The only people in the backstage area are associated with the theatre, or the show.  At the start of a play on opening night, we have board members go back stage to greet and thank the cast and crew for all of their time and effort.  No one goes back stage at intermission during the run of the show that is not involved in that production.

Originally posted by landon2006 Each person who wants a picture pays $3.00 for it on a CD-ROM. It's a cheap way for people to keep a souvenir of the play that won't break the bank and allows us to make an extra $150 per performance.

Have you had success with that before? Let us know how it turns out, everyone is looking for more revenue. My guess would be that nowhere near 50 people are going to stick around for that, especially if they're at the end of the line. But with kids, who knows? I'm very frequently wrong

Having done a large number of shows in my relatively short career of 4 years in the theatre, I have to say without a doubt that NEVER NEVER NEVER is ANYONE backstage who isn't directly involved in the show and supposed to be there.

My first true show was Annie at a company in Bristol TN called, interestingly enough, Theatre Bristol. I was 21 at the time and played the apple seller, a father-type character in the NYC number, and Roosevelt. Fond memories. I have more photos of that show than I took of any other, except for my professional debut at Horn in the West in Boone, NC. I have 7 gigs of photos that the office manager at Horn let me copy off CD that were production photos.


In response to a post of last year, when the show goes up, it belongs to the Stage Manager and to no one else. The director is done. Period. End of sentence, paragraph, page, and report. Well, let me rephrase that. In instances where the director is not also supervising, say students in a school setting or acting as a kid wrangler, or something else.

I have to say that I enjoy the idea of raising funds through pictures with the cast, though I think a refinement might be to charge 5 dollars. Make 2.50 in profit and spend the $2.50 to have an 8x10 print done at a 1 hour photo place. That way, if you happen to have a crowd of bluehairs, you don't lose the business from the ones who may not use computers.  Sure, it's not instant gratification, but it's a touch more personal  than a CD.

If you were really awesome, you could get the cast to sign them with a paint pen before mailing them to the folks.

Just some thoughts...and a post that  is way off topic from a forum member who hasn't been around in quite a while. :)

Originally posted by SherrieAnne A As for the photo idea - hard copies are a great thought, but why go to the photo store and make the people wait?  Invest in a digital camera with a printer dock - you can print out a 4X6 copy of the photo on the spot.  I picked up a Kodak digital with a dock at Christmastime, bundled and fairly cheap - well under $200.  I'm directing for the first time this winter, and I plan to use it to take photos of my auditioners.

From personal experience, the ink in those gets used up too quickly and is too expensive to make it a viable option for the cost charged for the photos (depending on how many actually want a photo). As for me, I'd be doing 8x10s. Good detail, suitable for framing and hanging. And if you take the time and have the people wait, you can drop a thank you letter in with the photo when it is mailed, and invite them to see your upcoming production of so-and-so.

I'm just speaking in the hypothetical sense of course.  I don't KNOW for sure that one way or the other would be preferable. :)

Anyway... I feel like I've driven this thread onto a completely different set of train tracks. :)