If I Can Make It There, I Can Make It Anywhere: How to Produce Plays and Musical Theater in New York

By M. Stefan Strozier

In this comprehensive, first and one-of-its-kind book, playwright and producer M. Stefan Strozier will guide you through how to produce a play or a musical in New York or Regional Theater, and how to become a professional producer yourself. The author will explain how to successfully produce theater on a shoestring, based on real experience and budgets in New York, where he was able to mount full productions at a tenth of what everyone else was doing. All aspects of theater are covered in great detail, from acting to lights to finding investors, and much more. Every obstacle is anticipated and given a solution. Tips and information are included on obtaining 501c3 non-profit status and operating a non-profit theater company.

• Language: English
• Publisher: M. Stefan Strozier
• Release date: Mar 17, 2017
• ISBN: 9781542926874

Book preview

Dedicated to my children, Jay and Carolyn.

Table of Contents

Introduction................................................................ 5

The Script..................................................................20

The Score and its Creators ..............................................28

The Theater...............................................................43

The Actors................................................................51

Box Office, Financials & Budgets.....................................77

Stage Management......................................................131

The Director(s)..........................................................150

Casting & Auditions...................................................166

Rehearsals & Tech......................................................178

Marketing & Advertising................................................189

Investors, Grants & Money.............................................215

Conclusion..............................................................223

Appendix One: New York Theaters & Producers...................232

About the Author.......................................................279

Introduction

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When you get right down to it, all that’s required to produce a show is a theater and a script. All else naturally falls into place, costs next-to-nothing if done right, and is expendable and easily replaced. If you can write your own script, that’s ideal; but if you don’t know how there is a lot more to it than meets the eye. To develop a script takes time and an understanding of theater so it’s best to just find a script that is tried and true and pay the royalties on it, which is not all that much or the playwright can receive a percentage of the box office receipts. Renting the theater is the real cost. Delacorte Theater in New York’s Central Park is outside just like theaters in ancient Greece. There are no lights or sound systems to worry about. In New York, people present plays in their living rooms, this has been going on since the 1960s. As long as you have at least some professional lighting, which itself is not expensive and can be rented (weddings do it all the time) that works fine. Aside from a dressing room, Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre had no amenities, and it often rained on the audience who stood the whole time. Thunder was created by rolling cannonballs. Granted, Shakespeare had great scripts, and as I mentioned you must have a good script; but he was hardly the only playwright to perform in that or any other theater in London both before and afterwards. If these great artists and producers were successful, why can’t we be as well in America, and why must theater be made so complex? There are many stages in every community in America, from dance halls to auditoriums to small colleges. All of them can be rented; you can probably even book an exclusive for a week straight very cheaply because many of these spaces are unused and downright neglected. If you start small and plan well, you might even break even! I will show you how. Costs can be made very minimal and no less effective. In fact, your show will ultimately be better than the competition because you will learn how to be leaner, nimbler, and quicker, and these are not bad qualities in show business; but rather very good traits.

Begin by entering in a small festival, if possible. Producing three to five shows over a weekend is a good start, even one or two if you can find actors dedicated enough for just two shows. Don’t get in over your head at the start; no one learns this business overnight. It’s risky and don’t expect to make a profit initially, though it can happen and if it does that’s great! I learned how to produce very cheaply in New York and you can apply these lessons anywhere, probably even more cost-effectively than in New York. If you have a love of theater, this book will show you how to do it all successfully. I will show you how to produce on a small and a quite large scale too, and all of the associated problems and answers. Then you can apply these examples to fit your own model, be it small or large. Theater is the same everywhere it is produced, and always has been. The exact same problems and challenges occur each and every time, with slight divergences and deviations. The trick is to anticipate the obstacles and overcome them easily. This book will show you how.

I am a playwright who, like many other playwrights in New York, learned how to produce theatre so he could produce his own plays. I was a bit older when I discovered the theater scene in New York and I had been writing a great deal before I arrived—I was a published writer by then. I had a wide range of work experience, including the military.

In a strange twist of fate, I was able to apply my military training and experience in many highly effective ways to show business. The first lesson I learned in the military that applies to show business was a strong understanding of the chain-of-command. In the business of theater, one often confronts conflicts and backstage drama. Much of the job of any given player or part of a production is frequently consumed by distraction, division, and argument. To debate is worthwhile and constructive criticism, carefully-worded so that’s it true and fair, are very important. But if a production is mired in a deep sense of unease and discomfort, it suffers as a result. Benjamin Franklin wrote about the importance of goodwill toward others in business and politics, even when there is passionate disagreement. In this book, I will convey a detailed plan for how to be a successful theater producer and function very effectively without division and rancor. Not only will your production go much smoother, you will feel better, and it will be fun!

The producer must be in charge of his production. That is easier said than done, and first he must understand how to be in charge. It’s surprising how little people understand the basics of military doctrine in the civilian world. To be a leader, you must understand yourself first. Are you an authoritarian? That word has a negative connotation but there is nothing wrong or ineffective with an authoritarian style of leadership. Are you a democratic or participatory leader, one where your team has been given your authority but you make the final decision? Are you a delegator or a laissez-faire leader where you merely oversee operations, leaving most if not all authority to your team? Perhaps you are a combination of more than one of these styles. Certain styles favor different types of work. That doesn’t mean it’s always the case, however. Perhaps the military is best served by an authoritarian leader. I would have to say that the chain-of-command leadership style of most theater producers I’ve observed is laissez-faire. The producer controls the money and does not do much of anything, is if rarely seen, and is only concerned with dealing with other producers. That is a big mistake and it leads to sub-standard results. And besides, those producers are missing out on all of the good times.

Chain-of-command does not mean that the producer is a king and there is a long line to his number two person. A pyramid has many rocks in it and each level supports the one above it, and the structure is a whole. The capstone is the producer and it is made out of solid gold, bedecked in precious jewels, and there is nothing higher than it (that’s a joke, of course). That means his orders and direction must travel downward in a clear manner, all the way to the lowest level. It does not work to jump your chain-of-command, as we said in the military. The pyramid is shaped that way for a reason. However, the producer should always have an open-door policy and be accessible to every member of his team. In fact, it’s up to the producer to make certain that every single member of his team understands that he is accessible to any complaint, concern or complement. It’s your job, period. That may be facilitated simply by ending any talk with, Are there any concerns or comments? Ask it twice, because the first time you will be met with blank faces so you have to reassure your people that it is okay, you are there willing to listen—to really listen—to what people are going to say. Be sure you have time, however, and brace yourself for the replies. Take down a few notes and say that you promise to follow up on what issues were brought to your attention. It shows—rather, it demonstrates—that you are listening and that you care, and are not just nodding your head and later forgetting what was said to you. Your people will be harsh and say what they really feel because they care too and want you and everyone else to succeed. They are not trying to sound mean, there is just no other way to say it and you asked. Take their feedback with a grain of salt because unlike you, they have little experience with inter-personnel communications. Later, find the persons who raised issues and actually do follow-up with him or her in person (definitely avoid replying by email), regarding the issues in question. That is real leadership and your people will greatly respect you for showing it. And it will demonstrate that there really is an open-door policy and that it is functioning well. Once you have shown that your open-door policy is working fine, your people will put it to use it from time to time, and that is very healthy for an organization because it gives you plenty of advance notice—out of respect that you have earned—to any impending crises. And because your staff values this open-door policy, they will not abuse it or overuse it; but use it just enough and only at the appropriate times—for fear of it going away. It also says that you are not too aloof or unreachable in your position, and capable of humility. This may seem like a lot of work to you to do, for some minor thing that should not even concern you—and that may be true—but it is an exercise on your part as producer in showing that you care, which is worth its weight in gold. Your people will long remember it; especially when it really counts. Continue this process throughout your entire production; always come back to it at every conscious moment. Make it a priority.

Another key component to military discipline is punctuality. It may seem fairly trivial but if a person is late it shows that they don’t care about the production as much as they do something else. That is simply a fact. If a bomber misses its target by ten minutes the entire mission is highly jeopardized and consequences are severe. It’s no different for a production if the lead actor is half an hour late to the show. Make the importance of punctuality very clear to your cast and crew. You may have to repeat it several times. The producer should always be very early, in order to lead by example. A production is not an acting class. Its purpose is to succeed, make money like any other business, and everyone involved has vested their time and reputation in hopes of being rewarded. The reward may be publicity or money or perhaps just the joy of participating in a show. But in all cases if the production is run inefficiently and does not succeed then it has let down those who worked on it.

Defining American Theater

Regional Theater is theater produced outside of New York, and if produced professionally, then under an Actors Equity Association (A.E.A. Union) contract. Community Theater is Regional Theater that is not professionally produced. Dinner Theater is a term for Community Theater shows, usually produced over a dinner meal. Regional Theater has evolved and grown considerably, just in the last 25 years. At one time, New York was the great capital of American Theater, and while that is basically still true, Regional Theater as a whole has moved closer to being on par with New York Theater. Because of considerable federal and State subsidies and individual local philanthropy, there is now a very robust Regional Theater, with many theaters all over America.

If a theater building has 500 or more seats and is located in New York City, inside 42nd to 54th Streets, and between 6th and 8th Avenues, it is a Broadway house. Off-Broadway theaters have 100-499 seats and are located inside and outside of that locale, uptown or downtown or in one of the five outer-city boroughs, such as Brooklyn or Queens. The Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) is therefore Off-Broadway even through it is in New York and has more than 500 seats. Broadway’s equivalent in London, England, is the West End District. Theaters that have 99 seats or fewer and are located anywhere in New York City are considered off-Off Broadway. However, off-Off Broadway can apply to theaters in New Jersey and the term is used loosely these days. What was once called Off-Broadway is now known as off-Off Broadway. The budgets of Off-Broadway shows these days are many millions of dollars and are closer to Broadway budgets.

Broadway retains its aloofness and unique quality; a lone castle on top a high hill, surrounded by a wide moat lined with armed guards. It’s separation from the rest of American theater has only widened and deepened in recent years. But the city around it has built up considerably. I have learned every nook and cranny of that city; but I have never once crossed the proverbial moat into Broadway, which has very different rules and customs that I don’t know anything about.

The people who comprise casts and crews on Broadway often work Off-Broadway but less so in the other direction. However, absolutely no one who works on Broadway or Off-Broadway—particularly in a union show—works off-Off Broadway. On rare occasions people who work off-Off Broadway work Off-Broadway shows.

It is very hard to break into this hard-set system of theater in New York at the higher, professional levels. However, a producer working in what is considered Regional Theater today has much opportunity and this book is primarily directed to him. In most cities, big or small, if there is a theater it is usually new or refurbished, having sat idle for decades or maybe a century. The building itself is often grand and has a great history. The further West one goes, the fewer theaters one finds. The same goes for how far away from New York or Los Angeles one is working. And there are plenty of cities or locales in America where there is no theater at all. Even if a theater exists in a city outside of New York the theater community it is designed to support is often weak, perhaps virtually non-existent. And yet the financial backing to produce theater is very available in such a city because theater is very important to certain groups of people i.e. rich people. There are many grants available, both private and public.

A vibrant theater scene brings a sense of gravitas to a community and wealthy backers are more than willing to support it because theater gives provincial locales outside of New York a sense of importance. I recently lived for some time in Canada. I found a robust theater scene in every single small town, as well as the big cities. If every cab driver and office worker in New York goes to the theater, in Canada the lumberjacks and beaver-hunters are proud theatergoers too. A Regional Theater producer can be an important and groundbreaking person to his community and be a driving force that brings in a new and vital art scene.

If you study history, there once was a much different kind of theater that existed throughout our country. It disappeared long ago, but it left its shell behind. It can be rejuvenated. Repertory theater companies toured from city to city and performed a set of certain shows over and over, hence the word repertoire. Edwin and John Wilkes Booth are the best examples of its actors and were considered the greatest actors in their day; but they did not live or always work in New York.

Professional theater depends on if the actors, director, and crew members are paid and members of a union, and if the playwright is paid royalties and perhaps a member of the Dramatist Guild. With rare if any exceptions, all theater produced Off-Broadway and in New York City, and on Broadway, is professional.

Despite the various kinds of theater and the fact that there are certain gray areas and merging of the different kinds, the borders are clearly marked. The reason—like so much in life—comes down to money, which is primarily based on the number of seats in the theater. If you produce a show in a theater with 75 seats, that is considerably different from producing a show in a theater with 150 seats though virtually all else is the same. And the money drives the market accordingly. Nevertheless, theater has many long-standing customs and traditions associated with it that a producer must become accustomed with in order to work effectively in show business.

Many theater buildings have resident theater companies associated with them. The different types of theater companies are numerous. However, probably every single one of them started out as a group of like-minded artists without a home and traveled from theater to theater, much in the way repertory theater companies used to travel from city to city a century ago. Over time, perhaps this group settles on a single theater because it suits their requirements and preferences. After producing enough shows—and that is the only thing that establishes a company—they begin to organize and file government paperwork and obtain 501c3s non-profit tax status from the Internal Revenue Service. That status makes it much easier to quality for grants and other funding.

Theater companies establish certain characteristics or unique artistic style, reminiscent of their productions. They tend to follow one of three tracks, depending on if their founders were primarily playwrights, directors, or actors. There is usually a dominant creative voice or two in any artistic group. The band Led Zeppelin was overwhelmingly controlled by drummer John Bonham and his artistic voice ruled and that’s evident in the band’s music. After his sudden and tragic death, the band floundered and soon broke apart. Atlantic Theater Company, founded by playwright David Mamet and actor William H. Macy, is clearly oriented toward the playwright’s point of view, although Macy is an actor. Atlantic Theater also has an acting school.

A theater company that has a strong contingent of playwrights probably will not have to go out searching for new material very often. Theater critics brand companies by their weaknesses, and sometimes by their strengths, so this can establish an emphasis, particularly in the minds of playgoers. The famous Group Theater (in the 1930s) was founded by a group of very talented directors and actors; but always seemed to have a crisis of finding good plays to produce and even some of their best actors like Marlon Brando did not remain part of the company for long. Indeed, this crisis in finding plays to produce became a major factor leading to the Group Theater’s demise—perhaps the main reason for it. Still, the group’s members went on from the ashes of the Group Theater to establish modern American theater in New York in the 1940s and 1950s on Broadway. What had been vaudeville theaters in the 1920s and 1930s became professional. The old theater buildings were turned into new and permanent professional homes for New York Theater. Prior to this change, the Group Theater had been located in upstate New York and steadily growing. Perhaps this is how summer stock originated, when actors leave New York during the summers to work in Regional Theater. Nowadays, the primary and important acting schools in New York bear the names of those Group Theater directors and founders, and each one has a unique artistic acting style (though they all share a heritage of Method Acting). Examples are Lee Strasberg or Stella Adler. The Fervent Years by Harold Clurman—also one of the founders—chronicles the Group Theater excellently. A similar theme of what happened to New York Theater is currently occurring in Regional Theater.

Downtown Theater is the old term for what eventually grew in response to professional theater created by the Group Theater in New York. Downtown Theater used to be Off-Broadway, which nowadays is off-Off Broadway. Ellen Stewart, former matriarch of La Mama E.T.C. (that stands for experimental theater club), is a good example. She produced theater in New York City since the early 1960s, and so has her theater, La Mama, located in the East Village. Together with Caffé Chino, founded by Joe Cino, these two theaters represented the heart of 1960s hippy counter-culture. Cino used to announce the plays that performed on his tiny 8-foot x 8-foot stage by announcing, It’s magic time. Joe Cino died on April 4th, 1967, having committed what is known as Supuko in Japan, or disembowelment, and the brief existence of Caffé Chino ceased.

La Mama now incorporates several large buildings on East 4th Street, across the street from the noted New York Theater Workshop. Additionally, La Mama runs workshops, hosts international theater companies that come to perform at La Mama, and sponsors an educational curriculum at its school in Spoleto, Italy. Perhaps long ago, Downtown theater might have had limited budgets and not much of a set; but that is not the case anymore, thanks to the many government and foundational grants sent its way. The MacArthur Foundation, for example, put up the money for the artists’ retreat in Spoleto. Downtown or off-Off Broadway Theater is not very downtown anymore. Because it has grown so vast, it’s true that certain parts of it are still comprised of struggling artists; but other parts of it are quite established, indeed. And Off-Broadway is now basically a (slightly) poor-man’s version of Broadway.

A large Broadway musical’s budget can exceed $20 million dollars at the extreme, just to stage it. Even a Broadway play’s budget can be several million dollars. A play or musical Off-Broadway can cost between $1-3 million dollars to produce, give or take. To produce a play off-Off Broadway in New York can easily cost $50,000 dollars, with musicals always being more expensive. A.E.A. union shows add to the cost, due to the heavy regulation requirements and mandatory payments to the actors.

Ticket prices vary but stay within certain ranges, according to the type of theater being produced. An average Broadway ticket costs hundreds of dollars, and it depends entirely on the seating. As previously noted, the seats and their cost drive the market and every aspect of producing theater.

An Off-Broadway ticket can range from $35-99. An off-Off Broadway ticket price is set by Actors’ Equity Association at $18 and thus almost all non-union shows use the same price. It is very rare for an off-Off Broadway production to sell enough tickets to make a profit, let alone pay for the production’s expenses.

Producing a play or musical is the formation of a temporary company. A producer must operate with a deft hand. After forming and then dissolving a few of these companies, which are not small companies, the process itself becomes its own business entity. The companies come and go; but the producer is all that remains.

Theatre is a very strange business. There’s no business like show business is a perfectly apt expression. I have a rather wide resume and I’ve never seen anything like show business. Even the movies or TV are entirely unrelated, though actors and crew migrate between the realms. Even so, it’s far easier to go from theater to the movies or TV—as most people do since there is more money to be found there—then the opposite direction. It is harder, and requires more skill and training and experience, to work in theater than in TV or the movies. A producer must learn the various and curious ways of show business in order to be successful. Once learned, however, he can work anywhere and under virtually any circumstances to produce a successful show.

The Schedule

The entire production revolves around the schedule. If you prepare a solid