Careers in Technical Theater

INTRODUCTION

Not long ago I was running a show that demanded very little attention from me. In fact, my primary duty was the maintenance and operation of two prop guns during the second act of a rather long Shakespearean play. This left lots of time to do nothing but wait for the second act to roll around. One night, while sitting in a production office in the backstage area, I heard a faint knock on the door. Turning around, I saw a young actor standing in the open doorway.

Do you know where Ralph is? he asked.

The stage manager? I said, sure that he was looking for someone other than the person currently at work in the theater’s booth.

Yes, he said. Where can I find him?

I laughed, not sure if the actor was pulling my leg. He stared blankly back at me. It wasn’t a joke. He’s in the booth, I said, calling the show.

Oh, he said, unmoved by my response.

Do you know what a stage manager does? I asked, genuinely curious.

Um, well, I guess they sort of keep the show together, he said, sounding as though he hoped he had arrived at the correct answer.

When he failed to supply a more specific response, I briefly explained what stage managers do during the performance of a show and advised the actor to look for Ralph during intermission or after the show had ended. I admit I was astonished that an actor who, I learned later, had recently graduated with a degree in theater did not understand such a basic element of production procedure.

This book is—in part, at least—for that young theater artist and others like him. It is a reference tool for those learning about the ins and outs of theater, as much as a guide for people seeking a career within it. With that in mind, I have this much to say about the information contained between these covers: Theater is art, and art, by necessity, is fluid, malleable, flexible, and adaptable. Therefore, while I have attempted to pin down each career or specialty in very precise and pragmatic terms, it is impossible to do so with complete confidence. In professional theater, you will find a world made up of innovative and creative individuals who perpetually shape theater in ways most conducive to their talents, as well as their limitations—especially those of their checkbook. In other words, it is common to encounter folks who perform not just the work outlined in any one specific chapter that follows, but also endless combinations: production managers who also do the work of a technical director; technical directors who freelance as designers; designers who work as technicians; and technicians who act or run the box office too.

Another aspect of this book that I believe is important is the information regarding the financial side of theater. As every professional and teacher featured in these pages will tell you, it is essential for students to become educated on the fiscal realities of living as a theater artist, rather than facing a litany of misinformation from parents, friends, and even teachers. I have attempted to take some of the mystery out of what people working in tech theater actually earn—and what you can expect to earn working in a given field. The potential may be limitless, but shouldn’t people be given the background to make an informed decision about what type of work they want to do and where they want to do it? The romantic vision of the starving artist usually fades as we age, and the dreams of youth begin to be approached in a more pragmatic way. That doesn’t mean they must be left unrealized, however. Money matters. And, increasingly, so do all of the other items that represent value for an employee or freelancer: health benefits, vacation time, and retirement options.

In the time it has taken me to compile and write this book, I have witnessed a handful of layoffs at theaters around the country (including a couple of folks featured in this book), as well as the unfortunate (and some might say unnecessary) closing of a prominent producing theater in the city in which I lived as I wrote this book. These events, while discouraging—especially for someone writing about the different ways to make a living in tech theater—are merely bumps in the road for theater in America. Such bumps may never disappear, and the only way they will be reduced is through the diligence of the next generation of theater artists, administrators, artistic leaders, technicians, and support staff. It is only with dedicated people, committed to theater in America, its accessibility and progress, that more and more people will be able to make a decent living doing what they love to do. Their dedication, however, must extend beyond the art itself and into the lives of the artists creating every facet of it—theater artists must learn better to look out for each other and recognize that we are all, as they say, in it together.

I’d like to make a note of my own small contribution to the information included here. Over the course of about three months in 2006, I conducted a confidential online survey that I call the Tech Theater Earnings Survey. I contacted over one thousand technical theater pros and asked them to fill out a basic survey consisting of seven simple questions. The survey was by invitation only, in order to prevent those who may have stumbled upon the Web site from inputting false or misleading information. The survey received responses from theater pros in fields ranging from company management to prop artisans and master electricians. Nearly every category found in this book was covered—albeit some areas were blessed with more respondents than others. This is, in part, because many professional fields are more likely to be saturated with freelance artists and are not necessarily full-time staff positions. For this reason—and many others—it can be difficult to arrive at standardized, usable results.

For me, an important and revealing indicator in the survey was the final question, in which each respondent was asked to rate his income as below average, average, or above average. While this is a purely subjective question, I felt that it would help to gauge the respondents’ own views of their income. In this way it revealed not necessarily whether or not the respondents’ income was indeed average, above, or below, but rather their perception of such. This is an important distinction that I think reveals a great deal about the situation, giving us information about how the professionals are paid versus how they think they should be paid.

There were about 400 respondents, of which approximately 350 provided usable data. While it may not be considered a scientific, concrete calculation of the realities of technical theater work, it is nevertheless a rather informative survey, giving both the working pro and the student a general idea of the income of a variety of career areas. I was pleased with the honesty of the survey participants and hope that the Tech Theater Earnings Survey will provide the reader with at least a glimpse of the real-world earnings of technical theater artists.

Fortunately, the theater community also has the Theatre Communications Group (TCG) to help us along on these fronts by conducting thorough research and providing us with useful, tangible information on all sorts of areas of theater. TCG’s annual reports on income and benefits are a great resource for determining the realities of today’s theater. It’s also great fodder for effecting change in the future.

Labor organizations such as Actors’ Equity Association (AEA), United Scenic Artists (USA), and the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) have also been a focus of my research, and you will find that minor debates about their role in the business of theater crop up from time to time in certain areas of this book; however, it is difficult in a book of this kind to fully explore the sometimes odd and seemingly arbitrary decisions made in the theater community about which artists deserve to be represented by a labor organization. The worldviews (and industry standards) that inform these decisions are interesting, though, and the fate of theater artists are affected greatly by them. The viewpoint of technicians and artists on the subject of unions in the performing arts deserves inclusion where the featured pros of this book have found it of note, and this is the reason for its occasional appearance within these pages.

Collaboration is another key concept visited here. It is brought up time and again by the professionals interviewed for this book, and if you read each chapter it may seem that the notion of collaboration and its essential nature in theater is something that you have been beaten about the head with. For this I apologize, but it simply cannot be said enough. For the student about to embark on a hopeful life in the theater, it is an idea—in fact, a sometimes unwelcome necessity—that must be considered and confronted. In my talks with Rosemary Ingham, a talented designer and the wise author of books on costuming, she told me simply that if you are a creative person who thrives while working on solitary projects, the theater is not for you. It is a point that cannot be made strongly enough. But, enough of that.

There are areas of technical theater so convoluted and difficult to categorize that the question of their inclusion in this book was taken very seriously. While the specialties of wigs and makeup are elaborate art forms in their own right, it was at first thought that perhaps they should be lumped into the costume shop section of the book. But after investigating further, I realized that within theater the areas of wigs and makeup are so specialized and essential to so many theater productions that they deserved a more thoughtful presentation. However, depending on whom you speak with, it could be argued that these are such specialized areas that it is rare for wig masters and makeup artists to earn their living exclusively in the theater. Because of this rarity, and for other reasons, it felt odd to place them amid an array of specialties in which one could pursue one’s passion for theater without feeling compelled to seek work in other areas of entertainment. This is not to pass judgment on such artists—for artists they are indeed—but rather an attempt to stay true to my goal for this book: to provide for future theater artists a guide to the theater, not a guide for dalliances with theater while supporting oneself making commercials in Los Angeles, films in New York City, or industrials in Seattle.

In closing, it might be appropriate after all of this talk of work and earning a living to say a few encouraging words. To do so, I’ll mention an unlikely person, a person I interviewed for this book and who was laid off from his full-time staff position at a League of Resident Theatres (LORT) theater just before I spoke with him. Though this particular person has not been included in the book, I believed that his predicament was of special note, providing needed insight into the difficult nature of making a living in theater. So, we went ahead with the scheduled interview, and our discussion was enlightening and inspiring. He is a perfect example for the parents and other concerned folks that fear for the future of the young, hopeful theater artist in their lives. You’ll never make a living in the theater! I know this admonishment well because I received it repeatedly when I was young. But not from everyone. And even the laid-off theater artist won’t go so far as to say that. He knows what it means to have a passion for theater. He knows that for those of us that truly love the theater, there is always a way.

PART I   M A N A G E M E N T

I find it vital that any manager can speak intelligently about the art

and be able to respond to it wisely.

—PAUL HENGESTEG,

company manager, Shakespeare Theatre Company

My employees usually know more about their working conditions

than I do. If I don’t listen to them, I’ll never be able to do my job, and

in the end, neither will they.

—MICHAEL BROH,

production manager, American Players Theatre

Amanager is a manager is a manager, right? Well, not if you’re referring to managers in the theater. While they do conform to the general idea of most other managers, theater managers, like stage managers, production managers, and company managers are different—and not just because they’re theater folk. You can look at the quotes above for an example of how they are the same and how they’re different. Broh demonstrates the traditionally ideal managerial outlook—one concerned with the conditions of the employees in his charge. Hengesteg, a company manager for almost a decade, shows us how theater managers must be in touch with the art they serve and thus how they differ from the kind of manager you would find lurking around your cubicle. It is the theater managers’ devotion to the art form they make possible that distinguishes them from other managers. It wouldn’t be a stretch to say that the people featured in this section are as much informed by the theater as the theater is informed by them. Just check out what Josh Friedman, another production manager, has to say at the beginning of the first chapter.

Production manager Michael Broh discusses schedules with American Players Theatre production stage manager Evelyn Matten. (Photograph by Sara Stellick.)

This section contains only the three technical theater careers mentioned above, but this shouldn’t be taken as a sign that there are only three management positions in all of technical theater. In fact, you will likely find within these pages several careers that entail a great number of management duties, but the three careers highlighted here in the management section are first and foremost managers of people and information.

Each of these managers is responsible for a very different type of management, as you will see. They all, however, must manage people, and anyone pursuing similar career tracks must develop very good people skills in addition to any other expertise necessary to execute the job. Ask any manager, in theater or out, how important people skills are, and he will give you an earful on the subject, I assure you.

1

PRODUCTION MANAGER

A strong understanding of the artistic process allows a production manager

to effectively communicate and understand the issues, pressures, and thought

processes of directors, designers, and staff.

—JOSH FRIEDMAN,

production manager, Alley Theatre

Areliable way to determine what theater professionals actually do is to ask them what they say when their second cousin from Peoria approaches them at a family reunion and asks, What d’ya do for a livin’? Michael Broh, production manager of American Players Theatre since 2000, has his own canned response. I say, ‘I’m in charge of all the backstage stuff at the theater—you know, like costumes, sets, lighting, sound, props—that sort of thing,’ he says. Usually, that’s all someone wants to know. Then they start asking me about actors. Broh does not exaggerate with his cousin. Each and every person who is a part of the production team, including all of the areas Broh mentions, is under the jurisdiction of the production manager (PM).

Production manager Josh Friedman working the phone—something PMs do frequently.

In short, there is no technical theater without production managers. Even the smallest of theater companies has someone who does the job, though that person may have a different title. Sometimes the title is operations manager, director of production, production coordinator, or supervisor. In some cases, technical directors are responsible for what will be described here as the duties of a production manager. The thing is, the work a PM does must be done by someone, even if no one in the building is called the production manager.

WAIT FOR THINGS TO GO WRONG

"I do the stuff that our producing artistic director should not be bothered with, explains Rafael Castanera, production manager of Arkansas Repertory Theatre in Little Rock. I really play the role of liaison between our administration and our production staff," he says. As with most technical theater careers, the duties of a production manager vary from venue to venue, depending on the size, location, and prestige of the theater, among other considerations.

Generally, production managers have a hand in most areas of a theater’s operation but focus primarily on keeping the production team afloat. They coordinate and track budgets, labor, and staff to ensure that every technical aspect of a production and the entire season happens on schedule and within budget in a safe, reasonable manner. They are typically responsible for hiring technical staff, negotiating and drawing up contracts, creating and maintaining production budgets, and scheduling both personnel and stage use. As part of a collaborative effort involving designers, directors, the technical director, the administrative team, and the artistic director, they must decide, on the basis of reasons including safety, cost, and technical feasibility, which technical aspects of a production can actually happen. Ultimately, they are responsible for these decisions because they alone are aware of every angle: money, time, safety, quality, and—did I say this already?—money.

The modus operandi of a typical professional production manager is quite simple, according to Fran Brookes, who was until recently the production manager of Arden Theater Company, a classical LORT theater in Philadelphia. Prepare as best you can, he says, and wait for things to go wrong. Brookes is being candid when he says this, but realistic in his admission that something will probably not work out as planned. The skilled production manager learns how to adapt to the ever-changing realities of producing the technical side of theater.

For some production managers, working double duty as the technical director makes the job even more pressure-filled. At Virginia Stage Company, Stevie Dawson worked nonstop in her capacity as both PM and technical director. It was not unusual for me to go from 9 A.M. to 6 P.M. without a pause in the meetings, phone calls, e-mails, and just plain questions, she says. That means that any work that required concentration couldn’t even begin until the business day was over and the building had begun to empty out. Some theater companies must structure their production team this way in order to work within their operating budget; however, this is uncommon among theaters above a certain level of financial ability, and Virginia Stage seems rare in this situation.

FROM STAGE TO PRODUCTION

It may seem odd to compare the duties and outlooks of people in such diverse areas as stage management, production management, and even company management by lumping them together under the broad umbrella of management, but anecdotal evidence seems to suggest that many production managers begin their careers in theater in stage management.

Production managers are in the middle of facilitating a production process in the same way stage managers are the pivot to facilitate the rehearsal and performance process, explains Josh Friedman, the longtime PM of Indiana Repertory Theatre in Indianapolis and now the production manager of the Alley Theatre.

Broh, who was a stage manager for Second City in Chicago before pursuing a graduate degree at Yale, believes that the transition from stage to production management is a natural one. Stage managers tend to be people that have brains built for organizing, he says. I think many stage managers see these traits as being valuable in a production manager, and therefore see the job as something they could easily transition to. The career change is understandable, considering the odd hours put in by most stage managers. The reasons for the transition tend to be about someone looking for more nights and weekends off, to spend more time at home, perhaps to raise a family, Broh says. A career trajectory that begins with stage management and leads to a position as a production manager may be a very desirable one, considering the issues of working hours and family time.

Another trait that is common to both stage and production managers is communication—good, open, and honest communication. One of the primary functions of a stage manager is facilitating information that pertains to the production, and a production manager must be good at distributing and coordinating information, too. For a PM, that generally entails the information for the production that is rehearsing or running, in addition to all the productions in the season and shows that are coming up in future seasons. As a result, production managers tend to think and talk a lot about how they handle the communication aspect of the job.

The notion of honesty and openness is critical. Be honest and direct with everyone, Friedman advises. You need to first acknowledge that everyone involved has a stake in the project and feels compelled to do their best work, then face the realities of time, money, and creativity to get the best results.

The best approach is honesty and transparency, says Broh. Most people respond very well to honesty. Furthermore, production managers are privy to information of all sorts, much more than any one technician, director, or designer on the production team, and when one is responsible for keeping track of such a wealth of information regarding a show, honesty becomes a necessity.

COLLABORATING:THE ARTIST WITHIN

There are technical positions that theater folks consider artistic and those that they don’t. Designers, for instance, are in the art camp. So, obviously, are scenic artists. The line gets blurry when talking about scenic carpenters and costumers because they actually build many of the beautiful things seen on stage. More easily placed across the line in the tech camp are management positions, and many designers do not hesitate to make that line clear. The necessary division between creation and technical implementation is a subject usually arrived at when a person in a management (or other nonartistic) position injects a bit of artistic input where it is not welcome. Ask a production manager—or stage manager—what he thinks, and you will likely get a very reasoned response. I think everyone in the process should have a say, claims Brookes, before concluding that one should be judicious about when one’s opinion is voiced.

According to Friedman, the best work is always accomplished through fair and open collaboration. The key to a successful team approach is for everyone to have input and for everyone to respect the decision-making responsibilities of each job, he says. In other words, it’s good to make suggestions to the set designer, but you have to respect that at the end of the day they make the decision.

Broh, one of the most reasoned and straightforward people I have ever known in professional theater, is characteristically precise when addressing the matter of managers and artistic input. I do feel that a producing theater has a responsibility to evaluate shows aesthetically, he says. Ideally, the artistic director is the person vested with that responsibility. For his part, Broh knows that his job goes beyond the aesthetics of the show. It is my responsibility to evaluate if we can do it, if it is on schedule, and if we did it well, he explains. It is not my job to say if it’s ugly or not.

Understanding the acceptable bounds of a manager’s input is critical to achieving cohesion among the production and design teams, and it is important to remember that without the pragmatic approach of production and stage managers, many art institutions, such as regional theaters, would simply cease to exist.

Spotlight on a Pro

Michael Broh, production manager, American Players Theatre, 2000–present

Under Pressure

For a production manager, the ability to focus on details while remaining acutely aware of the (very) big picture is critical. The sheer number of decisions that need to be made in differing areas can be overwhelming for novice production managers and, at times, can push even the veteran beyond the ceiling of acceptable levels of stress. The best managers have the ability to deal with the stress of working with a multitude of personality types and being the final decision maker.

Production manager Michael Broh in his office at American Players Theatre.

Broh was a stage manager before returning to school to earn his MFA in technical design and production from Yale. His most noteworthy stage management gig might have been his six years with the notorious improv group Second City, in Chicago. During his time with Second City, Broh learned a lot about dealing with the stress of live performance. It also helped teach him how to be a decisive leader.

One of my myriad of responsibilities as a stage manager was to take the lights out at the end of improvised scenes, he says. This is an extremely high-pressure responsibility. If a scene is going well and you miss a potential out, then a scene will likely begin to fail, he explains. The other side of the coin was taking the lights out too early, disappointing the audience and the actors if the skit had potential left unrealized—a nerve-wracking responsibility. I think that experience helped me to become more comfortable with my decision making and allowed me to take some pressure off of myself for self-preservation, he says.

PATHS TO A CAREER AS A PRODUCTION MANAGER

Considering the essential nature of production management and the growing number of universities offering programs of study in theater management and technical production, it would seem that preparing for such a career would be relatively straightforward. And it can be. Having a solid background in theater is essential, but beyond that anything goes. There are many production managers who have