Is there a difference between a Resident Director and a Supervising Director
Is there a difference between a Resident Director and a Supervising Director
NiceWork2
Stand-by Joined: 4/2/14
#1Is there a difference between a Resident Director and a Supervising Director
Posted: 11/22/24 at 8:02am
I was at a tour recently and was talking to someone about what the role of a Resident Director was.. Most shows of course do not have a Resident Director; only the big name shows would go through the expense of having one. And i do know that the Resident Director sometimes oversees the Broadway and tour versions of a show, which is hard to do, since a person can only physically be in person at one show at a time. then i looked in the playbill and saw the title of "Supervising Director" . Is this essentially the same thing? I know these are strange technical questions, but i find these things fascinating. does anyone know more?
ErmengardeStopSniveling
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/20/18
#2Is there a difference between a Resident Director and a Supervising Director
Posted: 11/22/24 at 10:45am
For a tour, a Resident Director usually travels with one company of a show from city to city, while a Supervising Director might oversee multiple companies (so they fly in once a month, and put together new companies, and make casting decisions, and work more closely with the producer/GM and original director).
But every job is different. And on Broadway those lines are blurred. Sometimes these people are credited as Associate Director, or "Direction Recreated by."
NiceWork2
Stand-by Joined: 4/2/14
#3Is there a difference between a Resident Director and a Supervising Director
Posted: 11/22/24 at 11:15am
Ok, thanks i see - a "Supervising Director" is essentially higher up the food chain, answering directly to the production and producers and making big decision stuff. So in order for a Resident Director to evaluate a show and monitor it, they would have to essentially be in the audience, correct? i would think you could not evaluate a show from viewing it back stage or anywhere else. And a resident director's evaluation and monitoring would be quite comprehensive, correct? - meaning not just making sure lighting, cues, music etc is on point, etc - but also audience reaction - i.e.: is the crowd laughing tonight at certain lines louder, etc, is a certain performer getting louder entrance applause one night than the other? i guess the exact intermission time would be annotated as well - i would think the exact time between the "all go" signal from the house manager and time the show re-starts would be very critical - or maybe it's really not that big of a deal - i've just always heard that run times are very critical to monitor in shows. thanks, i know these are strange questions
ErmengardeStopSniveling
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/20/18
#4Is there a difference between a Resident Director and a Supervising Director
Posted: 11/22/24 at 11:56am
The stage manager tracks things like start time, intermission length, technical issues, etc. and they send a nightly performance report. They'll also note which understudies were on, who conducted the performance, which of the SMs called the show, if something broke, if something was late, if they had to modify part of the set to fit the venue, etc etc etc. And they'll offer a little assessment of the performance ("small but friendly house tonight, lots of laughs during <song>, etc) and sometimes they even note the weather.
The resident director's role is primarily giving notes to the actors to keep the show consistent to the original director's vision and improve their performances. Or, on a technical level, things like "can we take a look at her wig, it's not sitting right."
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