Stage Managers Shed Light on Opera’s Hiring Crisis

American Guild of Musical Artists: OPERA America published an article on July 28 regarding the “hiring crisis” in the opera industry. While opera is indeed experiencing a hiring crisis, context and relevant perspectives are unfortunately missing from the original piece, which is told from a hiring manager’s point of view. For instance, the article completely omits the experiences of Stage Managers.

Honoring 101 Black Stage Managers | Stage Managers’ Association

Stage Directions: During this pause in our working lives, The Stage Managers’ Association has focused its energies on creating initiatives to better serve the entire theater community. The Stage Managers’ Association (SMA) is pleased to announce that they are partnering with the Black Theatre Caucus to raise the visibility and knowledge into the community of excellent Black Stage Managers.

Theatre Review: ‘Twist,’ A social strategy game by theatre professionals

Maryland Theatre Guide: Stage managers rule. In this innovative and imaginative venture that combines theatricality, games, and last-man-standing types of reality shows, the stage managers have gotten together and created an immersive, interactive, virtual experience that might one day go in real life.

The Stage Managers’ Association Creates the Council for Equity and Advocacy

Stage Directions: Formerly the EDI Committee, the Council for Equity and Advocacy (CEA) has been created by the Stage Managers’ Association of the United States (SMA). The CEA is led by chair Kat Meister and includes members who are SMA Members as well as industry professionals from outside the organization. The Council advocates for the ideals of equity and champions all stage managers in their efforts to build an equitable industry.

Year of the Stage Manager

HowlRound Theatre Commons: Stage managers typically operate in the shadows, committed first and foremost to what is happening onstage. An occupation people used to fall into, stage managers are now setting their sights on the field as early as grade school. For many of us, we cannot imagine doing anything else. The work is often thrilling. We are the first ones in and the last ones out. The personalities, the wants, the needs, the cues, the pressure, the conflict, the resolution, the spike tape, the half-hour call—if it was not worth it, we would not do it. But the truth is: we can hardly agree on what it is we actually all do.

The Stage Managers' Association Will Present the 2020 Del Hughes Awards For Lifetime Achievement In The Art Of Stage Management

www.broadwayworld.com: On Monday, September 21, 2020, the Stage Managers' Association (SMA) will present its annual Del Hughes Awards for Lifetime Achievement in the Art of Stage Management to two distinguished honourees, Philadelphia based stage manager Patreshettarlini (Pat) Adams and Chicago based stage manager Alden J. Vasquez.

We Commit to Anti-Racist Stage Management Education

HowlRound Theatre Commons: From tragedy to uproar, America is being held to account. There is much work to do during this pause. We are two educators and stage managers who lead the MFA programs at Yale School of Drama and the University of California, San Diego. We identify as women—one Black, and one White—who share an intentional commitment to practicing and teaching anti-racist stage management. We are engaged in inquiry and self-assessment, as well as conversation about how the production of live performance will be transformed and how we can prepare stage managers to lead an authentically equitable theatrical process.

Building the Ideal Tech Team

Dramatics Magazine: MAYBE YOU’RE JOINING the technical crew for the first time. Maybe you’re a seasoned student technician ready to move up the ranks. Either way, to succeed in technical theatre — whether you want a leadership role (stage manager, house manager, student shop foreman) or just to deepen your current skills — you need to understand how to help your theatre director in three important ways: recruiting, maintaining, and building a strong team.

Reports from Quarantine: How 4 stage managers, used to setting a fast pace, are spending their time at home

dctheatrescene.com: Our unsung heroes, the people who keep everything running. The folks who are more on top of their game than any theatre artist you’ll ever meet: Stage Managers.

Stage Managers are the spines of the theatre world; without them entire productions would fall apart. This is due in part to their wide array of skills; they’re called upon to do any and almost everything, from repairing costumes in runs, reading in for absent actors in rehearsal, scheduling, administrative and communications work, prop construction…you name it.

The Mechanics of Crafting Transitions

The Theatre Times: For ensemble pieces in theatre, where actors never once leave the stage, what becomes all-important are the transitions between scenes — how the action, settings and mood segue in transforming ways from one set-piece to the next. But often, even in projects with an extended period of rehearsals, transitions are sometimes afterthoughts put into place much closer to show-dates than might be considered desirable by an anxious stage manager.

Performance Reviews For Stage Managers and Freelancers?

www.theatreartlife.com: As a freelancer, which most all stage managers are, we do not have a process of performance review. We get a job, we do the job and if we did a good job, we get hired again.

If, for whatever reason, the employer/director/producer/PSM didn’t like the job we did, we simply don’t get rehired. It’s usually that simple.

Broadway ditches age-old processes to run shows with iPads

CNN: From Elsa's magic in Frozen -- and those gigantic ice shards that rise from the stage -- to social media taking on a nearly principle role in Dear Evan Hansen, the Great White Way produces some of Broadway's most elaborate and technical stage spectacles two times a day.

A Paperless Broadway- Technology in the Rehearsal Room

www.broadwayworld.com: Theater folks are not necessarily the first to embrace change or technology. So it's not surprising when you walk into a rehearsal room and see creatives sitting with giant binders of paper. But certain companies are trying to change that.

Historical SM Calling Technology: Telephone Switchboards

Stage Directions: Over the course of 75 years, as cueing technology was continuously updated, it drastically altered how a show was called and how the audience perceived the performance. As noted in my article on bells and whistles, the prompter performed an aural role in the production, one that was noticed and acknowledged by audience members.

Historical Calling Technology: Cue Lights

Stage Directions: According to the Boston Daily Globe, in 1882 the Bijou theatre was the first theatre in the country to install and use electricity throughout the building. Some companies had already installed electric house lights, specials, etc. But the Bijou was the first to use electric light in every corner of the theatre. As a result, the development and implementation of cue lights followed shortly, which inevitably silenced the Prompter’s aural cueing methods and changed the way in which the audience experienced the performance.

Stage Managers And Human Reaction Time

TheatreArtLife: When I was first learning how to “be” a stage manager, I learned how to properly record blocking, how to lay out spike tape, and the best way to distribute a schedule. Nothing prepared me for having a direct impact on the physical well-being of my performers.

Trio works behind scenes to ensure success of G.I. Northwest musical

theindependent.com: While many Grand Island Northwest High School students will be on stage during the production of “High School Musical 2” this week, three students will be working backstage to make sure the show runs smoothly.

Marcus Eriksen, a sophomore from Grand Island, Ryan Zimmerman, a senior from St. Libory, and Ethan Ruff, a sophomore from Grand Island, are three stage hands who are helping with Northwest’s production of “High School Musical 2.”

Stage Management 101: Communication Is Everything With Multi-Act Productions

Pollstar: Having multiple acts on the bill isn’t just a thing at multi-day festivals, but one-day events as well. This creates challenges for all involved, from the tour and artist managers to the promoters and production companies.

Mary Jo Kaczka (Tour Manager), Kevin Lyman (Vans Warped Tour), Eric Mayers (Red Light Management), Dan Parise (Diversified Production Services) and Lindsey Sokol (C3 Presents) addressed these challenges in a panel dubbed Stage Management 101 – or Rosetta Stone Stage Management, as moderator Charlie Hernandez (Just a Bunch of Roadies) put it.

The Honor of a Stage Manager

Stage Directions: On this International Stage Managers Day (October 10th or 10/10 to use the British shorthand for Tech like the American 10-out-of-12), we honor stage managers. I will never turn down a gift of chocolate and, although I will squirm and potentially blush when receiving praise, it does make me feel good to hear that another artist appreciates my work.

Lessons in Stage Management

TheatreArtLife: When studying theater, one repeatedly hears the same cautionary tale… “If you can see yourself doing anything else for a career, you should do that instead.”