Congrats! Some info to share with your admin:
I worked in a school district for several years that had 3 high schools using one high school's Performing Arts Center (PAC), and I'm here to attest that tech can happen in one week. One school would load out after their last show after the Saturday night closing performance, and the next school would load in their set on the Sunday morning, simultaneously hanging any lighting specials (the PAC had a lighting rep plot, which made it possible for a quick lighting change over). The PAC was run by a Theatre Manager and crewed by several professional technicians who made all this possible, and also mentored the students from each school in the specialty areas of set crew, lights and sound. Then we'd have a dry tech that Sunday afternoon-evening (no actors – just lights and set crew – student crews, mentored by the professional technicians). Then techs Monday – Wednesday after school until 10p, final dress on the Thursday, open on the Friday (usually a two weekend run with a pick-up rehearsal mid-week). Then do it all over again with the next school. However this only happened so smoothly because each school came with their set pieces built, their lighting and sound plots planned, their costumes constructed, etc, and having had several pre-production meetings with the Theatre Manager.
With such a variety of events using your facility (regardless of whether they're school, district or outside events) one thing that will help is to have a lighting Rep Plot. If your admin is not familiar with a Rep Plot, it's a standardized lighting system, which is versatile for almost all performances and can be easily adapted to provide lighting for any event from class meetings, speakers, film presentations, variety shows, band and choir concerts to plays, musicals and dance recitals, while allowing for show-specific flexibility within a reasonable time frame. Having a Rep Plot alleviates the time consuming, conflict causing, and sometimes costly process of starting each lighting design "from scratch" for each show or event. I can help you with a Rep Plot remotely if you'd like.
As Sydney mentions, it's imperative to properly staff a facility that has a lot of events, and as George mentions, a lack of understanding is usually the cause of schools managing to raise the money for capital projects to build a theatre facility, but then once the keys are handed over there is no money budgeted to operate these facilities. This lack of understanding of what goes on behind the scenes typically leaves the high school with a state-of-the-art theatre facility and no one to properly staff it so that it is appropriate and optimal for educational purposes and suitable for practical and safe operational use. (One cannot blame the admin for the lack of understanding, because usually when they go to see a performance, they only see the polished product from their seat in the house. They have not been privy to all the preparation, and what is going on behind the scenes at the time of the performance.)
School district administrators, therefore, typically jump to the conclusion that their teachers can run the facility and that outside events that rent the facility can have full reign of this "classroom" with a custodian site supervising. But teachers and custodians are not theatre technicians and managers, and theatres are not like classrooms. And, while most teachers have taken tech courses in college in order to earn their degrees, their really specialty is directing, acting, literature, music, etc – they are not technicians. Highly qualified management and staff is needed in order to set up the operating systems, create a safety program, maximize student learning, and determine building performance and academic outcomes. Especially in a PAC like you have, with state-of-the-art equipment. The high school PAC is like no space the admin has had to manage before.
As Sydney also mentions, it also helps to have your admin understand that like athletics, it takes more person to run a team (a sports team may have specialties such as a kicking coach, a running coach, a jumping coach, a catching coach, etc). We need specialties too; a Set Coach, a Lighting Coach, a Sound Coach, a Costume Coach, etc. And, as Sydney mentions, a manager to oversee scheduling, supplies, and so on. Also, for safety reasons, a high school PAC must be properly staffed – one Drama teacher cannot possibly supervise all of the areas in a theatre facility at once, let alone teach all of the specialty subjects at once.
As Sydney also mentions student crews come and go, and need to be educated. Occasionally you get that gem of a student who stays for all 4 years, but many students are crewing shows because they didn't get cast. The theatre is probably the most unsafe area in a school, so they not only need to be educated on the theatrical process, but also trained in safety (for instance, do you have a Safety Manual, signs, waivers, etc?). There are also those tech students who are vocational, so they admin needs to understand that tech theatre is a CTE and STEM subject.
When determining the need for staffing, here's some questions to ask:
Will the theatre be primarily used by students who come and go every show or at best every few years?
Will there be CTE training for vocational students?
Will the theatre be staffed by professional technicians to teach these students?
Will the technicians run the theatre, and/or work with the students?
Will the theatre be rented to outside users?
Who will staff events, professional staff and/or students?
Will users be permitted to use the theatre's equipment unsupervised?
Who will restore the equipment back to original settings each time in preparation for the next user?
It will be a process, but with a supportive and educated admin on board, you can create an awesome program! Break a leg!
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Beth Rand, EBMS
High School Theatre Operations Coach
Lighting Designer
Next HS Theatre Management Training for Drama Teachers online course: Winter Session starts Jan. 15 (limited to 8 students - some spaces still available).
Author of "High School Theatre Operations" and "The High School Theatre Safety Manual", "The High School Rep Plot", and several more books on Amazon and also at
http://www.presett.org/helpful-books-for-you.html.www.PRESETT.orgWestminster, CO
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Original Message:
Sent: 01-02-2018 09:32
From: Nick Holman
Subject: Tech Week/New Space
Our high school is opening a new performing arts center (today!), which is a huge upgrade to our previous space. The stage is twice as large along with new sound & lighting equipment. The administration met with the fine arts chair (chorus teacher), along with band & orchestra teachers to develop a "new space" plan going forward. The theatre rep on the committee is the faculty sponsor for the after school drama club and a lit teacher. Our program produces shows through the after school club with a director hired by the booster club. From this meeting, it was determined that all fine arts shows will be allowed one week for tech prior to opening. We have been allotted a move in date on Saturday for a full length competition musical opening on Thursday. Between hanging and focusing lights, cue to cues, etc., that leaves little time to work with the other technical elements. All of this background to say, do any of you have advice, documents, or suggestions regarding how to advocate for 2 weeks of tech week in the new space? We have always worked around shared space with the other fine arts, so it shouldn't be a factor here, especially with wing space. There is no one scheduled to use the space during the time we are asking - it was just determined that a week was enough. As a side note, admin and the fine arts teachers who made the policy have not attended our shows...Our booster club is meeting to develop a plan and would love some ideas, documents or other ideas as to how best to educate them on what all is involved with tech week. Theatre, obviously, has technical elements the band, chorus and orchestra do not for their performances.
Thanks for your help!
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Karen Schwartz
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