So You Want to Put on a Show - Producers and What They Do
Producers do the organisation of a show.
They maintain contact with all the other teams working towards the show, helping them to keep up lines of communication between each other so that all is running as one item.
They organise schedules (when things should be done by), meetings, checklists, contact with the theatre, the show party, everything that needs organising except the actors.
With any luck they are being organised by the Director and the Musical Director.
The backstage crew, which includes, stage manager, lighting technicians, set builders, sound technicians, props manager, continuity person are all organised and chivvied into appropriate action by the Producer(s).
Meetings must be arranged at the right times and there must be not too many, not too few.
If this group of people gets out of touch with one another you have a recipe for disaster.
Once the Director has communicated what is wanted to those people who are kindly providing it, the whole process needs 'progress-chasing' and this is what the producers will do.
Programmes will have to be 'progress-chased' too - it's amazing how they can go astray.
Careful attention will also have been paid to whether demands on each person will clash in any way with those put on any other.
If the scenery is too big to allow the band to be placed on stage then this needs to be worked out before it becomes a crisis point.
If the number of costume changes required means that performers will have to change in the wings, sufficient space needs to be built in for their costumes to be stored and for them to change their costumes without the whole world seeing.
All the little snags which can occur have been foreseen by the producers (probably!).
Producers make sure that there is a clear time-related checklist which everyone is aware of, and they will check it frequently.
They will communicate any concerns they have to the Director, or to the Treasurer.
Though it may seems a little mean to worry the Director about something, it may be wise to bring it up before it is too late.
If a piece of the set is proving impossible to build, or far too costly to fit the budget, it is the Producer who will have to risk being shouted at! It's the nature of things - but most Producers do not have to face this and most Directors are very reasonable when faced with such a problem.
Producers must work out if they need special licences for anything - pyrotechnics, firearms, strobe lighting, children acting.
They might even need an alcohol licence, though most theatres have one, and will need to assure the theatre administration that Performing Rights rules have been adhered to.
They will also have to check that the insurance for the group is up to date and adequate for this production.
It will be the producers who arrange the 'get-in' and 'get-out' days, including timings, with the theatre administration including the type of access required and how many people will be coming in.
Producers also generally make an attendance list for the time in the theatre.
Safety regulations require that a record is kept of who is in the theatre and requires that each person sign in and out again each time the theatre is used.
If the building has to be evacuated this list is the only means theatre staff have of checking that everyone is clear of the building.
The list has to be formally produced and printed and everyone made aware of the necessity to sign in and out.
There will also be other rules that will need to be formally brought to the attention of the cast and backstage crew.
These need to be typed up and given to each person involved.
One rule which seems universal is that it is not usual to bring alcohol onto the premises, another is that you do not walk to the theatre through the car park in full costume and makeup - and, of course, you cannot smoke anywhere in the building.
Actors are finding this difficult - it seems that one of the last bastions of the smoker brigade is the theatre.
So, to summarise, until the week of the show, when the Stage Manager takes over and becomes ruler of the world, the Producers hold absolutely everything together, and can be the most unpopular people in the world.
But without their firm hand the show might collapse, or something so vital you cannot imagine it will be left out and have to be sorted at the very last minute.
This is great for adrenaline production - but the calm approach is so very much better.
Let's hear it for Producers!
They maintain contact with all the other teams working towards the show, helping them to keep up lines of communication between each other so that all is running as one item.
They organise schedules (when things should be done by), meetings, checklists, contact with the theatre, the show party, everything that needs organising except the actors.
With any luck they are being organised by the Director and the Musical Director.
The backstage crew, which includes, stage manager, lighting technicians, set builders, sound technicians, props manager, continuity person are all organised and chivvied into appropriate action by the Producer(s).
Meetings must be arranged at the right times and there must be not too many, not too few.
If this group of people gets out of touch with one another you have a recipe for disaster.
Once the Director has communicated what is wanted to those people who are kindly providing it, the whole process needs 'progress-chasing' and this is what the producers will do.
Programmes will have to be 'progress-chased' too - it's amazing how they can go astray.
Careful attention will also have been paid to whether demands on each person will clash in any way with those put on any other.
If the scenery is too big to allow the band to be placed on stage then this needs to be worked out before it becomes a crisis point.
If the number of costume changes required means that performers will have to change in the wings, sufficient space needs to be built in for their costumes to be stored and for them to change their costumes without the whole world seeing.
All the little snags which can occur have been foreseen by the producers (probably!).
Producers make sure that there is a clear time-related checklist which everyone is aware of, and they will check it frequently.
They will communicate any concerns they have to the Director, or to the Treasurer.
Though it may seems a little mean to worry the Director about something, it may be wise to bring it up before it is too late.
If a piece of the set is proving impossible to build, or far too costly to fit the budget, it is the Producer who will have to risk being shouted at! It's the nature of things - but most Producers do not have to face this and most Directors are very reasonable when faced with such a problem.
Producers must work out if they need special licences for anything - pyrotechnics, firearms, strobe lighting, children acting.
They might even need an alcohol licence, though most theatres have one, and will need to assure the theatre administration that Performing Rights rules have been adhered to.
They will also have to check that the insurance for the group is up to date and adequate for this production.
It will be the producers who arrange the 'get-in' and 'get-out' days, including timings, with the theatre administration including the type of access required and how many people will be coming in.
Producers also generally make an attendance list for the time in the theatre.
Safety regulations require that a record is kept of who is in the theatre and requires that each person sign in and out again each time the theatre is used.
If the building has to be evacuated this list is the only means theatre staff have of checking that everyone is clear of the building.
The list has to be formally produced and printed and everyone made aware of the necessity to sign in and out.
There will also be other rules that will need to be formally brought to the attention of the cast and backstage crew.
These need to be typed up and given to each person involved.
One rule which seems universal is that it is not usual to bring alcohol onto the premises, another is that you do not walk to the theatre through the car park in full costume and makeup - and, of course, you cannot smoke anywhere in the building.
Actors are finding this difficult - it seems that one of the last bastions of the smoker brigade is the theatre.
So, to summarise, until the week of the show, when the Stage Manager takes over and becomes ruler of the world, the Producers hold absolutely everything together, and can be the most unpopular people in the world.
But without their firm hand the show might collapse, or something so vital you cannot imagine it will be left out and have to be sorted at the very last minute.
This is great for adrenaline production - but the calm approach is so very much better.
Let's hear it for Producers!
Source...