The people the audience sees on the stage... all the various performers needed to portray the characters in the play. There are no retakes; it has to be right the first time, or they have to find ways to make it look right even when things go terribly wrong!

The director usually begins work long before the cast has been selected or the first read-through has taken place. By the time the cast meets for the first time, the director has a strong vision of the production, and a pretty good idea of how the cast, the set, and the costumes should look and sound.

These are the really important people in any live production! Without the folks backstage - the ones you never see - the show simply doesn't go on!

You are sitting in a large theater, chatting with your companion. There is a buzz of conversation in the background. Ushers are still showing audience members to their seats and handing out programs. The house lights blink on, off, then on again, then begin to dim.

You are only in the dark for a moment before the stage lights begin to come up and the stage is transformed into a living room, or a hunting lodge, or a medieval castle. An actor enters, then another, and they begin to tell you their story. If they tell their story well, you will suspend your disbelief - you will forget that everything you're seeing on the stage is make-believe - and you will become a part of the action on the stage.

" The Great Sebastians," Players Club
Columbus, OH 1964

If you have not seen a live theatrical production, it is difficult to understand how you, the audience members, become an important part of the action. Your involvement and responses give the actors the energy they need to make the performance even better for you. And the better they make the performance, the more involved you become!

Watching a live theatrical performance is very different from watching even an outstanding movie or TV program. There are no retakes when mistakes are made; there are no computer-generated special effects. Everything you see is live. It's here and now. And it's all done by a group of highly-skilled craftspeople - most of whom work behind the scenes and are never seen by the audience.

In the following pages, you'll learn a little bit about the people who make it happen. I hope it will inspire you to attend a live performance sometime. And I don't necessarily mean one of those Broadway Series productions that make regular stops at local theaters (though those are better than nothing!). Check out some of the community or semi-professional theatre companies in your town. You may see a terribly amateurish and totally unconvincing performance. But you may have a wonderful entertainment experience, unlike any other.

The 'Broadway Series' productions are slick and professional. They are also very safe for the investors. They're hugely expensive to produce, so the people who pay to produce them stay with plays with proven mass appeal - snappy musicals and shows with lots of glitz. There's nothing wrong with that. But compared to a good mystery or drama in a small, intimate setting... well, it's worth the (usually moderate) price of admission to take a chance that you'll hit a good one and really experience theatre!

Read on...