I've admired your SM skills from afar for a while, & the time has come to pick your brain. I went to a liberal arts school for my BA in theatre, so I learned a bit about all parts of theatre. I fell in love with SMing, but unfortunately, our theatre faculty's knowledge of stage management is more of a backstage manager, not whatever the professional expectations are. Anyway, all of that to say I've been put in contact with a theatre in a nearby city. I want to SM....
(pt. 2, sorry) ....but I'm afraid I'd be in over my head with zero knowledge of what to do / what is expected. So, if you have any textbooks you recommend, or a kind of list of "Know how to do these things," I would appreciate it like you wouldn't believe. If not, thanks for your time!
Hi sorry it took me so long to get back to you.
As far as books, I’ve pulled together a list of books/etc on Amazon here that I’ve found useful or think others might.
as far as thing you’ll need to know/what to do...it’s going to vary from place to place but what I would consider standard to be is:
Pre-Rehearsal
maintain the rehearsal and production schedule (monthly/weekly/daily)
maintain contact information for all involved (cast, design/production team, crew, musicians, etc.)
taking and distributing clear and concise meeting minutes for production meetings
you miiiight have to be involved with auditions, keep that moving, etc. (this is sometimes shared with a company manager or casting person)
maintaining the most updated version of the script (cuts/adds/reassigned lines, etc.) This is sometimes shared with dramaturgy, usually with a new work.
Taping out a scale ground plan of the set in the rehearsal room. Your TD should be able to provide you with one. It is almost impossible to tape out by yourself, so if you have ASMs, use them.
Prep Paperwork
Props: A props list that both you and the props master are working off of. You might have to pull rehearsal props yourself or all of props might be your responsibility. I like to update props lists weekly once we’re in rehearsal and send them out to at least the props master, scenic designer, director, production manager, and the rest of the SM team. This paperwork is separate from whatever you/your team use for setting and running the show, which I’ll get to.
Costumes: If you have a wardrobe head this is technically their responsibility, but shit happens. What you’re trying to do is track what actor is wearing when, and if they have a costume change, how long they have (which you might not know till designer run, and that’s ok)
Scenery: tracking what scenic elements and furniture pieces (which are technically props) are onstage when, and who puts them there when, and the logistics of where they go offstage.
During Rehearsal- (your ASMs, if you have any, can and should do a lot of the props and scenery tracking, as they’ll be backstage and dealing with it then)
Notating blocking in scenes & choreography in songs in a blocking script.
Creating a calling script. This can be the same as your blocking script, though some people like a separate copy. Totally up to you.
Tracking props, and creating preset lists for onstage and offstage locations
Creating scene shift paperwork in preparation for tech
Keeping the director, music director, and/or choreographer on schedule and taking breaks regularly.
Spiking things in the rehearsal space
Line notes
Creating and sending out Daily Rehearsal Schedules: who’s called when for what where. You might also have to send out longer range rehearsal schedules, which is common for people who have other jobs or obligations.
Scheduling costume fittings (This is usually a joint responsibility between you and the costume shop manager and/or the costume designer). These are usually part of the rehearsal schedule emails, but not always.
Prep for moving onstage/Scenic Load In
Clean the absolute shit out of the stage, wing space, backstage areas, green room, dressing rooms. Sweep, mop, Lysol wipe, febreeze, etc.
Transfer props/furniture to the stage
Set up backstage prop tables
Assign dressing rooms
Rough spike furniture/scenic elements with director and scenic designer (these are subject to change of course but should be the same colors as the spikes in rehearsal, especially if the cast moves anything)
Make BUNCH of copies of your shift sheets and preset paperwork for your crew.
Make sure you understand how scenic elements move (Casters, cane brakes, air casters, kick brakes, tracked walls, things flying in/out, grooves in the floor, magnets, velcro, etc. etc. etc.)
Onstage Rehearsal: Begin with a walk through of the space for the full cast. Make sure everyone knows what everything is, can walk on
Paper Tech- I don’t always do these, but if there’s a cue heavy show and/or limited tech time, this can be helpful. Basically jsut sitting down with the director, lighting designer, sound designer, projections/video designer and walking through the show and penciling in cues in your script. If you’re cueing scene changes, you talk through those and pencil those in as well.
Tech- I don’t do Wet/Dry tech so *shrug emote*. Work through the show, stop, go back, rework scene shifts, make sure everyone feels safe. Run quick changes in time so you know if things are going to be a problem. Try to get a full run in. Finalize cue placement. Update shift paperwork.
Dress rehearsals- Add costumes, if you didn’t add them during tech. Full, non-stop runs. If something didn’t go as planned, this is the time to figure out how to fix it, unless it’s a huge safety hazard. Clean up your book.
Opening night- YAY! Make sure to give actors notes of any changes that have happened over time. Your objective is to preserve the director’s intention.
During the Run
Brush-Up Rehearsals- If you go more than 2 or 3 days without a performance, you should probably schedule a brush-up to just go over lines. Minimal tech, no costumes.
***Understudy Rehearsal: If you have understudies, make sure they’ve rehearsed with the other understudies onstage.
***Put-In Rehearsal: If you have enough warning and an understudy or a last-minute new person is going on for someone else, call a put-in rehearsal with at least that character’s most important scene/dance partners, if not the full cast. Depends on the show.
Strike:
Pull up spikes
Clean dressing rooms/green room
Might help with prop/scenic strike
THIS IS BY NO MEANS COMPREHENSIVE. THIS IS WHAT I CONSIDER TYPICAL IN MY EXPERIENCE. The best thing to do is find out what is expected of you from your director, production manager, and producer/artistic director. And trust your gut. If you think something needs to be done, find out if it’s someone’s job and if it isn’t, it might be yours. Ask questions. Seek clarification. Say Yes Please.
Good luck!!
