What Is a Stage Manager? What do we do? Who makes up the Stage Manager team?
I like to consider myself an archivist in a very broad sense of the word. Being a Stage Manager entails knowing everything that is happening with the production you are a part of but not having many opinions about them. From my first reading of the play I look at the production elements as well as the story. (Sometimes I miss some of the emotion of the play dealing with the tech stuff.) Stage Managers have to have peripheral seeing as well as peripheral hearing. All information goes through the stage manager. The stage manager has contact with all of the departments of the production. Information comes in and then goes back out.
The team: The make up of the team depends on the play you are doing.
There is always 1 stage manager on a union production. On most productions there are two: a stage manager and an assistant stage manager. On productions with lots of cast members, complicated scene changes or musicals there are more. There can be as many as 5 stage managers on a production. Each stage manager will have different responsibilities and also cover each other as needed.
How does the stage manager work on a play: (the following is an example of our work. It is how I work, each stage manager may have a different process)
Read the play.
Break down the play; see what the characters are like, start notating scene breakdown, what are the different sets, props, costumes, sound, lights, special effects, fights, sensitive issues etc.
Meet with your general managers, directors, and your assistants.
Make a rehearsal schedule (this is done with the input of the director).
Start to gather what you need for the rehearsals: blueprints, rehearsal furniture and props, basic furniture for the room, scripts, office supplies, coffee set up (Yep, we have to make the coffee. Coffee is a very important part of building a play).
Set up and prepare for first day of rehearsal. Tape out the floor from the set plans. Have the props ready for when the actors begin to block the play.
First day is a meet and greet of everyone involved with the production. AND there is food and AEA meetings and show and tell of the set and costumes. And then we all sit at a table and read the play.
Then, depending on the director, the making of the play begins. There is discussion of the play, the characters, the time, the place. If you are lucky enough to have the playwright with you in rehearsals, that person gets to share their vision with everyone. The stage manager must listen and take notes. How is the process going to develop, when will you “get on your feet” and need to start blocking?
“On your feet”: the term we use for starting to add movement to the play. Where are the actors, who is in what scenes, where is the scene, what are the props being used, what are the lights and costumes, sound and other effects going to be? This is when the stage managers’ work really becomes important. This is when the archival part begins. Taking down everything that happens; what decisions are made between the actor and the director that has to be shared with the designers.
Blocking: It is very important that the SM note every move each actor makes during the rehearsal of a scene. Each time you go back to the scene the blocking should be the same and sometimes the actor does not remember what they did the time before. Blocking can and does change often so an ongoing account must be kept. (I usually keep the last two times the scene is blocked). In the before computer times lots of pencils and erasers were used.
Prompting: The actor has to learn their lines. Each actor has their own technique and it is important that the SMs get the rhythm and thought process of each actor. Knowing when to prompt and when to wait is very important.
Following props, set and costume changes: the SM must notate all of the prop and set moves as well as costume changes- especially if there are fast changes.
A day in rehearsal:
The stage management team usually comes in about a ½ to an hour early to set up for the day. We also want to be in the room and ready for any early arrivals with any questions. We will get the room ready for the scene work of the day. And get ready any script changes or other paper work that needs to be handed out.
The director is the leader of the room. We take our cues from them and follow the schedule as they have given it to us. AEA rules are followed with breaks every hour or hour and a half, and lunch when scheduled. We are not disciplinarians but we do pay attention and follow each contracts rule book as well as we can.
Rehearsals usually last from four to five weeks in the rehearsal room before moving into the theater.
Tech Weeks
Moving into the theater is both an exhilarating and chaotic time. The SMs go into the theater first to figure out where everything is, where everything is going and who gets what dressing room.
This is when all of the production elements come into play. The theater is full of tech tables, one for each of the different departments. There are monitors and headsets and scripts and cues lights everywhere. (insert RCMH & Lincoln Center photos).
Everything goes through the stage managers. And here is where the Production Stage Manager and the Assistants jobs separate. The PSM is working with the designers to put all of the cues in the book in the proper order and with the proper timing. Backstage the Assistants are working to work with the stage crew to place the props and set pieces so they are used in the proper order. Cues sheets have been made and posted and gone over to make sure everyone knows exactly what they are doing and when. Also, the ASMs are working with the actors to show them their entrances and exits -where their props are, and where any costume changes will be made.
This process can take days or weeks depending on the demands of the show.
Then there are run-throughs and dress rehearsals and
Previews
Depending on what kind of a theater you are in these can vary from one to 2 weeks or more. Previews are doing the show with an audience but still working on the production. There are rehearsals and notes and changes – honing in to perfect the playwright’s and director’s vision based on the audience response and seeing the play up and running.
Opening Night
The play is “frozen”. This means that for this production there will be no more changes. There is great excitement, gifts and cards are given out, critics are in the audience and everyone gets dressed up for a party after.
The day after opening.
A few people (the critics) get to judge the production and say whether it is worth a “run”. If you are doing a regional production or one in NYC at a not for profit Off Broadway Theater you are lucky enough to know how long your contract will be but if you are doing a commercial run this will determine how long you get to have the job.
Understudies
Once the show is up and running it is the job of the stage manager to keep the show the way the director has directed it. This includes watching the performance with an eye on the production values and the actors work. The stage manager gives notes if there is a change that seems to alter the directors view.
Another responsibility of the stage manager is to rehearse the understudies. Again, following the vision of the director the stage manager the understudies rehearse two or three afternoons a week until they are ready and then it can go down to fewer rehearsals. If, the show is a musical there may need to be more rehearsals and of course if someone has to go on the, what is called “a put-in” is done with the performing cast. (This is one of my favorite parts of doing a production).
And then you get to relax and realize all of the work you have done.
