Study Hall

The Holiday Production Cheat Sheet

With Christmas productions fast approaching are your prepared to handle the audio needs which lie ahead?
This article is provided by Behind The Mixer.

Lookout! The Christmas program is approaching!

The only think that sneaks up faster than Christmas is the church Christmas program.

For many of you volunteers out there holiday productions can be a daunting obstacle, but I’m here to help!

Follow this cheat sheet for your Christmas (or other) productions and you’ll be certain to have everything you need this season.

1. Date/time of the program and any possible make-up date due to bad weather.

2. Date/time of all practices – mark which are full dress rehearsal.

3. Meet with director (leader) of the production to determine the production needs which include the number of wireless mic’s, the number of people, media needs, etc.

4. From the list of production needs you’ve now gathered, create a sheet outlining these needs and use it as a production requirements list.

5. Borrow or rent extra equipment as required. If you manage to survive the holiday season by only borrowing from neighboring churches and not renting, your budget will thank you!

6. Test the borrowed and rented equipment before it’s needed.

7. Determine if extra stage help for show will be required and then find the people necessary to perform those jobs.

8. Find out if there are any recording needs. Will it be video-recorded? Will the video-recorder need an audio feed?

9. Figure out where you’ll hide the monitors. I don’t recall a floor wedge in the manger scene…

10. Ensure that you’re in contact with the director so you are aware of everything that’s happening. You don’t want to hear “oh, I thought you knew.”

11. Determine any lighting needs. If your church doesn’t have a lighting guy, or a lighting system, you might be using colored floor lamps – you’ll definitely want to know that before the show.

12. Don’t be the only one in charge of the entire production. In case you suddenly can’t make it to the show, you’ll need someone who knows what’s going on. They should be with you through the rehearsals and get emails or at least updates from you.

13. Get a script! Following a script helps you hit the cues and scripts are also great for making notes.

14. Find out the expected attendance. Depending on your situation, it might be up to you to provide extra seating.

Are you fully prepared for the holiday production season?

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