Reddit mentions of Notes on Directing: 130 Lessons in Leadership from the Director's Chair (Performance Books)

I second the recommendation for Jory's book, and I really like Notes on Directing too.

I am a director and I was given this book a long time ago. At first, I didn't know what to make of someone giving me a book about directing, but it really is great.

https://www.amazon.com/Notes-Directing-Leadership-Directors-Performance/dp/080271708X

It is now my go to gift to get for new directors.

Books

If you haven't already done so as a Stage Manager before, you should get and read through a stage management book. I like "A Backstage Guide to Stage Management" and "A Stage Manager's Handbook". Hopefully your stage manager will understand and take responsibility for all of their own duties, but you work in concert with your stage manager more than anyone else and understanding what their role is and how you can best work with them is a very important and often under looked part of the director's process. I'm sure you know something about this having stage managed for these events twice before.

My favorite books on directing are Notes on Directing and Tips: Ideas for Directors. Both books are laid out in a similar manner: as very small snippets of advice, no longer than two or three paragraphs, giving a very specific suggestion about preparing for rehearsals, your role in the rehearsal room, and how to give meaningful/helpful notes. I recommend these books to newer directors because I don't think that directing theory is very immediately valuable or accessible, and the tip format of these books is incredibly accessible to any theatre artist, regardless of experience, and is also wildly helpful.

My General Tips

• Have a plan - Come in to the first day of rehearsal with a very specific and well-planned out rehearsal schedule.
  
• Don't be afraid to modify your plan as needs change
  
• Do not run through the play over and over again - This happens especially often with new directors when they do not know how to spend their rehearsal time wisely. Running through your entire performance from top to bottom is only useful when done very sparingly throughout your general rehearsal process as a benchmark to see how the play is fitting together as a whole, and then later when done at the end of the rehearsal process when you are adding in technical elements. At all other times it is far better to work on specific scenes or songs, or even just specific moments in a scene or song.
  
• Have very specific ideas about what you think you want to see and how you will block it and how someone might perform it
  
• Be prepared to deviate from these specific ideas that you have as performers and designers bring something new (and likely better) into the room
  
• Be reserved in your design choices - The simpler that you make your design choices, like costume requirements, or set pieces, the more time you will have to focus on directing your performers, and this is especially important for a new director
  
• Do not waste performer's time - Have a rehearsal schedule, and stick to it. Do not call people when they are not needed for a scene. If there is a way to break down a scene into multiple parts so that actors are spending less time with their butts in the audience, you should do so. Personally, I apologize to my actors if they are sitting idle for more than 30 minutes. I try not to let it happen, but sometimes it does, and that's okay. Just don't make it a habit.
  
  
• 90% of the director's job is casting - I do not know the details of your event and whether or not you get to cast people or if it's an anyone-can-perform-who-wants-to sort of deal, but it's very true that a large part of a traditional director's role is to select the people that they will work with. Casting is the only time in the process when you have a direct effect in your performers: ability, attitude, dependability, level of professionalism, correctness for the role. If you are responsible for casting, dedicate a large amount of time to this process. When I was directing at the college level I preferred having three stages of casting: 1) Private auditions and casting of large principal roles if I knew someone who would fit the bill perfectly where I would either offer them the role outright if I was familiar with their work and capability, or where I would offer them a private audition and cast them based off of that audition; 2) Early open auditions several months before rehearsal would begin where I might typically cast many more big roles, but where I would make no casting choices at this stage that I wasn't 100% sure about; 3) General auditions very close to the start of rehearsals from which I cast the rest of the play. Also note that it may be your job to select your production team. Take special consideration when selecting your Stage Manager, Music Director, and Scenic Designer.
  
  
• Facilitate Collaboration - This is such a huge part of your job. Many people think of theatre directors as people who have the final say, and as the boss of the rehearsal room. If you have this attitude, you will cause problems. The truth is that you are there to help these artists learn from each other and build on top of each other's work. Every decision that you make should be in the spirit of collaboration. There is no room for your ego, for letting your pet design decision outweigh the scenic designer's choice simply because it's yours, or to steamroll actors about a blocking choice you made when they and their scene partner believe they have developed a better alternative. If you decide to outright veto an artist's choice, it should be because you believe it will help collaboration take place, and not because you believe your artistic choice is the stronger one. What you are building is greater than the sum of it's parts and you are the one who is responsible for ensuring that your team is looking with one vision toward the same goal, but that singular goal is rarely something that you envisioned by yourself in a box - it's almost always an amalgamation of many people's ideas and ability and brilliance, and you have to know how to get out of the way to let that happen while at the same time guiding people so that it will all fit together.
  
  
• When you are asked a yes or no question there are only three proper responses: 'Yes,' 'No,' and, 'I don't know yet, I'll have an answer for you tomorrow.'