Please explain the difference between community theater, regional theater, semi professional and professional?

answers1: The first answer is only partially correct with some pretty
major errors. The biggest is that Regional theatre MAY be done in
rural areas, but the biggest and most respected Regional theatres in
the country are in places like Washington DC, Milwaukee, and Chicago.
Not quite rural areas. <br>
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A Regional theatre is a professional theatre located outside of New
York City (not Broadway, Off-Broadway, or Off-Off-Broadway). They are
usually (but not always) members of Actors' Equity, the professional
actors' and stage managers' union. They may also be members of the
League of Resident Theatres (LORT). <br>
<br>
Professional theatre involves companies that are entirely paid.
Actors, directors, designers, and stagehands. This is a very broad
net, however, and not very telling about ANY theatre specifically.
Broadway and Off-Broadway theatre companies are professional, but so
are Regional theatres and Summer Stock companies. <br>
<br>
Community theatre productions use volunteer actors and stagehands, but
it is not unusual for a community theatre to have full-time employees
and pay directors and designers on a per show basis. The term
"community theatre" is never used to refer to professionals working
within a "community". That is usually referred to as "outreach" to
avoid such confusion. <br>
<br>
Broadway, Off-, and Off-Off-Broadway refer to specific geographical
boundaries into which NYC theatres fall. Broadway is pretty much
always For-profit, and Off- and Off-Off-Broadway are almost always
Not-for-profit. Speaking of which. . . <br>
<br>
That is the biggest general difference between American theatres.
For-profit and Not-for-profit companies. For-profits include Broadway
shows, most dinner theatres, touring productions, some opera
companies, and a select few other types of theatre (like the big
Noah's Ark show in Virginia and Vegas shows like "O"). Not-for-profit
covers virtually everyone else. Community, Regional, Off-Broadway, and
Off-Off-Broadway theatres are almost always Not-for-profit.
answers2: Semi professional is the same as semi amateur so I suppose
this means good community groups and bad community groups?
answers3: Community theatres are groups of local actors who work in
normal jobs in the daytime but meet up in their evenings and weekends
to rehearse and perform in plays and shows. They are unpaid, and in
fact often have to pay a subscription to the theatre company to be a
member. Many of them do include professional actors who just love to
act even though they won't get paid, in between getting paid roles.
<br>
<br>
Regional theatre applies to either large community theatres where they
accept amateur actors from all around the region, or more commonly it
means touring professional theatre companies which travel from town to
town, performing one or more shows in each, before moving on. <br>
<br>
Semi-professional usually means that the actors in a theatre company
are a mix of amateurs and professionals, or it can mean that they get
paid a small amount through a profit-share. <br>
<br>
Professional means that the actors get paid a wage/salary/lump sum for
all the rehearsals and performances, but it can be a fairly small
amount, little more than expenses, or larger sums, right the way up to
large amounts for top actors.
answers4: Wrong section, but... <br>
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Community theater - entirely volunteers. No one is paid. Generally
the people come just from "The Community" - such as the town or
whatnot. <br>
<br>
Regional theater pulls volunteers from a larger area, and so on and so on. <br>
<br>
All of the theater groups do the same thing - put on plays and
musicals. The only real differences are the physical size of the
theaters, their budgets, and the skill/experience of the actors.