Dealing with Directors

[nicoleyvonne19]

I worked as the SM on a musical at my school earlier this semester, and my Director treated me like crap.  I was more of a slave to him than part of the production team.  Basically, it was the worst experience of my life since it was my 1st time SMing anything on my own.  I was just wondering how people would approach a Director who is treating their Production team badly, especially the SM, because I wish I had said something to him, but I did not.

[SMrose]

I've learned to take the director aside and not be confrontational--make a request, like, " could you please go through me if you have notes for the crew.  They should get notes from one person, the stage manager. Thanks."  As I developed SM skills over the years, I learned to be proactive---have things ready for rehearsal, be a step ahead of the director so that s/he barely has to ask (or demand) something from me.