The versatile bird gets the worm

In my time here at the Harrison Hilltop I have done many jobs and I have done them at the same time. In smaller theatre companies this is how it is done. For example The producers here often design lights and sets and sometimes even direct. For the first show I was stage manager, properties, and I ran the sound and light board. For the second show I was the stage manager, designed costumes, and ran the sound and light board. And now for the last show I am the stage manager, scenic designer, and I am running the sound and light board.
I have greatly enjoyed working in a small theatre group because it has given me many opportunities to do and learn different things. I have gotten the chance to do the things I have wanted to do. Also working in a small theatre has given me the chance to work very closely with the owners/producers.
I believe that being skilled in many different fields is the key to success. Give this a thought, if a theatre is looking to higher a stage manager and they have two applicants one who has only stage managed and one who has stage managed and designed sets and costumes, who do you think is the more appealing of the two?

Circle circle dot dot now I've got my cootie shot!

theatre people are very close with each other and boundaries are usually pushed further than the social norms. For example it has been my experience that no topic is taboo to talk about or that taboo topics are the base of most conversations back stage. Theatre people are general very excepting and loving. I am also used to theatre people being comfortable getting up close and personal with each other, you have to change in close quarters, you have dressers and you have to kiss on stage. I am also used to some actors being touchy feely but recently I have met an overyly touchy actor. This actor does not know when it stops being funny and starts being creepy. It started off slowly, he would crack a joke here and there but once he got comfortable with me he started cracking even more jokes then jokes turned dirty which then turned to him pinching my waist or him cracking jokes on how I know that I love him. The icing on the cake was that on the last show he told me that "Oh you know you love me" and then proceeded to kiss me on the cheek. I started off bye just brushing his jokes off but here I think is where my problem started I should have stoped him from the very begining so that things never escalated. After he kissed my cheek I politely asked him not to and that was that. We will see what happens this next weekend of the show.

how close is too close?

How close is too close when you are in a leading position. If you are too much of a friend do you loose your authority? If you are too strict will they hate you? How do you gain respect? As a stage manager these are questions I have often thought about. When you are the new guy and everyone else already knows each other you want to be liked. This is the situation I came into this summer everyone had done shows with each other before and were all good friends. Being the new guy I wanted to fit in and be liked but I also knew that since I was going to be in charge I must earn respect in order to gain authority. With my previous experiences stage-managing and by working with other stagemangagers I have learned that if you become to much of a friend with the actors, if you joke around and act all buddy buddy with them, then they will not respect your authority. They will think of Nick does not really care or Nick will get over it, they will think that they can walk over you. Also if you start off as a friend it is near impossible to work your way to being respected. On the other hand if you start off too strict and you make the actors dislike you might end up with a mutiny on your hands. You have to find the happy medium. My experience this summer has been just that. What I did was communicate heavily with the director so that I understood their vision of the show so I could help them to make it come to life, also if I knew exactly what the director wanted then I could speak on their behalf in their absence. I started off strictly business, the director and myself laid out ground rules at the beginning of rehearsals and I enforced them, the key was to be reasonable. As rehearsals went on I started to hang out with the actors more and become good friends with them, this worked very well since I commanded respect from the beginning and demanded professionalism on their part I was able to still maintain their respect after we became friends. Professionalism is key.

Other very important relationships are the ones you have with the producers. This summer is my first experience working with, under and along side the producers of a theater. Obviously it is important because the producers are the head honchos but also you can learn so much from them. They two producers I work for are jacks-of-all-trades they are knowledgeable about all aspects of theatre and they have taught me so much. Like with the actors it is very important to maintain a high level of professionalism in the relationship. I recently learned this because one of the producers and I have become very good friends and we joke around a lot with one another but the other producer did not appreciate our joking and said that he was glad that I had become a good friend and appreciated that I was comfortable around them but that I should not be so free in my speaking. The one producer and I were joking around and I called him and asshole and the other producer reminded me that I should not call my boss and asshole. Needless to say I was very embarrassed and I was mad at myself for not watching myself. The good thing was that he said he was not angry but he let me know that if it was anybody else I would not have gotten off so easy. Learn from my mistake, you can be friends with your bosses but never forget they are your bosses.

The director done gone to Paris!!!

As stage manager it is my job to steer the ship and take carge in the directors absence. This past week the director and his wife(who happens to be one of the actors in the current show) went to Paris. In the directors absence I took over his duties as well as doing my own. I arrived around 15 minutes before call each night and opened up the building and turned on all the lights next I made sure the place was in order. I ran the rehearsals like usual starting at promptly at 7 and running the entire show,I gave lines and read the lines of the missing actor. I only stopped the actors if blocking needed fixed or to work the kinks out of some scenes. I emailed back and forth all week with the director to talk about what I thought needed fixed/changed and I ok'd everything with him before I actually made the changes. Also I was to add in as many of technical aspects as I could before the director arrived back this being props, coustumes, light and sound.

Taking my directing class at Monmouth definately helped me prepare for this moment in my internship. Directing in and of itself is a great experience and it greatly helped me as a stagemanager to understand the inner workings of a directors mind. It taught what to look for and how to block certain things. When I directed my show was blocked for in the round and now this show is in a thrust style theatre arrangement so I knew what to expect for sight lines. Also talking with the director about his artistic view of the piece helped to me help him create that.

What have I done as the technical/production intern thus so far?

As the technical/production intern I have done a little bit of everything. Durring rehearsal and the run of Sunday in the Park with George I was the stage manager. As stage manager I was always the first one in the door and the last one out. I arrived a half hour before to unlock the building, turn on the lights, make sure the props table was in order, I would make sure the green room was not a mess, I would make sure the bathrooms were clean and I would make sure the house was clean and all the chairs were aligned and I would also put out the programs if they were not already out. I would make sure all actors were in the building by call time. This meant calling late actors and giving them warnings when they were late.
During rehearsals it was my job to to take down all the blocking and keep the director on schedule. Later in rehearsals it was my job to be on book and take line and blocking notes. Come tech week I moved up into the box and started runnign the light and sound boards. I ran lights and sound for the entire run.
Other things I did. I helped obtain the props for the show. I painted the "cut-out" soldier and I carved a wooden pipe for the boatman. I also helped out with set construction. I hung the fabric for the trees.
Strike. I was put incharge of overseeing strike. We had to clean out all or out storage and move it back into our builing, we took out all the seating and put in new seating, we took down the set and sorted the lumber, we put props away, we brought in the Dog Sees God props/set pieces and I took down the Sunday posters and put up the Dog Sees God promotion.

Now on to Dog Sees God (we have been rehearsing for three weeks now)

Drunks Divas and Producers to the rescue

As the stage manager it is my job to make sure that the actors follow the rules and regulations set out for them in their contracts. For example the actors are to be in the theater at call time, they are not to leave the building after the call time and they are to be sober. Recently I had an actor break all three of these stipulations. The first occasion the actor left after call and I saw him across the street coming out of a bar. I confronted him and he said he was just getting food so I had no proof that he had been drinking but I did give him a warning for leaving the premises. I notified the director and the producer. Next the actor was late for call and then proceeded to leave the premises to get food again and I again gave him a warning and reported it. The third and final incident was when castmates of the actor reported that he smelled of alcohol and was lude in his behavior. The actors did not tell me or the director this till after the show so the next day after the show the actor was called outside and both producers and myself had a talk with him and explain that he had received three warnings and he and broken his contract three times and that he was fired. Then I escorted him back inside to retrieve his things then I escorted him back outside and that was that.
Stage managers must also have a lot patience. One thing I learned from doing theatre all my life is that every show has its diva. Sometimes they are the leads and sometimes they are in supporting roles. This time the actress plays a supporting part. I to had to give her a warning for being tardy and she did not take it well at all, she does not really talk any direction well, she thinks she is always right. So instead of fighting with her i just went to the director with the issue and he let her know that I was doing my job and she was to respect me. After that she has been on better behavior but I still would not call her plesant.
As stage manager at the Harrison Hilltop I am working under and with the producers. I am working with them on every prodject. I think it would be safe to say that I am also a sudoapprentice to the producers. I will be helping them throw the "revolution block party" with will be to promote theatre and other arts in the area. Other theatres will be in attendance to perform, we will have boths for visual artists as well as boths with restaurants from the surronding areas. This is a project to help rejuvinate the area around the harrison hilltop.

Two shows at once.

I have now started rehearsals for Dog Sees God. I am very excited for this show because I love the script and I think the topics in the show are very important as well as very current. I am also excited for this show because the director is also one of the producers of the Harrison Hilltop and I am looking forward to learning a lot from him. I am curious to see the differences between him and the director of of "Sunday". I believe that I will deffinitely benifit from working with three different directors this summer.

I was worried that it was working on two shows at once would be stressful but so far it is going swimmingly. The actors and actresses are really on ball and I am excited to get to know them better. I am looking forward to the run of this show.

Sunday in the Parth with George first weekend.

The first weekend of the show went great. We sold out or nearly sold out every performance. I am so proud of the actors and actresses they are all doing so well. I can definitely appreciate their job well done more because I to have been in a Stephen Sondheim show. I know how difficult the rhythms of his songs can be and how intricate they can be. I also have greatly enjoyed watching their performances grow and develop further each night. Each night I notice something different that I had never seen before. I catch different quirks about each character every night. Since I now know the show by heart I like to watch the mini shows going on between the secondary characters. It is there stories that add depth to the show as a whole; they take the show from good to great.

On another thing that I find interesting is that I have come to know the cues by heart. I do not really need to look at the script and watch for the cues to come up I already know because I have memorized the dialogue from hearing it night after night.

What I hope to gain this summer

This internship will give me real world experience outside of academia. It will also give me a chance to apply and hone my stage management and design skills and it will give me a chance to gain more designing experience; I will be designing make-up, hair, and costumes for the later two shows. To gain more stage-management experience; I will stage-manage all three summer shows. To gain experience in gathering properties; I will be gathering . And To gain experience running the sound and light boards.

What I'm doing this summer.

Hey all,

This summer I am the Technical Intern at the Harrison Hilltop Theatre in Davenport, Iowa. My resposibilities include stage managing all three summer productions. Which include Sunday in the Park with George, Dog Sees God, and 25th AnnualPutnum Spelling Bee. Stage managing will include assisting the director durring rehearsals, taking down the blocking and technical notes, being on book during rehearsals, collaborating with the technical directors as well as managing the backstage, Green room, props tables, and stage floor areas, insuring all are clean, organized, and prepared for all productions. In the absence of the director, I will ensure that the quality of the production remains as directed and designed.
I will supervise and coordinate changeover between productions and attend weekly production meetings with a detailed status report. I will also operate the light and sound boards obtain the properties for all three shows and stay within budget.