My last production was in November of 2011 and it was one of the more challenging shows for me to navigate. Not only in terms of the tech values, but there were also cast issues, venue issues, Secret Service "issues" (that gets quotes because the Secret Service do as they please and I'd never dream of getting in their way either), and a lot more. I knew this was going to be my last show in potentially a very very long time/ever, and I was proud of how I conducted my business and handled the production. It came off excellently and if I can pat myself on the back I thought I called a wonderful show.
Now some 3.5 years later after barely stepping foot into a theater in that time, with the exception to sell theaters things, I got a phone call from a good friend and a company I still have ties to. They happened their way into a production calendar at a space in NYC when another show canceled. So they are remounting a successful one night engagement they did in March. However because of the last minute nature there are conflicts galore with the cast and also the stage manager. PSM had an unavoidable conflict on Saturday night and it was during the tail end of tech. So the call comes at 3pm to see if I can make it in that night to finish up tech. Hour and a half later I'm on a train back into the city.
Get to the theater, and after some quick reminiscing with friends and introductions to new cast members I hop behind the tech table, quickly learn the PSM's script marking style and begin to do my best to imitate it so she can easily follow when she returns, and my mind just dropped right back into it. I have the long forgotten lingo back in my mouth, I have my timing and cadence....
We tech through the final 10 pages of the script. Run that twice. Take 30 and come back for a full run. So I only see the final 10 pages of the script and now I am calling a show cold without having seen the play and I don't even know the story. What I do know, however, is the director and designers really well. If I was working with them it would be approximately the 7th or 8th show we would have worked on together in some capacity.
Having not called a show in 3.5 years I was actually pretty pleased with how I did and the only true cluster much I got into was when I got lost in the script (between skipped lines, paraphrases, added lines and the stage directions and dialogue positions being reversed....don't get me started on that one!) the show went off without too much of a hitch. Oddly enough the worst call I made was during the 10 pages I had teched myself because....why not?
So hey....guess stage managing is a little like riding a bike. You just have to get back on and get going and it will all come back to you. Just a little story I figured I'd share. Never close the door because you might get pulled out of "retirement" someday and get to relive the magic.
