#broadway stage manager

[thexie-and-stars]

hey guys

If you're in cast

don't be a dick to crew

please

be careful w your props as well

I once spent 5 hours painting a set only to have to make a new one from scratch because an asshole on crew, knowing i made it, kicked a hole through it.

[thestarlightsapphic]

Things I’ve learned as a stage manager that I would pass to future stage managers!

1. You will make mistakes!! Mistakes happen, all the time, we are quite literally human. No one is perfect. What’s really going to count when mistakes happen is how you decide to handle to problem! How you react, your problem solving, and your communication!

2. Not everyone is going to agree with you! Leadership is really tough because most of the time, the majority is going to respect you and follow your decisions! However, there’s always going to be those times when someone might not agree with you. They did things a different way with a different theatre, something doesn’t work for them, the schedule doesn’t make sense to them. Whatever it is, at the end of the day, it’s between you and the director to decide. Stay confident in your decisions honestly though. If you seriously think there is an issue, talk with your director or your team!

3. TRUST YOUR TEAM. Cannot emphasize this enough. Your ASM’s especially are your BACKBONE. Please do not take on more than you are capable!!! I really struggled with this one and wanted to handle every little thing and problem but I was getting burnt out! I was so worried during tech week about a million little things that I honestly couldn’t focus on my cues. I started eventually though, arriving to tech week and show days and taking 20 minutes to myself to meditate and focus. My team was able to handle conflict for me, set-up, and so much more. I had an awesome team that had my back and that I trusted to handle backstage while I called cues! There is so much that comes with stage management, and you’ll have your hand in every part, but share the load wherever you can!!

4. Have Fun! I feel like everyone always says this one, but seriously, have fun! I get very serious and in my head sometimes when I’m stage managing, but there’s so many times I wished I had relaxed a little more! Laugh with your team, make friends, strengthen the friendships you already had! Theatre can be a truly wonderful experience if you let go of unneeded stress (which can be EXTREMELY difficult, I absolutely understand)

Stage management is a tough position that doesn’t get a lot of recognition, but it’s always so thrilling to see those lights come up the first show! I always feel like I’m doing magic. I’m by no means a perfect stage manager, but I look forward to every opportunity I get to learn more!

[bussyandbingus4life]

Because no one asked, here's a list of theatre men I want to play, but can't because I'm a female stagie who can't sing

- Christian (Moulin Rouge)

- Jack Kelly (Newsies)

- Crutchy (Newsies)

- That one guy that does the fouettes on the newspaper (Newsies)

- George Washington (Hamilton)

- King George (Hamilton)

- Dimitri (Anastasia)

- Jay Gatsby (The Great Gatsby)

- Flounder (The Little Mermaid, but specifically during She's in Love)

- Billy Flynn (Chicago)

- Sky (Mamma Mia)

- THE FLIPPER BOYS tm (Mamma Mia, yes all of them)

Thank you.

[xpastelsweetsx]

OUTSIDERS GIRLYS?!? DO ANY OF YOU HAVE THE STAGE MANAGEMENT TAKEOVER THAT HAPPENED ON INSTA ON OCTOBER 24TH?!?!?!? I MISSED OT AMD HAVE NEVER BEEN MORE UPSET ABT ANYTHING EVER

[leisplayhouse]

tell me why i find stage managers calling the show so satisfying

[lucat13]

So I was at the evening show of the Notebook tonight (8/1) which had some MAJOR technical difficulties. If you don’t know the Notebook, for context: this is a show very reliant on its fly system. There’s no single set piece on stage for the entire show — everything is either on platforms moved on and off of the wings, or attached to the fly system.

There I am, enjoying the show, in the middle of the second act. It’s about to be the 11’o’clock number. The set on stage is a big platform that usually lives right around the height of the mezzanine (connecting two balconies on stage), along with some windows, stairs and a door to signify that it’s a house.

The male lead walks off, the female lead starts singing and walking downstage, and the flown in bits start flying up. Everything well and good. Then — thump. The flown bits stop moving, hanging there in midair.

Was that supposed to happen? I think. I know set pieces can be loud when they suddenly stop moving, but the set was just hanging there. The music stops. The female lead stops singing, as over the god mic, we hear the stage manager: “Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. We are experiencing technical difficulties. We will resume when we have resolved them.”

Joy Woods (female lead) does the sassiest little hair flip and struts off stage. The audience just sits there, left to wonder what was going on. This was the stage:

Set pieces couldn’t get under there. It didn’t leave enough room for people to get under there. So we hold for a good 15 minutes.

At one point, they start lighting downstage. I thought that maybe they were testing the lights, to see if they still worked? The sound system definitely still worked (the god mic worked and Woods’s mic still worked when she was singing), but they hadn’t brought the house lights up.

I hear from the person behind me: “The usher said that this has never happened before. If they don’t get it working in five minutes, they’re gonna do the rest of the show like this.”

Sure enough, over the god mic was the stage manager again. “Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for your patience. We have lost power. We will be continuing the rest of tonight’s performance in concert style.”

So they do. The audience settles back down, and the cast resets for the beginning of My Days. The first line is Noah going, “Allie, all you have to do is walk up these stairs.” Which she could not do because the landing was 5 feet above the top step. The audience laughed for a good 15 seconds, and the actor was very clearly trying not to break.

It actually really worked. It helped that there were only a few songs left, so we weren’t missing a whole lot. I haven’t seen the show before, so I don’t know what was missing, but they must have changed the staging. Notably, in the final scene (very clearly meant to take place in older Allie’s nursing home room), instead of lying down on the bed like what they were talking about, they sat down on the top step together.

Here’s curtain call: again, I don’t know what they changed, but according to my friend the wall usually flies up to reveal the orchestra, and that didn’t happen.

I also stage doored for the very first time. All the actors were like “thank you so much for sticking with us!!!” I was hoping to ask how much of the staging they improvised on stage and how much they came up with during the hold, but I didn’t get a chance. Alas. Also someone came up and was like “I’m with [some company name], there was a power problem?” and was very quickly escorted in.

tl;dr: the fly system lost power. they did the rest of the show in a concert style. it was damn impressive

[sondheim-girly]

yesterday I called a show for the first time! It was just a run thru, they didn’t even have costumes or anything and they paused a lot but like I am not trained for this, yet I survived!!! I’m so proud of myself!!

[personinthepalace]

Day 8 in NY: The Play That Goes Wrong!!! aka our last show

[inatyzzy]

i sent my stage manager a fucking homestuck gif when talking about whether or not this crew member is allowed onstage tonight

it was horrid and hilarious

[krookodyke]

van gives me strong “unrealized theatre kid” vibes, i know she has a soft spot for musicals and strikes me as a huge sondheim guy. but as she canonically hates cats i know she fucking LOATHES andrew lloyd-webber with a deep passion that every time crusty breaks out into song from an ALW musical (95% of the time) tai has to physically hold her back

[theatrical-penguin]

“Standby RumTumTugger…and GO!”

[areslikestodraw]

it's hard being on this people pleaser grindset

decorated 33 'burn books' by hand and now I need to write notes 💪💪 we gonna get carpal tunnel or bust

[thestarlightsapphic]

Here we go!! Absolute dream show, so excited for this journey!!! Going to be such a huge challenge and adventure, but I’m ready for every single step.

[icedteaandoldlace]

Tom: *tries to bully Carlos into singing something for the fans*

Carlos: *suggests Danielle sing something instead to draw attention away from himself*

Danielle: No one wants me to sing LESS than you do, Los!

Carlos: *dies laughing*

(from 17:55 of this video)

[your-local-granny]

Being critical of art is all fun and games until you are the art that is being critiqued :(

[phierecycled]

Favourite BoM or Falsettos clip?

That’s literally so hard I was picking between like 15 clips but I ended up choosing:

This is a clip from the OBC cast, Rory O’Malley is filming (you can sort of hear him singing as well)