I've recently come up on a new thing - a producer has asked me to make the initial phone call to offer a part to an actor. I am not a resident with this organization - nor have I worked with them before - and, while this is not an Equity situation, there is some pay involved, in addition to the usual fun of company norms, which, of course, I am still learning.
All in the space of this afternoon, the producer decided (without the director) that a certain actor would be appropriate to cast. No one had mentioned this actor to me previously - and I don't know him from any previous work - and no one had his contact information. It was left to me to rustle up some kind of contact info, call, offer the job, "bring him in" to the company and furnish him with a script. When I called the producer just now to let her know that I could only dig up what might be his home number, and that I didn't know if I was indeed qualified to introduce him to formally offer him the gig, she spent twenty minutes giving me the third degree because this is all "part of my job."
I understand that setting the tone for work, knowing the important and immediate aspects of the company dynamic, being aware of scheduling/conflicts, collecting and verifying contact info... all these fun things, and plenty more, are part of my job. But is it standard practice for stage management to make the first call - where (and this is, perhaps, specific to this context... we start rehearsal in a few days!) salaries and union business have to be discussed? I'm not a member of any unions, so there is only so much I can bring to the talks in that department, and I honestly don't feel it is appropriate for me to know the details of what the actors are paid. Fortunately, this is a reading... but the performers are all members of various unions, and will almost certainly have questions about what agreements and norms are adhered to by this organization.
Is my gut instinct in conflict with industry norms? Or is this a bit odd?
Help?
Many many thanks -
Meg