How to Organize a Community Theater Troupe

Calling all drama queens--and kings! Community theater is perfect for serious actors as well as those who think they have what it takes to be a star. It's also a terrific outlet for directors, set designers, costume designers and musicians. So enter stage left, and break a leg!

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

1. Hold an informal meeting to stir up excitement. Publicize the meeting in a library, grocery store and newspaper. Brainstorm ideas and gauge the community's level of interest. See 373 Plan an Organizational Meeting.
2. Visit other community theaters in the region and see as many productions as possible. Ask if you can attend one of their organizational meetings; meet the directors and pick their brains for ideas and advice.
3. Determine whether you want to produce adult theater or include a youth theater group or senior group. In any case, you should be able to provide many opportunities on and offstage for community members of all ages.
4. Discuss how you will select the productions. Will you consider original plays? Will you produce musicals or only dramas? Or perform strictly Shakespeare?
5. Scout around for possible stages: a community center, a church hall, a school auditorium or even a vacant building.
6. Figure out how your theater group will be funded. Through ticket sales? Grants? Concession sales? See 381 Plan a Fund-Raising Event.
7. Consider whether to offer dinner or dessert with performances. Talk to a caterer to ask if they'd be interested in working with your theater. See 331 Hire a Caterer.
8. Create your organizational structure. Will you have a board of directors? If not, form a committee backed by subcommittees. Talk to a lawyer about creating a nonprofit organization and about insurance issues. See 217 Form a Board of Directors.
9. Decide if you will have any paid staff, such as a skilled lighting designer or other production person.
10. Select which plays or musicals you will perform your first year. Don't be overambitious. See what kind of productions--and how many--other successful groups produced when they were starting out. Check out www.eserver.org/drama to get started.
11. Choose a director, an assistant director and a stage manager. The board should be in charge of this task. If you don't have one, form a committee to do so.
12. Get out your calendar and pick performance dates. Avoid holiday weekends, when many folks travel out of town.
13. Hold auditions at least six months in advance. Place casting calls in the regional newspapers and on cable TV community bulletin boards. List the name of the play or musical and give specific information about the characters, including age and physical characteristics.
14. Publicize the performances at least a month in advance. See 372 Publicize an Event.

Tips & Warnings

• Contact a high-school or college theater department. Ask students to offer their expertise in directing, stage direction, lighting design or set design. In exchange, see if the students can receive credit or offer them a role in the new troupe.
• For more ideas, check out CommunityTheater.org.
• Consider offering bulk discounted ticket sales to schools and senior centers to help fill seats.

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