Musicals vs. Plays
-By Malorie Savran
So while NRP’s season has been on hiatus (but is starting again with Lost In Yonkers with auditions on January 31 and February 1) I’ve been keeping myself busy. And by that I mean I’ve been swamped because…insert drum roll here…I’ve been stage managing a musical!
I’ve been in musicals before but only as a performer and it’s been quite a while. Probably 10 years or somewhere around there. What a difference! Apparently when I agreed to do a musical I just figured it would be more rehearsal time but most of the same. And I knew I would be calling cues (which I’ve done before but not in ages) however my hubris and experience over the last couple of years left me feeling pretty confident about ability my to handle the job.
I wouldn’t say I was horribly wrong. Underprepared might be a more apt description. Up until this point I had only ever stage managed from back stage with the light board operator running cues themselves because they are on point (maybe 20 or 30 of them, mostly lights up and out with some other fun stuff) a cast no more than 17, and a pretty stable set where the only moving pieces are some furniture and props.
Enter the musical: almost 30 cast members, cues upwards of 300, enormous set pieces that require multiple people to move, a musical director, choreographer, assistant stage managers, actual set crew. And those are just the initial differences.
It’s a much bigger show and you end up working with exceedingly talented people. The scale of everything is quadrupled so working with individuals who know what they are doing is key. And if it’s the right group the results are phenomenal.
Also, I get help!! I’ve never had help back stage (not that I’m complaining and I’ve never really needed it) but wow was I spoiled. Two assistant stage managers, a headset that works and actually stays on my head (most of the time…don’t ask), a light board operator on my left, two spot operators, etc. I’ve been spoiled rotten!!
On the flip side, it’s a lot more work. There are longer rehearsals, far more coordination with different parties, opinions flying everywhere, blocking is more choreography than actual blocking so how do you write all of that in the book, sooooo many light cues (which are totally worth the payoff but I’d be lying if I didn’t admit I was flipping out the beginning of tech week), and being in charge of more people and having to make concrete decisions how things are going to work. Again I reiterate I usually don’t have help, it’s all on me. But now I’ve got all this help looking to me for instructions and I have to keep reminding myself that I can’t actually do and control everything.
The biggest difference, at least the one that stands out to me the most, is the size of the cast. Not because more people is more difficult to manage or keep track of (which it is). But with a small cast of 2 or 4 or 10, over the course of very few rehearsals, you get to know everyone so quickly and so well. I helped on another show where I only started during tech week and was there for the run but because of the relatively small cast, I still got to know everyone very quickly. It's been slower this time around and it could definitely be attributed to my not joining the show until two weeks into rehearsals. Leave it to tech week to bring everyone together though. It never fails to create solidarity!
Oh yea, one more thing. The songs never get out of your head. Ever. I've legit woken up in the middle of the night singing some song or other. And the thing is, I don't actually know any of it in full. I just know some of the tune and half phrases which means I can't even sing the whole thing through to myself!
Overall it's been a pretty amazing experience and I've learned a lot. And as with all shows, I will have to say goodbye to these wonderful people that I've had the pleasure to spend all my free time with over the last couple of months, which is the one thing show to show that never changes.
www.nemasketriverproductions.com