The production manager decides what the show needs and makes sure it is there. On club tours the tour manager does this as well. From theatre level up it is a separate person.
What they own
- The technical rider, and what gets waived or added
- Advancing with the venue: power, rigging points, stage size, load-in times
- Hiring in what the venue does not have: sound, lights, video, backline
- Crew numbers and the local crew call
- The production schedule for the day
Advancing
The real work happens weeks before. They read the venue's tech spec against the Technical rider, list every gap and agree who pays for each one. A rigging point that does not exist is a problem in an email, not at 08:00 on show day.
On the day
They run load-in, hold the schedule together, and answer to the tour manager on money and to nobody on how the show gets built.