Double Casting Your SM

[ekylsnav6]

I am a junior in College getting a double degree in Acting and Stage Management. At the beginning of our school year my faculty told me that I was going to have my first chance at a mainstage. I was thrilled because it is a project that we are working on with a NY theater company founded by alumni from my university and it is a super great opportunity to make those kind of connections. Being a double major has put me in a sticky situation. I still had to audition for the show as part of my acting curriculum but I was trying to pull myself out of casting so that I could just stage manage. The faculty wouldn't let me pull out of casting and since I've been running auditions and call backs this whole weekend (in addition to getting a call back myself as an actor) I know that the director is considering using me.
I am torn about what I would do if they ended up wanting to use me. I really want to stage manage a main stage production before I go on internship this summer but it seems the faculty has a different idea. Am I in the right to get what I think is best for me? I feel like if I have this opportunity to work on such a show I shouldn't pass it up. Is it worth sending a riff through the performance faculty?
Also, this is something I was considering doing in the real world: acting and stage managing at the same time. I've been worrying that I am privy to too much info sometimes when I have my stage manager hat on. Should I ammend my stage manager duties when I know my actor-self shouldn't know the same info my stage manager-self knows?

Best
Matt

[MatthewShiner]

To be honest, I don't know many people that do both in the professional world, at some point you may need to chose - now I am sure that there are examples out there.

But, given you are paying for your education, you should probably discuss with an advisor your desires in this situation.

[catalinacisne]

I was in a similar situation my senior year of college. I was stage managing a mainstage show, when an actor dropped out. The director had me take over his role. The character was onstage the entire time, but had only 10ish lines in one scene, so I was able to maintain all my stage managerial duties during the rehearsal performance. However, I was not able to call my own show (because I was onstage), which definitely sucked. I went along with everything at the time because I wasn't sure if I would get a chance to act again while in school, but with the hindsight I have now, I would have fought it more. I would have much preferred beging able to call my own show instead of being onstage the whole time.

[missliz]

I think if you want to definitely SM the show, meet with your advisor and make it clear BEFORE they cast, just so save a possible recasting scramble. As a double major, I'm sure they'd understand if you chose to focus on one aspect or the other.

[ekylsnav6]

Thank you, everyone!
It took quiet a while of deliberation and some sleepless nights but I decided to put my foot down and take myself out of casting and focus of Stage Managing the mainstage. I think it will turn out to be the best for me. I ended up meeting with all the faculty I could and it kept boiling down to the same thing for me: "No one is going to make this decision for you." It's interesting how so often as a Stage Manager I am helping people with their decisions and facilitating many different ideas and how people execute them, but it is always a different animal when I actually have those pressing matters facing me and it forces me to grow up a little and make my own decisions.

~thanks again~
Matt