It’s been too long since I’ve posting anything here so let’s do something about that, shall we?

As you may or may not know, we’re getting ready to present a new play. It’s really funny. You should come see it. I’ll post a press release right after this. But my point is that preparing a play (as both Director and Producer) can be pretty time consuming. All encompassing, some might say. Too much for a father of two, other may volunteer. A masochistic and ultimately fatal exercise, many agree. Well, you’d all be right. But somebody’s gotta keep the arts alive, right? Am I right???

One of the most daunting challenges in mounting a project of this magnitude is organizing the schedules of the many people involved. I can’t afford to pay anybody so I certainly can’t ask them to skip work just to prance around doing funny voices with me. So I’m left juggling everyone’s “free time” and trying to get everyone in the same place at the same time for an extended rehearsal process with suffering too many mutinies.

An organizational nightmare for most. But I’m a math guy. I make most of my daily decisions by creating spreadsheets. Producing a play is no different. I’ve got separate spreadsheets for casting options, contact lists, prop lists, actor availability, scene breakdowns, lighting cues, expenses, even poster distribution points! Spreadsheets just make life that much easier to navigate. Here, have a look at what I had to create in order to work out a feasible rehearsal schedule:

Click for fullscreen spreadsheet goodness

You see what I did there? It all makes perfect sense to me. I wonder how much of it is understandable to the uninitiated. Let’s see if any of you can figure out what each column, color, grouping, or symbol actually means in my twisted little spreadsheet-fed mind…