Tragedies and other space invaders

[PSMKay]

We are fortunate (most of us) that at this moment no major worldwide or nationwide tragedies are surrounding us. That makes this an OK time to discuss this topic, which has never really been broached here. (To any of you reading this right now from global hot spots, I'm sorry.)

In the era before cell phones there were days when I'd come out of a long rehearsal to find that major events had transpired while I was inside. These days it's almost impossible to maintain that era of isolation. Major events that affect the lives of your company will happen while you're in rehearsal, and the reactions to them - be it grief or joy - will be major sources of distraction from the work.

Some of our younger stage managers may have never had to deal with being in rehearsal when a major event happens - although for the younger folks even something like a traffic accident or someone asking someone else to prom can be an earth moving occurrence. On the other hand some of our more experienced folks can recall being in rehearsal or performance during more drastic situations - elections, award ceremonies, major sporting events, bombings, etc.

I can recall being in rehearsal when the E2 nightclub stampede occurred in 2003. Many of my cast members and the director had friends who frequented that particular club. The worry and frantic phone calls pretty much consumed the entire evening.

For those of you who have been at work when something like this went down, how did you respond? Did you try to keep running the room on schedule or let it go? Did you keep yourself together? How can you plan a reaction sequence for something like this happening?

[bex]

The first professional show I SM'ed was a production of Ain't Misbehavin', and we were in rehearsal when Michael Jackson passed away. I got a text from the music director from across the room, which alerted me, and I knew that when we got to a break and the cast checked their phones, we'd just be in the weeds.
Honestly, I just let the break extend to about 15, and then sort of gently reined it back in. They were actually more focused afterwards, as I recall.

[MatthewShiner]

I am trying to think of major events . . .

When Princess Diana died, there was some flurry if we should announce it during the show.  (We didn't)

9/11 happened on a day off - but we were were dealing with issues all day (we were just going into tech; one actor lost someone that day).  We carried on - I do remember us all gathering that night at a local bar in San Diego.

I was working on The House of Dancing Water (In Macau, China - a Cirque-Style show) when the very public death in KA happened - it rippled through the cast for a wide variety of reasons - many had worked with them - we held a meeting to address concerns, and also dedicate the performance to the woman who had died.

[lsears]

When the Boston Marathon bombing happened last year my school cancelled final dress rehearsal of an opera, as well as the other rehearsals that were scheduled to happen that evening.  The bombing took place in the afternoon, before casts were called, but many people were at the theater already.

The show I was working on lost a rehearsal to the shelter in place order later that week.

Fast forward one year and on the anniversary of the bombing another opera was having their final dress rehearsal when we heard that suspicious backpacks had been abandoned at the marathon finish line and the area was being evacuated again.  We let the cast and crew know so they could plan their travel home, that break went a little long then they dove back into the opera to finish tech.

I was in a performance on President Obama's first inauguration day, the whole cast was jubilant and had more than a little trouble focusing.  I think that's  both extremes, but I have also had numerous shows where cast members find out about major accidents or sudden deaths that change the tone of the room and wreck havoc on scheduling.

[megf]

Like bex, I was in rehearsal with a cast who felt Michael Jackson's death very personally. Some of them had even danced in his videos or onstage with him. The director held the room for a moment to make sure everyone had heard the news (not everyone had a cell phone, and the initial headlines/posts/tweets were all pretty muddy). We carried on with rehearsal, and at the end of the day we all went out to remember and celebrate his life... until about 4am. I don't spend a lot of time socializing with the cast, usually, but those hours of talking and dancing created an amazing company bond.

I've also been working in NYC for both Hurricane Irene and Hurricane Sandy. Once the weather cleared, in both cases, we had rehearsal or performances scheduled... before the subway reopened. Cabs, personal vehicles, and one memorable walk from W. 141st Street to Times Square... the shows really did go on, and especially after Sandy, company camaraderie overrode a lot of the short-term difficulty.

[leastlikely]

I had a performance of A Commedia Christmas Carol on the night of the Sandy Hook shooting. We knew we weren't going to cancel the show, but we were concerned about how it would be received. Are these people in the audience tonight because they already bought their ticket, not because they really want to be here, and will their minds be understandably preoccupied? Or are these people here tonight because they need something lighthearted, they need to be reminded that there is good in the world, they need to find a reason to laugh tonight?  Across the cast and crew everyone was having varying reactions, so we knew that everyone outside of our universe would also be responding differently. I know we had an actor or two who really didn't feel all that comfortable going on that night because they were so upset, but the feeling from most of the cast was that they needed the show that night more than ever. So we went on and hoped for the best.

That night was probably our smallest house in the run, and as we predicted, there seemed to be varying degrees of responses among patrons. Overall it was generally positive. This was at a small company that always does a curtain speech at the end (if you liked it tell your friends, if you really liked it there's a donation bucket in the lobby), so when Scrooge made his speech that night, he made a heartfelt remark about the arts, particularly comedy, bringing people together in times of tragedy. There probably were some folks in that house tonight who came just because they had already spent the money, but they weren't really in the mood to watch something so silly. But for the most part I think the audience appreciated it and agreed with that sentiment.

[dallas10086]

I remember after a performance getting the news that Phil Hartman had been killed. That one hit our cast hard.