The Producers' Blog is the collection of thoughts from Producer Alan Saunders. Alan Saunders is co-founder of 6 theatre companies and producer of Backstage Investment Group. Here you will find his thoughts on theatre, producing theatre and random other subjects that make him think of theatre. While he mostly writes about Central Ohio Theatre, the subjects he tackles apply to Community Theatre everywhere.
What A Difference Time Makes
I was busy cleaning up web traces of our dissolved theatre companies today and was reviewing site traffic. It turns out people are still reading this blog - a lot of people. So for Christmas, here is an update.
It's been about five months now since I put the kabash on all of it. I can't say I regret any of it - because my long term partner decided to kill himself after years of misery suffering from depression just a few weeks after. I've spent the last few months getting settled into a new home and getting back in touch with my health. It's also been therapeutic in a way as it's afforded me plenty of time to reflect. And here is what I've come up with:
1. When you start your theatre company - select your structure right then and there. Do not play the "let's wait and see what develops" approach. We did that and over the years our volunteers began to assume we were non-profit. We weren't - we never were. That misconception created a whole mess. Volunteers of a non-profit usually have some say in how the organization runs and grows. Thus, many volunteers were hurt when I would make decisions without informing them. When you require volunteers you need to involve them in the organization. When you hire people - you can grow and expand any way you want.
2. To have theatre, you have to have a place. Always keep your ducks lined up so that should you be thrown a curve-ball in regards to a home - you always have a backup. A theatre troupe cannot perform without a place - and that place could be a softball field outside. Doesn't matter - don't put all your eggs in one basket with the thought that your current arrangement will always be there.
3. A well-performed show with a modest budget will beat out an over-glamorized musical spectacular any day. Ultimately, the latter will create an air of "fakeness" about your troupe and you'll never be considered a serious troupe.
4. New shows always become available with a lot of hype. "Let's be the first to do this show." What I've discovered is that it makes more sense for all the other theatres to produce the show before you do. For example: Spring Awakening was recently released to amateur troupes. It has a huge "theatre fan" following, but the mainstream (which supports your troupe and pays your bills) has no history with it yet. Think about it this way - schools always do shows like Hello Dolly, Oklahoma, and West Side Story. Not because they are family shows (indeed West Side Story still gets tagged as controversial today) but because they've been around for decades and have name recognition. Theatre people get caught up in the excitement of a new show and forget that you have to have an audience to come see it. If they don't know anything about it - they won't come see it. There are exceptions - RENT was around for a very long time and was a smashing success - that would be a great show to do once the rights were released. Another one would be Spamalot or Avenue Q. But Spring Awakening, Next To Normal, [title of show], and countless others would be a bad choice. Let the other companies lay the groundwork (and budget dollars) for you.
5. Get rid of the assholes. There is a subset of cast and crew alike that just seem to clash with everyone. They have to bully others in order to feel good about themselves. Get rid of them right away - they are poison and just make everyone's day a mess. In years past - I would say that we needed to keep them because we don't want any naysayers out there creating bad karma. But fuck that - get rid of them - they are a big waste of time.
6. Don't get caught up in the drama. Theatre is filled with delicate egos and you'll find yourself constantly tip toeing on eggshells. It's not worth it - too many people spend so much time in the theatre that they've lost touch with the real world. And a glance at the board meeting of any theatre organization will prove that - it's filled with old retired people, or volunteers that have worked their way up the ranks who are stuck in the "that's how it is supposed to be done" mindset. Even the support organizations like our own Theatre Roundtable - they all live in such a tiny little bubble that it affects every decision they make. Don't let that happen to you - once you let the "theatre people" in, you've set yourself on becoming like every other theatre company in your community.
7. Get it in writing. The days of the handshake agreement are over - which is a sad commentary in itself. Nobody sticks to there mission, no one gives a shit about your troupe (even if they pretend so) and everybody wants to be the "big boy on the block."
8. Don't make friends with your employees or volunteers. You'll lose them over a stupid business argument eventually.
9. Pay your people. I will never ever put on another show without paying the people in it. You have better control, you get better results and you've done your part to help the economy.
10. Take time out for yourself. I knew I was wrapped up in "show after show after show" and wanted out. What I didn't know is how much more I could get accomplished once I was able to get out. In the last 5 months I've been able to accomplish so much more to my ultimate dream than I was ever able to do in the past 9 years. At meetings we would all discuss what we eventually wanted for our theatre company to become, but because we were constantly in pre-production we couldn't get to the tasks to make it happen. But by slowing down the production schedule it allows me more time to pursue the bigger dream. It's better to do two solid well-performed shows a year than it is to do 4 or 5. It also gives you time to make corrections and become a stronger team.
Well, there you have it.
It's not worthy of being carved into stone tablets but young producers - take notice. When I was starting out I wanted to do things my way because I wanted the company to be different. But looking over those 10 items above - they are really basic and apply to most any business. If only I had remembered them when I went into all of it.
Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays!
P.S. I'll continue to update this blog in-frequently.