A Day in the Life of an Off-Broadway Production Manager

A Day in the Life of an Off Broadway Production Manager

A Day in the Life of an Off Broadway Production Manager | brokeGIRLrich

After all that jetsetting through my twenties, I recently transitioned to a pretty normal job. Now I work as a Production Manager for an Off-Broadway theater. It’s sort of a step away from Stage Management, but uses a lot of the same skills. If, for some crazy reason, this was a path you were thinking of following here’s what 24 hours in my day looks like – a busier day (because the days I go in and work on my blog and update Facebook for 8 hours are not nearly as interesting… although it’s been known to happen once or twice).

8:30 AM  – Wake up.

9:00 AM – Subway to midtown.

9:45 AM – Walk to the theater. Try to ignore the 3 Starbucks I pass in two and a half blocks.

10:00 AM – Boot up computer and check emails.

10:30 AM – Check in with the Wardrobe department. Make sure they have everything they need. Make sure the next few shows are fully staffed.

11:00 AM – Print large signs to glue onto set pieces using our plotter. Deliver them to the carpenters and/or props department.

11:30 AM – Work on paperwork for fire inspections for any upcoming shows using an open flame.

12:00 PM – Department Meeting

12:45 PM – Eat my lunch that I hopefully remembered to pack from home. If not, run across the street and indulge my latest food obsession – Chop’t.

1:00 PM – Rehearsal starts. Double check all the stagehands are here. Try to help keep conflicts between our house crew and the show’s crew to a minimum.

1:30 PM – Do assorted paperwork while rehearsal is happening.

3:00 PM – Check in with Wardrobe again.

3:30 PM – Check in with Props Shopper, make sure he’s aware of any updates from stage management about what props are needed.

4:00 PM – Wander around in the wings, double checking everything that needs to be happening is. Update the production report for the day.

4:30 PM – Attend a production meeting for a different upcoming performance.

5:00 PM – Sort through all the information just gathered at that meeting.

5:30 PM – Work on payroll.

6:00 PM – Freedom!!

6:30 PM – Gym

7:30 PM – Subway back out to the boondocks.

8:30 PM – Dinner. Engage in super important activities like watching The Big Bang Theory and Pretty Little Liar. Catch up on reading other blogs, work on my own.

12:00 AM – Bedtime

Gosh. How boring compared to before. :oP

It’s incredibly weird and awesome to me to work 8 hour days, 5 days a week. Sometimes that doesn’t work out like that when our schedule is super crazy, but most of the time it does. And I love that if I have to work 6 or 7 days a week, that time goes into a bank and when we’re slow I can just up and a take a week or two off without touching my vacation days.

All around, I guess there are some perks for trading adventure for stability… now I’m just waiting to see how long I can stand it before the wanderlust hits again.

15 thoughts on “A Day in the Life of an Off-Broadway Production Manager

    • It’s pretty awesome. I think I would go stir crazy if it were that all that time – but it’s a pretty solid 50/50 between regular hours and late,long theater hours. I actually like my schedule a lot.

    • Hah, I know, right? A dairy farmer commented on one of my other similar posts. I wanted to ask him if he was lost, but then I thought, heck, I’d be interested to know what a day in the life of a dairy farmer is like too. It’s cool seeing all the different things people do a little more in depth.

  1. You must roll out of bed and go straight to work ;)! I have to take some time in the morning as I love drinking my coffee and watching Good Day NY while I browse the interwebs (I multitask).

    When I got my first 9-5 job, I loved it. I still love it. Sometimes I wish I worked less hours, but I still love having weekends off.
    Tara @ Streets Ahead Living recently posted…You aren’t entitled to anythingMy Profile

    • I definitely do roll right out of bed and go straight to work. I’m pretty low maintenance to begin with but I also work with a ton of guys doing physical labor, I purposely try not to look too girly so they listen to me.

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