L.A. Weekly: Easy to ignore is the one player who should never be ignored — the woman ever so quietly pushing a table into place on the stage and setting on the table a few props, rubber representations of knives, a bowl. And, at some distance from the table, setting up a video camera, which will be pivotal to the play's action. That player is Megan Crockett, the stage manager.
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Everyone knows you need actors for a show, and most understand that you need a director, but for a surprising number of people their knowledge of what goes into making a show stops there.
I remember when I was visiting CMU for my portfolio last fall, I was at one of the family dinners explaining to the dad of another prospective student what I wanted to study at Carnegie Mellon and he said, "Oh, I didn't realise that was something people did..."
I think the last line of this article summed it up beautifully, technicians and production staff, and stage managers in particular, are the ones "shining light" on the production, but if they do their jobs right, no one gives them a second thought.
So I think it is really excellent the number of articles I have seen on this blog highlighting stage managers and what makes a good stage manager, because this is something that needs to be talked about. When no one is talking about a profession that only the insiders ever seen at work, there aren't standards established for how a good stage manager should act, everyone just thinks their interpretation is the best, and having a good stage manager is absolutely imperative to having a good production.
I love a good backstage appreciation article. I remember when the article in the New York Times came out last year about Local 1 and all they do. It brings to light all the work that we tech people do everyday to make the show go on. It seems so obvious to us that we are necessary to the show. Sets don’t magically appear, lights do not magically turn on and every little aspect of the show does not go right every night without someone making it so. It is really great to have the attention on the behind the scenes work but we do not do it for the attention, otherwise we would be performers, we do it to tell the story and to bring the world to life, and the appreciation is always appreciated. It is hard explaining what we do to my friends outside of the theater world and articles like this being more prevalent would certainly help that, but an article here and there is enough. Too much attention on the backstage will ruin the magic that we are trying to make.
My favorite applying to college question was "So what exactly do stage managers do"? Nobody knows, even some people who work in theater can't explain it very well, and I have always found that to be part of the charm. One of the first stage managers I ever worked for told me that you have to be "very secure in yourself to be a stage manager". That applies to a lot of things, but what she meant was that you have to know, and appreciate the amount of work you've done, and praise yourself for it because the audience sure won't. A few days ago my roommate said she couldn't wait to see me take a bow on stage the first time I worked a show at CMU. Her disbelief when I told her that the crew doesn't bow was actually hysterical, and of course followed with the question, "So does that mean you get like no credit"? The answer to that question is rough because the average theater goer has no idea what does on backstage or the months leading up to opening night, but the other people working do, and they give the SM credit, and that's what matters. Theater is supposed to be magical, and seamless, and if people could see the process they would know that that is totally untrue. Often the people most vital to a project are those who are the least seen, and there is a certain charm to it being like that. I am okay with not taking a bow, because I know what I did, and I know that it's important and that's what counts.
On the topic that Crockket brings up about finding a balance between being strict and being nice i totally agree with. If a stage manager is too mean, then the actors wont respect you and ignore you but if you are too nice, they will walk all over you. I think that if you are as pleasant as can be whenever you can be, the times where you need to be strict will be more impactful and resonate with the actors because they will know you mean business. I also agree that organization is very important for a stage manager because they handle so many different things and without organization, everything else would be chaos.The management of chaos is also the stage managers responsibility which I think is pretty cool. Personally, I get a thrill from solving a problem under a time restraint that could affect the show. of course, I would rather avoid the problems that can be avoided but, it sounds crazy but I think that its a fun challenge. Overall, I certainly think that stage managers are the silent superheros that don't get there own headlines but do their job becuase they simply love what they do.
I thoroughly enjoyed this article for a multitude of reasons and one of them is because it elaborate son the common action but not understanding that stage managers are often left doing more than what their job requirements demand. Another interesting thing that I don't know if I entirely agree with is the fact that the headline is "The Most Important, Invisible Person." I don't think that as an article it was a good idea to label the stage manager as invisible. Yes, the job may unknown to the general public but I don't think that invisible was the right choice of word. This continues the stigma of stage managers not being part of the process of creation and reinforces that they magically save the show all the time, while in reality there are many other people who contribute to the show's success that are just as "invisible" as the stage manager.
My default answer for "What exactly does a stage manager do?" is "Everything" because the stage manager's most important job is knowing the show inside and out and being prepared for any eventuality. I loved the stories of crisis management in this article because it's always exciting to hear about how some aspect of the show was saved through the efforts of the stage manager. I think it's also important to note the "everyday" aspects of the stage manager's job with running rehearsals, taking note of smaller things that need fixing or adjusting, and generally taking care of the organizational aspects that are crucial to the show running smoothly and moving along in the proper timeline. Even if it's not a job that's understood or that gets a lot of credit, I take pride in being part of the creative process of theater.
I thought this article was great. It sheds light on a fairly unknown part of theater. Just like they say in the article, when you’re talking to a non theater person they know what actors and directors do, most of the time they’ll know what the various designers do to (or at least be able to figure it out pretty quickly). But tell them about stage mangers and you’ll get blank looks, and then when you try to explain it you’ll get more blank looks. Stage mangers, along with board operators and several other parts of tech theater, occupy a strange world. One in which being unnoticed by the public is as great a sign of success as thunderous applause is for actors and directors. In addition, I found Crockket’s description of a stage manger being almost like a parent to be one of the better explanations of the job I’ve come across. It conveys how they need to know everything that’s going on with the show and at the same time take care of everyone involved.
As a stage manager I like to think that I am the most important person working on a production. However, I know in reality I am not. I personally believe that the stage manager is as important as anyone else on the team. What I love about theater is that a story is told as the result of team collaboration. The moment that someone starts thinking that they are more important than others that is when this amazing collaboration starts to go down hill. Yes there needs to be leadership from everyone but I think it is important that everyone respect each other for what they are able to contribute to the storytelling that is happening. Also by telling someone they are the most important than ego trips tend to begin. No one likes working with someone who is on an ego trip. At the end of the day, collaboration is key.
First off, I’m going to say that I love my Stage Managers. Without them behind the scenes running around and recording cues and writing down notes and keeping things intact, much of a show would fall apart. I concur with a sentiment that was expressed in this piece-- the idea that if a SM is a “raving bitch”, no one will listen but if you’re as sweet as candy, no one will listen either. This also makes me think however, if it has anything to do with many SM’s and Megan Crockett in particular being a female. If a male stage manager had to do the same job with the same level of intensity, would it be him just “doing his job” or would he be regarded as a dick? Would he be regarded as being assertive and confident? To be able to be assertive but friendly is a complex recipe that female stage managers have to balance on all the time. Sexism is no doubt still very alive in the theatre and film/TV industry but leaving it up to strong female stage managers to change the current is definately a step in the right direction.
It is always great to see articles like this that show how much the stage manager is an important part of theatre but I don’t think of us as the most important person. I think that we are important and without us the show wouldn’t move forward but that is also true for others as well. If there were no actors the show couldn’t perform, or if there were no musicians the musical couldn’t go on either. There are so many people that work on each production that without every one of them the show wouldn’t happen. Theatre is a group effort, everyone has their own job but that job is for the show and everyone wants the show to open and be great. So yes the stage manager is an important person and I am honored to be one but there are so many other people out there working on this one show that they should be honored as well.
I like that there is an article about stage managers because they are often over looked when discussing the people involved in the creative process of theatre. Stage managers are often in the background, not only in the sense of them being back stage but also while discussing the process leading up to a performance. The stage manager is an extremely vital part to a production because they keep everyone on track and keep everyone together. The stage manager is like the backbone of a production because people do not often think about how important it really is, but the production would not survive and stand up without them. Stage managers have different amounts of power and responsibilities depending on the level of theatre. In the article she did not want a big role on a big show because she also wanted to act. I personally do not want to do that because I cannot act and I would like to work on big shows in the future.
Whenever I am discussing my future or my intended career with my relatives, they always say something along the lines of "Oh, well I can't wait to see you win a Tony!" They are always surprised when I tell them that there is no stage management Tony, but I explain it by saying that the quality of a stage manager cannot be judged from the audience, so there's no way Tony voters could actually pick the "best" stage manager. I think the "invisible" aspect of stage management is why they are so often overlooked. If you say you're a lighting or costume designer, everyone knows what that is and can probably have a mental image of your work. However, with stage management, no one really knows what that means, and that is fine. Most stage managers are not in it for the fame and recognition. They're in it because they love theatre and they love what they do.
I read this article before a year or two ago, and I wholeheartedly believe in the importance of the stage manager (clearly since I'm now one of them) but seriously a show can completely screwed up or looks like magic really up to stage manager. I never care about it that much until many years ago that year when the Oscars run was kind of all over the place…. I mean… pretty screwed up… and I was still young I wasn’t quite sure what’s happening out there, but now years after as I grew up and get involved more into this industry I was really terrified when I looked back and thought about that situation again and I was like “Damn! How did that SM supposed to feel while he was running that thing.. and It was broadcast to EVERY COUNTRY ON THIS PLANET!” Has he ended up cut his career life short? If anyone knows who that person is please leave a comment below because I would be interested to read about him(or her).
I always am fascinated by small instances of the outside world creep in to our world of the theatre. I have almost started assuming that anyone who tries to define a “most important” member of a company has never worked in the theatre. The problem with this kind of statement is that it’s true, if you remove the stage manager from the creative process the whole thing will grind to a stop or at least lose a significant amount of quality. The same of course can be said to the same degree about a lighting designer, sound designer, technical director, propsmaster, or lighting designer. Each and every member of the backstage team plays an absolutely key role in the creative process as well as the execution of each performance. To remove any aspect of the team is to deal a crushing blow to the production as a whole just as removing even some small characters from a plot can ruin a story.
A good Stage Manager really is the glue that holds together a production. I'm constantly amazed by the amount of rehearsal time they must attend and the breadth of knowledge they possess about what's going on with the production. That being said, I don't know if this article really gives a good impression of what a professional Stage Manager does.. The article focuses on Megan Crockett, a non AEA SM who actually wants to be a professional singer. Some of her responsibilities include setting up video cameras, operating & sometimes programming lighting & sound cues. She apparantly has also had to go on-stage to cover for actors unable to perform. Not to disparage Megan who I'm sure does a great job, but this really is a range of responsibilities outside that of a "professional SM". But hey, I get it, in a 99-seat Theater, the show must go on. On a side note, she likens being a SM to being a parent. I don’t know if I really like or agree with that analogy. I feel that sometimes Stage Managers talk down to those around them or take on a condescending attitude when interfacing with other collaborators.
I, of course, am always glad for an article that tells the public about what stage management is, but I have to say that I am really not crazy about this article. My first issue is with the title. I do not believe that the stage manager is the most important part of the production. Obviously he or she is extremely, extremely important, but without the rest of the team, a stage manager is nothing. Whenever I stage manage a show, I find that people are constantly praising me for the things I do. While I obviously love to be appreciated by my team, sometimes I wish that we could all do our jobs without the "OMG you are the most important part of this show," "No way YOU are!" kind of thing that I've seen happen in the past. I also am a little disappointed in the way stage management is represented in this article. Crockett seems to be a very good, well loved stage manager in her theatre, but she is portrayed as a woman who stage manages because it's "like being a mom" and trades up the opportunity to join AEA and be a full-time, legitimate stage manager for a few very small walk-in roles in a 99-seat theatre. The article is great for recognition, but I prefer another article (link here: http://www.tcnjmagazine.com/?p=6535) about Christy Ney, one of the ASMs on Wicked whom I was lucky enough to shadow over the summer. I think more recognition for the incredible AEA stage managers would be a really wonderful way for people who do not understand the SMs job to get an idea of what our jobs are like.
So, this piece is about a person in the LA theater community who stage manages. Her experiences, the things she has done on shows, etc. are her own, and certainly valid because of that, however I agree with Kat that her attitudes represent a type of stage manager that we as an industry should be striving to move away from. I have a personal abhorrence of the caricature of the under-appreciated, mommy-martyr stage manager, which is why it’s unfortunate that this article uses Crockett as their example of professional stage management. When I am stage managing, I am absolutely not the most important person in the room, be it the rehearsal room or the theater. I cannot do my job if the people around me, actors, directors, designers, technicians, are not doing theirs. Conduit through which disparate departments interact? Sure, but construing that function as a certain greater or lesser level of importance is at best misguided, self-important, and delusional, and at worse serves to hinder the very interactions that you as a conduit are meant to facilitate.
My larger question about the article, particularly its timing, is who is benefitting from this view of stage managers? Does LA Weekly have among its management and shareholders producers of 99 seat theaters? This article came out just as the controversy between AEA and the 99 seaters was heating up, and it certainly behooves the theaters to have a magazine with a large local subscriber base portray a romanticized version of non-Eq stage management, combined with an undercurrent of “Screw Equity.” That theory may be a little tinfoil-hat of me to propose, but the timing is a little suspicious.
I love to read these types of articles. Stage Managers are often overlooked by others, because they do a good job if remained unseen and unnoticed by the audience. When telling friends and others about what I was going to study in college, I usually had to explain what a stage manager did. Actors and designers are much easier to understand, their work is supposed to be seen and heard. They easily understood what the different designers did, but stage management was a bit more of a conundrum. The long list of responsibilities that changed depending on the show and who you talk to didn’t really help. So articles like this really help others understand more of the backstage aspect of theatre. I like how the article detailed some of the differences between the large and small theaters, because it really shows just how versatile stage managers have to be.
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