Author Topic: Dear Abby: What classes would you look for in a BFA stage management program?  (Read 16344 times)

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PSMKay

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From time to time, members who wish to remain anonymous will submit their questions for the staff to post on their behalf. We call these "Dear Abby" posts. This is one of them.

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Dear Abby,

I am in the process of proposing a new stage management degree program at a major performing art conservatory.  It would be an accredited BFA four year program with a diverse focus including musical theatre, opera, and dance.

My question is, what classes do you think should be included in a SM degree program?  I have a list already, but will not include it to avoid tainting anyone's ideas. 

Professionals: what class do you wish you had? 

Students: what classes have you had to take that you haven't found useful?

There would be the university's required general education credits, but I am trying to structure the actual degree classes.
I appreciate anyone's input and assistance with this!

Sincerely,
The Curriculum Concierge

BARussell

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As far as SM classes, I have found all of them useful! The two classes I found surprisingly useful were:

Business of Stage Management: Which is all about how to represent yourself, apply for jobs, and interview. how to make resumes and websites and use social media to your advantage. We did many mock interviews, phone interviews, it was an excellent trainging tool..

Music Theory: If you want it to be well rounded, training in Music theory is great because it helps you when learning to call operas and musicals, cause some people have no understanding of music so calling from a score can be difficult without this background.

Also there should be some time in classes, or a separate time (like an SM breakfast or lunch)  for discussion, most of the time as a beginning stage manager I just need an ear or fourm to discuss how things are going or ask questions, it's very helpful. 

Then of course classes in all the other technical areas cause you have to understand them to work with them. Costuming, Makeup and Hair, Scene design, Lighting.

The classes I found least useful were drawing and painting, while I see how these classes could be very useful for other design majors for me it has never come in handy, I learned a lot and it's a good skill, but as a requirement in the degree I found it arbitrary I could have taken any class.
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LCSM

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I completely second the music theory course. I'm (re)teaching myself to read music now, and it's painfully slow progress without some structured help.
 
I believe it was someone on this forum who once suggested taking a Project Management course, which I also think is a useful idea. In addition, a class on inter-personal relations might be useful - role-playing difficult scenarios that come up during a regular rehearsal process, and teaching the students how to diffuse them while staying professional. And, though I hated it at the time, I'm grateful for the class that taught me all about drafting and groundplans.
 
Beyond that - and this may be stating the obvious - make sure there's lots of practical work to go around, and that there's always some form of accessible mentor character for the students to go to when they're working on shows. That one-on-one time is what's been the most beneficial to my stage management, above and beyond any class.

kiwitechgirl

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I third the music theory.  I learnt to read music at a very young age (my mother is a music teacher) and it has been invaluable to me.  I also think that if it can be fitted in, a basic psychology course is a very good idea.  I did a degree majoring in psych before moving into stage management, and understanding how and why people behave in the way they do can be very, very useful indeed.

JECSM

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I think a Directing class would be really helpful as well. Improve communication with directors as well as give stage managers the tools to maintain their shows and direct understudies in the long term.

I also think some sort of performance class would be helpful for perspective and working with actors. Maybe not just Acting, but even some sort of Voice & Speech or Movement class. As a Stage Management student, I would be concerned about being graded on my acting ability, but having taken such classes with actors before college I do value the experience and even the skills I learned personally. And though we are not out on stage, stage manager's voices are an essential tool of the job, and being able to care for it is extremely valuable.

I second the suggestions of Music Theory, Communications/Psychology, and some sort of seminar/gathering. I have to agree with BARussell that drawing classes are really not as useful for stage managers--basic drafting is great to be able to understand and manipulate groundplans and plots, but otherwise it seems to take away from more applicable pursuits.

MatthewShiner

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I think a directing class is a MUST.  In fact, I would require a SM to direct a one act - all the way to production (be on the other side of the table).

I think classes in General Management and Production Management.

Lighting Design (for sure), but other design core classes.

Basic Acting.

Basic Management / Production Management

Communication / Team Management

They need to be able to read music.

They need to be able to read a ground plan.

Basic AEA understanding (using LORT as a basic understanding).

Advance Scenic Element (automation, etc)

That's a lot  . . .

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Anything posted here as in my own personal opinion, and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of my employer - whomever they be at a given moment in time.

Samazon

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(Matthew, I think you just described my degree track, minus the AEA course. My advisor would be happy to see that list.)

Most definitely there should be some sort of time for a forum of sorts at least once a month, as well as a class on AEA basics.

“All things are possible until they are proved impossible and even the impossible may only be so, as of now."

nick_tochelli

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 I like all of what has been proposed so far (especially psych classes). In that same vein I'd propose some courses in Communications. Most colleges have basic comm classes that deal with the methods people use to communicate and barriers they put up to prevent message transmission. It might not be a bad plan to add that into the mix.

But I think its vital that stage managers know how to draft (thus allowing them to read ground plans). All the design classes are great, but a technical production class that teaches drafting would be clutch.

And since it always seems to come up in productions and NO ONE has the answer......maybe copyright law classes. That way, at least some one in the production will understand how fair use works...though this one might be stretching a touch.

missliz

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My college offered a "Theater Outro" course in our second semester senior year....basically an "I have a degree in theater, now what?" class on marketing yourself, putting together a resume, where to look for jobs, AEA, etc. While it was more geared towards actors (we didn't have many tech/prod students) what I did pick up was amazingly helpful.

Seconding classes in acting, directing, and lighting!
I personally would like to bring a tortoise onto the stage, turn it into a racehorse, then into a hat, a song, a dragon and a fountain of water. One can dare anything in the theatre and it is the place where one dares the least. -Ionesco

MatthewShiner

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I disagree having to learn to draft to read to draft.  (One doesn't know have to write a book to read a book.)  But a class on reading ground plans - as some sort of technical theater program.

I also firmly believe that any undergrad program needs to leave the student with a good, well rounded education.

I also would add some sort of "Personality and collaboration nature" of stage management.
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Anything posted here as in my own personal opinion, and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of my employer - whomever they be at a given moment in time.

nick_tochelli

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Suppose you're right. I learned by doing and it worked better for me.  Call it a bias.

MatthewShiner

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As did I - but teaching hand drafting and the CAD is a huge time commitment, that at the end of the day in a BFA program might be better spent in other places.

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BARussell

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You can't fill up a "stage management" class with just the practical skills. we probably spent the first month or two learning to do the job and the rest of the year was, Project management, communication skills, dealing with unions, multitasking, interpersonal relationships, communication, copyright, and the seminar. I don't think each of those needs to be a separate course .

I took a scenic design course with hand drafting, but learned reading a ground plan in stage management class first. Honestly the skills I learned in SM are the ones I still use, the others are nice to know but not as practical.

I was excited for my directing class, but it ended up being terrible because it was taught by an acting grad student, and the whole class was acting oriented and SMs are the only "tech" student required to take it, so we could not really relate it to stage management, still got a lot out of it, but make sure the class is equally balanced and that the person teaching has some knowledge of our perspective beyond "I stage managed a bunch of times (because I couldn't get an acting gig)"

Acting class was very good and a requirement, having stage presence, voice, all of these things are excellent for SMs and just knowing a bit about how actors work, and the stress of their jobs too.

My college offered a "Theater Outro" course in our second semester senior year....basically an "I have a degree in theater, now what?" class on marketing yourself, putting together a resume, where to look for jobs, AEA, etc. While it was more geared towards actors (we didn't have many tech/prod students) what I did pick up was amazingly helpful.

Seconding classes in acting, directing, and lighting!

I think that's a little late to offer this course only because you want to have a wide range of experience by the time you leave school and the only way you're going to be able to apply to places and have that experience (like summer stock) is if you are a strong candidate from freshmen year on, then when you leave you will have a nice resume and already have tons of actual interviewing experience.
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MatthewShiner

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I am not sure these are one course things, or things covered in the entire time in the program.  It might take longer to learn to read music; basics of project management might be four weeks.

As far as directing, I don't think you should directing as a stage manager . . . I want a stage manager to learn how to be a director . . . take control of a room, feel comfortable talking to an actor as creative force, shape a scene, pay attention to tempo, stage picture, etc, etc.

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Anything posted here as in my own personal opinion, and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of my employer - whomever they be at a given moment in time.

lsears

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Add to list:  some kind of combat class that addresses movement safety, terminology, fight notation, weapons maintenance, running a fight call, working with a fight choreographer, etc.

There should also a class that deals strictly with design, apart from the disciples like lighting, scenic or costumes.  You need to gain the vocabulary to understand director notes and conversations with designers, as well as building confidence in discussing designs.

A thought on the drafting class.  Beyond learning how to read a groundplan/section and understanding how they work together taking a class that requires you to draft addresses many stage management skills.  When you draft something you are looking at a three dimensional object (or at the idea of something) and deciding what information is most important and how you convey that to a variety of people in a clear manner.  It is the same process we go through with all of our paperwork and when putting together production books - combining function and form tailored to a specific audience.

I also second everyone who has said that you need to allow time for a well rounded general education.  If you stay in theater everything is useful - literature class, history classes, languages, art history, anthropology, and of the social sciences or liberal arts only help you.  If you leave theater then you're more aware of where your interests lie.

Directing and acting are must haves.  Absolutely non-negotiable.

 

riotous