I'm calling in a space that's new to me and the booth feels like a spaceship. Not in that there are a ton of cameras or controls, just that I feel light-years away from the action onstage an disconnected from the things I usually have a handle on.
This is a space usually used for lectures and concerts, unaccustomed to opera stage managers. The booth is in the back of the balcony, and I sit at a huge empty counter. Great view of the stage, but it was a bit of a struggle to explain why I needed a conductor camera. The backstage paging system is in the bay behind me, behind the sound console, so no paging singers to places during the show. I have giant speakers hung above and behind me that sound great, but I can't find a way to make them quieter. My ASM doesn't have a wireless headset and spends the show running around, so if I want to check something backstage I ask the two crew on wired headsets to relay messages or tell me how many people are standing there ready for an entrance. Not that I can do anything if I'm missing someone.
I have no communication with the pit, no cue lights for the tune, no phone handset for them to talk to me.
I've been told not to expect to talk to FOH staff, that I start when I'm ready and they'll just shut the doors when the lights dim and open them up again at intermission, same procedure to start the second act.
Our first day of tech went fine, and I'm adapting, but it all just feels bizarre. The space is very nice, the best green room I've had in awhile, but it all seems a bit more sterile than I'm used to.