Introduction to Professional Theatre and Stage Management

Vocabulary practice cards reviewing essential terminology in commercial and non-profit theatrical management, stagecraft configurations, drafting conventions, and administrative roles.

501(c)(3)

The non-taxable legal designation granted to charitable non-profits and private foundations, commonly held by non-profit theatres.

Theatre Company

A legally established entity (such as an LLC or non-profit) created to assume legal and financial responsibility for a theatrical production.

Optioning Rights

Creating an agreement in which one party purchases/rents the exclusive right to produce a dramatic or musical work for a specified window of time.

Viewpoints Training

A physical actor training technique focusing on six core components: Shape, Space, Time, Emotion, Movement, and Story.

Suzuki Training

An actor training method designed to build a powerful physical and vocal presence on stage.

Engaging Functions (Arts Management)

Management responsibilities oriented toward public interaction, including programming, marketing, sales, gifts, and welcoming.

Enacting Functions (Arts Management)

Management functions handling operational infrastructure, including people operations/human resources, spaces and systems, and finance.

Enabling Functions (Arts Management)

Executive administrative functions that govern and validate an organization, specifically governance and accounting.

Rehearsal Report (RR)

A formal daily document issued by stage management containing details of the rehearsal, next day's schedule, absences, late arrivals, visitors, injury notations, and departmental queries.

Federal Theatre Project (FTP)

A Great Depression-era program providing relief and employment to out-of-work theatre professionals; it fostered works by playwrights like Arthur Miller, diverse language theatre, and puppetry before closure over alleged communist ties.

League of Resident Theatres (LORT)

The largest non-profit theatre organization in the United States, representing approximately $80$ member theatres in $30$ states and bargaining collective agreements with AEA, SDC, and USA.

The Broadway League

Founded in 1930, the national trade association for the Broadway industry with $700+$ members (theatre owners, operators, producers, and presenters) that negotiates CBAs and serves over $30$ million patrons annually.

Principal Roles

The main, primary, or largest leading character roles in a theatrical production.

Ensemble

A cohesive group of performers (actors, singers, dancers) who perform collectively to support the principal roles.

Swing

An offstage company member responsible for covering multiple ensemble tracks in case of performer absence.

Understudy

An onstage performer (typically already in the ensemble) tasked with stepping into a principal role when the primary actor is out.

Alternate

A performer contracted to regularly take on a principal role for a predetermined span of time or on specific scheduled performances.

Standby

An offstage cover who remains on site to step into a lead role if needed mid-show, without holding a regular weekly performance schedule.

Pit Singer (Off-Stage Vocalist)

A performer who sings live during a performance while concealed from audience sight, situated in the orchestra pit or offstage vocal booth.

Lead Producer

The primary leader and 'CEO' of a commercial show who options the rights, raises capital, hires the executive team, finalizes budgets, and oversees production operations.

Co-Producer

A producer who assists in raising investment capital and provides connections, receiving financial returns only after the production recoups its capitalization.

Executive Producer

A seasoned strategic advisor hired by the lead producer to supervise day-to-day operations, support the creative team, and guide sustainable operating models.

General Manager (GM)

The executive overseeing the core business operations of a production, specifically managing production budgets, contract negotiations, and profit-and-loss (P&L) statements.

Board of Trustees (Board of Directors)

A volunteer governing body of appointed or elected individuals who hold fiduciary responsibility for a non-profit theatre, establishing long-term vision, reviewing budgets, and fundraising.

Company Manager

The administrator who executes the operational budget, oversees weekly payroll, and functions as the direct communication liaison between the GM and the backstage company.

Artistic Director

The executive responsible for steering the holistic artistic vision, aesthetic standards, and season selection of a theatre organization.

Director of Development

The theatre administrator in charge of contributed revenue, donor cultivation, foundation grants, special events, and board relations.

Dresser

A specialized backstage crew technician responsible for assisting cast members with quick changes, costume repairs, and wig/makeup maintenance during performances.

Deck Electrician

A stage technician who maintains lighting and electrical fixtures on deck level, operates manual atmospheric haze, and troubleshoots illuminated stage props.

Four-Wall Contract

A venue rental agreement that provides only the bare physical building or space, excluding crew, lighting, sound, or stage equipment.

Presenter

An organization or venue operator that books and hosts pre-existing touring productions without participating in the creative producing of the work.

Right of First Refusal

A contractual provision dictating that if a production is remounted or transferred, original creative personnel and actors must be offered their positions before others are hired.

Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA)

A legally binding employment contract negotiated between an organized labor union (e.g., AEA, SDC, USA) and an employer association.

Recoupment

The milestone reached when a commercial production has repaid $100\%$ of its initial capitalization to investors from operating profits.

Being in the Black

Operating at a profit where net revenues exceed all operational expenditures.

Breaking Even

Generating just enough operating income within a given performance cycle to cover identical operating expenditures without surplus or deficit.

Capitalization

The total upfront funds invested to mount and open a show (pre-opening costs, physical assets, sets, costumes, fees), recorded as an asset rather than an immediate expense.

Amortization

A financial arrangement where a designated weekly sum of profit is disbursed directly to initial investors to expedite recovery prior to the standard $65/35$ split.

Commission

A fee paid to a playwright or composer by a theatre or producer to create a specific new dramatic or musical script.

Advance (Playwriting)

An upfront fee paid to a writer for the right to produce their show, which is recouped against or deducted from future royalty payments.

Production Budget

The comprehensive start-up budget covering all expenses required to assemble and open a production prior to the first public performance.

Weekly Budget

The ongoing operating expense budget monitored weekly to assess weekly net profit, performance viability, and operational adjustments.

Gross Potential

The total maximum box office income achievable in a week if every available seat is sold at full ticket valuation.

Recoupment Chart

A financial matrix forecasting how many operating weeks are necessary to pay back initial capitalization across varying ticket capacity thresholds (e.g., $100\%$, $80\%$, $60\%$).

Bus & Truck Tour

A compact, cost-efficient touring model where physical scenery and tech are transported via truck and the personnel travel by bus, usually playing shorter sit downs.

Sit Down

The designated duration of time a touring theatrical production remains and performs in a single city or venue.

Ground Plan

A birds-eye view architectural drafting of a performance space and scenic elements drawn precisely to scale, typically showing items at or below a $3\,\text{ft}$ cut line.

Cut Line

The horizontal plane height in a ground plan (traditionally $3\,\text{ft}$ or $4\,\text{ft}$ above the stage deck) cutting through walls and structures.

Center Line (CL)

A reference line drawn with alternating long and short dashes running downstage to upstage perpendicular to the proscenium, used as a primary coordinate origin.

Plaster Line

An imaginary baseline drawn parallel to and immediately upstage of the proscenium arch, used as the horizontal zero datum for measurements.

Smoke Pocket

A steel channel mounted along the sides and top of the proscenium opening designed to house and guide the edges of the fire curtain during descent.

Apron

The section of the performance deck extending furthest downstage of the proscenium arch toward the audience.

Proscenium Stage

A traditional stage layout framed by a proscenium arch, creating a distinct visual window separating the audience from backstage technical elements.

End Stage

A performance configuration where the audience is situated entirely on one side of the performance platform without a framing proscenium arch.

Thrust Stage

A stage arrangement where the acting area extends outward into the auditorium so the audience sits on three sides (more than one side, but not all).

In the Round (Arena)

A theatre layout where the performance deck is completely encircled on all sides by the seating banks.

Traverse Stage (Alley)

A corridor-like performance space configured like a tennis court or catwalk, where the audience sits facing each other on two opposite sides.

Black Box Theatre

A flexible, bare room painted black that allows modular and reconfigurable seating/staging arrangements from show to show.

Immersive Theatre

A performance mode in which boundaries between the stage and house are eliminated, intermixing audience members directly into the performance space.

Broadway Theatre

A certified commercial theatre in Manhattan containing $500+$ seats, typically situated between 41st and 54th Streets or 6th and 8th Avenues.

Off-Broadway

Professional theatres in New York City with a seating capacity between $100$ and $499$ seats, typically located in Greenwich Village or the West Side.

Off-Off-Broadway

New York City performance venues housing $99$ seats or fewer, predominantly serving as non-profit experimental spaces and incubators for developmental works.