REHEARSAL: Duties during acting exercises, movement, vocal work, etc.

[sgoldsbo]

What do you consider to be your duties during rehearsals mainly focused on movement work or acting exercises where there is no blocking involved?

These are my thoughts:

- Take attendance, call actors who are late
- Call breaks if the person leading rehearsal does not do so themselves

Anything else? Do you feel free to sit in the back of the room and work on paperwork/catch up on emails? Would you try to leave the room and just pop in to check on things every once in a while?

[MatthewShiner]

Well, someone should be in the room.

I usually catch up on paperwork, and still keep an eye on the rehearsal.  Sometimes some actors need someone in the room to keep things focused . . .

[SMrose]

Provided all who should be present are, I'll join the cast for some of the warm ups---I find this helps them see me as part of the group (plus I'm going to be sitting for a while and can use the stretching) and then quietly break away to look over paperwork and double check that all is ready for the rehearsal.

[Liz_C]

I agree that someone from stage management should be in the room, but what I do largely depends on what age group of actors I'm working with.  With elementary students, I'll usually join in the exercises and participate with them.  With middle or high school students, I'll feel it out at each rehearsal and sometimes join in and sometimes step back and let whoever is leading the exercises be the only adult in charge of those exercises.  At movement and vocal rehearsals with students, I will definitely be in the room, helping the actors maintain focus and making sure breaks happen and we stay on schedule.

With adults or rehearsals where discipline and focus aren't an issue, I'll sit in the back and catch up on emails and paperwork.  I'll still keep an eye out for things that I could do (getting fans for an increasingly hot room, getting ice packs for injuries, making copies, cleaning up spills, etc).  Much of it involves figuring out much the person leading the rehearsal (director, music director, choreographer,etc) wants or needs me to be involved, and in what way.

Regardless of age group, I make sure everyone is there who should be before I do my own thing, and I'll do a general check to see if there's anything else the rehearsal needs before we get started.  Also, when I'm stage managing students, I will step out of participating if at any time they need reminders to focus or if there are any discipline problems.

[On_Headset]

I usually ask the director what they'd prefer. Most of the time they have no preference either way, but I've heard everything from "What, are you CRAZY? You're part of the company, so you're joining in on all the exercises!" to "I like to present the stage manager as being the organized-proper-civilized-quiet bad cop to my messy-gregarious-muddling-doddering good cop, so I'd actually like you to make a point of sitting in the back doing paperwork while we do exercises."

In all cases, my immediate duties (attendance, calling those who aren't present, finding equipment and props which have wandered off between rehearsals, etc.) trump any paperwork or exercises.

[BeckyGG]

Usually I'll use the time to catch up on paperwork / work related emails, etc.  The most important thing for having someone present in those sorts of rehearsals is just to keep an ear out for any notes or questions that may pop up.

[SMJkoo]

I often take notes  on what is done during this time, usually on what is accomplished. Then, when actors can't understand something the director says, I can reference the exercises.
Also, once paperwork and general attendance is finished, I take pay close attention to what is being instructed.. You never know when someone throws in a blocking note.
Generally, I always find it helpful to take notes on vocal or movements that are taught. But I draw the line at choreography. Recording choreography, I have determined, is the responsibility of the choreographer or dance captain, and is of no concern to me. If they are learning dance, then I have some (well deserved) time to relax.

[bex]

I often take notes  on what is done during this time, usually on what is accomplished. Then, when actors can't understand something the director says, I can reference the exercises.
Also, once paperwork and general attendance is finished, I take pay close attention to what is being instructed.. You never know when someone throws in a blocking note.
Generally, I always find it helpful to take notes on vocal or movements that are taught. But I draw the line at choreography. Recording choreography, I have determined, is the responsibility of the choreographer or dance captain, and is of no concern to me. If they are learning dance, then I have some (well deserved) time to relax.

Interesting... I generally am the exact opposite.  I almost never take notes during acting exercises (that are strictly exercises, of course, no blocking). I occasionally take notes in music rehearsals (but generally only when it's something like "You 3 sing this part, then you switch to the top on the chorus") and I always take choreography notes- not every single movement, but I definitely make note of big shifts in choreography, who is paired up with whom if it's a partnered dance, and often draw diagrams of various formations the dancers make.  I've found it to be invaluable when talking through sections with lighting designers- as much as I might want to call from the score, the designers I've worked with have almost always worked off of the choreography. 

[babens]

Recording choreography, I have determined, is the responsibility of the choreographer or dance captain, and is of no concern to me. If they are learning dance, then I have some (well deserved) time to relax.

I have to say that is an interesting attitude to take.  Yes, recording the specifics of choreography should be down to the dance captain, but many times they are on their feet learning it and can't stop to keep writing it down, so it's good for an SM to at least have some basic notation of what's happening during the process.  And I have to feel that telling the choreographer that it is their responsibility to notate their work is pretty much in league with telling the director the same thing, which (I hope) you would never do.  In my experience, an SM who does not treat a choreographer with the same respect that they treat the director is an SM who is more likely to wind up butting heads with a choreographer.

I've learned to avoid treating choreography sessions as "down" time or "relaxation" time.   Again, for me, it comes down to giving the choreographer the same respect and attention as I give to the director.  If they have a question I want to be on top of it, knowing where they are in their process and not having to give any kind of "I'm sorry, I wasn't paying attention, what are you asking about" kind of response.  I also find that by paying attention you are going to be able to catch a problem early (hypothetical: that set piece is not designed to support that kind of movement, let's either look at an alternative, or know that it might be able to be made to do so, but know now, at the beginning, that an alternative might be necessary).  Nothing is more frustrating for a choreographer to spend a session working on something, only to find out later that what they want to do might not actually be possible.