First Tech related anything

[Starter530]

Hi everybody, first off i'd like to say im new to this forum and ive read a few topics here and was just looking for a bit of advice

Second off, here's my story. I have been involved in my HS theatre since my sophomore year. Since then i have consistantly been cast in every production, and my junior year i started to get leads, including musical and uil. Its my senior year and i just finished a straight show as a lead. I had always gone into tech interviews, but they never considered me for anything. For this show, i let the director know i was interested in tech over acting, because id like one tech position before i graduate and (being a singer) i don't want it for musical. So I went into Stage Manager/Assistant Director Interviews, and tech interviews. I Somehow ended up being stage manager, no ASM, so i'll probably be backstage. Its not like i have absolutely no tech experience, but ive never had a specific title, ive dabbled in just about everything, but this is kind of overwhelming.

I've put together my spreadsheet for conflicts roll call, and i have my prompt book ready, with a design of the set after every page and ive been starting to take down the characters' blocking. I'm not sure if i have to take down light cues yet, because i think the A.D. will be calling the show.

Should i be doing anything else? and i need some advice about working with a director who's kind of difficult (and a bit immature)

[stephaleph]

You sound like you're doing a good job so far. Check to make sure the A.D. is doing light cues and if he/she get a copy of the cues.

Also, for the actual show you could make your self a stage-manager's kit (or just have stuff in your purse) including things like: safety pins, throat spray(or cough drops but they always end up on the ground later), bobby pins, bandaids, tylenol, advil, hair-ties, duct tape, gauffers tape, and anything that your show would specifically need a back-up of.

As for dealing with an immature Director: remember the hierarchy. The Stage Manager supports the Director, so if you have any issues with the Director then you should communicate with him/her. It's vital that communication stays open between the two of you and that the Director has faith in you. If you're not sure on how to talk to the Director without upseting him/her your teacher should be able to coach you on that.

In the end if the Director acts immature and doesn't change, it's your job to be neutral and just do your job.

I hope you can work things out and it sounds like you have things under control. Also, I remember in highschool the techies not being taken to an actor backstage, but just show them and the cast that you're serious and you'll slowly earn their respect. Know that they will not give you respect right away, if they already do because they know you then that's great you're already ahead of the game!

[Starter530]

thanks so much
well we're two weeks in and we've hardly done any blocking and our director is consistently late because of other obligations, rehearsal is becoming very frustrating to the actors and the A.D, when he has a chance to work scenes, after lots of hype and good ideas, doesn't do anything. It looks like a cold-read right now.

I think i've been doing a good job though, i'm keeping up with techies, making a lot of decisions on things, keeping up with the scheduel, taking down blocking and making sure what the director wants done gets done. I'm just getting a bit scared, because this is a farce, and when a farce doesn't have direction, it turns into a nightmare

[stephaleph]

I just finished running one show in which my director was only at a few rehearsals. I had to do all the blocking and help the actors with their characters. It was definitely a small play so I managed, but I wasn't sure whether or not to take initiative. Turned out it was the right thing to do, I just kept checking back with the director telling him what I was doing that day and if that sounded good to him.

Maybe you have a careless director or maybe he/she just trusts you a lot. Communication is definitely the key though. Also, do your best to comfort and reinforce your actors. Don't let them get down on the show because then they might start showing up late. As frustrating as it gets don't let the team see you bad talk the show or lose faith! You're their rock! haha. I hope it all works out and I'm sure it will!

[nathanchrist]

I have learned that it is always a great idea to ask your director what they expect from you as SM.

Overall you seem to be well put together (probably since you have experienced it all as an actor).
A few things that are priority A during readings and rehearsal:

• keep the cast on time.
• supervise props.
• spike the set.
• write out set changes.
• prepare to make things run quicker and more efficient.

Most of these I got from a book called Stage Management by Lawrence Stern (a.k.a. The SM Bible). 

[BeccaTheSM]

If your director is a teacher, I can entirely understand the discomfort in confronting them about your qualms: there's a strange barrier between students and teachers with regards to disagreements. It sometimes feels to a student that there is no way that they can stand up to a teacher.

However, this is the theatre business. And even at the academic level, the production team MUST treat each other with respect and a sense of equality (of course keeping the hierarchy in mind). But the Stage Manager and Director should be able to discuss their issues, because that is what they are: SM and Director, not student and teacher.

I have encountered this several times in my academic SMing career--a previous professor at my school, who was a designer for most of the shows I've SMed, was rather obnoxious. He was arrogant and self-centered, and often ignored the director's concept in order to pursue his own. Most importantly, he was rude to the entire production team, but especially student members. And for the first few shows I worked on, I always felt odd when I would have to confront him about anything--simply because he was a teacher. It took two years (and five shows) of working with him to finally understand that as the Stage Manager, I was no longer a student when I was dealing with the productions and production teams.