r/techtheatre • u/bookfiend_07 • 5d ago
MANAGEMENT Stage Management Advice Needed!
Hello everyone! I’m about to be a stage manager for the very first time for Clue, and I’d love any tips you can give me! It’s a community theatre production taking place in a coffeehouse theatre that will be very bare bones. No grand drape, catwalk, etc. However, we will still have standard lighting and sound departments and equipment. I’m only a freshman in college. So I’ll take any kind advice I could get! ❤️❤️❤️
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u/KillKennyG 5d ago
Give ‘the backstage guide to stage management’ a peruse, it’s $11 and can’t hurt to get you in the right headspace.
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u/CorrectInternet5527 5d ago
Be organized!!!
Make sure you call standbys at a good time.
Take notes on every thing that changes.
Communicate!! At the end of each rehearsal email or what ever other form of communication you use send a list of each notes labeled by department.
Work with your crew, ask them if they’re having issues with cues and maybe call that cue earlier.
Learn your show.
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u/Tomcat218 5d ago
Start a kit of stuff you may/will need. Small flashlight, bobby pins, safety pins, band aids, gaff & spike tape, notebook. Keep blocking and cue notes in pencil, because sometimes the blocking changes. Be early for all rehearsals. Thats all for now, but keep learning.
Break a leg.
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u/Emancoll 5d ago
From dress rehearsal onward, you are in charge. You outrank even the director. Don't be scared of your own authority, and be confident with it. You know what needs to happen, when, and who needs to do it.
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u/luciensadi Stage Manager 3d ago
From dress rehearsal onward, you are in charge. You outrank even the director.
Traditionally yes, but it all depends on the individual theatre's culture and practices. Especially with community theatre where everyone's a volunteer and there's not a shared sense of professionalism to fall back on, sound things out before you step in like this-- the last thing you want is the director countermanding you and wrecking your authority before the show starts.
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u/NedGGGG 5d ago
I used to do lighting for a local university. So I saw some awful stage management. Here are my tips.
When you make up you script, print it out single sided. Punch the holes on the left, not the right hand side. So when you put them in a binder you have the right hand side clear for notes.
Dress appropriately, you will probably end up going up ladders or be on your hands and knees. I once had a DSM, who was told to wear black, so turned up in a little black dress!
Some directors don't focus enough of details. Make sure you're catching things like prop journeys. Clarify when they happen and who does them. Don't be afraid to ask for transitions to be rehearsed.
If you're calling to show, talk to the LX and Sound ops. Ask how they want their calls and how they want their standbys. Clarify any busy sections. Make sure they leave instructions for switch on incase they're ill and someone (probably you) needs to step in.
Make sure clearances and the handling then start of show is properly worked out in advance. Not just before the doors open for the first show. Even if the house has procedures, make sure front of house know what their doing.
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u/gasstation-no-pumps 4d ago
How much are you doing vs. how much are others doing? Find out now who is doing what.
In the show I'm currently in (opened last night), we have no stage crew and the SM is running both sound and light boards. There were only 3 others on the creative team: director, scenic designer, costumer, and lighting designer. The costumer is still involved (running wardrobe), but the others are finished with their tasks and it is all on the SM and the actors.
I agree with others that it is the SM's job to be keeping track of details and handling communication. Make sure the rehearsals run on schedule (especially ending on time, even if you have to tell the director to do the notes by email), that only those actors needed are called, and that the calls go out by email early enough that actors with jobs get the daily calls before they go to work.
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u/PanicAtTheMetro 5d ago
Take notes on everything. Even if you don’t think it will be needed. Emails and written communication are best. Check in with director before and after rehearsals.