Church Production Magazine: In the classic 1995 film Apollo 13, which chronicles the attempts to rescue astronauts whose shuttle befell catastrophe while attempting to reach the moon, actor Ed Harris utters one of the best leadership lines that could ever be applied to a critical situation when troubleshooting and problem-solving are paramount.
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Opening with a quote from the harrowing hours of Apollo 13’s journey in which three human beings were running out of oxygen and aborting their moon landing plan to compare what to do when a board op issue arises during a worship production is…something I would have not thought of myself to say. Anyways, I agree that staying calm, owning up to what you’re capable of and mistakes you’ve made, and having empathy when things go awry are all important when unexpected problems arise, especially during live events. I like the article’s attention on creating clear communication paths between workers and helping one another out instead of using energy and time blaming others for blimps that appear along the way. I also like the prep advice the article gives so that teams are prepared and know the communication protocols when it comes to crisis in the middle of performance because that methodology allows people to be ready for errors not attempt to believe that errors will never occur during live performance.
I first watched the movie Apollo 13 (1995) when I was twelve, and I remember loving the back and forth aspect of problem solving. Effective communication was paramount to getting the crew back to Earth safely, and it is definitely crucial to any organized production when things go wrong. I like that this article touched on the importance of removing distractions from the environment. In my experience there are too many openings for mistakes or oversights when my attention is split between several tasks at once, so I can only imagine what distractions in an extremely busy and fast paced environment would do to a production.
In addition, the section about volunteers was very interesting to me. I used to volunteer as a costume assistant for a local ballet company, and anything I worked on was done at home on my sewing machine. The artistic director would give me the project and a deadline, and if any complications arose she would notify me, and vice versa. However, the company was small scale, so I’m sure that a bigger scale production company would have more moving parts involved in these decisions. Communication in these volunteer situations, as the article stated, is complicated and requires much thought and planning in execution.
Reading this article made me reflect on some of the most stressful moments I've experienced as a Technical Director. Like Gene Kranz in Apollo 13, I’ve found myself in situations where speculation or panic would have only made things worse. During my summer gig as a stage manager, which lasted for a month, we faced multiple unexpected challenges. For instance, during load-in, the stage art team forgot critical set pieces during transport, and on another occasion, the lighting system malfunctioned just an hour before showtime. In those moments, my heart was racing, but I knew I had to stay calm, focus on troubleshooting systematically, and communicate effectively with the various departments. Every day, I strive to be a thermostat rather than a thermometer. When the room is filled with anxiety, I realize that my actions can either contribute to the chaos or help stabilize the atmosphere. This article serves as a valuable reminder that our first responsibility as leaders is to remain calm, communicate clearly, and trust in our team's ability to meet the challenge. It's a lesson I carry with me daily, especially when things start to go wrong.
One thing that realy stuck out to me in this article was the comparison to a thermometer or a thermostat. One device reflects the temperature of the room while the other sets it. This is important in a high stress work environment because problems need to be solved with a clear and calm mind. If one is able to regulate their emotions and reset rather than just reflecting the current environment, it wil benefit everyone and allow the team to work towards the solution easier. I have experienced this on both ends before in a theatre setting. When people, especially supervisors, don’t keep a clear mind, it influences the rest of the team in a negative way. This causes worse problem soving and ultimately does not help anyone who is actively trying to solve an issue. Overall, this is a good lesson to take with you into any field that you are working in. Having a way to remind yourself that the situation around you should not influence your mindset so drastically allows anyone to become a better problem solver.
I think this article has a lot of good points and does highlight one of the hardest parts of our world. Communication is so important during a live show, but also throughout the rest of the show's process. Whenever I think of a good example of communication, I think of Load-in or strike (and more specifically whenever there's weight being moved on the fly rail). In this instance, communication will literally save lives if there was to be a problem and something like a brick were to fall down toward the stage from height. Another similar example is that everyone the first time they step into a theatre are trained that when something falls, you yell "heads". Everyone in a theatre should immediately know what this means and it is a great example of how important communication is. The article talks about how general communication can also save everyone from being stressed out, and I think we do a decent job of this at CMU. There are a few times things slip through the cracks, but I think overall the communication is good but can always get better. They also talk about how having a calm voice during communication is good, and I completely agree. Being calm in a moment that is not truly life-threatening can keep everyone else calm and can make sure the process can continue smoothly.
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