The Newsletter
The HRDC sends out a weekly newsletter with show updates, great opportunities, and any other information that an undergraduate interested in theater should have. You can find more information about the newsletter here.
Auditions
At the beginning of every semester, the HRDC holds “Common Casting”: central auditions for almost every play, musical, and other theatrical production on campus. For more information, please visit the Common Casting Page. In the weekly newsletter, the HRDC Board will post any other audition opportunities that arise throughout the semester. If you are looking for professional auditions in the greater Boston area, you can sign up for StageSource: Boston’s website for local audition listings.
Time Commitment
The time commitment for each show and each part will vary. It is your responsibility to determine the specific time commitment for any part you are considering. Rehearsals are usually between the hours of 6pm and midnight during the week and any time on the weekend, but this depends on the show. You can send in your weekly conflicts to your stage manager, but as you approach opening night, your director will expect the show to become your first priority. Unless otherwise specified by your director, every actor is required to come to load in, strike, and 6-midnight rehearsals for all of tech week leading up to opening night. If you would like to perform in more than one show, you must first receive permission from both directors upon signing cast lists; you must also assess your own time commitments and objectively judge if you can be in both shows. Occasionally, an actor will perform in three shows in one semester, but this can become very difficult for everyone involved.
Technical Opportunities/Requirements for Actors
At Harvard, actors do tech too! Get involved by attending Backstage Week at the beginning of the semester. All actors cast in any show in the Loeb, Farkas Hall, the Agassiz Theater and/or the Adams Pool Theater will be expected to attend load in and strike. ‘Load In’ is a full day during which the cast and staff of a given show build and paint the set, hang lights, gather small and large props, and prepare the stage for the show; ‘strike’ includes tearing down the set and returning the theater to its original state following the final performance. Actors cast in Loeb shows (both in the Experimental Theater and on the Mainstage) are required to fulfill an additional technical requirement (also referred to as your ‘tech req’). A Loeb actor may fulfill this by holding a staff position on another Loeb show, becoming an assistant to a staff member on a show (such as assistant stage manager, assistant light designer, or assistant costumer), or by helping with other technical elements (such as hanging lights, assisting with build, or painting a set) of another Loeb show.
Who to contact if you have a question or problem?
- Question about common casting? [email protected]
- Question about technical opportunities or requirements? [email protected]
- Rehearsal conflict? Your stage manager
- Problem with a staff member or actor in your show? Your director or producer
- Problem with your director? Your producer or stage manager
- Problem with a cast or staff member that you need a third party to resolve? Your HRDC Board Liaison. Each HRDC show has a HRDC board Liaison, who is there to act as a helping hand, and an objective third party mediator when necessary.
- Question about the HRDC Board? Any member of the board, your board liaison, or [email protected].