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To all Directors and Designers:
I experimented with doing what I call an audition-to-strike PRODUCTION WEB LOG for our production of "THE KING AND I", which closed Sunday to sellout crowds. Doing a Production Blog turned out to be a terrific addition to the theatre process, and I intend to do it on all productions from here on out!
Yes, doing a Blog is lots of work...taking photos, writing captions, posting articles. But it had MANY advantages:
- As Designer and Technical Director, the Blog actually helped me a great deal with my own time management. As I posted projects that we finished, it helped me look ahead to what still needed to be done. It also gave me a great deal of personal pride to see my creative ideas in print.
- It helped me in the search for props and scenery. I got immeadiate responses from parents about plants and bottles that I needed for the set.
- The Blog was the Publicity Manager's dream! She was able to link all online promotions to my Blog, to stir up excitement about the production WEEKS in advance.
- The Blog was a morale booster for the tech crew as well as the cast. A month before opening night, I remember overhearing one stagehand say, "Well I saw my hand in a photo yesterday!" So everyone was proud of getting "seen" on the Blog...thus taking more pride in the quality of the production as a whole.
- My Stage Managers began using the Blog as a "green room bulletin board"! They would post various changes in schedules and such on the Blog because they knew everyone was checking it on a regular basis. (I have since replaced many of the dated messages with new articles).
- In the bigger picture, the Production Blog has become the ultimate scrapbook! I have nearly 500 photographs showing every aspect of the three month project. The company will be able reference this website for months to come! I anticipate that the Yearbook Staff will raid the site any day now!
- And finally, with my Production Blog came respect. I work in a K-12 private school environment, and for the first time, many of my fellow teachers and administrators got to see exactly how much time and effort the Director and I actually put into a musical. Wow. Lots of comments in the hallway as the show came together. Teachers whose names I don't even know were getting excited about the upcoming show, and saying things like, "Don't work too late tonight!" This kind of respect is very appreciated by my department. Because for years I have joked that some people must think that, "Little elves come in at night and build the darn set like magic!" So a little new-found appreciation goes a long way when you find yourself locking up the theatre after a 19-1/2 hour day away from home!
So my advice to all of you Directors and Designers out there in theatre-land is...START A PRODUCTION BLOG FOR YOUR NEXT SHOW!!! YOU'LL LOVE IT!
Don't be scared off by the computer aspect of it. It is as easy to do as selling a prop on eBay...only it's free!!! Just go to blogspot.com and click a couple buttons...and boom, you are up and running. Then have your illustrious/industrious Stage Managers post articles on it every day...no matter how small. Soon they will start having fun with it...until it becomes second nature. Before long, the position of "Blog Contributor" will be a traditional name on your programs and a popular job with your cast and crew.
*There are two minor negatve issues you might need to think about. One, you might want to only use first names if you worry about little kids being identified on the internet. And two, if your Designer gets his panties in a wad about patrons seeing his sexy set before opening night, then you might want to take construction pictures in a very tactful way.
If you want to take a peek at my Production Blog, help yourself! Go to this web address:
http://gdsking.blogspot.com/ - http://gdsking.blogspot.com/
And then to see the entire process from start to finish, just click on the year "2007" on the righthand side of the page and start scrolling back in time!
GET STARTED AND HAVE FUN!
Break a leg, Dana
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Mr. Lowell,
Lighting/Set Designer & Tech Director,
for the Linda Sloan Theatre,
in the Davison Center for the Arts,
at Greensboro Day School
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