Asleep On The Job

David, I agree whole heartedly w/ your final statement.
Having said that, in my experience of producing/directing 51 plays and musicals, all at the high school level, I have found that staying awake throughout rehearsal was not always easy.
Try teaching 5 classes a day, then supervising the production crews after school, grab a quick dinner, and then conduct a 2 1/2 hour rehearsal in a darkened auditorium. I used to tell my student directors that their first priority was to make me look good: keep me organized, anticipate problems, and nudge me if/when I dozed off.
Despite all the obstacles of producing theater at the high school level, I loved every show/cast/crew and am proud of the work I have done. I'm now retired and wouldn't do another show for any amount of money.

I'm afraid I can top that one. I am an opera conductor, and was leading a production of G&S with a stage director. She assured me she could read music, and I foolishly took her word for it.

During a break I wandered into her studio, and saw that she was teaching the chorus a waltz. Fair enough. 1-2-3, 1-2-3, she was calling out, and her chosen choreographer was helping.

"What waltz is this?" I asked.

"Oh, No 14," I was told.

No 14 was in 6/8.

If the moral of the story is not clear, ask a professional musician. After they stop laughing, they'll explain. Good luck!

Directors from Hell

1. One director I had kept insisting that I not show up for any rehearsals and to trust her. When I did show up for the dress rehearsal the night before the performance, she added four additional characters to my play, a one-woman show. I was also minus one director from that night on. She was removed from the theater ensemble.

2. Another director for a different play kept talking to me during rehearsals. Never used that director again.

3. The best director I have ever had for my plays is one who began our first meeting together by saying: "I want to make clear that my job is help you realize your intentions for the play." Yes! Did he ever get that right! We continue to work together around the world. A director's job is not to mold the play into his or her "vision" but to interpret the play with the playwright's vision in mind and follow the playwright's intentions.