Wednesday, July 17, 2013
What is a Props Coordinator?
Prop Agenda: You sometimes find the title “props coordinator” listed in the back of a Playbill. Sometimes it might be “production props coordinator” or “props supervisor”. You know what a props master is; why is this other term sometimes used instead?
In every Broadway house (and many of the larger union houses across the country), you have a “house props” position. This is a union job in charge of the preset of all the props, running the show, and clearing at the end of the night. Basically, any time a prop needs to be touched or moved outside of the performance, it must be done by the house props or a member of his crew.
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2 comments:
It is interesting that just because a props person is not part of a union they need to demote themselves to be called props coordinator. Props have the potential to be the most frustrating out of the departments because of Unions. Props need to be acquired, handled, moved, and reset extremely often. If only a select number of union members can do that task, there is a large potential for hold ups and delays. But that is not entirely unreasonable either. Union worker touch only rules prevent breakage, spills, and other damage that can occur from less experienced hands. In general I find that things would work more efficiently if union rules were more lenient.
Frankly, it's kind of shocking that this sort of rule is allowed to exist. Obviously I don't know all the reasons for such things, but from what I DO understand, it seems pretty ridiculous for the person who has acquired or built the props not to be allowed to so much as touch them once they pass the threshold of the theatre. Doesn't this sort of thing cause delays or inefficiency? This doesn't seem right to me. But maybe it just serves to make sure that people have work.
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