Matthew Russell Hendrickson
THEATER scene
Matthew has been involved with community theater for over 35 years.
He is currently a designer’s assistant for Brotin Design, a founding
member of a local film production company, Oscar Dante Motion,
and is still heavily involved with local theater.
Meet
M
ost of you who attend theatre
productions have looked
through a theatre program to
read the biographies of the actors. You
may have skimmed the listing of the
numerous behind the scenes people
associated with the production but have
little understanding of just what those
people do. This article highlights one of
those “unsung” backstage heroes with-
out whom there would be just an empty
stage and players fretting to be upon it!
Of all backstage personnel, the
director role is easily understood as
the person responsible for both the
vision and execution of performances
we see. There is, however, another role
backstage that must be filled before any
director can begin working, much less,
cast even one actor in any show.
The producer selects not only the
director, but all creative personnel,
directing both the creative and business
side of any production. Marianne
Snook, a long time member of the
board of directors of South Valley Civic
Theatre, has filled the role of producer
many times for SVCT since her first
show in that role in 2013, “Twelve
Dancing Princesses.”
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Marianne describes the job of
producer as one that includes “general
and generic tasks that need to be
completed. Each show has its own
unique requirements. I have produced
shows with huge sets, which means lots
of time, planning and money. I have
produced shows where the costumes
were the most critical part of the show.
I’ve also produced shows where we
needed a large orchestra. In addition,
every staff has a different “personality”,
so I need to identify how to work with
each individual and in some cases each
group of people.”
The greatest challenge of producing
any show is assembling the right
technical and artistic team for that
show. This requires building a team
that includes the director, set designer,
lighting designer, perhaps choreographer,
perhaps musical director, and stage
manager well before any auditions are
held. Marianne shared that the process
of “starting with a box of scripts, a
concept, auditioning a wide assortment
of people and bringing that all together
and putting on a great show,” has been
a source of personal and professional
satisfaction for her.
GILROY • MORGAN HILL • SAN MARTIN
february/march 2019
While this may indeed be a very
satisfying endeavor, it can also be full
of all the frustrations any CEO, team
lead, division manager, and/or any other
person responsible for leading people
to produce a final product on time, on
budget, and that is marketable may
experience. Unlike these professionals,
a community theatre producer has not
assembled a team that is being paid
for their efforts. The producer must
assemble a team of volunteers who
are willing and capable of working
essentially a second full time job for four
to six months for the sheer joy of seeing
a collective artistic vision come to life
on opening night. A producer must pull
this team together, manage frustrations,
manage the disappointments of those
not cast in roles they wished to play,
and be ready to solve both technical and
performance challenges as they arise to
insure the show always goes on. This is
not a job for the faint of heart.
Given the complexity of the role of
producer, and the fact that the person
who is serving in this role can literally
make or break a production, Marianne
offers this piece of advice to both the
first time and the returning producer:
gmhtoday.com
THEATER
Marianne Snook