Getting Involved!

There are a number of roles one could take on to help with BakerShake. There are performance roles and production roles each described below. The current Theatre Coordinator for Baker College this year is Molly Hurley (mjh9@rice.edu), and the producers for BakerShake this year are Molly Hurley & Lisa Ling (yl123@rice.edu).

Let them know or email ricebakershake@gmail.com for any additional questions this page can't answer for you! If any of these roles sound good to you, fill out the interest form (link at the bottom of this page!)

Performance-related Roles:

Actors and Actresses: Auditions will be after Director’s Pitches. This is one of the easiest ways to get involved in BakerShake with a particularly variable level of time-commitment. Shakespeare’s plays typically have a number of minors roles from Second Merchant to King of France (the guy literally only has like 5 lines in King Lear) that may show up only once in a scene are have a total of five lines (*ahem*). On the flip side, he also has some shows that can be intensely lead-heavy, demanding the lead character to be on stage the large majority of the performance time with lines and lines of soliloquies in prose. There will be space on audition forms to indicate the commitment level you are willing to give towards BakerShake so that during casting, a role can be given to you that fits your schedule. Once a show is chosen too, it will be easier to know exactly what to expect in terms of performance levels the show will demand.
Director: The director is chosen by Baker College students. After Bard’s Night, those interested in directing can choose any one play from our short list and come up with a pitch. Students, alumni, and Houston community members are all eligible to pitch their show! Duties include drafting a pitch for a show you may want to direct and then actually showing up to direct! Of course that means you'd have to be at every rehearsals, every production meeting, and at the end of it all, hopefully you'll want to come see at least one performance of your final product!
Stage Manager: The assistant to the director, and truly his/her right-hand man/woman. They are expected to attend every rehearsal, take rehearsal notes and send those out to the cast, attend production meetings, and basically keep everyone organized. Once tech week starts, they become the primary person in charge and the director gets to step back a bit. During performance times, the director's job is officially complete and the stage manager is officially in charge of keeping everyone in line.
Assistant Stage Managers: Help out the stage manager. Definitely not as high-commitment as Head SM, but you gotta be present. Fill in at rehearsals when the Head SM can't make it, and basically just work to pick up the slack. If you like bossing people around, definitely consider taking on a SM role of some form.
Hair/Costumes/Makeup: Work with the director to create distinctive looks for each character that also fits the vision the director is going for. Help provide extra inspiration or reel the director in if he/she gets a little carried away. On top of that, manage the finding, organization, and maintenance of the costumes, and yell at actors if they disrespect the pieces. If one of your guilty pleasures is taking males indoctrinated by the patriarchy and making them wear makeup or shirts with frilly sleeves, consider this position (frilly sleeves not guaranteed, but foundation, eyeliner, and maybe blush is a promise).
Props: Similar to costumes manager, except you're in charge of the things on stage or in people's hands rather than on their bodies. You can also yell at people if they aren't taking proper care of something.

Production Roles:

Dramaturge: A dramaturg, to put it simply, is something like a researcher. They maintain accuracy and consistency for the most part in a show, editing scripts or certain parts of the performance to best keep with the overall goals of a show. They are important in the development of a show, but are not always an entirely separate role from say director or stage manager if a specific person is not available for the position of dramaturge. This person would be expected to be an active member of the production team, but they don't necessarily have to come to every rehearsal.
Publicity: Figure out how to get our name out there! Hang up posters all around campus, throw flyers in people's faces until they agree to come, hardcore social media campaign this, put ads for us in the New York Times!! Jk, NY Times is too small. Gotta make those major TV new networks for CNN, MSNBC, and FOX. But srsly, just make sure we have some posters around campus, some stuff on Facebook, and if you can muster a Houston Chronicle ad or something, that's chilllll~
Graphic Designer: Design our poster! Design our shirt! Make us look cool!!!
Set Builder/Designer: BakerShake builds the set during Spring Break, so if you're around for the break, stop by commons and help hammer and drill some stuff maybe. Your efforts will be rewarded with eternal praise and probably something edible. We need to make sure the set the production team (that being you, the director, and other important people like the A-team) approves of the set in terms of it being realistically possible to build as well as safe and won't tick off the entire college TOO much for taking up commons space for like two weeks.
Light Tech: Run the light board during performances! A pretty low-key role. You only gotta be around for the performances and tech week performances. That's like one week. PLZ HALP. The commitment could be increased some if you're down to learn about how to set up the lights and hang them from Baker's ceiling or on light trees.
Sound Tech: Same thing as lights except you're in control of all things auditory.
House: Sell tickets, hand out programs, and show people to their seats. You don't even have to stay for the whole show if you want (though that is of course encouraged because it will be great <3).

Additional Help:

Curators: This year, the producers of BakerShake hope to make it much more than just our performances! Curators would help set up and organize a Baker student art show. Tasks of a curator would include sorting through any and all submitted art, then determine what pieces might best fit the priorities of the show that organizers wish to hold that year. They would also need to communicate with artists to make sure proper care is taken when handling their pieces, and communication with the A-team and other relevant people is important to secure a space and time for the art show to be held.
Events Managers: Additional BakerShake-related activities may include a BakerShake-themed feast during the week leading up to performances, lunch-time previews of performances, stage fighting demos, inflatable jousting, BakerShake-themed study breaks, and whatever else the events managers think would be a fun way to promote BakerShake!
Setup: Because BakerShake performs in the commons, it is always a pretty hefty task to move Baker’s beautiful and massive wooden tables to make space for audience seating. In addition, hanging and setting up art pieces is a task best accomplished with larger numbers. Additional help may be greatly appreciated here and there for certain events.
Artists & Performers: In order for Baker to have a Baker-student art show, we will need plenty of artists! Whether you are a VADA-major or an artist by hobby, submit your pieces and let the college be proud of your work! While a stage will already be in place for BakerShake to perform, let’s optimize its use by allowing other performers to utilize the space outside of BakerShake’s performance times. Musical performances, comedy sketches, or your own theatrical performance of a scene from your favorite play or a monologue would all be accepted. Event mangers could organize a special night for bonus performances around BakerShake so that we can recognize all forms of art and performance aside from Shakespeare. You don’t have to be an actor or someone in love with the Bard to get some attention. We ideally want to showcase as much talent in Baker as possible.

Interest Form Here!!: https://goo.gl/forms/IWzfbDdU8gOZnRjg1

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