Directing, Rehearsal, & Production

It’s a common occurrence when rehearsing a production that the cast and crew will eventually practice running the whole show from the beginning to the end. This way, students will see how all the...

Between the actors, stage management, technical crew, design teams, publicity team, and front-of-house staff, you’re going to need a veritable army of people to make your upcoming school show...

Countless hours are spent in rehearsal: learning, reviewing, and practicing material. Let’s focus on the first aspect: learning. At the beginning of the rehearsal process, everything is new. From...

Everyone is familiar with the term “practice makes perfect,” right? But in the theatre, there’s really no such thing as a perfect performance, and there is especially no such thing as a perfect...

After every run-through of a show, directors will have a notebook or word document packed to the brim with notes – praise, corrections, problems, solutions, changes and adjustments that need to be...

So you’ve selected the show you are producing this year and you have come up with an incredible vision for the show. This is going to be awesome! Obviously, you want your students to share in your...

Giving students the opportunity to direct is a great thing – it helps them to develop their leadership skills and creative thinking abilities, challenges them in a new theatrical medium, and helps...

Congratulations – you are directing your first musical! You and your students will definitely face some challenges, especially if you normally direct plays. This is not to say that directing a...

You’ve gotten the go-ahead from your school’s principal to produce a show this year! You have an awesome show in mind that would be absolutely perfect for your students, and you can’t wait to get...

It’s never a question of “if” something will go wrong during a theatrical production…it’s completely a case of “when” something will go wrong! But when things do inevitably go wrong, will you and...

We asked drama teachers: What tips do you have for keeping your rehearsals focused? Let’s hear from the front lines! John H. subscribes to short and sweet: • My rehearsal schedule is short. 25 days...

Episode 207: A Fabulous Theatre Fundraiser Don’t you want to learn more about a fabulous theatre fundraiser idea? Of course you do. Listen to drama teacher Alyssa Pitner talk about creating a...

Show programs (also known as playbills) are the easiest way to share important production information with the audience. Programs are a method of acknowledging all the hard work done by the cast...

The role of the producer is often a mysterious one and hard to define. No two producers are alike, and each producer sees his or her job differently. In the simplest terms, a producer’s job is to...

Episode 206: Monologue Competitions: How to compete confidently How can you encourage your students to compete with confidence? Learn from the source! Student Kelsey Gilmore was chosen as critics...

Creating a theatrical production is a group effort. For every student who appears onstage, there are even more students, staff members, and volunteers who help breathe life into the production....

Real talk: Teachers, it is likely you won’t have every item on your props, costume, and set wishlists for the show. It is also unlikely that you are staging your show with an unlimited budget, a...

Producing a musical is a big job – the cast sizes are generally bigger, the costs to produce the show are usually higher, and of course the artistic staff team is bigger. In addition to the...