, but we’ll commit to a 10 o’clock curfew to maintain good relations.  So if you’re looking for gigs, we’re always looking for newer acts, particularly smaller bands. 

Aside from the outside space, the separate interior stage is suitable for concerts, theatre, comedy, even private film screenings.    “If an act wants to put on a private gig , we can put you in the inside room, with all the equipment, and you can put your own gig on, sell your own tickets.  We have options now to separate people out now, much better than we could at the old place.

“I love that inside room.  It’s so multi-functional.  We’re taking bookings nearly every other day now for private movie screenings – this afternoon we’ve got ten kids for a birthday party.  Last night we had a Wicked sing-along.  It was brilliant, there were some good singers.  It made it a very different experience. 

How is stand-up comedy adapting to the new location?  “Since October we’ve been having big international travelling comedians coming through, and they’ve all been telling their colleagues about it:  go to Asia, do Thailand, sure, but Cambodia have taken it up a level in production values.  The lights, the overheads, the projection.  So that’s getting us attention, and international comedians are approaching us directly, and not just the northern winter, we’ve got queries extending through May, June, July.   

“Our booking system has changed the game for us in a lot of ways, especially for theatre and comedy.  We now know in advance on the night how many seats we’re putting out, if we’re going to be turning people away, or if we really need to boost on a Wednesday afternoon to get more tickets sold.  We know we’re not going to sell all the tickets online, so we allow for walk-ins, figure out what space we need.” 

“We can also offer the same service for other venues – we already do that, selling tickets for comedy gigs in Siem Reap.  We’re hoping to expand that during this year: if you want to do a ticketed gig, whatever the location, The Box Office  can sell the tickets for you.” 

The regular schedule at The Box Office includes traditional shadow art performances by Sovanna Phum Arts on Fridays at 5 pm and the Stand-Up Unscripted improvised comedy nights on Wednesdays; from time to time there are Lo-Key Theatre Company productions including Lo-Stakes Showcase – check it all out at The Box Office website.

“The move has been genuinely positive,” says Paul.  “We’re meeting customers that we never knew existed, they come in and say we’ve been ordering from you all the time on Nham24, but we never visited because there was nowhere to sit.

“It’s not about just putting on a gig, it’s about giving people a performance.  You put the production values in there.  It’s something special.  You’ve decided to be here, here’s a show for you.”