A Day in the Life of a Creative Producer

Note: I participate in the Creative Producers in Training program in the Office of the Arts at Emerson College. The program aims to build a cohort of creative producers through mentorship and on-the-ground experience.

After many years producing still photo shoots, large scale photos, documentaries, special FX for George Lucas' Industrial Light & Magic, and being generally 100% Type A, I knew my production skills would translate into the world of theatre producing. I was still, however, somewhat shell-shocked to find myself in a rehearsal studio on Broadway, creative producing the workshop of a play in development, Baritones: An Unauthorized Biography: In Song. This show follows three powerhouse singers in their quest for a celebration of the Baritone, the voice of the common man, in one enchanted evening. It’s filled with music, laughter, and showmanship conceived by veteran Broadway leading man Marc Kudisch.

You know what the Boy Scout Motto says: “Be Prepared!” (Arrive early, stay late, deal with and be ready for anything). I did my best to abide.

I participate in the Creative Producers in Training program in the Office of the Arts at Emerson College. The program aims to build a cohort of creative producers through mentorship and on-the-ground experience.

3:30 pm

I head to Davenport Studios way ahead of time. I was glad to have done this because when I got to the studio's address, there were three different buildings with the same address! And one was a convenience store! I then spent an hour familiarizing myself with the neighborhood. I walked around a two-block radius of the studio, finding all the businesses I might need to rely on during our workshop:

• The drug store.
• Purveyors of bottled water to keep the gentlemen in good singing form.
• The grocery store.

4:55 pm

Arrived early at the studio for a 5:00pm start.

5:00-6:00 pm

Met with David Dower, our director, and our stage manager, Helen Bennett, to confirm we're all on the same page—that we know what we need to begin rehearsing and rewriting, and quickly discuss goals for the night and future rehearsals.

6:00-9:00 pm

Rehearsal begins. We are working off of numerous scripts so Helen and our musical director Tim Splain have their work cut out for them to keep the script up-to-date and our creative team, all of whom are connecting via laptops, phones, and iPads so it's quite confusing. There are many times when we must stop because someone needs to be redirected to the newest script.

It seems to me that we really need more rehearsal time tonight and before the presentation tomorrow. I calmly whisper to David, "Do you think we could use some extra rehearsal time?" He quietly nods. So I first run to the studio manager and ask to book the space later tonight and earlier tomorrow. In both cases we are able to add an hour. Even though the full cast cannot be present for the extra time, I know we’ll use it.

9:00 pm

Rehearsal officially ends, but Marc, Tim and Helen stay continue to rewrite. Before the team departs, I make sure everyone knows the call times and plan for tomorrow. I clean up the studio space, and get ready to return to the same spot the next day with everything in order to start right where we’ve left off.

Because I was the only one in the room who'd never seen any of the play in person, David valued my outside perspective. When I told David a line read very confusing to me, he said it was helpful feedback because the rest of the room was often too close to see it.

In rehearsal, our director David is calm at all times and only intervenes when necessary, putting everyone at ease. Having a more hyper personality, I realize I must follow David's lead and stay calm in moments that might normally freak me out. For example, the plan was to have a finished script by the end of the night so we could have prepped scripts to distribute tomorrow. David needs to leave and we are still not nearly done. Tomorrow is one of the only chances we have for all of the performers to rehearse together. And we have to prepare the room for an audience and deal with catering. I’m kind of freaked out, but seeing David so serene helps me talk myself down.

Learning moment: be prepared for last minute changes and handle them calmly. Remember that chances are your crew and cast are pros and this is not stressing them out the way it might be stressing you out!

In the end, we finished our script and had it in tight enough shape to be able to perform it wonderfully for a very pleased and entertained audience.