Post on 28-Dec-2015
Management, Technical Theatre, and Unions
The unseen theatre
workers
Stage Manager
• Organizes rehearsals
• Creates prompt book
• Runs production meetings with designers and director
• Runs technical rehearsals
• Calls shows
• Rehearses replacements, understudies
• Member Actors Equity
Technical Director
• Executes working drawings from designer• Coordinates special effects• Supervises load in and strike• Knows specifications of theatre:• Fly system• Electrical systems• Traps• Sightlines• Sound system
Other technical theatre positions
• Master Electrician
• Stage Carpenter
• Set Painter
• Costume Shop Foreperson
• Costumes: Drapers, Cutters, Stitchers
• Under them are construction crews
Running Crews
• Refers to the “run” of a show, begin during technical rehearsals
• Set, props, fly crews
• Light and sound board operators
• Follow spot operators
• Makeup and wardrobe crews
Front of House
• Box office manager and staff
• House manager
• Ushers
• Business side: Artistic Director, Board of Directors, Public Relations (might be hired out), Education Director, Fundraising (for profit vs. not-for-profit)
Entering the Professional Theatre
• BA or BFA in Theatre
• Practical plus academic experience
• Internships
• Graduate degrees: MA or MBA in arts administration, MFA in design, acting, technical areas, directing, playwriting
• Experience in professional settings
• Union membership
Theatrical Unions• Actor’s Equity Association (also stage managers):
www.actorsequity.com• Screen Actors Guild: www.sag.com• Also AFTRA, AGVA for performers• United Scenic Artists: www.usa829.com• International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees:
www.iatse.com• Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers:
www.ssdc.org • Dramatists’ Guild: www.dramatistsguild.org• Screenwriters’ Federation of America:
www.screenwritersfederation.org