Dramatics Magazine: THE SAWDUST HAS SETTLED. The lights have been focused. The props are preset. You call half-hour, instructing the cast to get into costumes, mics, and wigs; grab your water, stopwatch, legal pad, and promptbook; and head to your tech table. As you hike, you check in with run crew, assistant stage managers, designers, production staff, and the director. It’s time. You take a breath, look over the space, maybe even smile … tech has begun.
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Tech is also one of my favorite parts of the theatrical process; I just love it when everyone comes together in one space and you can finally see all the pieces fitting and everyone working with one another. It's just so fun, hectic, and warm-feeling. It feels like home. I've always been so mesmerized by stage managers during this process. They're the ones who have facilitated communication with everyone this whole time, and they are just entire databases of information. Every time I've seen someone go up and ask "What's happening? What are we doing?" "Who's moving this?" "How is this being done?" the stage manager always has an answer. They know everything, they're responding to dozens of people's questions at once, while also keeping track of everything that is currently happening and what will be happening next. It's INSANE. I catch myself thinking constantly "I could never remember all this and do all this at once." Stage managers are so special and important, and I firmly believe that they have one of the most difficult jobs in the process. I have so much respect for people who can pull that off.
Stage Managers are awesome. I love this article, not only because it is helpful for pairing stage managers to read and get tips and tricks, but because for non-stage managers, it breaks down everything they do. Although it was not the intent of this article, this article made me respect everything they have to keep track of. In high school, I stage managed a few shows, but it is so different than doing college or professional stage management. In the real world, it seems to be much more involved and difficult. Being Abe to smoothly run a show is the most important job someone could have in theatre: the show literally could not happen without a stage manager behind every aspect of the production. I definitely don't think I have what it takes to be a stage manager, because they are so poised while controlling so many integral things. I might crack under the pressure. I think it is interesting at this school that they separate production and stage management.
The process of the technical rehearsals can be such an exciting time when it becomes the first time that all the technical elements come into play and the pieces of the puzzle all start to take shape. It can also be a stressful one because the stage manager is trying to work with all these different elements to have them under control so that they can call everything correctly while also moving along the process so there is a minimal amount of dead time. An important suggestion that is made here is to allow yourself as a stage manager to delegate and not be concerned about every little thing, to the detriment of what actually needs to be focused on. Reading about the techniques of writing in cues is also interesting because, while I know there are certain conventions to writing in cues, I had not known of them when I was stage managing before. These tips will probably be helpful to educate people who have not heard much experience from stage managers.
Tech is always the scariest part of a rehearsal process for me when I stage manage a show. It could just be the circumstances of the show, or how my high school director liked to run things, but it never felt like I had enough information. One of my main points of anxiety during tech is not knowing everything that is happening at all times: on one hand, I want to know what’s going on with everything everywhere, but that’s also a near unreasonable request of my brain. Having a reliable ASM team makes life infinitely easier during tech, as you can trust the deck to the ASM(s) and let them handle the stage while you focus on cueing and keeping rehearsals moving. I always had a hard time trusting my ASMs with their roles, which in turn, made me more stressed out at the tech table. This article did make me miss stage management, especially for a smaller team. I stage managed shows with 100 people in the cast & run crew and that’s obviously a challenge, but I enjoyed myself more with the smaller shows, because I felt like I could pay attention to the people more and focus on the smaller details.
This was very nice to read and highly helpful to me as a stage manager. Lately, I've been doing a lot of searching for books and handbooks and different things that would help me be the best stage manager I can be. What I love most about articles like this is that it really shows how a single stage manager does their job and doesn't group all stage management styles together. Personally, there are things in this article that I'd do and also things that I'd probably not include in my style as a stage manager. I like that they loop in electrics altogether as a calling method rather than separating lights and sound. I really enjoy stage management because I don't think that there is really anyone in the process that thinks like one, looking at details that are overlooked, figuring out ways to keep people happy and maintain the overall attitude of a room. All of it makes me very happy.
In my high school career as a stage manager, my roles and responsibilities were very much in the moment, delegating who needs to be where answering questions and sending out rehearsal reports every week. However, in a much more professional environment, the role of the stage manager is significantly more defined. This article mentions how as a stage manager a key part of your role is to be a strong communicator to your team, and delegate jobs amount the crew. As a stage manager, it is also your responsibility to be organized and on top of scheduling to make sure that the team understands what needs to be accomplished every rehearsal. The article also mentions that it is important to rely on assistant stage managers and run crew in a constructive way and being ok with uncertain situations. A huge part of being a stage manager is being a problem solver.
This article was written form an educational perspective, I believe for people who are not as familiar with their stage management role. Or maybe advice from an older generation to the younger one, because there are things that I could not help but say “Duh” even when I’m not remotely inclined to be an SM. But what I really took home was the section where the author talks about Stage Managers being inclined to pass over their needs. Like, not wanting to call a sequence again in order to save time. It was a nice reminder that during tech when pressure is high, and everyone is tired, a Stage Manager’s needs are just as valuables as any other member of the team. Once the show opens, everyone else is going to go home, and the person who is in charge of the run is the Stage Manager, we should make sure they have the confidence to feel like they can take as much time as they need in order to get it right.
Well, this is profoundly relevant to me as I sit writing this comment just before beginning a lovely Saturday tech rehearsal. I think about the role of a Stage Manager in tech quite often. You have a responsibility to give the designers, director, and actors the space to realize their piece in the space with every element, but you are also responsible for ensuring that the show reaches its milestones on time with the crew trained in their duties and all of the logistical matters of the show settled. These two things often feel in conflict with one another, but, especially in this past week, I think that I have learned that they really aren’t. A lot of the creatives exploring their process is settling those logistical matters, you just have to be constantly guiding them through that by orchestrating the actors and crew members to realize these moments in front of them. You have to pay really close attention to the script ahead of time, so you know when it is important for the team to stop and take their time with a moment, and when you can pick up the pace a little bit, in case you get crunched for time.
This is an interesting article, and useful to different stage managers in different ways, I imagine. I would have been ecstatic to have found this as a first-time stage manager, as it very clearly breaks things down, even to the point of dissecting a cue and how the various parts play out and intersect with one another. As a more experienced stage manager, I can also see this being a useful reminder at different points in the process: if you're communicating, facilitating, and using your resources smartly, you're doing everything you can do to make the process as smooth as it can be. And even so, sometimes tech just doesn't go well. And that happens. I also liked the little reminders that were included in this article, such as "you're not a team of one." It is called a team, after all, and it's helpful (even if you know it, you may not "know" it in the moment) to get the reminder that the weight of the entire show is not solely upon your shoulders. Good reminders and good tips in this one, even if it does spell everything out a little too much at times.
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