Stage Management

Stage Management Part One

Text Work • The first thing you should do is read the play for ENJOYMENT. • This may be your only time to see the play with fresh eyes so read for pleasure.

Props and Costumes List • The second time you read the play, TAKE NOTES about what props and costume pieces you will need to both rehearse the play and perform the play. • Carefully re-read the play and keep a running list of all the PROPS that will be required to rehearse and perform the play.

Props and Costumes List • Once you finish, transfer that list to a COMPUTER and make sure that you put a DATE on that list. It's sure to change, and every time you change it you're going to want to revise the date on the list. • If you are going to be using more than one computer, keep this information on a DISK or flash drive so there is only one master list of information to keep current.

Props and Costumes List • If your prop master has also made a prop list, it's a wise idea to COMBINE the two lists. • Remember these lists change daily. You want to have a system that is FLEXIBLE.

You can assume that your actors will come dressed for rehearsal, but don't assume that they will come to rehearsal supplying their own REHEARSAL GARMENTS.

After you have read through the play looking for props and costume pieces, you will have two lists; a long PROP LIST and a much shorter COSTUME PIECE list. • If you're doing a period piece your director might want your actresses to wear REHEARSAL SKIRTS and possibly corsets. • Talk to your director and find out what they require and when. Then pass that information and the lists to your prop master and your costume shop manager.

French Scene Breakdowns • As you read the play for the third time, you'll need to pay attention to the entrances and exits of each character. • This is called a FRENCH SCENE BREAKDOWN. Ultimately you are going to want to have a document that easily shows you who is on stage at any given point in the play. • The main purpose of this tool is to help you in SCHEDULING REHEARSALS.

Using a legal pad, start at the top of the play and write the PAGE NUMBER on the left followed by the CHARACTERS that are onstage at the top of the play. • The first time anyone ENTERS or EXITS, write down the page number and the new list of characters on stage.

This breakdown is to keep track of who is needed to rehearse a particular scene. • Slowly work your way through the play until you have all the ENTRANCES and EXITS plotted on your legal pad. • Now transfer that information to your flash drive.

When you get a chance to talk to your director ask them if they are planning on ADDING or SUBTRACTING any characters from any of the scenes. • This scene breakdown will be very valuable to you, when you and your director try to figure out just what you can rehearse if your cast has numerous conflicts with the REHEARSAL SCHEDULE.

Technical Requirements & First Productio Meeting • As you read the play for the fourth time, it is time to begin thinking about your first PRODUCTION MEETING. • Before you enter that meeting you are going to have to make a PRODUCTION MEETING AGENDA. • This agenda should contain all the questions that you and others have about how you as a theatre organization are going to approach the play.

During this reading, take careful notes about TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS of the play. • Look for moments in the text that will need both your DIRECTOR’S and DESIGNERS’ involvement and jot them down on your legal pad. • Add these items to your list and you have your agenda for your first production meeting.

Documents and Supplies Production Meeting Agenda: • A meeting without an agenda might not cover all the items that needed to be discussed. • Take all the questions that YOU had about the play and how we AS AN ORGANIZATION approach it, along with the questions from DESIGNERS, DIRECTOR, AND DEPARTMENT HEADS and combine them into a single document.

Production Meeting Agenda • At the top put the TITLE of the play and the DATE of the meeting. • Below that list the departments: PROPS, SETS, COSTUMES, SOUND, ELECTRICS. • You might want to have a GENERAL category to list items such as schedule and important announcements. • This agenda should also contain any REHEARSAL NEEDS that you know about.

Contact Sheets and Contact Cards • One of your prep week duties involves collecting PHONE NUMBERS and E-MAIL ADDRESSES of every cast member, each designer, the director, the choreographer, the music director, and every production department head (the tech director, the prop master, the costume shop manager, the master electrician, the master sound technician). • You will have cell phone numbers, work numbers, home numbers...

Include: • the box office number • the rehearsal hall number • the theatre's main number • Time and Temperature • the number for emergencies in your area • all the shops

Contact Cards • Contact cards are an abbreviated version of the contact sheet all designed to fit on a card the size of a PLAYING CARD that can easily fit into everyone's wallet. • These cards should include the names and numbers of everyone involved in rehearsals, and most importantly, the number the actors should call in case they are going to be LATE. • During rehearsals the stage manager's primary job is COMMUNICATION. The primary tool is the contact sheet.

Performance Calendar • On the first day of rehearsal you will want to hand out to the actors a PERFORMANCE CALENDAR. This is a list of all the performances on a single PAGE. • You can LIST the performances down a page, or you can use a CALENDAR program. The important thing is that every actor knows exactly when they are expected to be at the theatre. • On this same page you might want to put the PHONE NUMBER to call if one of your actors is going to be late.

First Rehearsal Invitations • One of the most important days in the rehearsal process is the first rehearsal. • Find out from your theatre who is invited to the first rehearsal. Some theatres want the entire staff to come, some theatres just want the actors, designers, and director. • Some times it's just the actors and the director. Find out what the tradition is at your organization.

Office Supplies • Everyone in rehearsal uses pencils, but just as in the classroom not everyone in rehearsal brings their own pencil. • You don't want to see the process slowed down as an actor searches in vain for something to write with. • Have plenty of pencils SHARPENED and ready to use before the first rehearsal.

While at the office supply store, you'll also need to pick up a three-ring BINDER, DIVIDERS, and CLEAR PLASTIC SHEETS to make your prompt book. • One of the items you're going to have to get a hold of during your prep time is a STOPWATCH. You will need a stopwatch from your first rehearsal all the way through to the end of the run. You will need to keep track of ACT TIMES, BREAKS, QUICK CHANGES, MUSICAL underscoring lengths, SOUND EFFECT timings and cue calling.

First Aid Kit • You're going to want to know the state of the FIRST AID KIT before it's needed. • Each theater has a varying degree of readiness for first aid. • You definitely need BAND AIDS, ACE BANDAGES, COLD PACKS and EYE WASH.

Emergency Card • Many schools require an emergency card for each cast and crew member, signed by their parents, that includes the student's name, family contact information, family doctor, insurance information, current medications, any known allergies or other medical conditions as well as the preferred medical facility to be contacted in case of an accident. • School law varies from state-to-state about dispensing medication to students. Check with your administration about what you can stock in your first aid kit and be sure to follow school procedure regarding injuries.

Things to Secure • Before you begin rehearsals there are certain items you will need to obtain, such as a ground plan and drawings, rehearsal costume pieces and rehearsal props.

Rehearsal Props • Rehearsal props are props that SUBSTITUTE for those that are actually used in performance. • Check your prop room for possible substitutes until the real props can be made, borrowed or rented.

Groundplan and Drawings • You will need to get a set of drawings from the technical director. • This set should include the GROUNDPLAN or FLOORPLAN. The groundplan is a scale drawing of what the set will look like from ABOVE. • It should include all of the FLATS, all of the PLATFORMS, and sometimes the FURNITURE PLACEMENT.

Ground Plan and Drawings • With your ground plan you will also get the WORKING DRAWINGS for the set. • These might include elevations, platform schedules, and prop drawings. Study these. • Get familiar with how the set is to work. You will need to become the expert on the set in the rehearsal hall.

Rehearsal Costume Pieces • Depending on the show you are doing, there may be some characters who need rehearsal costume pieces. These should not be replicas of the final costume, only the pieces that are necessary for the rehearsal. • Once you have made your rehearsal costume piece list, and it probably won't be very long, take the list to the costume shop manager and explain that you'll need these pieces for rehearsal.

Stage Management