How to Stage Manage a Show at Carleton: A (Not-So-) Quick Guide Lovingly Written by Becca Greenstein, 2013

Hi There!

If you’re reading this, you’re probably thinking of stage managing, or you’ve been recruited to stage manage, or you’re a director wondering what your stage manager is going to help you with. Hopefully, this will be helpful. I’ve stage managed for ETB, Players, SMT, and comps shows. After my short-lived acting career ended as a freshman in high school, I realized I was a better organizer than expresser, and moved behind the scenes. The informal stage management class I took that fall taught me many things, the most important of which I think is, “The stage manager is the hub of the show’s wheel.” You are responsible for organizing the production from start (or close to start) to finish and communicating with the various people (director, assistant director, assistant stage manager, actors, technical director, lighting designer, scenic designer, sound designer, costume designer, board ops, run crew, various other faculty and staff at Carleton) involved to make this happen. One of the biggest things I’ve found about stage managing at Carleton is that the experience varies widely depending on the director, and whether the show is faculty or student directed. Some directors will make the schedules and reserve rooms by themselves, others will ask for your help. Some will go get props and/or costumes, others will want your assistance or ask you to do it by yourself. For Players shows, this is never your responsibility. I’m going to organize this thing as chronologically as possible. Here goes: Before Rehearsals Start Usually, your director and you will have connected before auditions. S/he will often want you to either sit in on auditions (ETB) or sit outside the theater and direct traffic (Players), since ETB/SMT auditions usually have a friendly ETBoard member directing traffic at the start-of-term auditions. Your director will have brought sides (audition monologue and/or scenes) and audition forms along. You might have callbacks after auditions if your director wants to see people work together. This happens especially with Players shows and musicals. Your director might ask for assistance on casting, or just keeping the audition forms straight while s/he casts. At the Beginning After the cast list goes out, you’ll coordinate your first rehearsal. This is usually a full-cast shindig, whether it is a read-through, part of a read-through, or a meeting where you go around and have everyone introduce themselves, a la Ruth. At this event, it is a good idea to pass around a piece of paper asking for conflicts and another one asking for contact information. Get everyone’s class conflicts, extracurricular activities, work schedule, and one-time conflicts (class field trips, family in town, etc.). It’s good to organize these in an Excel spreadsheet, especially for a big cast:

 Sunday   Monday  

 12:00    

Johanna,  Lily,  Gracie    12:30  

 Johanna,  Becca,  Jacob,  Alec  

 1:00    

Johanna,  Becca,  Jacob,  Alec    1:30  

 Johanna,  Becca,  Lily,  Rebekah,  Jacob,  Hannah,  Gracie,  Alec  

 2:00   Peter   Becca,  Lily,  Rebekah,  Jacob,  Hannah,  Gracie    2:30   Peter   Becca,  Lily,  Rebekah,  Jacob,  Hannah,  Gracie    3:00   Peter   Hannah    

Or, alternatively, for a smaller cast: Person A Person B Person C Person D Sunday Monday 7:00-9:00 7:00-10:00 Tuesday 6:30-7:30 7:00-10:00 Wednesday 7:00-9:00 even weeks 6-7 Contact info that is good to have (just put it in a Word document –landscape format) includes name, role, cell phone, Carleton email (noting weird things like more than one letter of the first name), mailbox number, and birthday (since it’s good to celebrate people’s birthdays): Name Role Cell Phone Carleton Email Mailbox # Birthday Lee Conrads Director xxx-xxx-xxxx conradsl 1599 x/xx Eli Kamin Musical Director xxx-xxx-xxxx kamine 1068 x/xx Becca Greenstein Stage Manager xxx-xxx-xxxx greenstb 1291 x/xx Emily Altschul Luisa xxx-xxx-xxxx altschue 1885 x/xx Adam Denny Hucklebee xxx-xxx-xxxx dennya 1533 x/xx Call this number if you will be absent from or late to a rehearsal or meeting. I ask for everyone’s allergies ever since hearing about a tech week horror story involving a peanut allergy and a trip to the emergency room. Also, put everyone’s phone number in your phone so it’s easier to let them know they’re late to rehearsal. Send the conflict information to people involved in scheduling and the contact information to everyone. It is often helpful to make a list on the Carleton server (e.g. tispity@lists.carleton.edu) and add everyone involved to it. For Players shows, make an actor list (including directors and SMs) and a separate tech list (since you’ll have more tech people). Also, I save every file related to the show starting with the show’s title (e.g. Icarus schedule Apr 6-11, Icarus contact sheet, and Icarus program). Once you’ve got everyone’s conflicts, you can start scheduling rehearsals. Some directors start with table work and delving into the text, others start with blocking right away, others will roughly block and work on text at the same time. People vary in where they want to hold rehearsals: rooms in Weitz, Nourse Main Lounge, Arena Green Room, or classrooms in Leighton, Laird, LDC for Nourse shows and Weitz Theater for Players shows. Reserve rooms here: https://ems.ads.carleton.edu/virtualems/. Start contacting designers (usually just light and sound for Nourse shows, although more complicated/bigger shows could use a costume designer or even a scenic designer) and backstage hands early on in the process. Use the theater techs list serve to recruit. Your production head can also help with this. Production meetings should happen regularly to keep everyone updated. Often things will come up in rehearsal that you’ll need to let designers know about (light special DSR in 2.3 [Act 2 Scene 3 – this is a nice shorthand], phone ring in 1.5). Players shows do all of this through the department and you’ll have production meetings weekly. The Players production heads will do the recruiting. Type up notes from these and distribute to everyone involved.

In Rehearsals Get to the rehearsal room a few minutes before rehearsals start to set up whatever set pieces and props are involved in the scenes you’ll be running. Also get your stuff ready. I keep my script in a three-ring binder that also has a pad of paper for keeping rehearsal notes, schedules, contact info, and lists of props/costumes/preliminary cue sheets. Write the schedule in your Lagniappe too. Write everything in your script in pencil, since it is very likely to change. As you rehearse, keep notes on what you’ve done each day on the aforementioned pad of paper. Also write things like “need book in 1.2” or “bring notepad” to remind yourself. Check this when you get home each night and send the appropriate emails/make the appropriate changes to lists. Here’s what this could look like:

1/5 read-through done, conflicts and contacts obtained

1/6 1.1 blocked

1/8 1.3 blocked, no Chris 1.2 blocked need jigsaw puzzle

Different stage managers take blocking notes differently. Here’s my method, but feel free to change things if this doesn’t work for you. I’m a righty, so my script is either printed on the right side of my binder or two pages per sheet on the bottom of my binder (single-sided). Sometimes directors print scripts for you that aren’t single-sided, so if you’ve got small enough handwriting, put your blocking notes in the inner margins and cues in the outer margins (more on this later). I’ve also worked with one of those script books a few times. The whole point of this is to have the most accessible/easy-to-write-in area free for tech week:

blank for blocking notes

Script

rings here

rings here

You’ll want to write down where people are at all times, as indicated by when and from where they come in, where they go, when they sit/stand/lie down, and when they leave. Write this in the corresponding place on the blank page (see the end for example scripts). Since you probably won’t be in the space until tech week, you’ll have to approximate a little. Come up with

blank for notes blank for notes

Script script

abbreviations for each character (the first letter of the character’s name works well, unless you’re doing Much Ado About Nothing and the leads are Beatrice and Benedict) and be consistent! Other abbreviations commonly used: US-upstage USR-upstage right DS-downstage USL-upstage left SR-stage right (your left, actors’ right) DSR-downstage right SL-stage left (your right, actors’ left) DSL-downstage left X-cross off-exit on-enter up-stand up / - beat in script - connect in script Some people like to use a numbering system in which the top of each page is 1 and the bottom is 100, so you don’t have to write the specific line something happens on, just the relative number as it relates to place on the page, but I find this confusing since things change so frequently. I also draw pictures every so often (especially when directors don’t give very specific blocking notes) or write S Ri to indicate that Sarah is stage right of Richard. It’s good to have a picture of the stage with the set pieces at the beginning of your script. If there are lots of set changes, draw this picture at the start of every scene as well. Some directors like to start off rehearsals with warm-ups (this is especially important for musicals to get voices warmed up). Usually, they go physical warm-ups, then vocal, then energy, then focus. They might ask you or an actor to lead these, or they’ll do it themselves. You should also create a props list as you go. Type this up a few weeks in (noting what scenes the props are used in, who uses them and what side they come in from) or when you’re done blocking, and start scouting for things. Most shows need at least one of the following: a writing implement, paper, a phone, a drinking vessel, office supplies, or books, and you’ve probably got these on your person already. If you’re doing a Players show, your props guru will find you rehearsal props early on, and you can get a Weitz key and keep them in the closet in the rehearsal room. For Nourse shows, this is generally your job. You can borrow things from the department (Ben Chadwick and Mary Ann Kelling for props/set pieces and costumes, respectively) as early as you’d like, but it gets hard to store them, so it’s better to hold off. They’ll ask you to put down a deposit check for what you borrow, and you’ll have to pay only if you break things or dry cleaning (ETB will pay for dry cleaning provided it was on your budget). Little Nourse has a few basic set pieces (tables, lots of chairs, a couch, a shrink lounge, a stool, a podium) and some very random things in the cabinet backstage left. Ask your production head for the list of what all is in there. Don’t buy things unless you absolutely need to. Put an NNB ad in for that random prop – someone just might have it. Getting Closer to Tech Your director and you will come up with an off-book date early on. When your actors are off-book and they forget a line, they’ll (theoretically) call “line,” you then feed it to them, and they keep going. Sometimes they’ll just stop talking and look at you, which is not very productive when you’re looking down at your book in order to cue them, so encourage them to say something. Sometimes when they stop they’re having a dramatic pause, making it doubly hard to tell what’s up. If you’re doing a musical, tell your actors to not call for lyrics. These are very hard to feed.

Ask your lighting and sound designers for cue lists before heading into tech week so you can have some idea where your cues will be. Depending on the show (I know I keep saying this, but it’s really true), you might have just end-of-scene gray-outs for transitions and then lights up, or internal cues: mood shifts, blocking changes, time-of-day, etc. If the show has a phone ring/doorbell/music/fireworks written in the script, your sound designer will have to find that; you’ll need pre-show, intermission (if you have one), and curtain call music as well. During rehearsals, it’s good for you or your ASM (if you have one) to say these verbally so the actors start getting a sense of where things are. For transition-heavy shows, make a shift plot on Excel. Include actor movement and props movement, as well as what has to change between each scene (e.g. 1.4 ->1.5 Freddy brings cube in from SR). This helps choreograph the flow of the play if there are a lot of moving parts. This will undoubtedly change, but let your backstage people, designers, and actors have it. The beginning of your rehearsal process is mostly for individual scenes, maybe act runs on the weekends when it tends to be easier to get people in one place at one time. The week leading up to tech will usually be all runs, or do a run one day and then work problem scenes the next. You’ll usually have a final run pre-tech the Saturday before you open. Once you do full runs (or even act runs that run smoothly), time it. Start advertising! For Players, this is taken care of for you, but for Nourse shows, design, print, and hang a poster (ETB Publicity Head will help with this); put ads in the NNB and all-campus email; put your poster on those ad screens all over campus; make a Facebook event; talk it up to your friends; chalk campus (weather-permitting), etc. When you advertise, make clear what play, where, when, what it’s about, who wrote it, and include information about making reservations. Most people make an email address (like carletonthoreau@gmail.com) with a show-specific password (like excommunicate) and put the email address (not the password) on the poster. People have recently been using tixato.com for reservations as well, which is what the department uses. Make a program! Or the director will. For Players, this is taken care of for you, although you might be asked to proofread. It’s better to get this done early. The cover can have the same information as your poster (although typically not in color since that gets pricey). Also include a cast list, crew list, musicians (if applicable), director’s note, special thanks, and how long the show runs. If it’s a more complicated show, it might help to have a list of scenes. Send it to Printing and Mailing Services (http://apps.carleton.edu/campus/print/, click on standard print submission) once you’re done. I’ve sent programs in the day of opening night and it’s been fine, but err on the side of getting it in early. Tech Week That Sunday, you’ll move in to the theater and your production head will check you in (Nourse shows). This involves moving in all props and costumes, hanging up costumes, and making a props table on your part (sometimes the designers will be programming or hanging lights). In Nourse, stick your props on that big wooden table backstage left, and/or on the shelves downstage left (if you’re out of room, use the one downstage right as well for props that come in stage right). In Weitz, it depends on how the stage and seat carts are oriented. If it’s like a proscenium, stick your props on one of those white tables with the blue legs that live in the rehearsal room and put it by the shop. Ben will help you for Players shows. Tape off sections the size of each prop and label with Sharpie (record player, 2.1 or subpoena, 1.7). Either that night or Monday night (or both), you’ll do a cue to cue (Q2Q). This means you’ll start at the top of the show and run the parts around cues (whether they be internal or

scene change cues) to get the actors accustomed to where they are and to test levels and timing. This is not a full run – you will often skip large swaths of the script. Remind your actors this is mostly for tech, not them. Sometimes they’ll be in costume, sometimes not – it’s the director’s call. Depending on how far along your designers are, they’ll be programming cues then or they’ll have already programmed. This is a time to be patient on the part of everyone involved. Expect there to be long periods of waiting. Tempers will often fray. Try to keep things positive. Before you start, get your cue sheets ready (just use lined paper so you don’t have to juggle your laptop during Q2Q), one for lights, one for sound, and one for projections if you have them (but they’re really annoying so you shouldn’t if you can help it): Lights Sound

(Note that the light board in Weitz is way more flexible than the one in Nourse. The one in Nourse goes every one (as above), and if you need to add cues, you can go 5.5., 5.6, 5.7. The one in Weitz can go however you want it to.)

You mark these in your script in the outside margin with the label LX for lights and SO for sound. I’ve always done numbers for lights and letters for sound just to differentiate. Rarely have shows had more than 26 sound cues, but you can start with AA, BB, and then start drawing shapes if your show is Angels in America and there are ambient city noises every other scene. Some people write in their warnings (see below), but I’ve always found those distracting. Just learn the cues that are at the top of pages by heart. It is helpful to write things like “SO E fade” if a cue is fading down or out. Circle cues that are at the same time. When you start dress rehearsals the following day, you’ll call these cues for the first time. Maybe 20 seconds before each cue, warn your operator that the cue is coming up (“warning 26” or “warning [name]” or “warning radio”). Then, on the line or movement that marks the cue, say “26 go” or “[name] go” or “radio go.” It’s a good idea to say what the cue is first so the other operator (if you’re not oping yourself) doesn’t get confused. If it is just you and an op, no need to specify. In scenes with a lot of cues in a row, you can say “warning abduction” or “warning Round and Round” and then say go for each individual cue. I often warn visual cues and then have the op call the cue since it’s hard to call them when the actor is turning off a light and it’s a manual fade. Dress rehearsal schedules are a bit different. You want to try and mimic performance conditions as early as possible, although some shows require stopping and starting during dresses (Monday maybe, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday sometimes). Usually, call is at 6:00 or 630, depending on when you want to start (give an hour or so for prep work). Actors will get into costume and put make-up on and do hair and check their props. You’ll organize your props, pre-set, and check in with ops and backstage crew (your ASM and/or run crew). Actors will warm-

Cue # Page Tell Me About It Cue # Page Tell Me About It 1 1 pre-show A 1 pre-show 2 1 house to half B 4 phone 3 1 B/O (blackout) C 7 phone 4 1 1.1 D 8 doorbell 5 8 transition E 15 “R-E-S-P-E-C-T” 6 8 1.2 F 21 r 7 11 C x DS G 30 birds

up and then you’ll get going. As you get closer to the time you’re going to start, call times, like “one hour until places,” and the actors and tech people will respond “one hour thank you”. This is definitely easier in Nourse since it’s smaller and you can stand in the house and yell. In Weitz, it’s helpful to give your places calls to a backstage person who will run to the dressing rooms. You should be the sole arbiter of when to call times so it doesn’t get confusing. You’ll probably be in the house calling cues for the first few nights so your light op can see better (so if you’re oping sound, this means going back and forth). If you’re in Weitz, you’ll be on headset with the people backstage and in the sound booth. In Nourse, cell phones are the way to go, but only if there’s something dire. When you’re at show night, make sure programs are ready, you’ve got a reservations list, and the house is clean. Have people put personal belongings in the dressing rooms (not right backstage since that could get crowded) or in the booth for ops. Set up like the dress rehearsal nights. Make sure tech is ready. Warm-ups. The house will open 30 minutes before the show starts (don’t forget to warn the actors, make sure everything is set, and get pre-show lights and sound going). In Weitz, communicate with the house manager and usher(s) about timing. They’ll be the ones checking people off and can tell you if you should “hold the house” (start 8:05 rather than 8:00) because this is Carleton and people aren’t good at getting places early. Make sure to keep everyone informed. In Nourse, I usually end up house managing – standing by the door to the outside (tape it open), checking people off the reservations list, and passing out programs. The director usually will help you. Have the director go backstage to call times every ten minutes. Once you’re ready to go, keep programs accessible and turn the stairs lights on. Go to the booth, make sure people backstage are where they need to be, call house to half and pre-show music fade out, and you’re rolling! Strike will happen after your last run. For Players shows, this is directed by Ben and Jeff Bartlett. In Nourse, your production head will come and help to check you out of the theater. Assign people to jobs during or before the show. Strike the set, if you’ve got one. Strike lights if your designer so desires. Pile up everything you’ve borrowed from the department downstage right (since you can’t return those until Monday) and have people bring home their personal belongings. Clean up backstage. Sweep the stage and vacuum the house, clean up the house, front of house, and the booth. Take out the trash and recycling. Have a cast party! Other Things I find it useful to carry around the following in my backpack: -lots of paper -extra writing implements -Band Aids -tissues -Ibuprofen and Sudafed -cough drops -hand sanitizer -hand lotion (especially in the winter) -it’s nice (but not necessary) to have a smart phone/laptop at rehearsals to look up show references I’ve made reference to each of the ten shows I’ve done at Carleton thus far (excluding the one whose callbacks are tomorrow), since I’ve learned something new during each process.

If you’ve got questions or need help, let me know: greenstb@carleton.edu until this coming summer rlgreenst@gmail.com after that Blocking Notes and Cues on Double-Sided Script

Blocking Notes on Single-Sided Script

rings down here

Cues on Single-Sided Script (corresponds to same pages as above) rings up here