About the Director

Dr. Dale Savidge earned two Masters degrees in theatre (with post graduate studies at Kent State University) and a PhD in English and Theatre from the University of South Carolina. He was instrumental in founding Christians in Theatre Arts (www.cita.org) in the mid 1980s, and continues to serve as its Executive Director.

Since that time he has led the organization through 16 annual North American-wide conferences, 2 international conferences in London and numerous regional conferences. As a theatre artist he has directed several of Shakespeare’s plays, created religious programs, written a play, and designed lighting for university, community and touring theatre. In 1994 he traveled to Moscow to design and execute the lighting for Jerome Hines’s I Am The Way at the Bolshoi Theatre. In addition to teaching collegiate theatre at the undergraduate and graduate levels for twenty years, in 1996 Dale launched Associates and Savidge, an arts management organization for professional Christian actors. The organization also consults on a variety of theatre projects. He resides in Greenville, SC with his wife Tammy, a registered nurse; they three children: Timothy (married to Maggie), Patricia and Olivia.

Promoting the Event

Secure the performer early;Finalize the contract and lock in the date/venue
start with "word-of-mouth"--still the best form of advertising utilize the brochure, photos and other print publicity materials we provide plan a phone interview with the performer--it can be used in radio ads schedule the performer on a radio call-in program pray for the performer, and engage your group in prayer for the event!

• PERFORMER FEES
  
• TRAVEL EXPENSES
  
• LODGING AND MEALS

HERE ARE SOME TIPS FOR KEEPING THE BOOKING WITHIN BUDGET:

• fees are based on the length and number of performances, ancillary work (e.g. workshops), amount of time spent traveling to the location and reputation of the performer (each actor has a "fee range" they work within)
  
• you can reduce the fee for one performance by "block booking" the performer multiple times, either within your group or with other organizations in your area
  
• look for ways to tap different budgets within your organization
  
• performers will ask for airfare or a standard ($.31 per mile) rate for driving; again, block booking can share these expenses between organizations or funds
  
• you may have people in your group who will help with expenses (a travel agent to get discount fares, a free hotel room, meals, etc).
  
• Saturday stay-overs usually reduce the cost of plane tickets; try to schedule enough work to utilize the performers over a weekend
  
• NOTE: we avoid keeping performers in an area on days in which they will not be working--"dead days"

• some performers offer a fixed program (such as the scripture shows)
  
• most performances can be adjusted for time (to fit a predefined format or to fit within an existing program)
  
• some performers have hours of material--you can select short pieces from their repertoire
  
• some performers will create original material, or adapt existing pieces, to fit your event closely