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Knowing the Players-Understanding Organizational Structure
Vocabulary words are highlighted in green. Your are responsible for the definition of vocabulary words. Note that the charts are in the process of being uploaded. Please refer back in they are missing.
To begin with, there are many titles in the theatre that mean the same thing according to the structure within which it operates. It is important for the stage manager to have a modest understanding of organizational structure when working on individual shows and an advanced understanding of organizational structure when working in seasonal production environments. Organizational Behavior is the science and study of organizations; how they react, how they communicate, how they operate.
The Organizational Chart
In its simplest form, organizational charts show the relationships between departments within the organization and how they communicate with each other. In small organizations the need for a highly defined organizational chart is probably unnecessary. The minute the organization develops multiple tasks that cross multiple departments the need for a clearly defined organizational chart grows.
There has been much redefining of the corporate organizational structure. Each company, armed with their latest mission statement, will reorganize their structure to reflect the mission of the organization. The Organizational Chart helps in the structuring of the organization by providing a visual representation of who communicates to whom and where departments fall in the hierarchy. A good exercise for students is to create an organizational chart for their school.
The Penn State production program organizational chart looked like the attachment at the bottom of this section. The layout makes it clear who is responsible to whom and where they fall in the overall chain of command. This linear chain of levels and authorities is called a scalar chain and defines how the company will operate.
In the traditional sense, there are others who should be included in the chart but since we are a school we all have multiple assignments. This is the simplest description of the production arm of the School of Theatre we have been able to come up with. A more traditional organizational chart will look slightly broader and more detailed in the theatre sense. At the bottom of this section is a link to many images of organizational charts.
Another interesting assignment is to think outside of the box when putting your charts together. For example; does it make sense to have a hierarchical structure in your organization? Would circles better represent the overlap between departments and communications? Imagine a chart with students in the middle and the production being to one side of the students and academics to the other. Here the chart would trying to communicate the two lines of responsibility of a University Theatre training program. To the right of the student is the academic alignment of professors, advisors and support personnel. To the left represents the production alignment from the support crews to the design and artistic team to the managers. Below supporting the entire chart could be administration. At the center of the chart is the student. They, after all, are the reason the rest of the chart exists. Perhaps this is a more adequate representation than the hierarchical version of most charts. But hierarchy exists in the theatre as we are all taught. Perhaps there is some variation of the two? Spend some time with your own experimentation and see what you come up with for your organization.
Structure influences behavior. This is an extremely important concept. If you align your thinking to this concept you will begin to understand that each organization is different. The social mores and norms of your organization will become enlightened by looking at how they structure themselves. It is important that in situations where behavior becomes dysfunctional or results in actions not consider the norm for you organization to analyze what structural elements are contributing to this behavior. It then becomes the responsibility of the manager to make choices as to whether amend the structure to correct the behavior or explain to the individual how the structure of the organization cannot support their choices.
Sample Organizational Chart:
Please note that each organization will have a slightly different layout for their company. The important things to note are that the hierarchy is pretty clear on who makes what decisions. Not included are those involved in front of house activities like
The Players
There is little difference between the responsibilities of a General Manager and a Managing Director. Both will have business responsibilities that mirror each other. Artistic Director and Producing Artistic Director have similar responsibilities. What ever the title there will be one or two people in charge of the operation. In Universities you have Deans, Directors, and Chairs. They are responsible for the academic rigors of the school or department, answer to higher administration authorities, and work directly with the faculty in the delivery of education to the students. It is possible within that framework that a different hierarchy is organized to produce theatre in the academic environment. But I am confident that within your school or organization you will be able to identify with few a persons or committee that is responsible for the organization of your season.
First of all, lets look at a few program pages. (You will see them in files at the bottom of this page. Click on them to open.) You will notice a significant difference between the two. One is from a Broadway production and the other is from a Penn State school production. Notice on the School of Theatre playbill of Brigadoon it lists the Director, Choreographer, Musical Director, Scenic Designer, etc. it does not have much above the title and not an expanded group below the title. Now flip to the Brooks Atkinson Theatre playbill of She Loves Me. You will note that there is extensive lists both above and below the title. Producers and stars are prominently listed above the title. The company and key individuals are below.
Title credit is defined contractually as above or below the title and always in a percentage relationship to the title. Here with the She Loves Me playbill it appears stars and key individuals are given 50% title credit meaning their names are 50% of the size of the type of the title.
Note also the order on the title page. For production students it is important to know that it is not alphabetical. The correct order (with some variation) is as follows:
Director
Choreographer
Music Director
Scenic Designer
Costume Designer
Lighting Designer
Sound Designer
Stage Manager
Technical Director.
However, note the She Loves Me playbill and you will see some unfamiliar faces. You will see more music personnel, production supervisors, and associate producers. They too have a pecking order. But Scenery through Sound is the same order. In today's theatre you will begin to see other titles as well. You will see Video Director, Projections Designer, etc. The digital intersection between live theatre and presentation is still in its infancy. I imagine it will only get more and more complicated. Even at the Penn State School of Theatre a tech table will be littered with digital monitors, computers, screens, control boards, etc. Where as once we all fit on one table. Now we all have our own table... and each is filled.
Title Page Individuals
Artistic Director – Provides the artistic vision and mission of the organization. Responsible for the selection of plays that represent the organization. Responsible for the staffing of the artistic personnel. Usually does not get involved with individual casting decisions unless necessary relying on the directors to make their own casting choices. Usually has one or two plays a season that they themselves will direct. Also known as Producing Artistic Director
General Manager – Runs the business of the organization. Negotiates contracts with all personnel. Oversees front of house operations, marketing and publicity, company management, and production. Along with the Artistic Director, sets calendar for the season. Establishes overall budget for all departments. Also known as Managing Director, Producing Managing Director, etc.
Director – provides the artistic vision and leadership for the production. Sometimes they are both the Director and the Choreographer
Musical Director – provides the musical direction of the show. Works with the singers, rehearses the Orchestra in preparation for the dress rehearsals and run of show. Usually serves as the conductor for the production.
Choreographer – stages the musical numbers of the show. There is generally some discussion between the director and the choreographer of the exact numbers to be staged by the choreographer. In general, if the musical number does not include dancing it is the responsibility of the director to stage the musical number. There are finite rules and I have asked many a choreographer to help with the staging of a musical number when it becomes a little more wieldy that I feel I can handle.
Scenic Designer – provides the overall scenic design of the production. Works closely with both the director and the technical director as the concept develops. Provides the finished designer plates to the director, stage manager, and technical director.
Costume Designer – in much the same way as the scenic designer, provides the final costume renderings to the costume shop for construction. Works with the director to create the kind of costume environment that supports the vision of the show.
Lighting Designer – as with the Scenic Designer and Costume Designer, provides the visual element of the production working closely with the Costume and Scenic Designer to color balance and provide the mood of the production through lighting. Will deliver to the Master Electrician the Light Plot and necessary paperwork including gel colors and gobo selections for the production.
Sound Designer – an increasingly important position as the world moves digital. Provides the necessary sound both in playback and in creation for the production. As the movies and home entertainment continue to influence how audiences hear productions the sound designer is under continued pressure to deliver “living room” sound to all members of the audience. This individual is often the designer and the engineer of the sound. In larger theatres it is not unusual to find a designer and an engineer on staff as they can be distinct skills.
Projections Designer - is a creative role in charge of all of the projected elements in the show - ideally in conjunction with the lighting and set designer.
Projection Engineer - is the one who figures out how the projection will work - much like a TD figures out how to achieve the look a scenic designer wants.
Video Designer - is semi-redundant with projection designer - it gets used a lot when there are large specific video sequences that are used in a show
Production Supervisor – this position is largely restricted to Production Contract productions where a scene shop is hired for the physical execution of the production. The Production Supervisor fills the Production Manager role of smaller theatres. They coordinate the shops and the load in of the all departments of the production.
Other titles not usually on the title page
Business Manager – deals with the day to day maintenance of the budgets as established by the General Manager. Pays the bills. Keeps the budget up-to-date. Prepares the payroll for the company.
Company Manager - works directly with the artistic, acting company, and the crew is establishing payrolls, seeing working conditions and contract specifications are met. Since Stage Managers are not allowed to handle any monetary matters for a company anything that deals with money, per diems, hotels, travel, and food are handled by the company manager.
Box Office Manager – Responsible for the selling of all events for the theatre. Hires and manages the window attendants at the box office. Reports daily takes and advances of the shows to the Business Manager and General Manager. Since this group deals with cash, credit cards, etc. they will need to be bonded[1]. Other titles include Window Attendants and Telephone Order Takers.
Front of House Manager – Responsible for the door attendants and ushers for each production. If there is audio description or hearing impaired devices manages and upkeeps the equipment and personnel necessary for the hearing and sight impaired. Note: This is an extremely important position. They are the first line of contact between the audience and the performance. It is they that will handle all complaints, even those that have nothing to do with their part of the evening. The more informed the Front of House Manager is the better capable they are of supporting the production and the audience.
Press and Publicity, Marketing Directors - I group these two together as only in larger theatres and markets are they separate entities. Many times they are a one person shop with multiple responsibilities. They will handle all advertising whether it be print or radio/TV. They will coordinate the program and/or playbill for each production. They will arrange interviews, coordinate photo calls, etc. In our theatre she is called The Director of Marketing and she is one very busy lady.
Production Supervisor- does commercially what the production manager does in regional theatres. They shepherd the design process integrating the shops and executions to the time table of the production and oversee the load-ins of all departments from beginning to end.
Production Manager – Most organizations will have a production manager. The production manager is responsible for the scheduling of the shops efforts in relation to the overall schedule established by the General Manager. They will establish and maintain the production calendar for the season establishing design deadlines, load-ins, hang and focus dates, technical rehearsals, and dress rehearsals. Along with the stage manager they will establish the meetings necessary for each production to communicate effectively with the organization and will hold weekly staff meetings in most cases. Along with the General Manager they will work with the designers as the designs are being developed to see that they stay within the budget and skills of the respective shops.
In my experience, Production Managers come from two camps. Camp one is the route of the technical director. Since the technical director is responsible for so much of the physical scenery that goes into a theatre they work closely with all areas of production. It is natural that in establishing one person to oversee the season that a person of this skill is desirable in this position. Camp two is the route of the production stage manager. Since stage managers are highly skilled in the organization and planning of theatre a lot or production managers come from this side of the business. I make no claim that one camp is better than the other. But it does benefit to both camps if they adopt some of the skills of the other.
Technical Director – Responsible for the running of the scene shop and the carpenters assigned to it. Takes the design plates provided the scenic designer and turns them into technical plates for the carpenters. Supervises the load in of the scenery and any mechanics for the production. Coordinates with the paint shop to see that the scenery is provided to them early enough to be painted prior to load in. Coordinates with the Property Master on any props that might need to be built and how they relate to the scenery in the show.
Property Master – works with the Scenic Designer and Director on obtaining the necessary props and dressing for the production. If an actor handles it, it’s a prop. If it merely decorates the stage it is dressing. Your assistant stage managers will work closely with the properties master to acquire rehearsal props and manage the transition from rehearsal to show props.
Costume Shop Supervisor - Runs the costume shop. Schedules all measurements and fittings with costume designer and stage managers. Manages drapers, first hands, and stitcher’s in the creation of the costumes.
Master Electrician – Takes the paperwork from the lighting designer and prepares the production for the hang and focus of the lighting equipment. If there is no house equipment, they will work with an electrical shop in the preparation of the equipment for load in. They may or may not run the light board as well but they provide the management of the lighting crew to support the lighting designer.
Sound Engineer – works directly with the Sound Designer in the preparation of the theatre for the Sound Designers vision of the show. This includes mixing live sound as well as sound prepared in advance.
Charge Artist – The individual or individuals responsible for painting the scenery and props.
Dance Captain - The dance captain works with the choreographer and is assigned on musicals as their assistant. They work with the choreographer in teaching the dances to the performers in the production. Once the production has opened they are assigned to maintaining the choreography in the show. Along, with the Stage Manager they will hold brush up and clean up rehearsal as well as teach the understudies, covers and swings, the choreography.
Equity Deputy - They Equity Deputy is assigned by union vote is the first day or two of rehearsals. Depending on the kind of production you are working on there may be more than one. There role, along with the stage manager, is to maintain the rulebook as agreed to between labor and management, i.e. if you are working on an U.R.T.A. contract they would help with any questions and concerns regarding practice as it applies to the agreed upon rules and a liaison between the union and the production. In some cases the contract will call for a principal deputy and a chorus deputy. Please refer to your rule book regarding deputies, voting and rules.
The following link is to a google page of images of organizational charts. Clicking on the images will take you to that images web site. If you scroll down you will discover a Disney organizational chart that is quite interesting.
[1] To place (an employee, for example) under bond or guarantee (Dictionary.com). Generally means the employee signs a written agreement authorizing a background check and a sworn statement of responsibility in dealing with finances of the public.
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