Director Description

Congratulations, Director!
You are the Director. The theatre is happy to leave artistic decisions and interpretation in your hands. But CHP is more than just one show. Your show, and all those who take part in it are part of a theatre community. We want everyone involved with your production to feel like part of the family and to understand what they do is important to our theatre and its reputation among our patrons, our other volunteers, and our community. What you do for the next several months is critical to CHP's success.
The Executive Board has a stake in your show and will do all they can to help it succeed. Your cooperation, and the cooperation of everyone involved in the production will help all those people do their jobs.
You and your show are a part of CHP's long tradition of creating quality theatre for the Middle Peninsula audiences. Thank you for helping us build on that tradition.

Location, Location, Location
Keep in mind that CHP is what we lovingly refer to as "homeless". Although we have some preferred buildings to put on productions, we have no standard venue. We use churches, schools and other association meeting places for rehearsals as well as the production, often bending over backward to make sure we are welcome back in the future. The Director and Producer are/is responsible for the condition of the rehearsal and production spaces.

Auditions & Casting
CHP productions are open to everyone. No pre-casting is permitted. We strongly encourage Directors to give new actors an equal chance with those who have been on our stage before. When we give new people a fair shake, that helps ensure a constant pool of fresh talent, something no community theater can survive long without.
The no pre-casting rule is one of our theater's few hard rules, and we hope you will make an extra effort to make sure everyone who tries out for your show understands it. Yes, it's OK to audition someone privately if they can't make it to tryouts, but please be sure to let the people who do show up know that you've done so. When you're soliciting people to try out (and all good Directors do that), be clear that you aren't promising anything. Few things are as damaging to a theater's reputation as the notion that it's a closed shop where shows are pre-cast and new people don't stand a chance.
The Director determines the date, time and location of the auditions. The Producer assists with the arrangements and advertises the event.

Production Meeting
Show-specific production meetings are scheduled by the Director and Producer. Typically, the first meeting is held pre-auditions. In that meeting, the Director has the chance to share his or her vision with the production team - discussing show time period, location, color palettes, costumes, lighting, set requirements, sound effects, makeup, special effects, and additional backstage help required. The Production Committee Chair attends this kick-off meeting to ensure that necessary roles are filled and to provide any additional guidance as requested.
Subsequent meetings are at the discretion of the Director and/or Producer.
A show wrap-up meeting is scheduled by the Production Committee Chair about a month after the show closes. The chairperson invites the Producer and Director to this meeting, where the committee reviews the production process, discusses lessons learned and to share experiences.

Rehearsals
The Director, Producer, all production staff directors and managers, and the Executive Board should attend the read-through and introduce themselves. We encourage those people to attend rehearsals and remain as visible and accessible as possible. As a general rule, CHP rehearsals are not "closed door" rehearsals. It is imperative that cast members recognize the people who are running the show and the group, and understand that they may approach them at any time with concerns.
Rehearsal schedules are determined by the Director, and should be available for people to review at the auditions. Additional rehearsals for musicals include vocal rehearsals and dance rehearsals. Locations for rehearsals are not necessarily at the venue location - more often than not, they are NOT! Rehearsals for small shows have even been held at CHP member's homes, so keep that in mind when developing your rehearsal schedule.

Performances
CHP performances start on time. A short announcement at the beginning of each show about cell phones and other "housekeeping" items is fine, but we discourage personal 'welcome' speeches by Directors.
Intermissions are usually 15 minutes, but may run slightly over (maximum of 20 minutes) depending on the number of people in the audience, the bathroom line and the refreshment lines. The length of intermission is determined by the Stage Manager with input by the House Manager.
Curtain calls are staged by the Director. We go by the rule of thumb "move 'em in, and move 'em out!" so they are painless as possible for the audience. No special "thank you" speeches are given before or after curtain calls.

Strike
Everyone is expected to help out during strike.
Everyone is expected to help out during strike.
Yes, that sentence is repeated, but only because it is so important! The Director often takes a lead role in breaking down the set, even wearing the hat of Strike Foreman. He or she should set the tone that the cast is expected to be involved in strike.

Liaisons
The CHP Production Committee Chair (PCC) is your main liaison with the CHP Board. The PCC has open communication lines with the Director and the Producer to ensure that any and all help our community theatre can provide is available.
The PCC can also serve as a mediator between the Director and Producer or with any member of the cast or crew, should the need arise.
We encourage communication between the Director and our organization; therefore, the Director should feel free to directly contact any other members of the CHP Board for help or advice.