And... GO!

Sara. Recent graduate of the University of South Carolina. A blog for my creative persuits, hopefully following my career in (technical) theater.

[chuckdrawsthings]

first steps

[stagemanagerssaygo]

The first run-thru goes very smoothly and didn’t go over time

You’re cautiously optimistic, but also still a stage manager:

[kitamurrrr]

“Elizabeth Schuyler. It’s a pleasure to meet you“ // “I’ll leave you to it”

[whywelovetheatre]

Theatre is important.

Here I am on my soapbox again. If you keep up with the news in America you’ll know of the underwhelming amount of funding that “The Arts” get in school. And I know we all love the arts. That’s why we’re here. But I’m gonna let y’all know just how important they are to me. 

I stage managed throughout high school and college. Nothing at all fancy. Literally all community and school. I actually did a show with a two week run in a house. Someone’s actual living room. (They made us pizza one night. It was nice.) But everything I have learned from theatre has helped me through the rest of the mess that is my life. So here’s a list of things I learned in no particular order:

1) Water off the duck. We used this all of the time. Things go to shit a lot during shows. Or rehearsals. Or anything else. It’s important to not let it get to you. Let it slide off you like water off a duck. That’s not to say don’t worry about it. But don’t worry about it at that moment. Clear your mind, think of a solution, and do it. This is also known as crisis and conflict management. 

2) Leave it at the door. Being in a high school there was obviously an unnecessary amount of drama. (And not the kind we were there for.) Unfortunately this doesn’t change when you get older. The drama gets a little different but it’s still drama. We were told that the moment we walked through the door to the theatre to leave that all behind. It honestly helped a crazy amount and allowed us to focus on our work. Which is a very important skill because guess what: life doesn’t stop when you have important things to do. Learning to not let things negatively impact your work is an incredibly valuable skill. People really don’t want to work with a grump. (Note: if  you’re having one of those mental illness days don’t beat yourself up about it! It’s okay!)

3) Organization and management. Obviously I learned management skills because, hey! stage management! But even if you’re an actor, designer, production assistant, or any other variety of technician you learn management skills. As an actor you need to be able to learn your lines and blocking and at least have an understanding of any technical aspects that pertain to you. I really don’t have to explain how designers and the spectrum of management positions learn these skills. You’ve always got to be on top of things because if you fail, it’s not just on you-it affects the entire production.

4) Fake it ‘till you make it. I honestly don’t know where I’d be without this one. I’m constantly second-guessing myself. I got into graduate school (at a really good school too) but I’m still not sure if I’m smart enough to be here. But I’m damn sure gonna pretend I’m good at all of this program planning and behavior theory until I actually am. Granted, this doesn’t work if you’re a doctor or something and you don’t actually know how to do surgery. Please don’t operate on people. But if you’re nervous about things, don’t be. Chances are you’re very proficient (or at least passably so) and that you are fully capable of doing a fantastic job.

I probably have more things but I’ve finally psyched myself up enough to write this cover letter. Because I may not have the most experience out of all the applicants but damn I have some skills that will absolutely transfer well. 

And, as I finish this very long rambling, I want you all to know that I wish that everyone has the chance to participate in “The Arts” because you never know what you will get out of it. You may absolutely suck at it but whether or not you’re good you will still learn all of these lessons and more. Even if you don’t stick with theatre (I’m in a masters program studying health promotion and behavioral science. that’s not even close to theatre) the skills you learn are so very useful as you go throughout life in whatever career you’ve chosen. 

I believe in all of you and if you actually read all of this I appreciate you. Please feel free to add any lessons you learned. It makes me smile when I think how passionate people are about theatre. I am so thankful for every moment I spent covered in sawdust, paint, running on a few hours of sleep and too much coffee, with too many pencils in my hair, and a mass amount of emails asking me questions they should have known the answer to. 

[muchadoaboutmusicals]

Stage Manager Aesthetics

[likeniobe]

Recently, my son said to me after seeing a ballet on television: ‘It’s beautiful, but I don’t like it.’ And I thought, Are many grown-ups capable of such a distinction? It’s beautiful, but I don’t like it. Usually, our grown-up thinking is more along the lines of: I don’t like it, so it’s not beautiful. What would it mean to separate those two impressions for art making and for art criticism?

“59. it’s beautiful, but I don’t like it” from 100 essays I don’t have time to write: on umbrellas and sword fights, parades and dogs, fire alarms, children, and theater, Sarah Ruhl. (via a-witches-brew)

[unexplained-events]

Anthropomorphic Tree

Anthropomorphism which is the recognition of human-like characteristics or form in animals, plants or non-living things. This tree, which can be found in the Outer Banks of North Carolina, has roots which have taken a human-like form.

[witchedways-blog]

bewitched forest 

[stage-managers-are-magic]

The special look you share with your ASM when a designer has some crazy idea.

“I’m thinking 1940s Nazi Germany but modern day.” “I think the page boy needs an iPhone.” “Why would you suggest a modern day rifle?” Really crazy things I’ve heard in a production meeting.

[cuethedream-standby]

Let's take this show about Vietnam War vets and make the set & costumes place it in post-Iraq America but lighting design give everything a "jungle" feel

(Aka design hell)

[culturenlifestyle]

The Fourth Wall by Klaus Frahm

Hamburg-based photographer Klaus Frahm takes us behind the stage of many European theaters and offers us an unconventional perspective, which symbolizes the antithesis of the spotlight. By shattering the illusion of completion and perfection, Frahm depicts the full production behind the scenes. The dark and highly contrasted photographs reveal the theaters’ technological elements, its staging lights and complicated, less glamour space behind the curtain, which are concealed from the audience. Frahn’s goal “is to give way for a new perspective, to entertain, to offer a fresh sight on familiar things,” and to “reveal something laying under the surface.” The Fourth Wall is the audience’s chance at viewing reality. 

[superwholock-bostonian-blog]

I CANT. HANDLE. THE. BEAUTY.

[cuethedream-standby]

I LEGIT STARTED CRYING

[earthstory]

Sun setting over Lake Tahoe and the Sierra Nevada.

[shakespearenews]

1928 Coca-cola ads featuring Shakespeare. 

The Ophelia “glass of fashion” line refers to Hamlet tragically losing his mind and being a jerk, Macbeth’s “fill full” is “I’m gonna drink myself into a stupor because I just saw the ghost of my best friend, who I murdered”, and Brutus’ “dish fit for the gods” is about killing a dude elegantly instead of hacking him into pieces. So…have a coke!!

Source. 

[forestlyprince]

Lighting Humor: 420, Haze it.

[spthhvy-deactivated20230905]

“No…no no no no no! Not a gaff on gaff bond no no- oh, shit.

…well that’s never coming undone.”

-Every tech who has had gaff stick to itself.

[techtheatreprincess]

We’re technicians. SOMEBODY has a pocket knife

A costumer trying to open a tub of ice cream while drunk (via techtheatreprincess)

[firebirdy]

This may be the best book I have ever purchased. It is definitely in the top 10

[corvidcall]

whAT BOOK IS THIS

[faokryn]

To Be or Not to Be by Ryan North.  Hamlet as a choose-your-own-adventure book.

[grandenchanterfiona]

I want a high fantasy movie where everyone talks with Southern US accents instead of British ones.

The Dwarves though, they can get Minnesotan accents.

[captainlordauditor]

ok but picture this: elves with brooklyn accents

[audsbot]

“Hey HEY I’m castin’ here, what’d’you – listen, my pop and I serve the Great Tree goin’ back six hundred fuckin’ years so if you got a problem with our fuckin’ magic you don’t fuckin’ come down here into our fuckin’ grove to gimme shit about it.

“Right? You don’t see me fuckin’ goin’ into your shitty man-stables and tellin’ you how to milk horses, do ya? So instead you come down here, disrespect me, disrespect my pa, and how ‘bout you stop fuckin’ disrespectin’ the Great Fuckin’ Tree that grew whens’t the world was young and carries all our fates ‘n its boughs, okay?

“I said, ‘okay?’

“Okay, now fuck off.”

[zacharielaughingalonewithsalad]

“Oh, ya, my clan’s been mining these ranges for 500 years, real nice place, real friendly. We make a mean hot dish, too, don’t cha know”

“Now, see, our main export may be iron, but y'see, we’re also the home of one of the modern wonders of merchantry and architecture…. THE GREAT DWARVEN BAZAAR. Four subterranean levels, all shops, biggest in the land! Full of tourists but we’re all here for a good time and we’re all for boostin’ the local economy!”

[theatre-stuff-blog]

#stagemanagers #theatrestuff