The Producer

“I want to be a producer/with a big show on Broadway…”

Leo Bloom, The Producers

I haven’t been as active on the blog lately but for a good reason. I’ve added a somewhat new hat to my work, that of producer. The past couple of weeks have been a frantic flurry of activity as I’ve been progressing on two shows.

The first, you know about already as I blogged about it last week,  my original show THE WAY OUT WEST PLAYERS RIDE AGAIN. This parody of melodramas was performed at the Bake-Off At High Noon in historic Meade, KS at the Dalton Gang Hideout Park. I was very hands on on this production from writing the script to working with festival organizers to buying costumes and props and working with a costumer. I acted in the show and served as the default director. It was both exhausting and exhilarating at the same time.

The second show, which is planned for this summer in Hays, KS will be a stage production of ALLIE IN WONDERLAND. For this show I’m serving simply as the producer. But this whole thing is more then I ever imagined. As my friend Ray says, “it’s more then just going ‘My dad has a born, lets put on a show!'”

Producers, I’ve learned, are also more then just the “money men”. It’s creating a budget and coming up with the money yes, but it’s expecting the unexpected. It’s dealing with investors and answering questions. It’s figuring out when and where to perform, hiring directors and stage managers and all those things. A producer SHOULD have an understanding of how theater works, I think from my experience as an actor, writer, and director, I understand things that a producer needs to know that I feel make me a better producer then someone who just wants to help.

 

So there it is, the reason I’ve been busy, producing.