promptlyyours

[promptlyyours]

Awesome new stage management nightmare: Somebody starts the show while I’m in the bathroom.

[promptlyyours]

I don’t have an ADHD diagnosis (it’s something I have been thinking of bringing up with a professional though) but I’d to talk for a minute about how stage managing soothes my mind and get a gauge to see if any other SMs feel the same way.

When I am at home on weekends I really struggle. Particularly when I am working 6 days a week. That one day I don’t know what to do. Do I relax? Do I clean? Do work on projects? The idea of not fully dedicating myself to one or the other and not being able to choose cam often shut me down where I choose none and just lay there or feeling panicked and sad because I feel like I tried them all a bit and did nothing properly or chose the wrong one and now the weekend had been a waste. (I was one of those “she puts 100% into all her work” kids)

But when I am on a show I get into a FLOW and it’s such a good feeling. I will continue to re-arrange my props setting checklist until it’s in the perfect order for ease of ticking. Every cue embedded in my body, I always know I know I am where I need to be in that moment, and have so many variations in my brain should certain circumstances arise. I remember being back stage as a teen in a show of Les Mis my Grandad was in, the stage manager moving me around so I’d be out of the way just at all the right moments and I remember thinking “this is what I want to do” it felt so RIGHT.

Knowing the show keeps ticking over, it will end, and tomorrow you’ll get the chance to do it again. Maybe I’ll swing the door to perfectly time it with a sound cue (off stage for no ones benefit except my own) or I’ll work on getting a sequence tighter so I get a few seconds to do some stretchs. Sometimes it can feel like a fun game I am playing with myself. A fun puzzle. I am really in each moment, it’s familiar, yet when suddenly something interrupts or goes wrong I don’t freeze like I do when I am at home, I just whurr into action and just know what to do.

Don’t get me wrong SMing hasn’t been great for my mental health at times. I have had anxiety and burnout, and far too little sleep. But that’s a whole other post.

I would love to know how SMing feels for you. Does it keep you in the moment feeling calm and present?

Thanks for reading x

ADDitude Magazine lists #stagemanager as a good job for those w/ ADHD! It can be an asset or even a requirement for the wacky & wonderful work we #stagemanagers do sometimes! Hyperfocused, multitasking, constantly changing tasks, etc.., we do it all. Thanks so much to the Broadway Stage Management Symposium alum who shared this on out alumi facebook page. Loved this article! Enjoy #smblr 

[promptlyyours]

Hello! I hope you are well. I am messaging to gauge interest in whether you would like to be interviewed for my graduate thesis. I am a stage management MFA student currently studying at Columbia and my thesis is on social media for stage managers. I have a short portion on Tumblr and am interested in referencing your blog. Would you be interested in answering some questions for me? I can email them to you, or alternatively you can email me at kelleylynnemoncrief at gmail. Thank you so much

Hi there!

I have honestly been pretty slack with tumbler over the last (what is time?) number of years and I feel like there are so many much more active and better #smblr people out there! I am also from Australia (I don’t know if that matters?) but if you feel like it would be a good fit still I could possibly help you out! What kind of questions would you be asking? Are they more general and about the blog specifically or more personal and about me (the person who reblogs the things).

Hope you are surviving alright in the world in it’s current state!

- Jaymii

[promptlyyours]

so here are some memes that are hyper-specific to stage managing over zoom in case any of you are looking into a career in the theatre rn

[promptlyyours]

I was trying to do the Bad Stock Photos of My Job game but...

Accurate

Accurate

SUPER accurate

This is exactly how I and all my coworkers look

[promptlyyours]

Q2Q Comics #539: Coffee Realism

[promptlyyours]

Ive been in tech all week and im so bored of it ive just started making memes

[promptlyyours]

How's living back at home been? Hope you're well!

Hi anon,

It’s been okay thus far. Although its funny you ask this on today of all day’s. I was in the bedroom I am staying in, applying for jobs, as one does. Then my father knocks on my door and holds up a horrendously, tightly coiled extension chord.

Before he could even say anything I just blurt “yuck”’

He goes: “Did you coil this?”

Me: “God no. I’m offended you even asked such a question.”

Him: “Don’t coil cables like this it destroys them.”

Me: “....do you realize where I have been the last few years, and what I have been doing in that time?”

Him: “...”

Me: “....”

Him: *walks away shaking head*

So....there’s that. I’m doing okay, my four legged friend is loving the extra attention he’s getting from my mother as she simply adores him and is spoiling him rotten. Their dog is getting jealous and is unsure of what to think of her new roommate (but they get along just fine 😄).

Lighting buddy is doing well too. He has a temp job, I saw him recently and he’s just as goofy as ever, trying to keep things light and is as full of just as much sass as always. 

Thanks for checking in, hope you all are well <3

~Admin

[promptlyyours]

I have a joke about stage management but it was in that email that you didn’t read

[promptlyyours]

A great idea that looks very satisfying...

I miss checking setting lists!

[promptlyyours]

WE’RE BACK!!!!

[promptlyyours]

We also so conditioned at times to do anything for the art. The vision of the director and it’s hard to say “no”. When boundaries are pushed and it’s a success it then sets a new precedent for the next show going forward.

Though I have started to see some things that give me hope we can make things more sustainable.

- a Head of Props refusing against the designers wishes to use unsustainably forested timber and helium.

- a sound op being granted the request to split the contract with someone else so they each do 4 shows a week instead of one person doing 8.

- actors handing back the water bottle given to them on the first day of rehearsals telling me they’ll bring their own instead

- laminating less

- collecting items that cannot be recycled at the theatre but can be dropped off at specific places such as thin plastics and ink cartridges.

- having a sharpie at the water cooler so if someone doesn’t have a water bottle they can at least write their name on their cup and re-use it.

- having a head of sustainability who ensures flats and other elements are re-used effectively and overseas other ways to be more sustainable.

- the workshop crew starting a veggie bed out the back

- Admin staff and actors starting a carpooling team

- more bike parking and riding to work encouraged

- theatres with solar panels

There is still so much work to do but keep working on ways to make our workplaces more sustainable. I used my “working from home” time to put together a proposal for reducing waste in the greenroom. I was told it wouldn’t pass during a pandemic but it would be kept on file and presented later in the year. 🤞🏻

Short rant ahead about theatre

Keep reading

[promptlyyours]

Hello! Tomorrow (July 9th) is my birthday! To celebrate, I’d really like to fundraise for two charities: local theatres in my home state, and the Actors Fund, which helps actors and technicians who are out of work until at least 2021. Theatre has been a huge part of my life for so long. The arts have helped me and so many others find healing in our lives, and now the arts need our help in return.

If you have another theatre charity in mind and we raise enough money, please let me know! I know Audra McDonald and other Black theatre artists have started an organization, and I’d love to be able to donate to them as well.

To every person who donates $10+ to the Actors Fund (dm me a screenshot) or who Venmos me (dm for my @), I’ll mail them a present.

I’ll send out the donations at the end of the month. The show must go on, and we will make sure the show goes on🖤🖤

[promptlyyours]

Hi tumblr it’s been a while. How are you guys doing? I know our industry is suffering and struggling

So please if you need anything let me know and I’ll do what I can

Stay strong techblr

[promptlyyours]

LB: I don’t like spreadsheets, they’re annoying.

Admin: I like spreadsheets.

LB: You’re a Stage Manager, that doesn’t count.

[promptlyyours]

check in on ur local freelancer

[promptlyyours]

yesterday i cleared my set off the stage to get ready for a dance competition

and then i turned off all the lights and layed in the dark and listened to the rain on the metal roof

the world is so big and so cold and i am so small

but that doesn’t mean i can’t love what i do

you have to find the things that make you feel a little bigger and a little warmer

that’s all that really matters i think