Stage Management Course

[fuzzy_7]

Just trying to provide evidence that my college needs an sm course.

[megf]

Hi Derek,

I understand the point you're trying to make - I've been talking over, under, through and around the issue of teaching stage management at my university since I got here. While the school does offer an undergraduate stage management course, I have not actually taken it - first year I lacked the prerequisites, second year it was cancelled, and third year... well, by the third year, I had SM'd 3 and ASM'd 2 department shows, worked in each space available to me as a student, done more than 8 shows on a pro-internship basis, and felt that it was no longer to the point.

I did, however, make an effort to talk with the people in the SM class whenever it was offered, and learned from them that it varied between check-in time for student stage managers and "stage management appreciation" - essentially, students in the class used the time to compare notes, and brought whatever their background was to the table. Design-major hopefuls, actors who wanted to know more or even try SM, older SM students who needed/wanted the units, all got together with the adjunct faculty who taught the class and discussed the relevant issues from prop lists to callbooks to footwear. More experienced students often said less glowing things about the course, because ultimately (and this is hearsay...) the class did not open their eyes up to new worlds. It did give them a wonderful chance, though, to communicate with less experienced students about what SMs do and how we do it, which in turn made the class very helpful for folks new to the program.

Two years ago, I was lucky enough to work backstage with a woman who went to another university (I'm leaving out school names on purpose here...). She and I have similar interests in theater, and wound up spending a good amount of time comparing our experiences in school-sponsored SM education. Her school handles it somewhat differently: all SMs for the term meet weekly to discuss issues, questions, space assignments, etc., rather like a SM-only production meeting, or as she put it, "SM support hour." I really like this idea, since it seems to respect the fact that students come from a variety of backgrounds, but also offers a safe platform for students to raise questions in the most resource-rich environment possible. As importantly, it puts all the SMs together while they are working on department shows, which teaches, directly or indirectly, that they are all in this together - makes it the effort of the group that counts, rather than the disjointed efforts of a bunch of students.

Hope this helps, and do keep the SMNetwork posted on your evidence and the outcome!!

Meg