So you’ve chosen your show. Now what should you do next? Well, the performing rights holder will send you a contract which grants you the rights to perform the show on the dates you chose. (You have chosen them, haven’t you? You know, you’ve sorted out the theater hire, and made sure all the most important people - see later on in this section- are available then. Now you’re going to sign a contract, agreeing to paying what they ask, including a deposit against your returning the scripts at the end of the process. A contract. A legal agreement.
Here you will agree Bakugan you will not illegally record this play/musical, not on audio tape, nor as a video. You will agree that you will perform it as it is given to you, without additions or omissions. Of course, if it’s Shakespeare, or Sheridan, or something else that is out of copyright, you can choose to do anything you please with it. I expect you have seen some classic plays which have been so altered as to render them almost unrecognizable. You are not allowed to do that with musicals, nor with plays that are still in copyright. You are not allowed to make up a play of your own using the songs and music taken from other musicals. This goes against all the rules, and if you want to operate as a performing group for more than one play, or ever again use their services as provider of materials, you need to obey the rules as set out in the contract.
There is a great deal said 1962 Topps baseball cards whether or not this is fair. Many amateur performers really want a record of what they have done, and they assume it is OK to make ‘just the one copy’ for a keepsake. It isn’t. Yes, it’s desirable, but it’s not legal. So remember, of it you signing the contract, you are responsible for its being honored. That sounds incredibly boring - but it’s true. People whose livings are made by writing plays or musicals are defrauded if these rules are not adhered to.
Well, that’s one of the boring details dealt with. Another is the fact that you need to establish roles for people in the group to hold, which will lead to the production having a successful outcome. Unfortunately, what you need is a committee, or a Production Team, as it is generally called. This consists of a Director (or two - people sometimes prefer to work in pairs here), a Musical Director (if you’re doing a musical), a Treasurer and a Producer or two. They in turn will have teams of people working with them:
First, the Director who has overall artistic control. This person is responsible for who acts, how the acting is done, when the rehearsals are and what is rehearsed when, what the set looks like (after discussion with the Producers and probably the Set Designer) what lighting effects and sound effects are required, and costume (with a Costume Designer).
The Musical Director (assuming you are doing a musical) makes any arrangements necessary for the band parts, teaches the actors the songs, books the accompanist for rehearsals, books the musicians for the band, decides on the sound and what microphones are needed.
The Producers do everything else. And they bring it all together. So it is the Producers who get a Stage Manager, a Lighting Designer and Set Builders, Costume Designers and makers (or find somewhere to hire costumes from). They either get someone to put the programmes together or do it themselves. They find someone to organize publicity, or do it themselves. They raise funds for the show, or find someone to do this. They get tickets printed. They tell the theatre management how long the show lasts and when the interval will be. They arrange ‘get-in’ and ‘get-out’ days (the day when the set is put up and the days it is taken down). They hire transport for scenery and costume. They arrange Front of House volunteer staffing for the shows.They sort out a ‘Continuity Person’. They arrange the after show party. (A separate piece on what producers do this will be published later in the series).
If the task of a producer sounds a lot that’s because it is. You have to be quite crazy to want to do this job. And all over the world there are people doing it for amateur groups. Barely any of the actors has the slightest idea that all this is happening. Actors act. Just occasionally someone is persuaded to share the job of producer while performing in the show. This is terribly hard work but can be a real insight for them.
Now the team is formed it The Flash to meet and discuss how the group will operate. Will people have to pay to be members and perform? Of course they will. But how much should it cost? Should there be different membership costs for, say, people still studying, or unemployed people? Should there be a general membership fee, which is annual, and a separate performance fee for each show done? Can you possible ask for people to pay enough to finance the show? The quick answer is ‘No’.
So this is where the Treasurer comes in. A budget must be drawn up for the show, with a detailed account of what expenses must be met, and what income is expected. Sounds easy, doesn’t it? Well, it’s a dreadfully hard job, and by this stage of the proceedings, it will already have been done. All that has to be done now is to raise the money and stop the Costume Designer from trying to spend the money allocated to the Set Designer or the Sound Technician, or, as they say, whoever! There’ll be a whole piece on this too. But, for now, suffice it to say, the Treasurer should know what money there is, where it is going to and where it is going to come from.
And at the first meeting all these people will come together? No. This first meeting will be just the Director(s), Musical Director, Producer(s) and Treasurer. Separate meeting will be held as the thing develops with the teams that each of these people control. (The exception here, really, is the Director, who will run the rehearsals, but not organize the other meetings, rather depending on the others to organize what has been asked for. Of course there will be design team meetings, but they will be organized by the Producers and attended by the Director and whoever else is deemed necessary. It is in organizing the right people for the right meetings that Producers come into their own. There is never enough time to do everything; time must never be wasted because the wrong people are at a meeting.
This is not looking like a whole lot of fun. Certainly if left to organize itself it is not fun, it is chaos and unproductive. But it can be organized to run, more or less, like clockwork, and a well-organized team is more likely to lead to a successful production.
In the next Act, we will look at casting - how to get your cast, how to choose who does what, and how to organize them. There will also follow several one-off pieces on the roles and responsibilities of those people mentioned above. Don’t be put off. It can be absolutely great when the machine works - and the occasional hiccup can be weathered if the team is in place.
I am Dianna Moylan, in my mid-sixties, an ex-teacher who has been involved in amateur theatre production and performance most of her life. Some 25 years ago I began to make dolls’ houses, having fallen in love with them quite early in life. I often go to the theatre in London, an hour’s journey from my home. I live in a small house which is rapidly becoming swamped with doll house stuff. My site, http://www.diannadollhouses.co.uk is newly launched. I also sell on eBay. In addition to loving making dolls’ houses I enjoy writing a lot and welcome this opportunity to have a say.
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