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| Running Your Theater | |
 Community Theater Green Room Discussion Board :Theater Administration :Running Your Theater |
 Topic: Finding Directors( Topic Closed) |
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Linda S
Celebrity 
Joined: 4/16/05 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 312 |
 Posted: 11/09/07 at 2:02pm |
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The problem is that when you are looking for new directors, sometimes you just have to take a chance. You look at what they have to offer and make your best choice. Either it will work out or it won't. If it doesn't, then you make the best of it and don't hire them again. There is really no way of knowing if they are going to be a good director for your group or not . We once hired a director who works often with another area theater. He was referred to us when we were looking for new blood. We thought he would be a great addition. The experience was an absolutely disaster. We will never use him again. He didn't fit in our mix at all. Sometimes we do have a good laugh when we think about what an unmitigated mess the whole thing was. I don't know how we ever got that show off the ground. When we go to hire new directors, we remind ourselves that we need to take the chance because nothing could be as bad as that. On the other hand we have hired some amazing directors through word of mouth.
Some theaters have new directors do a one act or work with a mentor director. I guess it works fine. I was approached by a theater to direct for them. They wanted me to go through their new director program, which was extensive and time consuming including mentor meetings and critique sessions by other inhouse directors. Mind you have been directing for 30 years. I don't object in theory to their process, but I declined their offer. I have more then enough to keep me busy without going through all the extra work. I have reached a point where either someone wants to hire me or they don't. I quess what I am saying is be careful about how you approach seasoned directors. Sometimes you just have to take a chance.
Good luck with your search.
Linda
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gracie
Walk-On 
Joined: 4/04/07 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 0 |
Posted: 11/09/07 at 2:27pm |
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Wow. I am amazed at the lengths some groups will go to. All of that hoop jumping for a seasoned director is a bit much. I could see them requesting all of that for a greenhorn, but not someone who has been directing for years. I guess my comment about weeding out bad apples is more to help us choose which director we would prefer, should we get multiple applications. I mean, who would you rather work with...someone who is a second or third year student, or someone who has been directing for 10 years? Sure, even experienced directors can be a pain in the rear, but IMHO, it would help to know someone's background.
Maybe the thing would be to get applications with histories and/or references. Go thru them and see who we would like to have a chat with. Something informal, two or three board members to basically interview candidates. That way we could get a feel for their directing tactics, so to speak. What kind of timeline they work on, etc.
The HS teach who did WSS for us this year was really kind of pain to work with. Great guy, nicest guy in the world. But he is accustomed to having the HS auditorium for 2 weeks to build, paint and have on stage rehearsals. Something none of us were used to. There were some days 2 weeks before the production he didn't even hold rehearsals. At all. I don't think the cast had a full cast ehearsal until a week before opening.
Really stressed the producers out. None of us thought he was going to pull the show off. But we had a full house almost everynight. And our theatre holds around 400.
Some of our board say they don't want to work with him again. But you know what...he did a great job and I don't see why we wouldn't have him back.
BTW, we did take a chance a few years ago and had an actor who wanted to direct Man of LaMancha. So we let him. After all, he was a drama major in college. Big disaster. Really big mistake. Half of the actors he cast couldn't sing a note to save their life. We should have listened to our board member who was his HS English teacher twenty years ago. He tried to tell us it was a bad idea.
Then...A couple of years ago, one of our board members wanted to do a revue of 80's music. Again, a lot of the people she cast couldn't sing worth a damn. I know several of our patrons were questioning our judgement after that fiasco. In our town of 12,000 word of mouth really means a lot.
So, from our perspective, we need to be a little more cautious in choosing directors.
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MartyW
Celebrity
Joined: 2/02/04 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 555 |
Posted: 11/09/07 at 7:50pm |
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Well.. You did ask the question....
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Marty W
"Till next we trod the boards.." |
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gracie
Walk-On
Joined: 4/04/07 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 0 |
Posted: 11/09/07 at 8:31pm |
Huh? Did I say something wrong in my last post?
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MartyW
Celebrity
Joined: 2/02/04 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 555 |
Posted: 11/12/07 at 9:06am |
No, by no means "wrong"... just you seemed amazed at what some of us go through..... Everywhere theater community is different. Some places its hard, some places its harder... only the lucky have it easier...
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Marty W
"Till next we trod the boards.." |
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gracie
Walk-On
Joined: 4/04/07 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 0 |
Posted: 11/12/07 at 10:33am |
Marty...This is the one I am amazed about. Someone who has been directing for that long having to go thru all of that.
I suppose my experiences are limited to only having been involved in my own local community theatre. I am in the dark when it comes to others. I have only been to two other community theatres that are in driving distance from us.
We have in the past traveled to other theatres (community, college, and professional) to see a show we are considering for ourselves. We have never used this method to scope out a director. But I can see where we could do so. Much easier than mentor meetings and critique sessions...at least if you find someone who has been directing for years.
If you go and see a show they are directing...like the job they did...sit down and have a somewhat formal meeting, if they are interested in directing for you. JMHO...But, to each their own.
Why all the hoop jumping for a long time director? Just curious. |
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MartyW
Celebrity
Joined: 2/02/04 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 555 |
Posted: 11/12/07 at 11:46am |
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Oh, your right... I would'nt go through all that either... But the one thing this board has taught me is that in the world of community theaters, one size dosen't fit all... Often what folks tell me dosen't make sense, but I figure now that it's because I don't really understand thier particular circumstance....
I knew when you asked the original question that the answers would run the gambit... Thats why I said "well you asked..."
Interesting thread as always..
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Marty W
"Till next we trod the boards.." |
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vickifrank
Celebrity
Joined: 9/21/07 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 332 |
Posted: 11/12/07 at 3:45pm |
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To weed out directors from a college...I'd make sure they were grad students--and had the professor's recommendation. You can also be sure they've directed something before by a resume.
But you have a further screening to do. For a community theater the show has to be 'tame' enough. So you also want to set out clear guidelines about what is acceptable in your venue--just to make sure you aren't surprised and the director is aware in advance. And of course if the director in your theater has other responsiblities, you'd need to state those ( Example: Lock up after rehearsals).
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gracie
Walk-On
Joined: 4/04/07 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 0 |
Posted: 11/12/07 at 11:29pm |
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Glad to hear all of the suggestions and experiences from others here. For that reason, I love this board and am so glad I found it.
Vicki...At our monthly meeting tonight someone mentioned the same thing. There is a Junior College near us with a Drama Dept. But, they do very avant-guarde stuff. Something that just doesn't fit our style. I would classify us as a traditional theatre.
Unexpectedly, one of our board members did call 4 places in our area he thought might have some interest in working in our theatre. Left messages with all of them. Surprisingly, only Illinois State University called him back. The lady he spoke with was very excited about sharing the information with the students. And she thought the students would be very excited about the opportunity to work outside the college. The fact we pay a small directors stipend was definately a plus.
Not only would we love to have directors, but help in other areas as well (tho they don't pay). Over the past month since our last meeting, I drafted a letter expressing our search for directors for the next season (and any other help we could get). The board was very positive about the response received from ISU and the letter which was prepared.
And yes, I would have to agree. We do need to do some further screening. Would love to have a grad student, with recommendation and resume. Hopefully, we will have a positive outcome (cross your fingers).
There is actually an entire packet of information which we have to be sent with the letter:
Show Proposal Application
Directors Responsibilities
Producers Responsibilities
Listing of Past Ten Years' Productions (so they have an idea of the types of shows we do)
Stage Diagram with Measurements
Guidelines for Use of the Theatre
Costume Guidelines
Set and Storage Guidelines
These are all items we already have, but do need some fine-tuning to be more understandable by those outside our theatre base.
Again, thanks everyone for your responses. Please keep the ideas/critiques coming!
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gaftpres
Star 
Joined: 11/14/07 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 80 |
Posted: 11/15/07 at 12:31pm |
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As a new person to this forum, I am glad to see that our community theatre is in the same predicament as others. We are fortunate to have 5 directors that are board members or past board members to direct our 4 shows each year. Although, it gets tiresome since our board members also have production jobs involved with these shows. Our requirements for a director that is inexperienced is; they must assistant direct 3 performances prior to directing. If they come to us with past directorial experience, we ask that they assist, run lights, sound , stage manage or help in one aspect of a play prior to directing to familarize themselves with our theatre. This has worked well in the past and has helped us groom those inexperienced to direct on their own. Our only paid positions are: The Summer Musical director, Orchesta director, Choral director, Choreography director and Set Designer. Everyone else involved are volunteers. |
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Old volunteers never die, they just get recycled!
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