Student Stage Manager Challenge #19: Labor of Love

[PSMKay]

Student SM Challenges are for our younger members. Pros, please give the students a chance to comment before jumping in.

You're all ready to head into tech week for the show you've been rehearsing all autumn. The set is mostly finished, the actors are mostly off book, and the music is sounding mostly in tune. Tickets are selling well and it looks like your first two shows will be sold out to houses full of parents, siblings, staff and college recruiters.

Around 2pm on the day of first tech the head of the English department calls you into the department office and sits you down. The faculty drama director (and director of your show) has gone into premature labor and is at the hospital for an emergency C-section delivery. Chances of her being able to return to work before the end of the week and opening night are nil.

"[Your name here]," asks the head of the department, "you probably are in the best position to advise me. I'm able to step in and provide the faculty supervision necessary to keep your show rehearsal going. However, I'm not a director. If there is no possible way for the show to be finished without a director then we need to know now so that we can stop the process before people get their hopes up."

What do you do before giving him an answer? What answer do you give?

[SMrobyn]

I would go to the show's producer/PM. If you're about to head into the first day of Tech, then most of the director's job should already be done by now - the blocking notes you've taken throughout rehearsal should be (if you took them right) sufficient enough to work through Tech with. The big issue about teching without a director is that she won't get to see the LX, FX and SX in show-time action, and wouldn't be able to approve them.
Depending on how tech-heavy the show is or how much the director hadn't seen of the lighting/sound/sets, seeing if opening can be post-poned due to her medical emergency might also have to be an option. Or the first 2 shows could be clearly re-defined as "preview" shows, and once the director gets back she can make changes as she wishes. That would be something to discuss with the PM/Producer as well as box office.

[PSMKay]

Remember that this is a high school setting we are talking about. The “producer“ is your school board. The director is expected to be at every show.

[nj_song]

My initial response would probably be to ask if the director and her baby are okay. Then I would offer a total cliche and say that the show must go on. I imagine that there would be a contingency plan if this were to happen since she would have been pregnant all through the production. This is how I would proceed:

I would ask the English department chair to observe Tech only as a faculty supervisor to manage the students and facility, keep an eye on safety issues, and other things of that nature. Next, I'd call the designers (if there are designers), inform them of the situation, and ask if it would be possible to schedule a half-hour meeting prior to Tech to discuss the necessary changes we have to make and how to proceed. Any sort of directorial Tech questions would have to be answered by the designer's creative discretion, my own knowledge of the director's original intentions and the show. I'd do my best to maintain the director's original vision with whatever I remember. At the start of Tech, I'd explain to the actors the situation and the plan that the show must go on. I would state very clearly that once we get the director into the building, all of the Tech decisions could be changed but that they should still give everything their 110%. Everyone would just have to be flexible. As the week went on, I'd try to find out the health of the director and her baby. Once the director returns to work, I would schedule a dress rehearsal so she can tweek the show as needed.

[itsDani]

Something very similar to this happened to me.

My teacher/director was new to our school and quite a lot of people weren't used to the way he was running things and were complaining. On our invited dress rehearsal (pre-opening night) he decided to step down from his position and essentially gave up. It was the most insane, unprofessional thing that I have ever seen a teacher ever do. He got the entire cast and crew involved in a big fiasco that we should not have been involved in. During this insanity everybody turned to me for help.

In this situation, however, I did not have the support of any adults or English Department. Just of my cast and crew. So I stepped up and handled the show myself. It was crazy hectic, but I must say we did pull of a very good show!

[TheWiseTurtle]

I'd think first. And then I would inform him/her that cancelling the show is the absolute last thing that can happen, since hopes are already up, tickets have been sold, and houses have been sold out. I'd make sure to communicate that at this point, the show has momentum; check lists are made, ops will be trained, the actors know what they're supposed to be doing and the musicians know what they're supposed to be playing. Continuing the show is not only possible, but relatively easy at this point.
Assuming I'm not a high school student(maybe I'm on the worst college internship ever), I'd consider that from Tech onward, the SM is ideally running the show, and would conceivably have the respect of the cast(it's a stretch, I know), and their cooperation. I'd try to remember/decide what the director would have wanted to do schedule-wise for Tech(if it wasn't already written down). I'd ask if there was an actual need to have a director present, and if so, I would offer to contact some local directors to observe and assist with Tech, since it's an emergency(I'm also assuming there's no AD).
 I'd ask if we know how the director and the baby are, and then probably spend the time before rehearsal freaking out with my book. But at rehearsal, I'd gather the cast and crew, and tell them that the Director is squeezing out a baby, but this is the point where the show  transfers to the SM, and they are in good hands.

Onward to tech!

[Jonas_A]

I'm with TheWiseTurtle; I'd say it's possible to put the show on without the director, but I would probably have a long discussion with the stand-in director to make sure they were ready to help facilitate the Tech Week process as much as possible and ensure that they understood that they probably wouldn't be completely confident with the show, although also reassure them that their actors and crew would be.

I feel like this is one of those situations where you would want to rely on everyone having a strong understanding of their role and nobody deciding that as TD/PM/SM/cast member they're going to take over as director; if everyone just did their ordinary job and other creatives (LD/Set Designer/choreographer) filled in the gaps where necessary for the director, it would avoid a power play situation, get more done and allow for the least angst if/when the director returns and wants changes.

[kellyaksm]

I have to agree that I would want to continue with the show. I would think that by tech the actors knew what they were doing style wise so the director's notes would be fine tuning anyways. Someone else can watch to ensure that once the tech is added that the actors aren't doing something that looks painfully awkward. I would probably ask if there were any local drama teachers in the area that might be able to come and observe a rehearsal and give their feedback (as long as it is fine with the current director.)
The idea of cancelling the whole run of a show after months of work for these students would be unbearable to me and I'm sure the students and their parents would be willing to make do with the odd circumstances to keep all of their hard work from going to waste.
Then I would profusely thank the English teacher for helping us in this time of need.

[SMBen]

I would tell the superintendent that we should wait to cancel the show until we know that there is absolutely no chance of finding a substitute director. I would then post an ad, and tell the principal of the school and all other teachers that we need someone with directing experience who can step in and give feedback. While my ASM and I try to fill everything as best we can, we will need someone to clear set changes and be our safety net. If this proves impossible, I would talk to the superintendent and principal, telling them that we need to move the show to a later date. If this is denied, we will cancel the show.