I just want to start this post with the idea that relaxing and resetting aren’t bad things to do with some of the extra time we find ourselves with in the unusual and extraordinary turbulent time we find ourselves in.
An interview with London based Stage Manager Sophia Dalton.
Lisa Porter and Narda Alcorn took some time to answer some questions from TheatreArtLife about their new book, Stage Management Theory as a Guide to Practice. Lisa is the Head of Stage Management at the University of California, San Diego and Narda Alcorn is a professor in the Practice of Stage Management and Chair of the Stage Management Program for the Yale School of Drama.
Ya’ll, lets look at the 2019 Stage Manager Survey today.
“The what?” you might say.
Every couple of years, David J. McGraw and whatever university he’s working at (I believe it’s currently Elon), conduct a fairly extensive survey of stage managers.
As we start looking at “re-opening” our economy, there is a lot to unpack and figure out. When you look specifically at show business, it gets even more complicated. We work in an environment that requires close contact, touching, even kissing. We share tight quarters, eat, drink, and sometimes live together (anyone do a bus and truck tour lately?). There are many front of house issues that need to be addressed, but as a stage manager, I’ve been ruminating on what adjustments we may need to make behind the curtain in order to re-open in a responsible and functional way which is no easy task!
Like the headline? I do. I’ve had a lot of time. A lot of time to reflect. I keep going back to the question I ask my students on a too frequent basis. What is a crisis? In my world, there are only ever two answers: Fire and Copious amounts of blood.
There are moments on stage that are magic. Moments like listening backstage at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival during a performance of Oklahoma! in 2018 when a group of students stood with a rainbow flag after each act of love displayed on stage. I still get chills thinking about the impact of that production and was honored to a part of it.
What does it mean to be a female tech leader in Latin America’s show biz? I know, being a girl techie is hard everywhere, but being a Tech Director or Production Stage Manager and a girl in Mexico city and most of Latin America, has been quite the journey for me.
A Valentine to Stage Managers: Valentine’s Day is a day to celebrate love. It makes me think of the love we stage managers have. What? Love and Stage Management, yes I say! Love is at the root of what we do. That is why I use the hashtag #smlove in many social media posts.
Has my credit card ever been getting a workout this week. I always used to think the Danger Zone was those few days before or after you travel when money seems to stop mattering because you have to pick up this little thing and that little thing and why buy more groceries when you can just get takeout?
So, I know that most of the time we think that because we are not on stage we do not need to “look a part” but reality is, we do need to feel it. So taking care of ourselves should be as essential as post-its and colored markers. In Mexico, there are no unions and sadly no real laws, so we have had some 56 or 48 hours shifts and bodies after a while need rest, sleep and proper nutrition.
Mexico City is one of the most exciting cities in the world! It has art like no other and it has such a vibrant nature to it. That is why musical theatre can not be any different. Hi my name is Mariana and I would love to take you through my journey as the Production Stage Manager of one the biggest musicals in Mexico’s History with me: Jesus Christ Superstar.
It’s that time of year when we look back at the past before we look forward to the future. We have five years of Symposiums in the rear view mirror and planning year number six, so as we are planning the 2020 Symposium, let’s take a look back…
One of the moments I knew I was working for a company with some really good people was when I grabbed lunch with our Associate Director a few weeks ago while we were in rehearsals.
When I started this blog, I was finishing off paying my student loans, working for a company that I sometimes still refer to as the “evil empire,” dating a guy I figured I was probably going to wind up marrying someday, and perpetually stressed about not having much money or feelings of financial security.
A lot of my career has been made up of contract work. While on the contract, I make money. While not on the contract, I don’t. This is a lame but regular side effect to the stage manager life.
I feel like I used my time in college pretty wisely to help build a foundation for my future career, but if I could turn back time, the one thing I would’ve really liked to do was an internship. I never even heard the word internship uttered at my college. I honestly didn’t have a clue they were even a thing for stage managers.
For the last several years, my annual goals list has included adding two resume skills. I got this idea after reading “I am my biggest asset” over and over again on career related blogs, but it’s kind of true. It’s funny how long I overlooked that “investing in yourself” often has some pretty big returns, but it’s also funny how difficult it can be to do it at first.
Maybe I’m alone in this opinion, but I think short-term regional contracts are, by far, the loneliest of contracts to take. If you move to a new area, you build a new life, make new friends, join clubs, etc. If you go on tour, everyone is in the same boat and the people you’re on tour with become (at least some) of your friends. But if you go fill do a quick fill in contract for a few weeks or a month or two in another state where most everyone else on the show just lives there, you’re gonna pretty much be on your own.
A question I am often asked is how challenging it is to work with different languages and different cultures in events and it is a great topic for conversation. I am very privileged to get to work globally in many countries. Fortunately, English does seem to be the common language when it comes to events.
I just saw a post for a gig all over the Stage Management Facebook boards that looked super intriguing to me. The show is called “The Hurricane” and it’s a devised, experimental piece. I love these kinds of shows, guys. They are literally my favorite. My entire Master’s degree study revolved around them. Then I saw it.
A while ago, a stage manager approached me and asked me for advice on getting international work. I asked him to send me his resumé, which came as exactly I expected. It was presented in the format all stage managers are trained to present their resumés in the USA. But here’s the problem; this format means little to nothing for foreign employers unless they are well connected to the performing arts industry in the States.
Burnout is a funny thing. I think it’s very cool we talk about it these days. I think it’s weirdly alarming how common it is.Like – my grandparents have been dead a while now, but I can’t imagine any of them having much to say about burnout. You just do what you have to do, right?
Recently I had the pleasure at speaking at the Broadway Stage Management Symposium on the financial panel. There, I was speaking to stage managers of all ages and from all walks of life. In my preparation for the event, I thought a little bit about 21 year old Mel and all the things I wish I had known about this ridiculous, amazing, stressful 100% love/hate relationship stage management career I’ve had for the last 14 years.
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