Just recently, a good old friend and work colleague posted a photo on Facebook showing a gender-neutral toilet seen backstage at Cirque du Soleil’s Ka in Las Vegas. As happy as I was about seeing this lovely sight, it also reminded me of how disappointed I continuously am regarding the – in my opinion – very poor efforts made by the entertainment industry towards diversity and inclusion.
The Big Blue by Luc Besson. Have you seen it? Do you remember it? For me it was probably THE movie which impacted my life the most. In the long run, it permanently changed the trajectory of my existence. Brought me to the oceans and from there to places and jobs I would have never even known existed.
On January 10, 2022, Narda E Alcorn and Lisa Porter joined the EPIC Conference to talk about their book “Stage Management Theory as a Guide to Practice”. Here is a quick excerpt from their session. Watch the full session at the link below!
You can enter the backstage world from whatever location you like – through Joshua Broadbent and Kelly Plank’s podcast Whispers in the Wings. Their podcast focuses on life as a Stage Manager. It offers fun and fascinating insights of life backstage. Bringing order to chaos and making the impossible possible on a daily basis. In this article, listen in, as Joshua Broadbent tells us about his and Kelly’s creation: Whispers in the Wings.
Susan Fenty Studham recently shared with me her research article “Supporting the performance of Noongar language in Hecate” completed in collaboration with Clint Bracknell, Kylie Bracknell and Luzita Fereday.
Working for Cirque du Soleil is a dream many of us working for contemporary circus shows secretly (or not so secretly) harbor. I have dreamt about it for thirty years. Not just dreamt about it but worked towards it as well. However, as of now, my love affair still seems to be rather one-sided. This is a frank look at how the journey has been for me. Where it will lead is of course still an open book… and, as they say, it’s not the goal but the journey that matters in the end…
SMA is the Stage Managers’ Association. It is an organization based in the USA. However, its International Cohort is growing as well since it began in early 2019. A “UN of Stage Manager” with currently over 25 ambassadors from 15 countries on 6 continents. On July 5, 2021, SMA Director-at-Large David J. McGraw and Editor in Chief/International Cohort Chair Hope Rose Kelly from the USA met for an online discussion with SMA International Cohort Ambassador Anna Robb in Hong Kong. Together, they compared the work conditions of Stage Managers working in both regions and around the world. Drawing on their own experiences as stage manager as well as looking at a 2019 survey, their findings are profound and of imminent importance. We are sharing the highlights of their discussion in an article series of 4 parts. This is part 4.
SMA is the Stage Managers’ Association. It is an organization based in the USA. However, its International Cohort is growing as well since it began in early 2019. A “UN of Stage Manager” with currently over 25 ambassadors from 15 countries on 6 continents. On July 5, 2021, SMA Director-at-Large David J. McGraw and Editor in Chief/International Cohort Chair Hope Rose Kelly from the USA met for an online discussion with SMA International Cohort Ambassador Anna Robb in Hong Kong. Together, they compared the work conditions of Stage Managers working in both regions and around the world. Drawing on their own experiences as stage manager as well as looking at a 2019 survey, their findings are profound and of imminent importance. We are sharing the highlights of their discussion in an article series of 4 parts. This is part 3.
SMA is the Stage Managers’ Association. It is an organization based in the USA. However, its International Cohort is growing as well since it began in early 2019. A “UN of Stage Manager” with currently over 25 ambassadors from 15 countries on 6 continents. On July 5, 2021, SMA Director-at-Large David J. McGraw and Editor in Chief/International Cohort Chair Hope Rose Kelly from the USA met for an online discussion with SMA International Cohort Ambassador Anna Robb in Hong Kong. Together, they compared the work conditions of Stage Managers working in both regions and around the world. Drawing on their own experiences as stage manager as well as looking at a 2019 survey, their findings are profound and of imminent importance. We are sharing the highlights of their discussion in an article series of 4 parts. This is part 2.
SMA is the Stage Managers’ Association. It is an organization based in the USA. However, its International Cohort is growing as well since it began in early 2019. A “UN of Stage Manager” with currently over 25 ambassadors from 15 countries on 6 continents. On July 5, 2021, SMA Director-at-Large David J. McGraw and Editor in Chief/International Cohort Chair Hope Rose Kelly from the USA met for an online discussion with SMA International Cohort Ambassador Anna Robb in Hong Kong. Together, they compared the work conditions of Stage Managers working in both regions and around the world. Drawing on their own experiences as stage manager as well as looking at a 2019 survey, their findings are profound and of imminent importance. We are sharing the highlights of their discussion in an article series of 4 parts. This is part 1.
Working backstage thoroughly absorbs you. And, as every activity and experience which challenges you profoundly, it teaches you more in a year than you’d otherwise learn in ten. I treasure all backstage work experience I’ve been privileged to accumulate thus far. Often pushed to my very limits, my growth has been exponential during all those times helping to rock and balance the stage. So, what are the key lessons gained you might ask?
When I was in high school, my family’s go-to TV show was NCIS. We’d put it on in the background over dinner, or watch reruns on the USA channel when nothing else good was on TV. By the time I left to go to college, I must have subconsciously taken in hundreds of episodes!
In the beginning of 2021s Pride Month, major corporations in Switzerland signed what they call the LGBTIQ Agreement. In this beautiful one-pager they basically state that everyone is the sum of their experiences and that they will not ever judge anyone on anything other than their competence, experience, work ethic, and capacity to grow and learn.
The world has changed. A global pandemic, the rise of Black Lives Matter and social justice movements, and the intensifying climate crisis have altered how we live and work. This includes the theatrical industry. These changes, however, have been happening while theaters have been closed. It’s been an opportunity for us to reflect and look critically at our own industry. As live performance returns, it is crucial that theatre makers address how these issues affect our process of theatre making. We are re-opening in a new era, it’s not the world of 2019, this is 2021.
Emily Joe has been a working professional in theatre, film, and television for just shy of a decade. She gained her experience and knowledge from working in various regional theatres ever since high school and recently made the jump to pursue film and television, holding previous roles of Stage Management PA at the Pasadena Playhouse, Geffen Playhouse and several other regional theatres and more recently as Art Department PA for Netflix and on the Amazon series Hunters. Emily is an all-rounder and ‘jack of all trades’, describing herself as a creative, which manifests in her work and hobbies which include photography and playing drums and guitar. During the quarantine period she was prop master for Laura Bell Bundy’s music video, American Girl.
Sharon delPilar is a professional stage manager for live theatrical shows. With over 20 years of experience in the entertainment industry, she began her career working at Walt Disney World. After 3 years in Orlando, she made the move to New York City and worked for a Broadway producing office, working on award-winning shows such as The Producers (starring Matthew Broderick and Nathan Lane), Hairspray (starring Harvey Fierstein and Matthew Morrison) and Flower Drum Song (starring Lea Salonga). She also toured the US with productions of Flower Drum Song and Legally Blonde.
Jade Cagalawan is the Arts Education & Professional Enrichment Programs Manager for East West Players – the Nation’s premiere Asian American/Pacific Islander Theatre. She first heard about EWP as a wee college student, learning about its origins and realizing that yes, AAPI can have their stories heard on stage, film, and television. She has also been an AEA Stage Manager for 4 years now, working with notable Los Angeles theatre companies such as Geffen Playhouse, A Noise Within, and of course, East West Players.
I am just one of thousands of stage managers who found themselves unemployed in the spring of 2020 – due to Covid19. My last job was on the Royal Caribbean cruise ship Oasis of the Seas as Stage and Production Manager for the Aqua Theatre. In this true tale, I want to share a little bit of my odyssey over the last twelve months. Where these months of enforced downtime have led mentally as well as practically. This is Part 2 of my story.
I am just one of thousands of stage managers who found themselves unemployed in the spring of 2020 – due to Covid19. My last job was on the Royal Caribbean cruise ship Oasis of the Seas as Stage and Production Manager for the Aqua Theatre. In this true tale, I want to share a little bit of my odyssey over the last twelve months. Where these months of enforced downtime have led mentally as well as practically. This is Part 1 of my story.
We are asking stage managers around the world, in a stage manager tag, some key questions about their job. Here is Ralph Stan Lee based in Long Island, NY (not a city but people from NY will understand).
We are asking stage managers around the world, in a stage manager tag, some key questions about their job. Here is Zhangqiyu (Ada) Zhang based in New York, but she was originally from Beijing, China.
This week I’m so thrilled to introduce Anna Robb. Anna and I connected toward the beginning of the pandemic last year as I was just getting rolling with TheatrePeople. She wanted to feature our series on her fantastic international blog, TheatreArtLife. Since then, it has been such a delight talking with Anna and learning about her 20+ years of stage managing experience across the globe.
We are asking stage managers around the world, in a stage manager tag, some key questions about their job. Here is Krystle Montgomery based in San Diego, US.
We are asking stage managers around the world, in a stage manager tag, some key questions about their job. Here is Tiffany Schrepferman based in Houston, TX, USA.
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