Aarrrggghhhh. I hate when this happens. And I am glad to say that it happens rarely. But still, I made an error in one of my two stories printed in yesterday's Washington Post.
The preview that ran in the Fairfax section, for Natalie MacMaster at the GMU Center for the Arts, was fine.
But today, when I got back from the Richmond trip, I saw an email from my contact at the Birchmere, thanking me for the preview of Dr. John/South Memphis String Band but alerting me to the fact that I got the ticket price wrong and listed the show as happening in the Bandstand (all standing) instead of the Music Hall (seated). My bad.
I know how it happened - I pulled the block of details copy from a previous Birchmere preview and didn't crosscheck it with the info on the web site. In four+ years of doing Post previews, this was a new one. Which neither excuses it nor makes me feel better.
The show was tonight, so a correction would appear after the fact, which doesn't do the confused audience any good. So, I apologized profusely to the Birchmere guy, and will do so to my editor (luckily, he's a pretty mellow guy). And I will ask for a correction, as per the contact's request so that people know that the error was my fault and not the venue's.
These are the days I am glad I am not a doctor. Nobody dies when I screw up.
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