s a reputation of "breaking" rather than of "making" the
show, his career is abbreviated in short order. His job depends upon
making good; he is the "realizer," the dominating and master-mind of
the show.

Let us name some of the duties that devolve upon the ubiquitous
producer:

He must know by heart the book, lyrics and music of the entire play,
and bring out to the full, in all of the actors, principals and
chorus, every possibility that their parts, acts, songs, dances and
groupings permit or demand. All the comedy must be developed and
emphasized, and the personality of the cast studied and properly
brought to the fore. The principal artists engaged for the production
are under his sole direction. He creates all solo and ensemble dances;
gives all readings of the dialogue, sets the dialogue syllable by
syllable, devises nearly all the entrances and exits for everyone on
the stage, indicates the tempo for all songs and dances.

He must be capable of inspiring the lyric writer and composer, the
costume designer and the scenic artist. He must possess imagination,
suggest the locale, color and architecture--the atmosphere--of all
scenes, select the color schemes for all costumes and scenery. He
makes up all orders for scenery, costumes and properties, and must, to
that end, know both qualities and costs; prices per yard of silks,
satins, and every kind of material required in the production, whether
for wardrobe or in the scenic effects. He must order the correct
number and size of shoes, stockings, tights, wigs--everything, in
short, that the company supplies to the players, which is usually all
save the street clothes which they wear into the theatre. The orders
for properties include all furniture, rugs, bric-a-brac, draperies,
and everything else that serves to dress the stage or the performers.
If period furniture is called for, the producer must be competent to
say what is correct for the locale and the period.

He must furthermore make out a plot for the switchboard, to control
every lighting "cue." There will be a front light plot for the
"floods" and "spot-lights" as well as separate plots for side-lights,
overhead lights, and all the rest, to be thrown on or off at a certain
cue. This necessitates his knowing how many and what colors he
requires in front of each lamp for his many different lighting
effects.

For each act the location on the stage of all scenery and furniture
must be definitely determin