PTT Program 5 Day 7 Video 2.txt

Les Mis, Phantom, Chicago, Lion King, Jersey Boys, Mamma Mia, and Wicked are just a few of the shows in musical theater history that have become long run shows, meaning they have run for more than 5 years. In the case of Phantom, it is run for over 25 years. As a stage manager, when you're responsib...

Les Mis, Phantom, Chicago, Lion King, Jersey Boys, Mamma Mia, and Wicked are just a few of the shows in musical theater history that have become long run shows, meaning they have run for more than 5 years. In the case of Phantom, it is run for over 25 years. As a stage manager, when you're responsible for a show like this, you're dealing with a day to day aspect of the job that may not exist in smaller run shows or regional jobs. Obviously, the same actors are not playing the same parts 25 years later, so there have been replacement actors through the years who have been cast to join the show. It is your job as the stage manager along with your creative colleagues to rehearse and put these people into the show. It's the goal of the producers and the director and everyone involved that the show looks as clean and new as it did on opening night, however long ago that might have been. Let's say you were cast in one of these shows tomorrow. Here's an idea of what your rehearsal process would be like. In educational or community theater and most regional theaters, the entire cast starts in rehearsals together. They create the piece together. In a long run show, the piece is created, and you may be getting onto a moving treadmill. Your personal performance and what you bring to the table is probably why you were cast. However, you now have to work within the confines of what has been established for the show. One of the biggest surprises to replacement actors is that when you start in a rehearsal process, it's going to be you, the stage manager, dance captains, and a musical director, possibly an assistant director or resident director for the show, depending on the piece. That's it. The process will begin with you learning your music. You then are talked through the show, typically character ideas, dramaturgy, the overall shape of how the show works and the characters involved. You then begin to learn the staging and the choreography taught by the stage managers and dance captains. The language they use will be based on the specific show, but standard practice is to block or stage off of a number line running along the preceding of the stage, giving you equal distances stage right and stage left. You will also be given landmarks such as automation tracks, perhaps a specific drop or portal line. The SM and dance captains will be standing in for all of the other characters and any partners you might have in the ensemble. It can be a bit confusing at first to figure out this type of process if you've never done it before. Also during this time, you will have costume and hair wig fittings happening to get all of those pieces prepared for opening night. As you get closer to your opening night, you will add technical elements and get a technical rehearsal if there are any specialty features like flying, dealing with automated scenery, or dance lifting and partnering that need to be practiced. Quick change rehearsals for wardrobe will also be discussed and probably rehearsed as well. As the big day draws closer, you might participate in an understudy rehearsal. All of the principal performers in a show have an understudy, and in a show running more than a few performances, the understudies have to be prepared to go on in the absence of the principal actor. Rehearsals happen with understudies every couple of weeks to make sure they are prepared for their understudy assignments. A replacement actor will participate in this rehearsal. The amount of scenery and props used in these rehearsals varies depending on the production. A few days before your first official performance in front of an audience, you will have what is called a put in. This will be a rehearsal that incorporates all the technical elements for the show, including sound. The full company will come in for the rehearsal on this day, and while they will not be in costume, the replacement actors will go through all of their costume, hair, makeup changes, etcetera. It's like a traditional dress rehearsal, except only the new actors are in dress. The only piece of the puzzle that may not be added is the orchestra, if it is a musical. You will just have piano and maybe drums. The first time the replacement actors will hear the show with the orchestra could be during their first performance. This entire process can be in less than 2 weeks or up to 4 weeks or more of rehearsal, depending on what part you're taking over, depending if it's a principal part or a member of the ensemble. It is a lot of work in a short amount of time for all parties involved and can feel a little structured. One of the important things for the stage manager and the team to do is to nurture the new performer to find their own way of performing the role and making it their own. Performer to find their own way of performing the role and making it their own while still remaining within the worlds of what the director has set. If you are cast in the ensemble of the musical, you might have an understudy assignment. So as soon as you have learned your ensemble track or the duties you will be performing in the show on a nightly basis, You will have your put in for that, and then you will begin to learn your understudy assignment or assignments. This means at a moment's notice, you might be asked to step out of the ensemble and assume a principal role for a performance or 2. You have to constantly be prepared for that added responsibility. The day to day life in a long run show becomes different too. The cast is challenged with making that performance fresh and energized on a nightly basis. I have worked with performers who have performed a role over a 1000 times. It is their responsibility as an artist to make it as fresh and honest each night. This can be a challenge and sometimes has many facets to it. It is live theater, so the audience and their reactions play a huge part of each and every performance. There are also weekly and nightly changes like in any job. In a long run show, people take vacation time, sick leave, and there are injuries that occur. So all of those go into the day to day operations. 1st and foremost, I always say that the decisions I make should always be for the best of the show. There should be no ego or personal favorites or anything like that in the decisions you make. You'll be making sensitive decisions that involve human beings, and emotions are typically high. Which understudy goes on when a principal performer calls in sick? What do you do when the sound system crashes 20 minutes prior to a performance? Someone has a seizure or sprains an ankle during the show? The biggest thing should always be safety. A person's safety should be taken into account. With the technologically advanced shows nowadays and computerized effects being used, safety should always be the number one concern. Accidents will happen. However, attention must be paid to the job we are doing. Repetition can also be a trap that can lead to boredom. You have to find a way to continue to reengage yourself in the crew and what they are doing and make absolutely sure that safety is an overall concern. The running of the show nightly is the only time I feel you have to make what can be called a knee jerk decision, one that you have to act on immediately. A lot of the other day to day duties of running a show, emails, phone calls, schedules, usually don't need immediate attention, and you can take a moment to process. When the show is up and in performance, for those 3 hours, you have to be in the moment and possibly make a knee jerk decision. No two situations will ever go the same way, so trying to be prepared for every situation is not going to happen. But you can try to be as alert as possible and use your knowledge base and collaborative team to be ready to handle any situation that comes your way. You can also take the time to post mortem every situation after it occurs to learn from your reactions and the decisions made to improve your knee jerk decisions the next time. When we talk about seeing the bigger picture, it is your job as a stage manager and as a manager on the show in general to see all of the puzzle pieces and how they fit. Not everything can be at the top of the list. How do you prioritize your duties, and what do you tackle? The actors have a very specific way they view the process. Same thing for crew, musicians. You need to try and see situations from all angles and evaluate how to move forward. It helps to keep an open dialogue with the stage management team and the other members of the show management about decisions and options on how to handle specific situations. Good leaders will ask for input and help. Once again, remember that this is a collaborative art form. I had the good fortune to work with a stage manager named Judith Cullen in my first professional job at Stages Saint Louis. She taught me what she called the duck analogy. Ducks' feathers allow water to roll off their bodies, and it doesn't sit on them. As a stage manager, you have to learn how to not harbor and hold on to things. Let it roll off your back. It is easy to allow emotions to dictate your actions or feel as if things are personal attacks at you. Conflict during a performance is rarely about you as a person. It's more about the position you are in. It is a very tricky line to walk. You can feel very isolated within the bigger picture of the production. However, I've always enjoyed being a problem solver.