| Contents | |
| | |
| Foreword by Ron Howard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | vii |
| Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | ix |
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| CHAPTER 1 | |
| WHO ARE YOU? The Role of the High School Theater Director . . . . | 1 |
| The Director as Leader, Teacher, and Mentor . . . . . . . . . . . | 2 |
| The Director as Artistic Visionary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 5 |
| The Director as Business Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 7 |
| The Director as Communication Specialist . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 9 |
| Choosing a Property . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 13 |
| Preproduction Planning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 16 |
| Preparing the Script . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 22 |
| Creating Master Production and Rehearsal Schedules . . . . . . . . | 24 |
| The Director in Rehearsal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 31 |
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| CHAPTER 2 | |
| ADULT STAFF MEMBERS: A Who's Who of Production Options . . . . . . | 39 |
| The Music Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 40 |
| The Choreographer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 42 |
| The Set Designer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 43 |
| The Lighting Designer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 45 |
| The Sound Designer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 46 |
| The Properties Coordinator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 48 |
| The Costume Designer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 49 |
| The Ticket Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 51 |
| The Parent Volunteer Coordinator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 53 |
| The Publicity Coordinator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 56 |
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| CHAPTER 3 | |
| STAGE MANAGING: The Student Stage Management Team . . . . . . . . | 58 |
| The Stage Management Team . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 58 |
| The Role of the Stage Manager During Auditions . . . . . . . . . . | 63 |
| The Production Book and Cue Script . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 65 |
| The Role of the Stage Manager During Rehearsals . . . . . . . . . | 68 |
| The Role of the Stage Manager During Tech and | |
| Dress Rehearsals and Performances . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 71 |
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| CHAPTER 4 | |
| BACKSTAGE CREWS: Student Leadership and Crew Responsibilities . . | 74 |
| Student Leadership . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 74 |
| Responsibilities of the Backstage Crews . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 75 |
| Set Construction Crew . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 76 |
| Run Crew . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 77 |
| Lighting Crew . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 80 |
| Sound Crew . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 84 |
| Properties Crew . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 89 |
| Costume/Makeup Crew . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 92 |
| House Staff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 99 |
| Student Orchestra . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 100 |
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| CHAPTER 5 | |
| THE AUDITION: From Preaudition to Casting . . . . . . . . . . . . | 103 |
| Philosophy and Standards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 103 |
| Staffing the Audition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 105 |
| Preaudition Meetings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 108 |
| Choosing Audition Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 114 |
| The Audition and Callback . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 116 |
| Casting and Postaudition Responsibilities . . . . . . . . . . . . | 120 |
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| CHAPTER 6 | |
| THE CAST: Rehearsal Expectations, Responsibilities, and Goals . . | 122 |
| The Early Rehearsals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 122 |
| Technical and Dress Rehearsals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 126 |
| Performance Practice and Strike . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 128 |
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| CHAPTER 7 | |
| PRODUCTION HIGHLIGHTS: From Show Logo to Parent Photo Night . . . | 132 |
| Show Logo and T-Shirt Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 132 |
| The Playbill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 134 |
| The Call-Board . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 139 |
| The Orchestra Rehearsal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 141 |
| The Costume Parade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 143 |
| Light Walking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 145 |
| The Tech Rehearsal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 147 |
| Dress Rehearsals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 151 |
| Parent Photo Night . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 153 |
| | |
| CHAPTER 8 | |
| TIMELINE: Countdown to Opening Night . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 155 |
| Preparation: The Director's Creative Vision . . . . . . . . . . . | 155 |
| Week 13: Going Public . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 157 |
| Week 12: The Preaudition Meeting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 159 |
| Week 11: Audition Week . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 161 |
| Week 10: Getting Organized . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 163 |
| Week 9: Let the Rehearsals Begin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 165 |
| Week 8: Building the Show . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 167 |
| Week 7: Adding Choreography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 170 |
| Week 6: Completing Act I . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 173 |
| Week 5 and 4: Completing the Playbill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 176 |
| Week 3: Completing Act II . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 179 |
| Week 2: Teching the Show . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 182 |
| Week 1: Curtain Up! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 190 |
| Postshow: The Strike . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 194 |