Producers' Notes - February 8, 1998

• First and foremost, always feel free to give both positive and negative feedback to other members of the production team. If you feel that certain aspects of the production will work better if approached in another way, please voice that opinion. Open and active communication lines -- among you and your cast members, among directors, among directors and producers, etc. -- is key to success and can lead to positive change. We have embarked on this journey together, and we should learn and grow from interacting with one another.
• We have split the producers' responsibilities as follows: Jim will organize our campus and community outreach efforts, which consist primarily of the tech workshops; Michelle will serve as the liaison among techies, directors, and producers; Shiow will function as a liaision among cast members, directors, and producers and handle administrative tasks such as scheduling meetings and typing these lovely notes. These lines of division are by no means absolute, for each producer will contribute as much as possible to the production. As always, feel free to contact any and all of us with questions and concerns. In addition, DJ has volunteered to guide script workshopping, so he will help organize and mediate the processes involved.
• It is your responsibility to know when your actors' conflicts are. Please make sure that all dates are communicated to them and that you know if and when they will miss rehearsals. In addition, please establish a policy for dealing with actors who are constantly late to or miss rehearsals without good reason. This is not to anticipate problems with your cast, but to safeguard you from criticism in case any conflict arises.
• The producers will sometimes drop by rehearsals -- not to breathe down your back, but to observe and to occasionally make suggestions. Please include us in any cast correspondence so that we can make sure one of us can stop by your rehearsals once in a while.
• Invite other directors and casts to your rehearsals, as feedback from diverse points of view may help you see something in your show that you had not previously noticed. Also, interaction among casts if crucial to the development of OTR as one production, not four one-act plays.
• As the weather warms up enough to comfortably rehearse outside, please schedule some pre-tech week time in the Amphitheater. The accoustics therein are extremely different from those of a small -- or even of a large -- room, and cast members should be prepared for this environmental change.

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