StageLync: Dani’s journey began with a Bachelor of Arts in Design for Theatre and Television from Charles Sturt University. The program offered a broad foundation in various aspects of theater production, which allowed her to explore multiple roles, including stage management, lighting, and sound. After nearly a decade in stage management, she discovered a passion for company management.
4 comments:
I deeply value the chance to hear about Dani Ironside's experiences in theater management. It is incredibly encouraging and enlightening to follow somebody who started out with a broad education in design and theater production and worked into company management through experience and persistence. It has caused me to think about the process of exploring the full range of possibilities before landing in a particular area. Dani's care for the people she collaborates with stood out for me. She is not simply managing tours or calendars - she is looking out for the safety, comfort, and listening to the participants. I think this kind of leadership is hard to find, and extremely important, especially in a high-stakes field such as theater. I found it similarly interesting that Bell Shakespeare strives to ensure they maintain their theater as accessible, particularly with The Players program. I think it is great that they prioritize students in regional areas that may not otherwise have the opportunity to view live performances.
Reading articles like this made me realize how many people genuinely care about the people in the industry and the work that they value and do. I think Dani’s experiences in theater management and now company management showcase all of the possibilities that are involved in theater and how many opportunities we as students are exposed to when we graduate Dani‘s care for just people that she works with is inspiring and that type of leadership is not the easiest to find especially in this industry. I think it’s imperative to prioritize people‘s mental health. How you talk to them is so essential to make sure that they aren’t turned away from the theater from a young age because of one bad experience that they had, so I think that it is excellent that the company prioritizes students in their area who wouldn’t have the opportunity to see their theater.
One of the things about this education that I'm most thankful for is the wide variety of skills and experience that the program gives us. everything in theater is better when you have a greater understanding of the different cogs at play, or inability to understand and facilitate other people's roles as along with your own, but this is doubly true for any sort of management position where you're working to help support or build other facets of the company in your own way. For example, as a stage manager, knowing how something like the scenic department works is helpful because you can communicate with them better and find a solution to any sort of problems that come up better, because you know a bit more about the thought process that is happening behind the scenes. I wonder what the equivalent is for a company manager. Do you have to sort of get into the mindset of all of the people that you’re company managing? Is it just a lot of putting yourself in other people's shoes while you're making schedules or making reservations to make sure that they're reasonable?
I am always happy to see theatrical managers, and the general art of theatrical management highlighted in articles. Although I am primarily interested in Stage Management I find it fascinating and good practice to learn about the other forms of theatrical management such as production management and company management. I am glad that the article highlighted that this company manager started out as a stage manager. I feel a lot of people end up starting as stage managers, as it is the most accessible largely in terms of experience and education. Small theatres are a lot more likely to have a stage manager position than a company or production manager. One of the reasons I love the program here at CMU is that we get a broader education in Stage and Production management as well as all aspects within technical theatre as opposed to programs that have a BFA in just Stage Management.
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