Friday, September 04, 2015
Keep Calm and Manage On: Why it is so Important to be Even-Tempered as a Stage Manager
OnStage: It’s no secret in the theatre world that stage managing is difficult. Between creating schedules, tracking each and every change and development in rehearsal, making sure the show runs smoothly each night, and of course, managing actors and tech staff, it gets hectic. You are ultimately charged with creating order out of varying amounts of chaos. And one thing that must be kept in order is your own attitude.
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As a stage manager I agree wholeheartedly with this article and I want to take it a step further. What are the best steps to take when sudden changes happen in a rehearsal room or in a performance? How can we as stage managers stay calm and collected when a catastrophe occurs? I think that there are a few things that you can do to remain calm. First like everyone says when someone gets stressed or angry, take a breath. Take a breath and count to ten. If you have trouble with freaking out right away then stop yourself and breathe. Just that one step alone can help you think and calm down. Next, go through your head on procedures to figure out what you can do to help and do them. Being proactive during a crisis can help you stay calm and focused rather than freaking out and not being helpful. Lastly, take the time to keep everyone around you calm and reassured that things are taken care of. The more people freak out the more problems arise. There are a lot more ways to help yourself stay calm and focused but these are good stepping grounds to work your way to being a calm and collected stage manager.
I am very much in agreement with the writer of this article. During my high school career, I worked under one stage manager who was know for being incredibly mean and very direct with people. If I learned anything from her it was not to inherit those stage manager strategies. I wanted to do a better job then her while maintaining a good relationship with the cast and crew. The writer makes a point to say that stage management is mostly about managing change. I never thought about it in that way, I was always stuck to the typical structure of managing the people involved, the equipment, and facilitating the productions. Managing change sounds a little silly, but the more I think about it the more it is true. What separates a good stage manager from a great one, is that one time when everything went incredibly wrong during a live show, and the great stage manager remained the calm collected one and jumped in to fix what could be fixed. That managing change. It is the changes that we least expect which tests a stage manager and pushes them to be better.
Its funny that Annie brought up a experience in high school because I think this article would be well suited for a high school stage management class. Youngins’ who are new to the theater and management scene may find that managing with fear is the best way to go about starting your carrier. It is easy to yell and when done correctly can scare people so I do see the temptation. At the same time after a while the person is not scary, he or she is just an a**hole. Not to mention in such an environment that is so high pressure (although it may less true in the high school setting) people don’t want a leader to be pulling their hair out or losing their cool all the time. This is a good article to hand out to young managers because it is a really good first look as to what the attitude of a manager should be. And this could also apply to non-theater management jobs. A calm temper is appreciated universally.
I have the utmost respect for stage managers. They are at the front lines every day working with people who might not respect time management and the limitations of budgets. I love when I have a levelheaded stage manager who keeps it cool when I request an urgent fitting at the last minute. Having their understanding attitude instead a frustrated one makes me feel like all things are possible. We are all working on a dead line and having a manager who understands that is paramount. I have worked in theatre companies in which the stage managers did not see the importance of having costume fittings during key times in our building process. The management even lashed out at the shop when we firmly told them we NEEDED fittings. This is no way to treat any person much less a shop that’s trying to turn out a show that looks great. I whole-heartedly support levelheaded and understanding management.
In my (admittedly short) time working in theater backstage, I've spent most of that time as a designer's assistant, but I've always seen that the designers, and most everyone else on the production, always has one of two attitudes towards the stage manager. Either the utmost respect or exasperation and irritation. It is the stage managers who are levelheaded, consistent, understanding, and calm while balancing being direct and in charge that everyone respects. They can keep everyone on track while understanding the mercurial nature of the art we create and being able to roll with the punches. But being direct and in charge does not equal being mean or scary. I remember working one show where the stage manager was the kind of person who really let the power go to her head, she was mean and talked down to everyone on the production team, particularly her run crew. By opening no one wanted to even listen to her anymore. They questioned her competence and ability as well as her attitude. Being respected by your crew is an invaluable tool in any stage manager's kit, and you will not earn it by treating them badly. Harsh stage managing is not good stage managing.
Something I heard when I first stepped into stage management world 2 years ago was that I heard lots and lots of stories and discussion in classes and from others, and from CMU crew myths that stage managers were scary and mean and unfriendly. Never seen one from my experiences here at CMU nor elsewhere that I used to work but I believe those people might still exist somewhere. But from what I learn and firmly believe, a stage manager you should NEVER EVER...EVER be cold or grumpy. Grumpy people can't manage things. There's a difference between Cold and Firm. Firm is solid, shows authority, yet can still be warm and gentle. Cold is cold. At the same time being too friendly and nice will get to nowhere.
This past summer I learned about this a lot from my supervisor stage manager. He also one of those person who has "normal personality" and "sm personality" and balances those two in an extremely brilliant way, but that's what makes him a very charismatic stage manager, yet absolutely a person in charge of every single thing production related. And he always ready for all the changes, and never even get grumpy about it. That what makes people respect him in a workplace although everyone knows how easy-going and friendly he is in real life. That is rare, and that is something I think is important to be a great stage manager.
I really love one of the last lines in this article, "Stage managing is managing change". Although the only stage management experience I've had has been on the high school level, I've had to deal with my fair share of "changes". From a power outage during a huge musical number, to a fire in a spotlight, to medical emergencies both onstage and in the booth, any problem you could think of happened in our run-down theatre. The only thing that got me through all of these mishaps was my ability to stay calm while others panicked. I've also definitely learned from the times that I didn't keep my cool that it is extremely harmful. My freshman and sophomore year I was known as the mean stage manager because I was very quick to snap at people or freak out. Once I learned this was a problem I adjusted my attitude and gradually gained back the respect of the actors. When you give others respect they will respect you, and in order to be a good stage manager you have to know this. I still have a ways to go before I'm a great stage manager, but learning this lesson has allowed me improve significantly.
I am so happy to have found this article because it is so similar to a conversation I was having today with a few girls in my class. We were discussing stage managers, women stage managers specifically, and the challenge that it is to balance authority with friendship in the work place, or in our case, school. The job of a stage manager is very social, and I think that is what makes it difficult. Anyone can learn how to call a show, or do the managerial things over time, but I really believe that it is hard to teach the social balance. Because it is so difficult people often resort to having a "real personality" and a "stage management personality". Not only is that the wrong way to approach a job its also SUPER unhealthy for the person. No one ever wants to feel like they have to out on a persona to be good at their job, and I don't think Stage Managers have to. Yes, it's part of the job to have it together and be level headed, but that shouldn't mean that you're not allowed to be fun, or silly sometimes, it just means that when people look to you for answers you have to be able to find them in a way that doesn't cause panic. I think SM's have one of the most interesting jobs in theater, and to be an SM you really have to love your job. But there is more to a Stage Manager than the title, and the persona it creates. I think this article highlights perfectly the importance of having one personality, and the truth is that if you love your job, and you're good at it, one personality is all you need.
Like everyone else, I completely agree that it's crucial for stage managers to understand how to anticipate and control change with a calm, professional attitude. Shedding the angry and mean stage manager thing is one of those things that you do when you get here, if you ever were that unpleasant SM before in high school. Interestingly enough, while I would probably only send this article to high school or still inexperienced college stage managers, I thought of many crew heads in other departments who could benefit strongly from this piece, including people who are older or further ahead in their careers. Because of the nature of their job, stage managers are wary of resorting to fear-based tactics, and make an active effort to make their “management personality” one that can have a positive impact on the situation in a room or the crew members present. This is not emphasized as much in other disciplines, where people management is one of many jobs and isn’t considered as essential to the process as it is in stage management. People are not made as consciously aware of the potentially disastrous effect of creating an unpleasant, aggressive, distrustful environment.
I identify to this article extremely well. At this point and time, I am thinking about Stage Management as a possible career option (though this may change in the next year and a half, who knows?). I am a naturally quiet, calm person, so I have had plenty of self doubt over my choice. I have actually been explicitly told that I am not fit to be a stage manager. However, this article helps to calm my fears and alleviate some of my self doubt. I almost never yell at anyone, unless they have done something truly wrong, and even then, there are better ways to go about fixing the situation. I am more inclined to talk it out and explain what can be done better in the future. As the article states, being even tempered is important, as the people you have control over should be comfortable to talk to you about their issues.
I have never stage managed a show myself; the closest I have come to stage managing a show is being a stage management intern at a semi-professional play at a college. However, in that experience, I could really see how that show's stage manager handled the room. She was very kind and very friendly, but if she needed something to get done, it would get done. She was more than happy to take the time to deal with miniscule details, but she kept tech and rehearsals moving at a steady pace. It is always better to rule (or manage in this case) by trust and leadership than by fear and intimidation.
I'm always glad to see an article like this pop up on the green page. It's one of those things that should be very clear to everyone, especially stage managers, but sometimes dies in execution. A few of the commenters here have brought up high school, where it absolutely is an accomplishment to be able to balance authority and friendship when managing classmates, which at that age is tricky and can be daunting. However, I have seen a couple instances of this more recently in my life, which is slightly disappointing. I am a firm believer in being yourself, yourself, and nothing but yourself in all parts of your life. In the past few days, I've heard examples of students "putting on performances" for their professors, interviewees eating hot dogs with forks in order to seem more "proper" in the eyes of an employer, and now stage managers taking on either a "real me" or a "manager me" personality depending on the time of day. The most important part of being a manager is never fear, but instead, trust. My high school director taught me that gaining the trust and respect of your cast is the only way to be a great manager. Earn their trust, be yourself, and keep a cool head, and everything will fall into place. That is what I live and work by, and I hope others do too.
All of the best stage managers I have worked with have done an excellent job of maintaining this balance between their "normal" personality and their "stage manager" personality. The points outlined in this article about keeping cool under pressure and not having to resort to fear or authoritarianism to maintain control over crew or actors are points that should be given and repeated to all young or inexperienced stage managers, and should even serve as reminders to more experienced managers. I remember in certain situations in high school where I would have to handle people goofing off or not being focused on their work and one of my assistants would often ask me, "Why weren't you harsher on them?" or "Why didn't you just yell at them?" or something along those lines, and I would never really know what to say because I knew that yelling was not the correct way to solve it, but could never articulate that properly. This article puts that into words and is really useful in pointing out some of the most basic points of managing a show.
What helpful observations! An article like this should be required reading for any artist who plans on working with other artists. You have to remember, its not about you, its about the work and its about the production that a large mass of people have put a lot of time and effort and passion into. Trust is essential to a team of artists, honest collaboration is what will make a piece what it needs to be. I wouldn’t want to go near a show that had no trust among its collaborators. I love what this article said about a stage manager being a “manager of change” because I think a production is always best when it has the ability to change and grow. Those of us in leadership positions, (directors and managers and producers) need to facilitate that change, maybe even instigate it. Because I believe that change that occurs naturally in the rehearsal room is the kind of change that makes a production great.
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