For Staff

If your hat on a show is anything other than the director — stage management, music direction, choreography, scenic, costumes, lights, sound, props — this page covers what you'll actually do in MusiCal.

Hats and what they get you

Your hat is what you do on the show, and it controls two things in MusiCal: which rehearsals you're called to, and which surfaces you can see and edit.

The system knows that a music director is called to music rehearsals; that a costume designer is called to fittings and dress runs; that a stage manager is called to everything. You don't manage a "rehearsal call list" by hand — the schedule's rehearsal type plus your hat tells the system which rehearsals belong on your calendar.

Most staff hold a single hat per show, but holding multiple is fine. Some companies have a music director who also runs sound, or a stage manager who's also the company's safety officer; both hats stack and your calendar reflects everything.

Your calendar

Like cast members, you subscribe to your calendar via ICS or download it as a PDF from your portal home. The rehearsals on it are whatever your hats call you to, in the production's time zone.

If a rehearsal has a note attached (room change, what to bring, performer-specific call adjustments), it appears in the ICS event description and on your portal. You don't need to read announcements separately — the day-of essentials travel with the calendar.

Director notes

For staff with the relevant hats, director notes are the private journal of how the show is going — performer-specific feedback, vocal notes from the music director, blocking concerns, anything you want recorded but not visible to the cast.

Open any rehearsal from the production's Schedule tab and add a director note. Notes are searchable across the whole production, so a stage manager looking for "every time we've talked about Act 2 Scene 4" can find them without scrolling through the whole rehearsal log.

Rehearsal notes (visible to cast)

Distinct from director notes: a rehearsal note is the message attached to a specific rehearsal that everyone called to that rehearsal sees. Use it for the day-of essentials — bring black character shoes, room is changed to the chorus room, we're running Act 2 cold. The note shows up in the cast's ICS feed, the day-of attendance check-in screen, and the portal.

Choosing between the two: if everyone called to this rehearsal needs to know, it's a rehearsal note. If only staff should see it, it's a director note.

Attendance check-in

If your hat includes stage management, you're the one running attendance day-of. The Attendance tab on the production has a tablet-friendly check-in screen — search by name or scan the cast member's confirmation as they arrive, mark them in. The attendance grid report rolls up the whole rehearsal period and is useful for finding patterns or documenting attendance for school credit.

What you can edit

Different hats can edit different things. The general rule:

• Stage manager — rehearsal schedule, rehearsal notes, attendance. Read access to everything else.
• Music director / choreographer — rehearsal notes on your own rehearsals, director notes, scene assignments within your purview.
• Designers (costume, lights, sound, props) — director notes, your hat's part of the playbill (your bio, your section's acknowledgments).
• Director — everything.

If you don't see an edit button you expect, your hat may not have the permission for that surface. Talk to the company admin about adding the right hat or escalating.

Common questions

• A rehearsal I expected to be on my calendar is missing. Check the rehearsal's type on the schedule — if a costume designer is looking at a music rehearsal, that's expected. If the type is wrong, ping the stage manager.
• I'm holding multiple hats and only some are showing. Your hats are visible from your portal's profile page. If one is missing, the company admin can add it from Admin → Users.
• I don't see the production's Messages tab. Some production-internal surfaces are gated to staff with specific hats. Check with the director or company admin.

For more, see Troubleshooting.