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- Review casting policy
- Review time maximums (15 hours per week)
- Make sure the director understands that casting an actor with a lot of conflicts in a lead role makes for stressful rehearsal scheduling
- Performance Space Constraints
- Other Policies
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- Schedule auditions with the director, SM, and Ensemble.
- Finalize audition forms and make sure all dates/requirements are correct.
- Ensure that a readthrough has been scheduled., and that the same room can be used for a prod meeting, if necessary
- Set up the online audition form as soon as possible. See webmaster for details.
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- Be at auditions. You sit in the room with the director and help him or her keep track of people and make decisions.
- Help the director decide a cast after auditions/callbacks. In addition to raw ability, you will want to take into account reliability and availability, availability and whether said actor is an Ensemble member.
- Call people once you've decided on a cast. Do this strategically in case people reject roles.
- When you call people...
- You can offer them time to decide, offer them half-an-hour to decideunless they seem to want more, remember the more you offer, the longer you will be stuck there waiting for them to call you back.
- Once they accept, tell them when readthrough is, and to not share their role on social media until a final cast list is sent out.
- Double-check that they don't have conflicts with show dates (especially first day of spring break, for the spring show).
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Old production staff contracts can be found in the ensemble locker: /mit/ensemble/Private/Contracts/Current. Edit the due dates as necessary.
Newer production staff contracts (one contract for everyone) can be obtained by emailing Mark (marvel@mit.edu). They will soon be put in the locker.
Deadlines
It is a good idea to try to make designers stick to their deadlines, it makes for smoother sailing.
Things to keep in mind include:
- Dates of Designer Runs and Costume and Props parade should be decided upon early
- Lights final deadline should be after both Sets final deadline and the Designer Run
- Costumes and Props final deadline should be near Costume and Props parade
Production Staff Issues
It is important to check in regularly with production staff to make sure that everyone is doing their jobs. If anyone is not on top of things, consider monitoring them more closely. If they are unorganized, help them get organized. If they are unsure how to something should be done, explain it to them or have them talk to a more experienced ensemble member. If they are slacking, meet them in person and create a more stringent work schedule. If they are unresponsive to email, call them. If they are unresponsive to calls, try reaching them through one of their friends. If all else fails, pay them a personal visit. Not everyone responds to email regularly: it is your job to adapt to their preferred means of communication, not visa versa.
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- Introduce Producer, SMs, Officers (+ Phone Numbers)
- Review Performance Dates
- Upcoming Events, Office Access
- Callboard
- Key Dates (Off Book, Designer Run)
- 15 Hour Policy
- Conflicts: Alert SMs, Test Conflicts
- No Lateness, No Unexcused Absences
- Requirements: build hours, booth hours, put-in, strike
- Make clear that designers are in charge of things being done, they should not be doing everything themselves
- Schedule Overview, Tech Week
- Group Introductions
- Director Vision
General Schedule
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Things that you need to do
Not in actual order
- Schedule Production meetings
- Make sure the Set Designer and TD meet
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- with Chris Nayler
- Register the Show
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- with SAO and with the city of Cambridge (this can be done as early as you want)
- Make sure theArts@MIT have your show on their calendar
- Make sure ticket reservations open around the time of the first posters appearing on campus
- Order tickets (see Box Office Manager page for how to)
- Contact Technique and the Tech about photographers coming to final dress, and the Tech about a reviewer coming during the first weekend.
- Recruit:
- Board ops as needed
- Run crew as needed
- Ushers, one per night
- Box office manager + assistant(s)
- Someone to film the show (coordinate with Memory Master)
- Make sure the pre-show announcement exists (it can be pre-recorded or given by one of the actors). It should contain:
- Duration, and intermission duration
- Emergency exits
- No flash photography
- No smoking
- Strobe warning if applicable
- …?
- Schedule runtime jobs
Performances & Strike
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- (or get the SM or TD to do it)
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- Buy director gift, buy cast&crew gifts and come up with cast&crew awards
- Help run
- papertech
- cue-to-cue
- Come up with a plan (with your box office manager) with respect to selling out, if you think this is likely to happen
- Make sure one of the Tech or Technique takes a group picture
- Schedule
- Alumni reception
- Brush-up
- Post-prod
- Ensure all borrowed items are returned
Just generally be around and help with anything that needs help.
After Closing
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Miscellaneous
Interpersonal Stuff
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