Author Topic: The Executive Decision  (Read 3927 times)

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mnsalz91

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The Executive Decision
« on: Dec 19, 2012, 03:46 pm »
Hello,  please point me in the right direction if this has already been addressed. 

When do you, as the stage manager, get to make the executive decision?  Or, what are the questions that you should always ask a director, designer, or superior of some kind, before making a call?

I find that I am afraid of being wrong or saying the wrong thing so I am always asking for clarification or permission before doing the smallest of tasks.  It either makes meetings take longer than people want them to or it frustrates people that I don't just get things done.

Thanks!

Miriam

MatthewShiner

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Re: The Executive Decision
« Reply #1 on: Dec 19, 2012, 06:17 pm »
This is hard, a really hard question to answer

I don't know what you think is an executive decision.

I do think it's tremendously important for a SM to be able work without constant supervision, and make small decisions within the framework a producer gives you.  But, I am unsure what you mean as a executive decision?

Can I make the decision to cancel a show - no, I can't - but I know who to go to find the answer to that question?

Do I need permission to move rehearsal back 30 minutes to allow for more costume fittings - probably not, but I know I should check with the Production Manager and Director to make sure they are cool with it?

You can go on and on, down the line - you need to know within what parameters you are allowed to work.  What decisions you are comfortable making on your own (And then backing up).  This is where the experience in this job makes this job SOOOO much easier - there is a confidence that helps you handling this situations.



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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.

hbelden

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Re: The Executive Decision
« Reply #2 on: Dec 20, 2012, 12:28 pm »
To add to Matt's reply, each theatre has a different, unique relationship with its stage manager.  One theatre's standard practice could cause people at another theatre to tear their hair out.  The new stage manager's job is to fit him- or herself to the theatre in as seamless a manner as possible.

I think the way to do that is to build up the trust you have with your co-workers.  Interestingly, that trust is built just as much by how you handle your mistakes as it is built by all the times you make the right call.  It strikes me that fear of taking any steps forward is pretty clear evidence of untrustworthiness in a stage manager.

There's a difference between the rehearsal phase of the project and the performance phase of the project.  Speaking in the most general terms, and not knowing anything about your specific situation, I feel comfortable saying that SMs stay out of design or aesthetic decisions prior to opening.  The most I think an SM can do is point out logistical or pragmatic consequences of particular artistic choices - for example, when a scenic designer I knew wanted to have the pre-set of our three-quarter thrust include a large elevator in the down position, leaving a large hole in the middle of the stage, I pointed out that audiences in that theatre often walk across the stage before ushers can catch them, and if there's a hole in the stage, how can we ensure their safety?  I refrained from offering any of the three or four solutions I could think of off the top of my head, because that would interfere with the artistic process.

Once you are in performance, though, that changes.  You have the example of the opening night as the artistic ideal each performance is striving to achieve.  Variations from that ideal are easy to note, though sometimes harder to correct.  Here is where the SM has more discretion, I think.  In preparation for that role, I always pay very close attention to the director's work on the play and will sometimes ask for a face-to-face meeting with the director during the preview process to make sure that my eye is seeing and noting what she wants me to be watching for, and to strategize on how best to communicate notes to particular cast members.

hope this helps,
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Heath Belden

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Thespi620

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Re: The Executive Decision
« Reply #3 on: Dec 20, 2012, 07:07 pm »
I think Heath brings up a good point in that this varies so drastically from theater to theater, and from SM to SM. I think, too, that when you're starting with a new company, especially as a new SM, there's no harm in asking your director/producer/production manager during pre-production which decisions they're okay with you making. Many people may even expect & appreciate this conversation.

For example-For a while, I was working on productions where the budget was really tight and any bookings had to go through the director and the producer so that the producer could deal 1-on-1 with the venue to finalize pricing. In that situation, I'd draft a schedule with the director & cast availability, and pass it on to them to finalize a space. Recently, I worked on a show where bookings were never directly discussed in pre-prod talks, so I had to clarify with them that they didn't care what space I booked, or how much it cost, so long as we could get our work done for the evening. In that case, I was given complete control over where we were each night and in what space, and I was authorized to charge the producer's card on file at each venue. So really the agency and the ability to have "final say" truly varies from situation to situation.

As with so much in this job, though, never feel stupid asking to be sure. Triple-checking that the $50 prop or the bright orange-walled rehearsal studio is actually okay with the director is always a good thing. Just make sure that when you ask a general procedure question the first time, you remember the answer and don't ask that same question over & over--prove to your team that you trust them by believing their first answer and proving your competence at completing the task immediately after.

Good luck!
[The SM is] a very gifted, slightly eccentric master mechanic [keeping] a cantankerous, highly complex machine running at top efficiency by talking to it, soothing it, & lovingly fixing whatever is broken. 
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BeccaTheSM

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Re: The Executive Decision
« Reply #4 on: Dec 21, 2012, 01:00 pm »
I think the executive decision on safety is always in the SMs abilities. I was working on a show where we had a bed on wheels in a few scenes. For the beginnings of rehearsals, we used a few rehearsal chairs and the person in the bed stood and walked while his bed-movers moved the chairs to the new location. When we got into run throughs in the rehearsal space, the director pushed the scenic team to get us the bed (understandably so). One day we arrive, and we have the bed (just) in time for a run. The bed-ridden actor, the bed-movers, and the director and I worked with it prior to the run to practice its movement. As soon as the actor sat on it, the legs began to bow outward. I immediately called it off. No bed for the run. While I am sorry that the actors didn't get to use the piece and the director didn't get to see the piece in the scenes, I was not sorry I pulled it. I was not going to chance an injury when we had a perfectly well-functioning Plan B.
Art, in itself, is an attempt to bring order out of chaos. - Stephen Sondheim

mnsalz91

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Re: The Executive Decision
« Reply #5 on: Dec 21, 2012, 01:12 pm »
Thank you so much! It's actually hard for me to give a good example. Your answers are exactly what I was looking for!  I'm going to ask that question at first director meetings.

- Miriam

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Re: The Executive Decision
« Reply #6 on: Dec 21, 2012, 02:14 pm »
same thing with firearms - I've had directors who jump right in when the gun (or whatever) shows up, and I won't allow until safety and training has happened.

 

riotous