Student Roles and Responsibilities - Directing Thesis

Reports to: Thesis Production Manager, Director

Receives support and guidance from: Director of Production, Thesis Operations Manager, Lenfest FOH Staff, CU Marketing Team, Faculty.

Schedule: Required at all production meetings (both with and without Columbia production staff), tech rehearsals, final dress, and opening. Attendance to rehearsals prior to tech and all performances strongly encouraged.

General Duties

• Thoroughly reading and understanding the Thesis Handbook.
• Ensuring Lenfest Center for the Arts Rules; School of the Arts Rules; Theatre Program/Production Department Guidelines, Rules, and Regulations; & NY Laws are followed.
• Facilitating the audition/casting process with the Director (note: Stage Managers are not required or expected to assist with auditions).
• If a production has a high level of bass or sound output (i.e. drumming, dancing, musicals), coordinating with the Production Manager and Lenfest management to ensure the building understands the scope and timing of said sound. In this case, there may need to have coordinated efforts between the Performance Space and the Film Screening Room.
• Overseeing Company Manager.

PRODUCER HANDBOOK & WORKFLOW

The Producer Handbook and Workflow Document is downloadable and printable.  It is also copied below for your connivence.  Please access it in whatever way is most supportive to you.  The information below and the downloadable handbook are 100% identical. 

PRODUCER QUICK LINKS

• PERFORMANCE AGREEMENT SUBMISSION FORM
• PERFORMANCE AGREEMENT TEMPLATE
• PETTY CASH RECEIPT SUBMISSION FORM
• COLUMBIA TAX EXEMPT FORM
• TICKETING FORM

INTRODUCTION

This document is designed to walk you through all the deliverables, deadlines, and policies related to being a Producer on thesis-level productions at Columbia University and Lenfest Center for the Arts.  Please note that the producing role and the specific policies and procedures related to the producing and management of a theatre or production is slightly different at every organization, and these guidelines are specific to producing at Columbia - not producing in the general sense.  Part of your job as the Producer is to learn about the environment you are working in and adapt for that environment and organization.  Procedures and workflows you use at one organization may not be appropriate for the next organization.  Knowing how to adapt and meld your experience from production to production and company to company is a great skill that will help you throughout your career. 

This document does not replace the wiki handbook; please be sure to read the wiki in addition to this document.  This document is meant to be a supplement to the wiki and a quick access guide throughout your process.  Links to the wiki documents are below for your reference.

• DIRECTING THESIS WIKI
• ACTING THESIS WIKI
• NEW PLAYS FESTIVAL WIKI
• ACADEMIC WIKI

Anytime you have questions, or need support of any kind, please contact the Thesis Production Manager - Brendan O’Brien.  I am here to support you and help you make this process a success.  Don’t hesitate to text, call, or email pretty much anytime.  

Brendan O’Brien, Thesis Production Manager

Cell: 201-230-4082

Email: [email protected]

CO-PRODUCING

Two students may choose to work together as co-producers. If students choose to co-produce, they must first submit a written proposal, outlining both how they will ensure good communication (between the two of them and with the rest of the creative/production team) and how they will divide up the producer responsibilities.  This written submission should be sent to Steven Chaikelson, Tory Bailey, Corrie Beth Knott, and Brendan O’Brien for approval before beginning to work on the production.

ATTENDANCE

When there is a single Producer, the Producer is expected to attend all production meetings, the first rehearsal, and as many technical rehearsals as possible (subject to any class conflicts).

In the case of Co-Producers, both Producers must attend the Policies and Procedures meeting. Thereafter, at least one Producer must be in attendance at all production meetings, unless both producers have a class conflict.  Both Producers must also attend the first rehearsal and thereafter the co-producing team should make best efforts to have at least one producer in attendance at as many technical rehearsals as possible.  

Production meetings are scheduled months in advance and should be reviewed by the producer as soon as they sign on to the project.  If the producer finds they have a class conflict, they should alert the Thesis Production Manager as soon as possible and the PM will make best efforts to reschedule the meeting to a time without a class conflict.  In no instances should a producer be a “no-show” to a meeting without alerting the Thesis Production Manager in advance.

Please note that the only approvable conflict for production meetings and other required attendance is a class conflict or an emergency.  Conflicts due to paid work, internships, or outside projects will not be accepted. 

ARTIST ONBOARDING PROCESS & PAYMENT PAPERWORK

1. Once an artist/collaborator is confirmed as a member of the team, please send their name, contact information, and position on the project to the Thesis Production Manager. 
2. Once received, the Thesis Production Manager will do the following:
   1. Add their name and email to the Dates and Deadlines document
   2. Share the Google Calendar and Google Drive folder with them
   3. Invite them to all pertinent meetings within the Google Calendar
   4. Send a welcome email
   5. Info collection form
3. As soon as a collaborator is finalized, the producer should immediately start the process of getting their payment paperwork completed.  Payment paperwork should be completed on a rolling basis once people are confirmed, not all at once on the first day of rehearsal.  Payment paperwork must be submitted before a collaborator begins any work on the production.  For designers this is prior to their first production meeting; for actors this is before their first rehearsal.  Do not wait until the first rehearsal to complete performance agreements!
4. To make the performance agreement process faster and easier, I recommend you send the agreements via an e-sign program so that the person can easily fill out their half, sign and send it back to you.  The easier you make it for people to sign, the faster you’ll get the agreement back.  Gmail has a free e-signature program you can use, no need to pay for one!
5. Video Tutorial on how to set up and process performance agreements:

TUTORIAL VIDEO LINKED HERE

Steps Reviewed in Video with Time-Stamps:

1. 0:00 - Introduction / Can the artist be paid on a performance agreement?
2. 3:40 - Gather the information needed for the performance agreement from the artist:
   1. Full legal name as it appears on government issued ID
   2. Email address and phone number
   3. Mailing address
3. Confirm agreed upon payment with the artist
4. 3:50 - Fill out the performance agreement
5. 7:40 - Send the performance agreement to the artist for signature (strongly recommend the use of e-signature software)
6. 12:44 - How the artist signs the performance agreement with Google e-sign
7. 13:50 - Submit completed performance agreement to production management using this form: https://forms.gle/DwJrBMjpfh5QjfoG8

What to do if your artist is on a work visa or work authorization? 

1. As soon as you find out an artist is working on a Visa or work authorization please let the Thesis Production Manager know.  Columbia has very specific rules on how they pay people on Visas and work authorizations.  Sometimes, even if a person can legally work in the US, Columbia will still be unable to pay them on a performance agreement.  In some cases, the person may need to be paid through a temp agency - NextSource.  In these cases, you will need to pay an additional 31% in fees on top of the artist’s payment.  These fees need to come out of the production’s budget.
2. It is very important that Production Management is alerted about potential artists working on Visas or Work Authorizations BEFORE they begin any work on the production.  If Columbia is unable to pay them, you need to know that before they’ve done any work on your production.  Remember, for designers, work includes production meetings. 

Please be sure to fully read over and review the wiki pages on payments as they have far more information than is included in this document. 

• Financial Overview
• Paying Artists

BUDGET CREATION PROCESS & FUNDRAISING PROPOSALS

You will create your draft budget for approval using the Budget Proposal document.  This document has space for you to propose up to two separate budgets. 

See Sample Budget Proposal here.

See Sample Fundraising Narrative here

Budget A: 

Everyone will propose a Budget A.  This is how you would budget the show without fundraising.  Please use Budget A to allocate the $5000 Columbia discretionary budget between physical production, support, and artist fees.  In addition to the discretionary budget you also have $3000 of CU Designer stipends which are meant to cover $500 payments for designers in each of the six main design areas - Scenic, Props, Costumes, Lighting, Sound and Projection.  If your show is not utilizing all 6 of these design areas, these payments can be reallocated to compensate other members of the team, but not to pay for purchases. 

Budget B:

If you would like to fundraise, Budget B is your proposal of a full budget including fundraising money.  These budget allocations do not need to match the allocations in Budget A.  You can fundraise a maximum of $5000 for a play and up to $7500 for a musical pending faculty approval.  

A few things to note about budget allocations: 

• Fundraised money and CU money remain segregated throughout the entire process.  The producer manages the fundraised funds independently; they are not handed over to Columbia.  Items purchased with fundraised money are bought directly by the producer with the fundraised money they are managing.  Because the two pots of money are never mixed, there are rules in place regarding how budgets can be split and allocated.
  • Scenic and Costume budgets must be budgeted 100% within the CU discretionary budget.  This is because Columbia Production staff needs to be able to make purchases to build your scenery and costumes, and Columbia production staff is only able to spend CU money; they do not have access to fundraised money and cannot spend fundraised money on your behalf.  There is no option to reimburse Columbia with fundraised money for items bought with Columbia money.
  • Rentals and contracts including performance rights, union contracts, and weapons rentals must be budgeted entirely within the CU discretionary budget.  This is because Columbia must be the signatory and payee on all contracts. 
  • In general, it is usually cleaner and more straightforward to keep budget lines budgeted entirely with either CU money or fundraised money due to the separation of those pools of money.  If you do want to split budget lines between those pools of money, please be very clear about what you plan to purchase within each side of the budget.
  • The one exception to the above guideline is artist payments.  Artist payments are the most common use of the fundraising budget and these can be split between CU and Fundraising money (and we actually strongly recommend that you split them).  When an artist is paid through Columbia, in most cases they will sign a performance agreement, which gives you a signed official document between Columbia and the artist, which is good to have. 
    • Any artist payments made through fundraising are paid directly by the producer.  While it is not required, we do recommend that you have some type of signed agreement between the artist and the producer for payments coming from the fundraising budget. 

Notes on Paying Artists:

To avoid inequity with respect to the compensation paid to members of the creative team, all Columbia productions must adhere to the following rules regarding paying people who work for the production. The idea here is more or less a “favored nations” approach.

• Columbia will provide a $500 designer stipend to the Scenic, Lighting, Sound, Props, Projection, and Costume Designer.
• No member of the creative team can receive a payment greater than $500. This includes non-student designers, producers, directors, and choreographers.
• If an A1 is hired, they must be paid on par with the designers.
• Actors may receive a payment up to $500; however, that amount must be the same for all equally tiered participants (i.e. principal, secondary, chorus). In other words, all principals must all be paid the same, secondary roles the same, etc. The student director/playwright and Producer can indicate which roles fall into each of these categories.

All artists being paid by Columbia must have a signed contract, performance agreement, and/or payment paperwork in place before beginning work.

Please review the handbook section on paying artists and pay special attention to Who is Eligible for Payments.

Fundraising Proposal Narrative: 

• When fundraising, in addition to submitting a budget proposal, you are also required to submit a fundraising narrative.  This is the document where you defend and explain your budget.  This document is just as important as the budget itself, and the more detailed you are, the better. 

A few things to keep in mind when putting together your fundraising narrative: 

• Detail is a critical element of a successful proposal, as it allows the committee to understand the need for additional funds. Please be specific and clear about your request and its rationale. If the proposal includes raising money for a material or administrative element, please identify the specific element sought, its anticipated cost, and what assumptions you have made or research you have done to come up with the dollar amount. General requests such as “$800 for props” are inadequate and will result in a rejection of your proposal.
• An example of a specific request might read: “With the choreography requirements for the barber chair in Sweeney Todd, we are seeking to raise $800 to purchase and modify a chair for the production. The predicted cost of this element is based on an estimated expenditure of $750 for the base chair (examples of chairs at this price can be found here and here), plus $50 for materials necessary to add the lever and weathering effects.”
• Pay particular attention to ensuring the math on the proposal is accurate. Inconsistencies between the narrative proposal and the budget, and inaccurate budget calculations could result in the rejection of a proposal or a delay in the approval process.
• As part of your fundraising plan, include details about any online platforms that will be used, any in-person events that will be held, and how the fundraiser(s) will be publicized. All publicity for fundraising must be approved by Production Management prior to release.

Fundraising Approval Process:

• Once the budget proposal (both with or without fundraising) has been cleared by Production Management, it is sent to Theatre Management and Producing Faculty for final approval.  This will be sent by the Production Manager, with the student producers on copy.  TMP Faculty will respond with any additional notes, questions, or requests for changes.  Once TMP Faculty approves the budget, you will be notified and cleared by Production Management to begin fundraising (if you have chosen to fundraise).  You cannot begin fundraising before your proposal has been approved by faculty through this process. 

Next Steps after a Fundraising Proposal is Approved: 

• Fundraising must use a public-facing online donation platform (i.e. GoFundMe, Kickstarter, IndieGoGo, etc.) for all donations. Production Management must approve the content of the fundraising page prior to launch.
• No one individual or company may contribute more than 50% of the fundraising goal.
• All funds raised must be in-hand no later than the first rehearsal or five (5) weeks before the first public performance, whichever is earlier.
• A complete list of all contributions and sources must be delivered to Production Management no later than five (5) weeks before the first public performance. All contributors must be identified to Columbia, though they may be listed as anonymous on public-facing platforms.
• All purchases made or fees/stipends paid with raised funds must be notated on the Expense Tracking document distributed by Production Management, in real time.
• Original receipts are required for all expenses. These must be submitted to Production management within 21 days of strike.
• Students should not be promising payment to individuals from fundraised funds before those funds are secured. In the event a fundraising shortfall results in a production no longer being able to meet its original budget, the original budget will be subject to review and budget funds may be reallocated by Production Management with priority given to paying the production’s collaborators their agreed-upon compensation. You need to have a backup plan in place in the event you are not able to secure some or all of the funds you have set out to raise.  

BUDGET & FUNDRAISING PROPOSAL PROCESS TUTORIAL VIDEO

Here are the topics in the video with timestamps: 

• 0:00 - Introduction
• 0:30 - Budget Proposal Document Overview
• 1:27 - Budget without Fundraising Overview
• 3:35 - Budget with Fundraising
• 7:02 - Columbia Funds vs Fundraising Funds, and why certain line items can only be in the Columbia budget
• 13:08 - Budget with Fundraising Continued
• 21:18 - Fundraising Narrative

FINAL BUDGET & EXPENSE TRACKER

If you are fundraising, fundraising must be complete and finished by the first day of rehearsal, or 5 weeks prior to opening, whatever is earlier.  

Please note that over-fundraising is not allowed.  You are capped at the dollar amount that was approved in your fundraising proposal (for example, if you proposed to raise $3500, your fundraising is capped at $3500).  Faculty will not consider requests to increase beyond the approved amount.  

Please be sure that your fundraising platform is set to stop accepting donations once you hit your goal.  Any donations received over your approved goal will be required to be returned to donors, with proof of said return available for faculty review.

The Monday prior to your first day of rehearsal, you will have a Final Budget Review meeting with Production Management to go over and finalize your budget.  Prior to this meeting, Production Management will supply you with the Producer Budget Sign-Off form showing the allocations that were approved in your budget proposal.  Please come to the Budget Review meeting ready to review any final changes you need to make to your budget allocations.  After the final budget review meeting, your budget will be locked and no additional changes will be made to individual budget lines, but the budget lines remain fungible and during the production process, and in most cases savings in one line can be allocated to another line.

Sample Producer Budget Sign-Off Form

All your final budget allocations will live in your Expense Tracker.  Once the production manager receives the budget sign-off form back from you, the expense tracker will be updated with final allocations. 

The expense tracker is where you can find a live update of your production’s financial status.  It consists of seven tabs.  Many of these tabs are not editable.  Here is a breakdown of the tabs:

Sample Expense Tracker

• Approved CU Budget: This is where you can review the status of your Columbia budget, including the approved budget amounts, the spending to date, the estimate to complete (ETC) and the estimated final cost (EFC). You cannot edit this tab.   
• CU Itemized Expenses: This where you can see each line item that is impacting the “Spent to Date” column of your Columbia budget.  Production Management will enter expenses into this tab as we purchase things.  If you purchase something that will go on the CU Budget (i.e. something you will be submitting for reimbursement) you can enter those items into the tracker by using the Itemized Expenses form.  This form will be sent to you along with the expense tracker link.
• CU Itemized Estimates to Complete: This tab is editable by the producer!  This is where you can track expenses that have not yet been purchased, but are planned to be purchased (or purchases that have not yet been submitted for reimbursement).  This tab will populate the ETC column on the Approved CU Budget tab.  This is a great way to make sure you are not overspending your budget.  We highly recommend you take advantage of this tab.
• CU Designer Stipends: This is where we will track the $3000 of CU Designer stipend payments.  This tab is not editable by the producer.
• Fundraised Budget: This is your fundraising budget.  It works exactly like the Approved CU Budget tab, but this one details your fundraising.  This tab is not editable by the producer.
• Fundraised Itemized Expenses: This is where you detail items purchased with fundraising, and this tab populates the “Spent to Date” column of the Fundraised Budget tab.  This tab is fully edited by the producer. 
• Fundraised Itemized Estimates to Complete: This works just like the CU ETC tab, only it populates the fundraising budget.  This tab is fully edited by the producer. 

If you have questions about your expense tracker and budget, or if anything looks off, contact the Thesis Production Manager immediately! 

SPENDING MONEY

As discussed above, fundraised money is entirely the responsibility of the producer and is spent by the producer.  Production Management and CU Staff cannot spend fundraised money on your behalf.  

CU Discretionary funds are best spent by CU staff whenever possible.  When you need something purchased with CU Funds, please try to make best efforts to have Production Management make that purchase on your behalf.  Online orders are very easy for us to order for you.  The only items we cannot purchase online are items from eBay, Craigslist, or Alibaba.  If your show must purchase an item from one of these sites, it should be purchased with fundraising if that is an option.  Otherwise we must find another source. 

If an item must be purchased in person, this is generally something that Production Management cannot do for you.  In these cases, we can give you petty cash, which can be used to make those purchases.  See the petty cash section at the end of this document for more details. 

All items bought with Columbia funds must use the Columbia Tax Exempt form.  Columbia will not pay or reimburse sales tax.  If we receive a receipt with tax for reimbursement, the tax portion of the receipt will not be reimbursed.  

If you would like production management to purchase items for you, simply send the Thesis Production Manager an email with specific links to what you want purchased.  Be sure to include quantity, color, size, etc. along with the link (especially on Amazon, product pages often include multiple products/styles/colors; make sure we know which one you want!)

When making purchases on your own, with petty cash or with fundraised funds, please speak with the Thesis Production Manager to confirm whether the item should be shipped to Lenfest or to Nash.  The Thesis Production Manager will give you a specific address to use for each purchase. 

Please note that Columbia does not receive packages on weekends.  Even if Amazon says a package is delivered on a Saturday or Sunday, if it is being shipped to Columbia, it will not arrive on the weekend.  Columbia also has an internal package system which adds approximately 1 day to the overall timeline for receiving an item.  For example, if Amazon delivers a package on Monday,  you will not have access to that item in most cases until Tuesday, even though the item is listed as having been delivered. 

If we need packages quickly, we will sometimes have them sent to home addresses instead of directly to Columbia.   

EXPENSE TRACKER & HOW TO SPEND MONEY TUTORIAL VIDEO

Here are the topics in the video with timestamps: 

• 0:00 - Introduction
• 1:06 - CU Approved Budget Tab
• 5:21 - CU Itemized Expenses Tab
• 8:48 - Expense Submission Form for CU Expenses
• 11:07 - CU Estimate to Complete tab
• 13:49 - CU Designer Stipends tab
• 14:10 - Fundraised Budget tabs (all)
• 16:10 - Producer Budget Sign-Off Document
• 20:25 - Petty Cash Overview
• 23:33 - Reimbursement process

CREATIVE BRIEF

The creative brief is the document used by the Graphic Designer to help create graphics for Directing Thesis shows.  This document is due to be finished at the Graphic Design meeting. 

The Graphic Design meeting is attended by the SOA Graphic Designer, Thesis Production Manager, Director, and Producer.  Please speak with your director and think about what you want for your graphic design prior to this meeting.  If you have reference images, those are very helpful to the Graphic Designer. 

The creative brief document is fairly self explanatory, but if there are questions please reach out to the Thesis Production Manager.  The sections on required billing and rights will be filled in by the Thesis Production Manager (but you as the producer should also be very familiar with those restrictions and requirements and should double-check the information on the form!)

MARKETING COPY

The due date for the Marketing Copy document is listed on the Dates and Deadlines document.  The document lives in your show’s Google Drive in the “Marketing” folder.   It is generally due about about 7 weeks before opening and includes the following information: 

1. Key Artist (Director for a Directing Thesis, Playwright for a NPF)
2. Name of Production
3. Link to Graphic Design (you can leave this blank if the graphic design isn’t finalized yet)
4. Industry Ticket form - this is a form that you the producer should make
5. Producer Emails - list all producer names and emails so that you receive test emails for the E-Blasts that the Theatre Department creates and sends
6. Blurb - This is a short description which will be put on the website for the production.
7. Target Audience - Whoever you believe the target audience is for this production.  If your performance rights allow for social media, these are the audiences that will be targeted for social media campaigns.
8. Rights and Licensing - any restrictions from the licensing agreement and/or any requirements
9. Performance Dates - The dates and times of your performances
10. Ticketing Information - this should be pre-filled to the Ticketing Form
11. Content Warning - Please compose the content warning you would like posted on the website, in programs and in the performance space (if your production needs/wants one).  Please note that the need for a content warning may arise or change during the rehearsal process.  Please be sure to stay up to date on what is happening in rehearsal, and you can adjust this as needed.
12. Running Time - This can be approximate, we will need this finalized during the tech process.
13. Featuring - please list the full cast as you want them to appear on the website.  Please be sure that names are spelled correctly and that people are credited the way they want to be credited.  I recommend collecting this information when you hire each individual.  Please also include in parentheses if an artist is a current student, or an SOA graduate.  For graduates include the year they graduated).
14. Creative Team & Crew - Same as cast, please list out the full creative team, including their position.  Please include if they are a current student or SOA graduate. 
15. About the Artist - this is the bio for the key artist (director on Directing Thesis, playwright on NPF)

If you are missing information for this document, fill out as much as you can by the due date and add additional information as you get it.  When you add additional information after the due date please leave a comment in the document tagging [email protected] and [email protected]. 

PROGRAM COPY

The Company Manager is responsible for putting together this document, but you as the Producer should be working with the Company Manager and supporting the Company Manager in ensuring this document is completed correctly and  on time. 

The Program information document is due 4 weeks before opening.  Please do not miss this deadline, as the theater office needs this time to put together and proof the program.  

I strongly recommend that you work with the Company Manager to collect headshots and bios as soon as you hire actors and designers.  There is no need to wait until later in the process to collect this information!  A google form is a great way to collect this information and can be sent to actors and designers one by one as they sign on.  

The Program Copy form includes the following information: 

1. Decide what type of program you want
   1. Digital Program in Color
   2. Black and White printed program
   3. Black and White printed program with color first page (if this option is chosen, the production is responsible for printing the first page in color and paying for that cost, the theater office can only print in black and white).
2. Actor Bios
3. Creative Team Bios
4. Actor Headshots - link to a google drive folder.  Please ensure that the headshot files are labeled with names
5. Note from Director, Playwright or Dramaturg - this is optional
6. Special Thanks - whatever special thanks note you’d like in the program.  Also optional.
7. Land Acknowledgement - please put yes or no if you’d like the SOA Land Acknowledgement included in the program 

REHEARSALS

The Producer is required to attend the first rehearsal unless you have a class conflict or an emergency.  If two students are co-producing, both students are required at the first rehearsal.  If anyone has not signed their performance agreement yet, the absolute last moment this should be done is before the first rehearsal begins (but ideally everyone’s agreement was submitted prior to this date!).  If there is any lingering information you still need from the cast and creative team, the first rehearsal is a good time to get that information.  It’s also good for everyone to meet you. 

While the producer does not need to attend every rehearsal after the first one, it is essential that the producer stay in very close contact with what is going on in the rehearsal room.  The show comes together during rehearsal, and changes to original plans will always happen during the rehearsal process.  It is essential that the Producer stay up to date on these changes and developments so that they can make sure the production stays on track and pivot as necessary.  (For example, does the staging now require additional seats to be killed or require an updated content warning?  Is a certain physical production line now going to cost more than anticipated due to changes made in rehearsal, and can you afford those changes?) In addition, you should read all meeting summaries, rehearsal reports and performance reports, not just the “producer” sections. You should address any items/questions directed to you as soon as possible, but you also need to be aware of everything that is going on in all departments so that you are well-informed and can anticipate potential problems.

TICKETING & SEATING ARRANGEMENT

The Company Manager is the point of contact between the production and Lenfest Front of House on ticketing for the production, but they will be getting their directives from you, the producer.  Of the students working on the production, the producer has the final say in all ticketing decisions including holds, releases, etc. 

Early on in production meetings, once the scenic design is finalized, we need to finalize the seating arrangement for the production.  The default seating arrangement is 99 seats.  If you would like to kill or block any of those seats, or move any seats from their default position, those conversations need to happen with production management and need to be approved by the Lenfest team.

Things to think about when it comes to seating: 

1. We must have at minimum 4 ADA seats, and 4 companion seats in the first row (floor level) per NYC fire code.  This is non-negotiable.  Additional seats beyond those 8 can be killed if necessary.
2. Look at the default seating arrangement.  If you plan to have performers or the sound board in an area that currently has seats, you may need to kill some of those seats, or request to move them to a different position.
3. Do you need any blocked seats?  A blocked seat is a seat that is physically in the house, but cannot be sat in by an audience member, or a seat that you are considering killing, but haven’t made the final call yet.  A blocked seat is separate from a killed seat. 

Overselling:

1. Because tickets to all shows at Lenfest are free, we end up with a high “no-show” rate for the majority of our productions.  In order to circumvent this no-show rate and attempt to get as many people in the door to see your show, we usually “oversell” each performance by 10 tickets (i.e., 10 tickets above the actual seating capacity).  Even with the oversell, shows often sell out in advance and a standby list is generated before each performance.  Any tickets which are not picked up 15 minutes prior to the scheduled start time are released to the standby line.  Even with the oversell policy and standby list, we very rarely turn anyone away.

Ticketing Release: 

1. The ticketing link will be available to your cast and creative team 2 days before it goes live to the public.  The Company Manager will send it out to your full cast and creative team.  If you want that ticket release dealt with differently (i.e., you know the show will be popular and you want to limit the number of tickets cast and creative can book in this pre-release period) then speak with your Company Manager, the Thesis Production Manager, and the Lenfest Audience Services team prior to this ticket release date.
2. By default you will have 20 production holds set aside in your inventory.  You will work with the company manager to approve requests to assign these holds and/or release these holds into general admission.  The Company Manager will be the one who communicates these releases and changes, but they should be receiving those decisions from you, the Producer.
3. You are required to keep 2 production holds for all performances that can be used in emergency situations. 
4. You will also work with the Company Manager to manage the VIP/Industry ticket list.  The Thesis Operations Manager will supply you with the Industry/VIP request form. 

TECH PROCESS

The Producer should attend as much of the tech process as possible (remembering that class takes priority). 

There is a Production Meeting at the conclusion of each night of tech.  The producer should always be in attendance for this meeting, ideally in person, but if not, you should make arrangements with the Thesis Production Manager to call into the meeting.  These meetings take place after classes have ended for the day, so there shouldn’t be a reason to ever miss these meetings.  If you do have a class conflict that conflicts with the meeting, please alert the Production Manager ahead of time. 

Many times decisions need to be made during tech that impact the budget and require producer approval.  The producer needs to be available to take part in those conversations and approve those decisions.  

FINAL INVITED DRESS & PRODUCTION PHOTOS

The day before opening the production will have its final dress.  This dress rehearsal is photographed by a professional photographer.  Please work with the director to compile any information the photographer should know going into that dress (i.e., important parts you don’t want them to miss).  There are no setups permitted; all photos are taken during the run, so please communicate clearly with the photographer prior to the run. 

In addition, up to 10 guests (not including CU Staff) can attend the run.  Please work with the Company Manager to manage that invite list.  Those 10 names need to be submitted to the Thesis Production Manager no later than 10 am on the day before the final dress.  Guests will need to have a government issued ID to enter the building.  Please note that there is no front of house team for the invited dress, so it is up to the producer and company manager to manage those 10 guests. 

OPENING & PERFORMANCES

The producer should be at all performances to work with the front of house team in managing the VIP list.  Usually, the producer is stationed downstairs with the front of house team to greet VIPs.  If you are giving something out to the VIPs, the producer would be the person to do this.  You are not required to have a VIP list. 

The Producer will also work with the Company Manager to ensure programs are ready, if you are handing out physical copies of the program.  The Company Manager will be in the lobby with the front of house team to manage the overall invite list.  

WORKING WITH THE COMPANY MANAGER

The producer and company manager need to work together closely throughout the process.  Please review the Company Manager job description so that you understand what they are responsible for.

CLOSING THE BUDGET & REIMBURSEMENTS

After the production closes, the producer needs to work with the Thesis Production Manager to close out the budget (i.e., finalize the production statement).  Any remaining reimbursements should be submitted as soon as possible so that they can be reflected in the final report.  The Thesis Production Manager will ask you to review the final allocation of expenses, and confirm that the report ready to be finalized.

Once the production expenses have been finalized, the Producer(s) need to submit a final financial statement to the TMP faculty including a narrative explaining overages and savings in individual budget lines, if applicable.  

Please note that scenic and costume expense totals are usually not available until after the production has closed.  You should always assume that scenic and costumes will spend their entire budget, do not plan to take money from their budget lines to reallocate to different departments while in production, unless there has been a conversation with that department and the Thesis Production Manager.  Final scenic and costume numbers are usually available a few weeks after the production has closed.  

PETTY CASH

Petty cash can be floated by Production Management to make in person purchases.  This money is given out by either the Thesis Production Manager or the Director of Production.

Petty cash can be given to you in cash, or through a Venmo or Zelle transfer.  Regardless of how the money was transferred, all purchases made with petty cash must be paid for IN CASH.  Any purchase paid by credit card will need to go through a lengthy reimbursement process.  

Petty cash is the responsibility of the person who received it.  If money is lost, misplaced, or if items are bought without a receipt, it will be the responsibility of the person who was given the cash to reimburse those missing funds.  

IMPORTANT: All petty cash purchases must be made using the Columbia tax exempt form.  There are no exceptions to this rule. If the vendor you are buying from will not accept the sales tax exemption form, you need to find an alternate vendor who will, or you can cover the cost of the sales tax out of your fundraising budget, if you fundraised.  Sales tax cannot be paid for using petty cash, and sales tax included in purchases needs to be returned as unspent petty cash. 

All petty cash receipts should be uploaded using this form.  Please upload receipts as soon as possible, ideally right when the purchase is made.  Do not wait until you finish using all the petty cash to upload receipts. 

Company Manager Work Flow 

A printable and downloadable copy of this workflow is linked here.  It is also exactly duplicated below.  Please access this information in whatever way is most supportive to you.

INTRODUCTION

These roles are assigned for 1st Year Crew Assignment, a graduation requirement. They are typically filled by TMP students only. Upon assignment, the Company Manager receives their roles & responsibilities from the Thesis Production Manager.

Reports to: Thesis Operations Manager and Producer(s)

Receives support and guidance from: Director of Production, Thesis Production Manager, Thesis Operations Manager, Lenfest FOH Staff, Theatre Program Manager of Academic Administration, CU Marketing Team, faculty.

Schedule: Attend production meetings if class schedule allows, first tech rehearsal, final dress, and no later than 90 minutes prior to all performances.

General Duties:

1. Read the play.

2. First Rehearsal: Company Manager attends the first rehearsal to meet the cast, distribute any info needed, and, in collaboration with the Stage Manager, collect Photo Releases.

3. Production Meetings: The Company Manager should attend Production Meetings as available (classes take priority) or watch recordings that are provided by Production Management. 

4. FOH/Ticketing Meeting: Attend a scheduled DT FOH/Ticketing Meeting with Thesis Operations Manager, Lenfest FOH /Audience Services, and Producer(s) to discuss ticketing and FOH details for the production.

5. Marketing and Playbill Copy:  

The company manager will collect creative team bios, actor bios, actor headshots, special thanks, director/dramaturg note, content warning, and land acknowledgment preference for marketing and playbill. The company manager should preemptively proofread and edit all content to ensure correct spelling, grammar, and style. This information is collected and submitted via the Marketing and Playbill Copy located in the DT drive. 

1. A sample program can be found here.
2. The program style guide can be found here
3. A sample Marketing and Program Copy can be found here.

Note: The form is now divided into two separate documents, each with its own deadline. The first document, for initial marketing purposes, falls under the Producer(s)’ jurisdiction. The second section, for Program purposes, is entirely under the Company Manager’s jurisdiction.

• Here is a sample Company Manager Intro Email

6. Playbill:
   1. Once the completed Marketing and Playbill copy are submitted, the Company Manager will receive the Playbill copy from CU Marketing Team. The Company Manager should proofread this and then take into the first tech rehearsal (Friday) to get sign-offs from Cast/Creative. The playbill can be left over the weekend and picked back up on the Sunday of Tech. Please ensure the entire company has signed off on the playbill before submitting final edits.
   2. Prior to opening night, coordinate with the Producer(s) and the Manager of Academic Administration on the printing and delivery of playbills.
      1. The standard format is digital playbills, along with 25 standard-print playbills and 3 large-print accessible versions that are available to guests upon request. Please confirm with your Producer(s) if any additional printed playbills are needed and coordinate with the Manager of Academic Administration to arrange for extra copies, if necessary.
      2. It is the Company Manager’s responsibility to fold and/or staple all playbills prior to dropping off with the FOH team.

Note: In addition to the Playbill, the Company Manager is also responsible for proofreading all marketing materials for the production. This includes SOA E-Blasts, drafts of which will be sent to the Company Manager, Producer(s), and Thesis Operations Manager(s) for approval.

Front of House and Box Office Duties:

1. Ticketing form: In collaboration with the Producer(s) and Thesis Operations Manager, the Company Manager fills out this form for their show. Lenfest Front of House / Audience Services will set a date by which this form must be completed. 

Note: The Ticketing Form is broken down later in this document.

2. Updating Production Holds / Blocked Seats: In collaboration with the Producer(s) and Thesis Operations Manager, the Company Manager will continuously update the Ticketing form and tag Front of House / Audience Services Manager with any changes to the production holds or blocked seats.
3. Production Holds: The standard is to set aside 20 production holds per night to be used for cast/crew comp requests, industry VIP requests, and day-of emergency tickets.
   1. Company Manager should maintain communication with the Producer(s) and Thesis Operations Manager in controlling inventory and communicate with FOH/Audience services when holds need to be released.
   2. In the event of a University VIP (e.g. the Dean), a production hold may be assigned to them by Lenfest, the Director of Production, the Thesis Production Manager, etc. In such instances, the CM and Producer(s) will be informed of the VIP and production hold assignment. 

Note: The majority of your production holds should be released by the Monday of your performance week. Company Managers are required to retain two (2) production holds for each performance to accommodate any last-minute needs, at the discretion of the Company Manager and Producer(s).

2. Blocked Seats: It is standard to have three designated blocked seats to allow for adjustments required by the show’s design and direction. The Company Manager is responsible for maintaining communication with the Producer(s) and Director if any changes to ticket inventory are necessary. Common examples of blocked seats include seats that actors sit in during the show. Some blocked seats may eventually be removed (see below). In this case, the seats should be removed from the overall show inventory rather than left as blocked seats.
    
3. Killed Seats: Killed seats are seats that have been physically removed from the house to accommodate the needs of a show. They should be removed from the overall show inventory.
    
4. ADA Seats: By law, we are required to maintain 4 ADA positions for each performance. Therefore, the first row includes 4 wheelchair positions that cannot be removed. In order to meet ADA requirements, these wheelchair positions must be in the first row (as it is the only accessible row). Directors will often request striking chairs from the front row. However, these positions must be kept. At the discretion of the House Manager and Audience Services Manager, unused ADA positions may be converted into GA seating prior to curtain. Note that the 4 ADA positions take up the space of 6 GA seats.
5. Leap: The Company Manager will receive login information for Leap from the Lenfest Front of House Staff. The Thesis Operations Manager and Lenfest FOH Staff will assist in training the Company Manager on the platform. The duties on Showclix include:
   1. Processing production holds and VIP/Industry tickets.
   2. Checking ticket inventories daily for accuracy, potential duplicates, and ADA/VIP requests.
   3. Communicating with your Thesis Operations Manager if any changes to inventories need to be made. 

Note: The Company Manager’s Showclix access is limited to processing orders and does not have access to cancel/adjust orders. If an order needs to be adjusted, please communicate with the Thesis Operations Manager via email. 

4. Comp Tickets: All tickets are free; however, “comp” tickets are managed by the Company Manager for additional cast or team needs for performances that have “sold out” on the general sale website. Requests must be submitted via the Comp Form, which is created and managed by the Company Manager. Comps will not be issued if tickets remain available through the general online ticketing link. All comps are subject to availability and Producer(s) approval, are not guaranteed, and must be requested at least 48 hours before the desired performance. Approved comps will be fulfilled from the Production Holds inventory. Please save the Comp Form and the corresponding responses sheet in the “Marketing/Ticketing” folder of the provided DT/AT Google Drive folder.
   1. Here is a sample Comp Request form
5. VIP/Industry Tickets: The Theatre Office will send invitations on behalf of the show to the Industry email list. The Thesis Operations Manager will create the Industry Reservations Form ahead of time and share it with the Theatre Office / Manager of Academic Administration for distribution. It is the Company Manager’s responsibility to continuously monitor, fulfill, and send emails with pdf confirmations to VIP/Industry guests who submit a ticket reservation. The Industry Request Form and Response Sheet can be found in the corresponding DT/AT Google Drive folder. The date of the Industry Email Blast can be found in the Theatre Season Detailed Marketing Calendar, which is linked in the “Link to Marketing Calendar” tab of the Thesis Production Dates and Deadlines document.
   1. Here is a sample Comp Confirmation Email
6. Distributing Ticketing Link and Comp Request Form to Cast and Creative Team: It is standard to share the ticket link with your company 48 hours prior to the General On Sale Date so that they have a chance to reserve tickets first. This is also the time to send the Comp Request Form and explain the purpose and policies regarding comp tickets. Please confirm with your Producer(s) ahead of time and confirm any changes with Lenfest Front of House/Audience Services. The dates for sharing the ticketing link with the Cast and Creative Team and the General On Sale Date can be found in the Theatre Season Detailed Marketing Calendar.

Note: It is highly recommended that cast and crew book their tickets during the advanced ticketing link. All team members who plan to watch the show must have a ticket, which they should acquire through the general ticketing link whenever possible. We do not automatically hold production seats for team members. 

• Here is a sample Company Advance Ticketing + Comp Form email

1. Confirm with Faculty about Ticket Needs: It is the Company Manager’s responsibility to reach out to the corresponding faculty (ie. DT - Directing faculty, AT - Acting faculty, and TMP faculty) to process their tickets. Faculty are treated as our ultimate VIP’s and require a personal email and follow ups to ensure their tickets are processed. Each ticket is processed via ShowClix and a pdf confirmation is sent to each faculty member. Their name is then added to the VIP list. (more on this later).
   1. Here is a sample Faculty Ticket email

Directing Faculty

Anne Bogart- [email protected]

Brian H. Kulick- [email protected]

Katherine Wilkinson - [email protected]

Acting Faculty

James Calleri- [email protected]

Peter J. Fernandez- [email protected]

Sita Mani- [email protected]

Scott Whitehurst- [email protected]

Elizabeth A. Hayes- [email protected]

Julian Abelskamp - [email protected]

Tina Benko - [email protected]

Jenn Colella - [email protected]

(Bertha) Bertie Ferdman - [email protected]

Jacqueline Holloway - [email protected]

Ralf Jean-Pierre - [email protected]

Kelly Maurer - [email protected]

Corinna May - [email protected]

Jean McClelland - [email protected]

Shanga Parker - [email protected]

Will Rhem Jr. - [email protected]

Rafi Silver - [email protected]

Danielle Skraastad - [email protected]

Ron Van Lieu - [email protected]

Shira Lee Shalit - [email protected]

Producing Faculty

Steven Chaikelson - [email protected]

Victoria Bailey - [email protected]

Sample Email: Faculty Tickets

8. Final Dress/Headshot Display and Content Warnings: On the day of final dress rehearsal, the Company Manager is responsible for preparing the headshot board and displaying the content warnings in the Lenfest lobby, as well as welcoming invited guests.
   1. Collecting Headshots: 8x10 headshots are collected from the actors or, alternatively,  printed with designated funds from the production budget. Please coordinate with your Producer(s) ahead of time to ensure funds are available for this.
   2. Content Warnings: If applicable, four content warning signs should be printed and displayed in the lobby of Lenfest. FOH can print these warning signs if sent ahead of time via email to Lenfest Audience Services (@[email protected]).
   3. Invited Guests: The production is allowed to invite up to 10 guests to final dress. The Company Manager is responsible for creating and updating the guest list, welcoming those guests upon arrival, and directing them to the theatre.

NOTE: The Thesis Operations Manager will be on site to guide the Company Manager 

on the day of final dress. 

9. Pre-Show Communications: The Company Manager will confirm the VIP list prior to each performance in collaboration with the Producer(s), Director, and Thesis Operations Manager. The finalized VIP list for each performance must be sent to FOH/Audience Services at least four hours before the performance. The Company Manager is responsible for creating the VIP list by compiling names from the industry VIP form, faculty tickets, and any other individuals designated by the Producer(s) and Director.
10. Daily Ticketing Updates: Beginning no later than 2 weeks before opening, the Company Manager sends a Daily Ticketing Update to ensure that everyone is aware of current ticketing inventories.
    1. Here is a sample Daily Ticketing Update
    2. Here is a sample email for sending Daily Ticketing Updates
    3. Daily Ticketing Updates should be sent to:
       1. Corrie Beth Knott, Director of Production - [email protected]
       2. Brendan J. O’Brien, Thesis Production Manager - [email protected]
       3. Steven Chaikelson, TMP Concentration Head - [email protected]
       4. Victoria Bailey, TMP Faculty - [email protected]
       5. Brissa Lopez, Co-Operations Manager - [email protected]
       6. Seth Pecore,Co-Operations Manager - [email protected]
       7. Producer(s) (show specific)
       8. Director (show specific)
       9. PSM (show specific)
11. Box Office Reports: Lenfest Front of House generates attendance and event wrap-up reports – (Note: reports can only be generated once patrons have begun registering). However, the Company manager prepares and distributes the Box Office report after each performance.
    1. Here is a sample Box Office Report.
    2. Here is a sample email for sending Box Office Reports.
    3. Box Office reports should be sent to:
12. Corrie Beth Knott, Director of Production - [email protected]
13. Brendan J. O’Brien, Thesis Production Manager - [email protected]
14. John M Hass, Director of Academic Administration - [email protected]
15. Kanika, Manager of Academic Administration - [email protected]
16. Brian Kulick, Chair of the Theatre Program and Directing Concentration Head - [email protected]
17. Anne Bogart, Directing Concentration Head - [email protected]
18. Steven Chaikelson, TMP Concentration Head - [email protected]
19. Victoria Bailey, TMP Faculty - [email protected]
20. Producer(s) (show specific)
21. Director (show specific)
22. PSM (show specific)

Note: The Thesis Operations Manager will be present on opening night and closing night to show the Company Manager how to prepare the first and last Box Office Reports.

12. No-Show Reporting: To help keep no-shows to a minimum, please report any current Columbia Student ticket no-shows (i.e. no-show reservations with a CU email address) to the Director of Production, Thesis Production Manager, Director of Academic Administration, Manager of Academic Administration, TM&P Concentration Head, and Chair of the Theatre Program. To do so, these can be listed in the “No-Show” section of each day’s box office report.

Performance Duties

The Company Manager should be present at least 90 minutes before curtain for each performance (classes take priority). 

1. Assuring, along with the Producer(s), that the playbills for the entire run are printed and delivered to Lenfest, prior to Opening.
2. Prior to each performance, the Box Office Manager and Company Manager will go over the registration list to confirm the following:
   1. Which production team members are sitting in the house, paying special attention to identifying anyone in the house prior to house opening who has not checked in.
   2. Going over any VIPs expected at that performance and identifying any VIPs that may need reserved seating.
   3. Any new cancellations or name changes for Production Hold tickets.
   4. Confirm late seating policies specific to the show.
3. The Company Manager will ensure that the lobby headshot display is set up and that there is a sufficient supply of playbills.
4. The Company Manager will ensure reserved signs are posted in the house prior to house opening, if applicable (reserved signs available from Lenfest House Management upon request).
5. The Company Manager will sit at the Box Office desk and assist the Lenfest team with checking in patrons on Showclix. Please note that no food or drink is permitted at the Box Office desk.
6. The Company Manager is responsible for welcoming VIPs with extra attention and support for their arrival and seating.
7. The Company Manager will be a Theatre Program representative during House Open through late seating.

Note: The Company Manager is typically permitted to leave once late seating has ended and the Box Office Report has been sent.

DT/AT Checklist:

In collaboration with the Thesis Operations Manager, each CM will create a DT/AT Checklist and use it to stay on track throughout the process. The DT/AT Checklist is simply a consolidation of all of the tasks and duties outlined in this document, as well as the deadlines outlined in the Thesis Productions Dates & Deadlines document. It serves as a quick reference guide, as well as a way for the Thesis Operations Manager to track CM progress. However, the DT/AT Checklist is not a substitution for this workflow; for detailed explanations on policies and practices, always reference this CM Workflow document. Here is a sample DT/AT Checklist.

The Lenfest Front of House and Ticketing Workflow

Lenfest Center for the Arts hosts many varied arts presentations and events throughout the year, not just for the theatre program. The policies they have in place around Front of House and Ticketing reflect their, and our, priorities of ensuring a positive experience for patrons of all the events happening at Lenfest, and maximizing the number of people who see the Theatre Program’s performances.

Who’s Who in the Lenfest Ticketing Workflow:

The team is made up of the following people:

Audience Services Manager

Front of House Staff

Co-Operation Thesis Managers

Company Manager

Producer(s)

Marketing Team (SOA Communications Office)

The Ticketing Form:

The first information Front of House needs is the information found on the Ticketing Form. This includes everything from the name of the show, to the dates of the performances, to show-specific late seating policies. 

Below is a breakdown of important sections of the Ticketing Form along with key terms.

Ticketing Overview

• Total Capacity: This is the total number of seats that exist in the audience. By default this is 94 seats.
• Blocked Seats: These are seats that cannot be sold because they are in use by the production (e.g. a performer sits there during the show).
• Production Holds: These are tickets the show is not releasing to the general public. These tickets can be used for VIPs, Industry, friends/family, creative team members sitting in the house, or other important people who were unable to get tickets through General Admission. By default, the production holds are set at 20. It is the responsibility of the Company Manager to inform Front of House when they would like to release their unused holds for general admission (more on that in Maximizing Attendance). Broadly, it is best to have most people book directly through General Admission before using Production Holds. It is also recommended that Company Management keep a pair of Production Holds available for each performance as insurance for a VIP arriving without a ticket.
• ADA Seats: 4 ADA seats are required in the 1st row to be in compliance with NYS code. These may be released to audience members in the standby line prior to curtain by the House Manager and Audience Services Manager.
• Seating Chart: A seating chart with all seating options available can be found here.

Seating 

• Seating Configuration: Typically, this line doesn’t change, unless specific approval has been granted for seating on the side balcony or on the stage.
• Pre-Show Preference: Patrons may either enter from the 4th floor or the 5th floor. ADA always enters from the 4th floor to access the first row. Since the restrooms are on the 4th floor, FOH will default to having patrons enter there if no preference is indicated.
• Late Seating: This is where the show can indicate their late seating preference (Yes/No, when it will happen, where seats will be held). 

Show Specific Inventories - Releasing Production Holds

One the right hand side of the Ticketing Form is a breakdown of the ticket inventories for each specific performance. As you release holds into general admission, please update these inventories. You no longer need to send a separate email to Lenfest requesting these changes. For Directing Theses, the Company Manager should be the one updating these inventories.  For the New Plays Festival, the NPF General Manager, in concert with the Producer(s), should be updating these inventories.

IMPORTANT: Whenever you update this sheet, make a comment on at least one of the cells you edited and tag Dawn Clements (@[email protected]), Ethan Caso ([email protected]), and Lenfest Audience Services (@[email protected]). This will notify them to let them know something has changed. While the Lenfest Box Office will be closely watching these sheets, a quick notification helps ensure things happen promptly. They also can mark the comment as resolved to verify that the updates have been done

Leap:

Lenfest uses Leap (previously Showclix) as their box office system. Training will be provided by the Lenfest FOH Team on how to use this system. Training will be scheduled by the Lenfest FOH Team and the Thesis Operations Manager.

How to assign a name to a Production Holds ticket:

• When you log into Showclix, at the top of the screen you will see an option for “Box Office”.
• Once In Box Office, you will see a list of all the upcoming events at Lenfest. Scroll down and select the event you are looking for. In our example, this is “When the Rain Stops Falling.”
• Choose the date of the performance you are making the reservation for. If there is more than one show that day, the next screen will allow you to select the time.
• Click the + under “Production Holds” to add a ticket from that inventory. You’ll see it added to the right side of the screen. (The system will not let you add more than 2 at a time.)
• Click “Checkout”
• On the next screen, you can add the name of the individual who the ticket is for. You should also update the Payment Method to “Comp” if it is not already set.
• Hit “Complete Order”.

Helpful Tips on Maximizing Attendance

We want as many people to see your work as possible. In pursuit of this goal, there are a couple Lenfest Box Office policies you should be aware of, and some recommended strategies.

Lenfest Policies:

1. Up to two tickets per person.
2. Every ticket should have a name attached to it whenever possible. 

These two policies are closely related. Columbia thesis productions are free to all, which is fantastic in terms of making theatre accessible to everyone. However, the downside is that we have a very high rate of people reserving tickets and then not showing up to the shows. This creates “false sell outs” where a show looks like it’s sold out online, so people don’t come to try and get walk-up tickets, but at curtain we still have plenty of seats open.

To try and reduce this issue, Lenfest sets up the ticketing system so that no one can reserve more than two tickets at a time. If a patron needs more than two tickets, they can do as many transactions as they like, provided they list a new name on each ticket. When there are multiple tickets under the same name, the Company Manager should reach out to that person to ensure they are actually using all the tickets and didn’t accidentally reserve multiple times. 

These policies have been quite successful. We still have a fair number of no-shows, but it is far less than when we used to allow patrons to book as many tickets as they wanted without telling us who was coming. 

A common question we get is regarding industry and VIP plus ones. It’s nice to offer industry a second seat, though you may not know who they are bringing, and it can be awkward to ask. The way to navigate this is when the Company Manager inputs the industry ticket as part of the production holds, list the name on one ticket (“Agent McTheatre”) and the name +1 on the other (“Agent McTheatre’s +1”). It’s good practice to give Front of House a heads up when you do this. That way they know the second ticket isn’t a duplicate. (It is always better if you have the actual name of the plus one)

Strategies:

1. Don’t hold on to extra unused production holds. There is sometimes a desire to hold onto tickets because of what ifs. What if all the designers want to see the same show? What if Producer Fancypants arrives unannounced with three guests? While it is good practice to hold a pair of tickets as insurance, we encourage you to limit yourself to the number of production holds you’ll actually use. That way, we can increase the number of tickets available online to the general public. This helps prevent “false sell-outs” that discourage people from walking up. If Producer Fancypants does arrive with an entourage, we and the Lenfest FoH Team will work to find a solution in the moment. We may be able to give them priority for standby tickets. We may be able to add a seat or two to the house. In general, giving tickets to people you know will be there ahead of time is a better way to fill a house than anticipating people who have not confirmed their attendance.
   
    
2. Allow late seating if possible. People show up late for shows all the time. The trains might be delayed, there are all kinds of reasons. While every show needs a cutoff moment when late seating is no longer allowed, finding a moment or two at the beginning of the show people can surreptitiously slip in is useful. The best way to handle late seating is to have several chairs labeled “reserved” in the last row. Then, at the predetermined moment (usually called by the SM), the ushers can quietly lead any late audience members in through the 5th floor to the back of the house.
   
   If no late seating policy is defined by the show, the Front of House staff default to trying to fill any seats they can see are open in the audience. This may result in the ushers bringing audience members in at times that are less than ideal, so be communicative about how and when late seating should happen.
   
    
3. Keep Front of House in the loop. The more they know, the more they can help collaborate on any solutions that may be necessary.

Congratulations you have made it through the Company Manager Workflow! As a reminder your Thesis Operations Manager is here to answer your questions and guide you through the process as they oversee your contribution to the production. 

Reports to: Thesis Production Manager, Director

Receives support and guidance from: Director of Production, Thesis Operations Manager, Lenfest FOH Staff, Faculty.

Schedule: Required at production meetings (both with and without Columbia production staff, classes take priority), tech rehearsals, final dress, and all performances. 

General Duties

• Thoroughly reading and understanding the thesis handbook.
• Ensuring Lenfest Center for the Arts Rules; School of the Arts Rules; Theatre Program/Production Department Guidelines, Rules, and Regulations; & NY Laws are followed.
• Collaborating with the director, all creative team members, and Columbia production staff to help successfully achieve the production vision.
• Reviewing scripts and/or monitor devised text in order to develop standard production paperwork.
• Facilitating communication between all departments.
• Identifying and troubleshooting potential production issues.
• Acting as executive-in-charge of all pre-production deliverables (see below), rehearsals, and performances.
• Maintaining artistic integrity of performances to ensure quality control over the course of the run.
• Conducting themselves as leaders in accordance with generally accepted professional standards of conduct.
• Demonstrating ability to accept and incorporate constructive criticism from the Columbia production staff and concentration advisors at various times through the process in an effort to assess progress.
• As facilitator for all protocols, stage managers who are meet with any resistance from any member of the production team (students, staff, faculty, administration, and any outside colleagues hired for the production), should immediately report such instances to their Concentration Head, the Director of Production, and the Director of Academic Administration for further counsel.

STAGE MANAGER WORKFLOW HANDBOOK

The Stage Manager Workflow Handbook is downloadable and printable.  It is also copied below for your connivence.  Please access it in whatever way is most supportive to you.  The information below and the downloadable handbook are 100% identical. 

STAGE MANAGER QUICK LINKS

• EXCEL SECURITY LIST TEMPLATE
• SECURITY LIST SUBMISSION FORM
• REHEARSAL HOURS CALCULATOR
• TRUCKING FORM

INTRODUCTION

This document is here to walk student stage managers through all the deliverables, deadlines, and policies related to being a Stage Manager on thesis-level productions at Lenfest Center for the Arts.  The information contained herein is primarily related to the role of PSM, who may assign some of the associated tasks to the supporting stage managers on their team.  This document does not replace the wiki, please be sure to read the wiki in addition to this document.  This document is meant to be a supplement to the wiki and a quick access guide throughout the process.  Links to the wiki documents are below for reference.

• DIRECTING THESIS WIKI
• ACTING THESIS WIKI
• NEW PLAYS FESTIVAL WIKI
• ACADEMIC WIKI

Anytime there are questions, or support is needed of any kind, please contact the Thesis Production Manager - Brendan O’Brien.  I am here to support and help make this process a success.  Don’t hesitate to text, call, or email pretty much anytime.  

Brendan O’Brien, Thesis Production Manager

Cell: 201-230-4082

Email: [email protected]

DELIVERABLES 

There are many deliverables throughout the process.  All of these have deadlines on the dates and deadlines document.  Below is information and guidelines for each of these deliverables.  

• Preliminary Paperwork

  • This is the basic prep paperwork for the production.  Whenever possible, we would like for this to be completed 2 weeks prior to the Policies and Procedures meeting.  This is so that you have a clear understanding of the production and its requirements going into this meeting, and also so that this paperwork is ready for designers to collaborate with as they start their design processes. 
    • If you are working on a show that is a new work (ie an original piece for a directing thesis, or a New Plays Festival show) you may not be able to have the script prep paperwork done by the Policies and Procedures meeting.  For new works, this paperwork can be done at a time in the process where it makes sense.  Work with the Thesis Production Manager and Stage Management faculty to set a deadline that works for your project and team.
  • Here is a list of documents that are expected as part of the preliminary paperwork:
    • Contact Sheet - including roles, names, emails, and phone numbers.  Please also include CU production staff on your contact sheet.  Leave blank any roles that aren’t filled or confirmed yet.
    • Character/Scene breakdown
    • Preliminary design lists for items referenced in the script (props, costumes, sound, scenic, lighting) - include page numbers for reference
    • PDF of Script - the Thesis Production Manager can help you get this if you don’t have one already 

• Production (Rehearsal) Calendar Draft

  • Work with your director to create a rehearsal calendar draft.  This can be submitted as a Google Sheet or Google Doc with the ability to add comments, please do not submit the version for review as a PDF (but the final version can be shared widely as a PDF).  Please be mindful of the Columbia scheduling rules when making this draft:
  • Rehearsal weeks are Monday - Sunday.  It may be helpful to format your calendar with Monday as the first day on the left, and Sunday as the last day on the right, though this is not required. 
  • Your entire rehearsal process, including tech, but not including performances, has maximum hours as detailed below:
    • Directing Thesis & New Plays Festival: Rehearses over a maximum of 5 weeks and you have a cap of 128 hours of rehearsal
    • Acting Thesis: rehearses over a maximum of 6 weeks and you have a cap of 156 hours of rehearsal
  • Your rehearsal start date is listed on the dates and deadlines document.  You can start later if you prefer, you cannot start earlier without special permission from production management.
  • You have a max of 28 rehearsal hours per week (remember a week is Mon-Sun).
  • During the week with your 8 out of 10 tech rehearsals, your weekly hours cap goes up to 33 hours for that week only.
  • You must have 1 full 24-hour day off each week Monday - Sunday and you cannot go more than 6 days between days off.
  • Each rehearsal day prior to tech can have a maximum of 6 hours of rehearsal time (not including the meal/rest break).
  • The rehearsal day shall begin with the individual's first call of the day. There shall be one full hour meal/rest break, after a maximum of five hours in said day.  This rule is in effect for everyone including the SM team and the director.
  • Onstage rehearsals cannot begin before 6:00 PM on weekdays.
  • Please pre-schedule your designer run into your production calendar (even if the date is tentative). 

  • When building your rehearsal calendar, you are welcome to use this rehearsal calendar hours calculator to help you track your total hours.  This document has been saved in your Google Drive for easy access.  You are not required to use this.

REHEARSAL HOURS CALCULATOR

• Security List

  • This document is used to communicate who is involved in your production to Production Management, so that we can add your team to the Master Security List for Lenfest Security.  Please use the linked document below to add people to the security list.  When adding new people, please resubmit this document with only the new people!  Please use the linked template to submit this information, do not reformat the document.
  • SECURITY LIST TEMPLATE - to use this template, please make a copy of the document and then follow the instructions in the document.
  • Please submit the security list using this submission form: SECURITY LIST SUBMISSION FORM 

• Illness/Safety Plan

  • We ask that each production prepare an Illness/Injury Safety Plan prior to beginning rehearsals. This plan can identify the following:
    • Any activities or moments in the show that would be high risk for the spread of an infectious disease (examples include close contact, kissing, shared food, etc.).
    • Any measures being taken by the company to mitigate those risks beyond what Columbia's own protocols require.
  • Additionally, as part of the Illness/Injury Safety Plan, the company can prepare a contingency plan for how the show would proceed in the event that one of the following occurs:
    • An actor, crew member, or creative team member falls ill during the rehearsal process.
    • An actor, crew member, or creative team member falls ill during or prior to tech.
    • An actor or crew member falls ill during or prior to a performance.
  • While we certainly hope that none of the above scenarios happen, having a plan in place in case they do is very helpful in providing a framework to work from in a time-pressured scenario.
  • Please save the illness/injury safety plan in your Google Drive and submit directly to the Thesis Production Manager via email. 

• Paperwork Formats for Approval 

  • Please submit your paperwork templates to Michael Passaro and Linda Marvel for approval, with Brendan O’Brien on copy.  This is due 1 week before rehearsals begin.  Please submit your templates for the following paperwork:
    • Daily Call
    • Weekly Schedule
    • Rehearsal Report
    • Performance Report
    • Any other paperwork templates you plan to use during your process

• Detailed Tech Schedule

  • Two weeks before tech, you are due to submit your finalized detailed tech schedule.  You can begin working on this approximately 3 weeks before tech so that it can be finalized by the deadline.
  • The tech schedule can be created in either Google Docs or Google Sheets with the ability to add comments and shared in this version.  CU Production Staff and Faculty will comment within the Google doc/sheet with edits and requested changes.  Do not submit this document as a PDF (but the final version can be shared widely as a PDF).
  • The tech process is templated to an extent, so there are some items that cannot change.  The start and end times of each tech day are pre-determined as follows:
    • Friday 6:00 PM - 11:00 PM
    • Saturday 12:00 PM - 10:00 PM (meal/rest break 4pm - 6pm)
    • Sunday 12:00 PM - 10:00 PM (meal/rest break 4pm - 6pm)
    • Monday OFF
    • Tuesday 6:00 PM - 11:00 PM
    • Wednesday 6:00 PM - 11:00 PM
  • When creating your tech schedule within the above parameters, please be sure to think about and address the following:
    • Specify the call time for stage managers each day.  Please note that 1st and 2nd year SMs cannot be called before 6:00 PM on weekdays, but they can choose to come earlier than their call time if they wish.
    • Specify the call time for crew each day.  Please note that the crew cannot be called prior to 6:00 PM on weekdays.
    • On the first day of tech, the first 20 minutes are required to be set aside for a meet and greet and safety walk through led by the Thesis Production Manager.
    • Specify a half hour call for actors to get into costume whenever necessary.
    • If using microphones, specify when sound check will happen.
    • If a fight or intimacy call is necessary, specify when it will happen. (As a recommendation, you often do not need to complete the full fight/intimacy call prior to cue to cue tech.  You will not hit all moments in each day, and it is often a better use of time to do the call for individual moments when you hit them during tech).
    • If you are doing an Acting Thesis, or a show that requires specific warm up time, please include that in the schedule.
    • Specify time at the end of each call for actors to get out of costume which is 10 minutes prior to end of day and prior to meal/rest breaks.
    • At the end of each tech day, please include the post-tech production meeting, which will begin 5 minutes after actors are dismissed to get out of costume and is led by the Thesis Production Manager.
  • As part of your tech schedule, you also need to include all performance calls.  When creating performance calls keep the following in mind:
    • Specify SM call time and crew call time (remembering 1st/2nd year SMs and crew cannot be called before 6:00 PM on weekdays).
    • Specify Actor call.  Please note that if actors want to arrive prior to their call time, the earliest they can arrive is the SM call time.  No actors are allowed in the dressing rooms prior to SM call time and actors do not have access to costumes until half hour (unless previously arranged with the costume shop)
    • I recommend (but not required) to specify when you will sweep/mop and when you will preset.
    • Specify when fight/intimacy call will happen when necessary
    • Specify when sound check will happen if necessary
    • Please note that the house must open 30 minutes prior to the performance start time, there are no exceptions.  Plan your pre-show calls so that everything can be safely completed prior to the half hour call.
  • There are sample tech schedules for each type of show linked below.  There is no need to copy this format, please format and create however you like, while keeping in mind the guidelines above.
    • Directing/Acting Thesis Sample Tech Schedule
    • New Plays Festival sample Tech Schedule
    • Sometimes Acting students may have classes that end late, which could result in the need to change the templated tech schedule if your crew includes 1st year actors.  If this is necessary, the Thesis Production Manager will let you know.  This is not necessary for Fall 2026.

• Entrance/Exit Plot

  • This is due no later than 2 days before tech begins and is created to aid the wardrobe staff in quick changes (and if you are using body mics, to aid the A2 backstage if you have one).  There are no format specifications, you can make this document however you like.  If you have questions about the best format to use, you can reach out to Stage Management Faculty or the Thesis Production Manager.

PRODUCTION MEETINGS

The Production Stage Manager is not required at all Production Meetings.  A list of required production meetings are detailed below.  

• If the PSM has a class conflict with a production meeting, please inform the Thesis Production Manager ASAP so that we can attempt to reschedule the meeting. 
• Please note that aside from class conflicts (which always take priority), production meetings need to be the priority for the PSM
• If the PSM is unable to attend a required production meeting, they must alert the Thesis Production Manager in advance that they will not be attending.  

REQUIRED PRODUCTION MEETINGS:

• Policies and Procedures Meeting
• Design Concepts Meeting
• Design Revisions Meeting
• Midway Design Meeting
• Production Resources Check In
• Pre-Tech Meeting

The PSM is always welcome to attend any other production meetings they like, but meetings outside of the list above are not required and the PSM is not expected to be in attendance.

PRODUCTION MEETING NOTES: 

• The PSM is required to take notes and distribute notes at all required production meetings.  Stage Management faculty requests that notes be taken by hand. AI note taking tools can be used as supporting resources to check your work if you like.
• Production Meeting notes need to be distributed no later than 24-hours after the meeting ends, though earlier is always better.
• The notes need to include a link to the Zoom recording of the meeting.  The Thesis Production Manager will send this link to you.  If you don’t have the link when you are ready to send the notes, ask the Thesis Production Manager for the link.
• At meetings where the PSM is not required to be in attendance the Thesis Production Manager will distribute notes from the meeting.  If the PSM has an approved conflict during a production meeting, please ask one of the Deck SMs to take notes.  If all Stage Managers have an approved conflict, then the Thesis Production Manager will take and distribute the notes.
  • Please note that the Thesis Production Manager will never distribute notes for a meeting that the PSM was required to be at, and was in attendance for.  It is the PSM’s responsibility to distribute notes for these meetings.

THE GOOGLE DRIVE

The Thesis Production Manager will create and share the show’s Google Drive with the PSM.  Once the PSM receives the Google Drive, they have complete control over the setup and oversight of their show’s google drive.  

The Thesis Production Manager will create three folders before sending the drive to the PSM - 

1. Marketing Folder - this will contain the Marketing Document, Playbill Document, and Creative Brief which are collaborated on between the director, producer, and CU staff.  The SM does not need to use this documents but they must remain available for your team members.
2. Producing Folder - this folder will contain the performance rights for your production.  Please feel free to read these over as it is useful to understand the restrictions and rules under which the show is operating for the underlying rights holder.
3. Costumes Folder - The costume shop has a very specific group of folders they use to track the show, so these folders are pre-created for each show.

• Everything else in the drive is up to the PSM to create, organize, and maintain.  Please create all the folders you need.
• Everything for the show needs to be saved in the Google Drive.  Documents distributed via email need to additionally be saved in the drive.  This is asked of everyone on the team including designers, director, etc.  If a completed document is created for the show, it needs to be saved in the Drive.
  • We ask that the designers and the director not create their own separate shared drives. 
• If you need any assistance with the Google Drive please ask the Thesis Production Manager.

REHEARSAL PROCESS

Booking Rehearsal Space & Rehearsal Schedule Changes

• After your rehearsal schedule is approved and finalized, the Thesis Production Manager will book your rehearsal space.  You do not need to request space through EMS for your primary rehearsal space each day.  (If you want to book a 2nd studio, you will need to request that weekly through EMS using the usual rehearsal request system).
• For Acting and Directing Thesis, most of your rehearsals most of your rehearsals will take place in BG2.  Any rehearsals that need to take place outside of BG2 will be booked into Nash in your preferred studio when available.  The sooner we finalize your rehearsal schedule, the sooner we can look in rehearsals space.
• For the New Plays Festival, BG2 is available on a first come, first serve basis.  All other shows will rehearse in Nash or Riverside.  The earlier you submit your rehearsal schedule, the more likely you are to get your preferred studio.
• VERY IMPORTANT NOTE: Changes to the rehearsal schedule in your primary space must be directly communicated to the Thesis Production Manager.  Any changes to start time, end time, canceling a rehearsal day, or adding a rehearsal day must be requested through the Thesis Production Manager.  It is not sufficient to make an update to your weekly schedule, distribute that, and assume you have communicated this change.  You must touch base directly with the Thesis Production Manager, and confirm this change before distributing it widely.  Changes to your schedule are not guaranteed and may take a few days to confirm.  Please communicate early and often!
• 2ND VERY IMPORTANT NOTE: If you run into an emergency situation where you need to make a last minute change to your rehearsal schedule, please text or call the Thesis Production Manager as soon as possible (even at night, and even on the weekend).  If you cannot get through, leave a voicemail and send a text.  This is so that the PM can then alert other staff who may be working only to support your rehearsal (most commonly the Lenfest Technical Supervisor). 

Lenfest Confirmed Schedule 

• Every Thursday starting 3 weeks before your rehearsal process begins, up until your final week of rehearsal, you will receive an email with the Lenfest Confirmed Schedule for the next 3 weeks. 
  • Please cross check this schedule with your rehearsal schedule and confirm its accuracy.  This is a very important step, because this schedule is the schedule that everyone in the building is working off of.  If there’s an error, and you don’t tell us, the rehearsal space will not be available when you expect it to be, or staff may be scheduled to support you at times when you are not there.  Do not skip this step of reviewing and cross checking this schedule - it is the production stage manager’s responsibility to make sure it is correct.

Reports Distro

• Please be sure to use the Reports Distro for your type of production when sending reports, daily calls, and weekly calls.  Each distro is linked below.  Please pay special attention to which emails are to be in the CC field and which emails are to be in the BCC field.  Do not BCC any emails that are not specified to be BCCed. 
• Starting with the first onstage rehearsal, please add the lighting programmer, and A/V SSP student to the daily calls and reports.  Contact info will come from the Thesis Production Manager.
• Please be sure that the run crew is added to the daily calls starting with the first day of tech.
  • Directing Thesis Distro
  • Acting Thesis Distro
  • New Plays Festival Distro

Reports and Calls Distribution Timing

• We ask that rehearsal reports be sent as soon after rehearsal ends as is reasonable, and no later than 9:00 AM the day after the rehearsal ends.
• We ask that all daily calls be sent after the previous rehearsal ends, at the earliest reasonable time.  The daily call must always be sent no less than 12 hours before the first call of the day, although earlier is always preferred. 

Rehearsing in BG2

• Unlike Nash and Riverside, when you rehearse in BG2 you have a studio lockout.  What this means is that you do not need to reset the room each day.  You can leave your rehearsal setup as you like it, you will be the only production rehearsing in the room during your rehearsal process.
• A Technical Supervisor (TS) from Lenfest must be present for all rehearsals and performances at Lenfest. The Technical Supervisor will do the following:
• The TS will be there to open/unlock the spaces and close up at the end of the rehearsal / performance.
• They will also be there to help answer questions and address in-the-moment needs related to facility issues.
• The TS on duty each day will have their contact information posted on the whiteboards in BG2 (the rehearsal studio) and the theater shop.
• Please note that there is no rehearsal allowed in any hallways or in the break room on the C level of Lenfest.
• The cast and creative team are welcome to use the break room on the C level on Lenfest, but please abide by all rules written on the door including leaving the door open and not rehearsing.  This break room is available to everyone working in the building including facilities, security, etc.
• Stage Managers have swipe access to the copier/printer on floor 2.  If you have issues with access, let the Thesis PM know.  SMs can use a USB drive to print using this printer.  The Technical Supervisor can also assist with printing needs, and the Thesis Production Manager can print documents for the SM team prior to rehearsal when asked.
• Please note that facilities does not clean BG2.  It is the responsibility of the SM team to sweep and mop the studio as necessary.  Please use water only when mopping.  The Technical Supervisor can give you access to a mop as needed.  Please put your trash can outside the studio at the end of each night to be emptied by facilities. 

Taping out the Studio

• On your first day of rehearsal in Lenfest (or prior to, when scheduling allows) the SM team can come in to tape out the studio.  Please schedule time to tape out with the Thesis Production Manager.
• The Thesis Production Manager will supply you with scale rulers, printed ground plans to scale, and an annotated ground plan to scale.  If you would like the ground plan annotated differently, or printed differently, ask the Thesis PM.
• Spike tape and gaff tape is available in the storage room within BG2.  If you need additional tape ask the Thesis PM.
• If you need assistance in taping or have any questions please ask the Thesis PM. 

First Day of Rehearsal 

• The Thesis Production Manager will make best efforts to join you for the beginning of your first rehearsal.  If your first rehearsal is on the weekend, or overlaps with a tech rehearsal, this may not be possible.  The Thesis PM will also usually join you on your first day in BG2 (which may or may not be your first day of rehearsal) to go over rules and policies for working in BG2.
• There are a few things to keep in mind for the first rehearsal:
  • Scripts and Scores: If you don’t distribute scripts (and scores when applicable) prior to your first rehearsal, please be ready to distribute scripts on your first rehearsal.  If you are using rental materials please carefully track who is given what, as you will need to collect all these materials at the end of the production to be returned.  If you are unsure if materials are rentals, ask the Thesis PM.
  • Emergency Info: Please collect Emergency Contact Info, allergies, etc from each member of your company and keep on file throughout the production.
  • Waiver/Release Form: These are the responsibility of the Company Manager (not the PSM), but they may ask you for help in distributing the link. 
  • Nudity Forms: If your production requires nudity, the nudity form must be filed by the first day of rehearsal.
  • Performance Agreements & Hiring Paperwork: This is the responsibility of the producer (not the PSM) but they may ask for time to finish these documents at the top of rehearsal.
  • Costume Measurements: The Costume Shop Supervisor usually comes to do costume measurements on the first day of rehearsal.  Please touch base with the Costume Shop Manager prior to the first day to confirm when this will happen.  They will need to pull people from rehearsal one at a time to measure them, it usually takes around 10 minutes per person.  The cast needs to be told this is happening in advance, and there will be specific instructions from the Costume Shop Manager that need to be included in the daily call for the cast.

Rehearsal Report Notes 

• Please pay special attention to anything happening in rehearsal that may need to be communicated to Production Staff via the rehearsal reports.  Aside from usual rehearsal notes, here are a few things to pay special attention to:
  • Scenic pieces or props being used in a way they are not usually used - this is very important for the production staff to know as it may impact how they build items.  Err on the side of over communicating, if an item is used in a way that’s even a tiny bit out of the ordinary, err on the side of caution and include it in the report. 
  • Script changes on licensed shows - If your show is a licensed show (ie not an original work or a work in the public domain) there are very specific rules around changes to the script and property.  Please be sure to communicate all proposed changes as these need to be approved by the rights holder.  Withholding this information is never in service of the show.  Even if you believe you are protecting the director or creative team in keeping proposed changes to yourself, changes can result in the production being shut down by the rights holder.  Unauthorized changes to a show could also cause restrictions for future Columbia productions and could impact other students' options in the future.  In other words, it’s a big deal, and as the Stage Manager, it is your duty to report changes if they come up.  If you are uncomfortable putting proposed changes in the report, you can communicate them privately to Production Management or Stage Management faculty.
  • Notes of a Sensitive Nature: Please exclude any notes regarding interpersonal dynamics, conflicts, or an individual’s private circumstances from the rehearsal report. We ask that you prioritize confidentiality; if a specific matter feels delicate, trust your judgment and contact the Thesis Production Manager or Stage Management faculty via a private email or phone call instead.

Rehearsal Props & Costumes

• Rehearsal Props are the responsibility of the props designer.  Please communicate rehearsal needs in advance once you have them with your props designer.  Any props checked out of Production Resources need to be checked out with a PR appointment.  It is not the responsibility of the PSM or SM team to find rehearsal props, but it is your responsibility to communicate what you need in a timely manner.
• Rehearsal Costumes will be coordinated by the Costume Shop Manager when requested.  Please be sure to communicate these requests as early as possible and understand they may take a few business days to fulfill.
• Using Show Costumes in Rehearsal: Show costumes are not usually available for use in rehearsal.  Show costumes can only be used in rehearsal with the explicit permission of the Costume Shop Manager.  Do not remove costumes from the dressing rooms and bring down to rehearsal without permission. 

Special Notes for Musicals

• Band rehearsals, where only the band members are called, can be scheduled separately from regular acting rehearsals.  Band only rehearsals do not count towards your maximum 128 hours of rehearsal,  but do count towards your maximum of 28 hours per week.  Band rehearsals can be scheduled at the same time as an acting rehearsal, as long as you are able to secure a second rehearsal space. 
• Stage Managers are not required to attend band rehearsals, but a Columbia University representative is required to attend all band rehearsals (this is often the producer).
• If your production is utilizing a live band, you must schedule a sitzprobe or wandelprobe during one of your onstage rehearsal days prior to technical rehearsals beginning.  Your music director and sound designer can coordinate with the AV Supervisor on what you require for the sitzprobe or wandelprobe.  You will be given sound support for the sitzprobe, but not access to the full Lenfest sound system. 

Special Effects & Blood 

• Shows with blood, special effects, or very fast quick changes need to schedule a portion of their time on Tuesday or Wednesday immediately prior to tech beginning to test these effects/changes with the Production staff. A brief time spent earlier on these moments saves an enormous amount of time during tech rehearsals. Since every show is unique, please coordinate with the Production Staff as to the most efficient time to look at these. 

Fight Choreography and Weapon Usage

• If your production has staged violence, fight choreography or weapon usage, please be sure to thoroughly read the wiki pages on Stage Violence and Weapons. There is a large amount of information and policies that are important for the Stage Manager to understand.
• The Gun and Weapon Release form must be filled out and submitted before a weapon is used in the rehearsal room.
• Weapons need to be locked up when not in use.  There is a weapons locker backstage right at Lenfest which can be used.  The Thesis Production Manager can give you access to the locker.
• Adjunct Professor Jacqueline Holloway serves as the staged violence advisor for thesis productions. She can assist the creative team in defining how choreography will be approached in the production and deciding if the choreography in the piece would benefit from or require hiring a specific fight director or choreographer. (Please note that Jacqueline's schedule does not permit her to serve as the fight director in the rehearsal room, if one is needed.)
  • If your show does not have a fight director/choreographer and you feel the show would benefit from having one, please speak with Stage Management faculty and/or the Thesis Production Manager immediately.  We want to be sure that everyone is safe and your judgement as the stage manager is an important perspective in this situation.

Intimacy in Productions

• If your production has intimacy or nudity, please be sure to thoroughly read the wiki pages on Intimacy as there is a large amount of information and polices that are important for the Stage Manager to understand.
• Adjunct Professor Jacqueline Holloway serves as the intimacy advisor for thesis productions. She can assist the creative team in defining how the intimacy will be approached in the production and deciding if intimacy in the piece would benefit from or require hiring a specific intimacy director or choreographer. (Please note that Jacqueline's schedule does not permit her to serve as the intimacy director in the rehearsal room, if one is needed.)
  • If your show does not have an intimacy director and anyone on the production feels they would like to have a dedicated intimacy director, please speak immediately with Stage Management Faculty and/or the Thesis Production Manager so that we can assist with putting an intimacy director in place. 
• If your production has nudity, the nudity release form must be filed before any nudity happens in rehearsals. 
• The stage manager and intimacy director (if used) are the co-facilitators for all protocols relating to scenes with nudity and/or sexual content (including consensual sexual touching and sexual assault). At the first rehearsal, the stage manager will highlight the protocols to the company, and confirm that all members of the company have read, understood, and consented to this policy. In preproduction, the stage manager will enumerate the scenes with any potential nudity, sexual content, consensual sexual touching and/or sexual assault, and in the rehearsal room will work with the Intimacy Director to take down the choreography to ensure the choreography is repeated. Stage Management is responsible for letting the company know of nudity/sexual content in the rehearsal room at least 24 hours prior.
• As facilitator for these protocols, stage managers who meet with any resistance from any member of the production team (students, staff, faculty, administration, and any outside colleagues hired for the production), need to immediately report such instances to their Concentration Head and the Director of Academic Administration for further counsel.

Fight and/or Intimacy Calls

• Fight and/or Intimacy calls during rehearsals and production, must be run by Fight or Intimacy Captain in coordination with the Fight/Intimacy Director as available, and the Stage Manager.  The Stage Manager is responsible for keeping the room safe during these calls which includes messaging the need for the room to be quiet and focused on the call.  Conversations unrelated to the fight and/or intimacy call can be directed to happen outside of the room so that the fight or intimacy call remains safe and focused. 

Inclement Weather Policy

• If inclement weather occurs during/prior to a rehearsal or performance, please stay in close communication with the Thesis Production Manager and/or Director of Production (Corrie Beth Knott - [email protected]) about the status of any building closures. Final approval for any alteration of schedule is with the Thesis Production Manager/Director of Production.

Costume Fitting Scheduling

• The Stage Management team will manage the costume fitting schedule, in collaboration with the Costume Shop Manager. 
  • Fittings usually happen the week before onstage rehearsals begin.  Please be sure to coordinate with the Costume Shop Manager prior to this week to sort out what times are available for costume fittings.  Fittings are generally scheduled for 1 hour each but confirm all details with the Costume Shop Manager before starting the scheduling process.  
  • Coordinate with the cast to have everyone sign up for a costume fitting slot. 
  • Communicate these slots with the Costume Shop Manager.
  • Stage Managers are not expected or necessary to attend costume fittings. 

Trucking Form

• The Trucking Form is due the Thursday prior to Load In.  Please collaborate with the scenic designer, props designer, and director to ensure that everything you expect to be brought to Lenfest is on this list.  If something is missing from the list, it will not arrive at Lenfest.  The trucking form is a shared responsibility of the people listed above.

Last Day in Studio

• On your last day of rehearsal in the studio before moving to the stage, please complete the following:
  • If rehearsing in BG2 please be sure that all pieces that need to be moved to the theater are gathered together in the corner of the studio by the door.  Please also include a list of all items that need to go up to the theater in the rehearsal report in the Scenic section.
  • If rehearsing in Nash, pack up all props and items that need to be trucked to the theater and place them where designated for trucking.
• Pull up all spike tape, unless the Thesis PM has asked you not to.
• Put all rehearsal furniture back into the storage. 
• Reset the room. 

Onstage Rehearsals (Pre-Tech)

• The dates and deadlines document shows when your first day of onstage rehearsals are, these vary by production type.  Regardless, your first day onstage the SM team will have a safety walkthrough with the Thesis PM prior to rehearsal beginning.  This is usually scheduled at 5:30 pm, but will be rescheduled if this creates a class or dinner break conflict.  During this walkthrough the Thesis PM and scene shop staff when available will walk you through your scenic elements, talk you through safety protocols around your set, and answer any questions you may have.

TECH PROCESS & RUN OF SHOW

Clear-com/Headset System

• Lenfest uses a ClearCom FreeSpeak system with a mix of wired and wireless com packs.
• The PSM will have a base station with many channels available to them throughout tech and performances.  One base station will be set up at the PSM’s tech table in the house, and a duplicate base station is set up at the calling position in the booth.
• Base station channels:
  • Theater All: This is the channel where the PSM calls the show.  Like it says, it is everyone and every pack has access to this channel.
  • Deck: This is the private line for the deck SMs and deck crew.  The PSM has access to this line but can mute during the show allowing the deck team to freely speak while the SM is calling the show.  The SM can always unmute this channel as necessary.
  • Lighting, Sound, Wardrobe, Video: channels for each of these design areas to speak freely during tech.  If you have these muted please be sure the designer knows to talk to you on Theater All.
  • Brendan & CB: You have channels into both Brendan and CB’s offices (separately).  You also have a channel into Brendan’s ClearCom phone app.  Brendan will be on com via his cell phone throughout all of tech, and can be accessed on any channel, but to speak privately you could use the phone channel.
  • Motorola 5: This channel connects to the front of house walkie talkies.  More on this further down.
  • God Mics: You have 2 God mic channels. You speak on the god mic directly through your headset.  You can select either or both of these channels at once to speak over the God mic into only the theater, only backstage/dressing rooms, or both.  This is how you’ll make announcements during tech and performances.
• Personal headsets and headset preferences: If you have a personal headset please let us know ahead of time so that we can test it with our system and troubleshoot any issues.  If you have headset preferences (ie you have a small head and regular headsets are usually too big) please also let us know ahead of time so that we can troubleshoot. 

Zoom for Tech 

• We set up a zoom via an iPad for each day of tech so that SM and Directing faculty can join the rehearsal via Zoom.  Usually the Thesis Production Manager will set this up, but please check in if it has not been set up yet. 

Tech Goals

• We strongly recommend that you set goals and benchmarks throughout tech with your director to keep yourselves on schedule.  These goals do not need to be shared widely but are a very helpful way to gauge if you are moving quickly enough, and if you have time to go back and hit things you’ve already done.  Please note that you are required to run the show on Wednesday prior to opening (and a run prior to that is also always good, but not required). 

Post-Tech Production Meetings

• At the conclusion of technical rehearsals each day, approximately 5 minutes after the cast has been released to get out of costume, we will have a post-tech production meeting in the house, led by the Thesis Production Manager.  The Stage Manager can take notes during this meeting and those notes can be included in that day’s rehearsal report under each applicable department. 

Final Dress & Photographer 

• During your final run, a photographer will be present to shoot the show.  Please be sure that the entire cast and creative team is given notice of the photos no less than 24 hours prior to the rehearsal.
• Due to the photographer coming to shoot the run, the final run does need to start at its scheduled time.  If you make a change to the start time of that run any time after your tech schedule is approved, please directly coordinate this change with the Thesis Production Manager (simply updating the time on your tech schedule or weekly schedule is not sufficient). 

Communication with Front of House

• During pre-show, while the house is open, and during intermission the stage manager will communicate with the Front of House team on their radios.  The Stage Manager can use their headset in the booth to speak with FOH using the Motorola 5 channel.  Stage Managers set the Motorola channel 5 "on" so that they can listen to that channel during these times.  If the SM needs to leave the booth, there is also a physical radio in the booth that the SM can walk around with.  Please be sure to set this to channel 5 if using it during pre-show, house opening, or intermission.
• Once the performance starts, the SM can mute Motorola channel 5 so that they do not need to hear the front of house team talking in their headset while calling the show.  If the SM is muting channel 5 in their headset, they need to keep their physical walkie talkie on and set to channel 8.  If there is an emergency situation during the performance, the front of house team will contact the SM on channel 8 to alert them of the emergency and discuss next steps. 
• If the SM needs to contact the front of house team during the performance, they need to unmute Motorola Channel 5 on their headset and speak with the front of house team on channel 5.  Channel 8 is only used emergency situations. 

Reports to: Thesis Production Manager, Production Stage Manager, Director

Receives support and guidance from: Director of Production, Thesis Operations Manager, Lenfest FOH Staff, Faculty.

Schedule: Required at production meetings (both with and without Columbia production staff, classes take priority), tech rehearsals, final dress, and all performances. 

General Duties:

• Thoroughly reading and understanding the thesis handbook.
• Attending all Columbia production meetings (classes permitting).
• Ensuring Lenfest Center for the Arts Rules; School of the Arts Rules; Theatre Program/Production Department Guidelines, Rules, and Regulations; & NY Laws are followed.
• Work with the Costume Shop to coordinate the fitting schedule for the cast. The Costume Shop manager will provide a sign-up sheet that includes shop and designer availability.
• The Stage Manager(s) shall attend all required rehearsals, perform all tasks designated by the Production Stage Manager, and maintain accurate records of necessary information.
• Assisting in returning rehearsal/performance spaces to neutral when rehearsing in Nash or Riverside.  BG2 does not need to be returned to neutral each day.
• Performing other tasks as assigned by the Production Stage Manager.
• Running backstage for all technical rehearsals.
• Managing 1st year student production crew.
• In the case of using a minor(s) in the production, completing Columbia Protection of Minors Training.

STAGE MANAGER WORKFLOW HANDBOOK

The Stage Manager Workflow Handbook is downloadable and printable.  It is also copied above within the PSM section for your connivence.  Please access it in whatever way is most supportive to you.  The information above and the downloadable handbook are 100% identical.