Management / Head of Deparments
For any Broadway show there is 14 departments each with their own head and crew. Each department is important to the end result. While some branches are not as nessessary in one show does not mean that it is not in the others. There are some departments that are present throughout any show, these comon deparments are positions such as the director, choreographer, musical conductor and producer.
They are incharge of all the backstage and behind the scenes work that goes into the making of a show.
Time Plans
It is important for any project to keep to a scheduel. This will minimise the risk of mistakes. It is important to have a monthly planner at the start and suring rehearsals, however as the perfornace week draws near switch to a weekly planner. Focus on the month before / of the performance. In the first week of the month it is ideal to have the show be run start to finish in the reheasal space. The second week should focus on blocking the performance space and bump in (bump in means setting up the stage in preporation)
2 weeks before the show tech rehearsals and runs should be performed to practice with the microphones and to get sound levels correct. In the final week before the show dress rehearsals shoukd be run. This is runs of the show start to finish in full make up, costume, mics and props. It is the final chance to fix anything up and make eveything perfect.
Backstage Crew
Backstage crew is the name given to those who are helping behind the scenes however are not featured on stage. While everyone focuses on the performers, the crew are the ones putting in just as much effort to make the performers look good. There is a minimum of 3 crew members for each branch of backstage. A lot of them are in charge of roles such as call boy, stage hands, front of house usher and more. They are supervised by the head of their branch and they develop their skills in areas of hands on working such as set building, lighting and sound conductors and make up and costume.
Auditions
The best way to figure out who if fit for a role is to run a workshop before audtions. This will give you a chance to see who has greater skills then others. By running dance workshops and song reheasals it can help determin what skills are needed for a perticular role and if there is anyone who fits the criteria.
Most auditions have a section of a song that you sing and part of a dance you perform. Those who exceed others will go on for a callback. A callback is the second round of auditions, during this round you may be asked to perform another song and or part of the script to assess you acting capability. Once callbacks are done then casting begins.