Final Report

As I look back over the past few weeks, I see many new concepts of stage management that I have picked up on, and hopefully can apply to the next show I stage manage. Some of the highlights of my learning experience include my shadowing experience and the book I read. The book, entitled Stage Management -A Guidebook of Practical Techniques by Lawrence Stern, was a great read. It covered everything imaginable on the topic of stage management. It even went as far as demonstrating how to create scene maps, different types of organizational charts, and cueing sheets. As a whole, this book really boosted my organizational skills in stage management by using descriptive and simple strategies. The next aspect of my blog that was most interesting was my live interaction. I thoroughly enjoyed shadowing Thoroughly Modern Millie at Samford University. Rachel Chittum was the stage manager, and I gained immeasurable knowledge due to the fact that she used techniques that are above my level, one's that I hope to use one day. Overall, my experience shadowing Rachel was great, not to mention I scored some pretty awesome contacts!
Through researching for this project, I have gained more knowledge than I ever thought was possible. I learned that there is a new way, and an old way to stage manage; Hewitt is apparently stuck in the dark ages. The new way uses national databases to store stage manager's scripts, while the old way involves photocopying individual pages from the original script. I also learned that organization is a key factor for any stage manager. Without organization, a show cannot go on, because the cast and crew is at the mercy of the stage manager's cues. All in all, I believe that this project provided me the materials needed to succeed and become a successful stage manager.
If I were to go back and do this project over again, I would not do anything different. I gained so much knowledge from this learning experience that I do not believe that any aspect could be improved. My final opinion of the topic is that stage manger's should find what their personal preference of cueing is, and then approach it with nothing else but old fashioned organization. I believe that if a show is organized, being that everyone knows what is going on, the show can be none other than a success. I believe this because the "common denominator" for all my postings was organization. Take for instance my book length critique, the book was strictly written around the principle of organization and its importance. As a whole, I believe all techniques to stage management serve their purpose, but the success of the show lies on top of whether the stage manager is organized.

Live Interaction

This past Friday night, I went to Samford University's production of Thoroughly Modern Millie. There, I shadowed their stage manager during the opening performance. The first thing we did when I got there was check to make sure all props and set pieces were in the correct place for the top of the show. After we finished a general tour of the theatre, it was time to do a lengthy mic check which took approximately 25 minutes. At this point, we were about 45 minutes until the places call. We made a quick run up to the booth, where the stage manager called the cues, to make sure everything was in perfect running order. After we checked the booth, we hung out backstage, talking and meeting everyone on the tech crew, and occasionally calling the 30, 15, 10, and 5 minute calls. At this point, we headed up to the booth, where the stage manager and I put on out headset and started cueing the show. Throughout the performance, many mics malfunctioned, a problem an experienced stage manager knows all too well. Besides having to call standby cues and the "go" cues, the stage manager had to constantly troubleshoot mic problem with the sound board engineer. After the performance, we made our way backstage to shift the set to the opening positions.
All in all, my experience shadowing the stage manager of Thoroughly Modern Millie was very educational. I experienced a totally new technique of stage managing that I had previously only read about in stage management books. I also liked the attitude that everyone in the cast and on the crew had towards the stage manager. Everyone seemed to respect and value the stage managers knowledge of the show, something that our theatre hasn't seen in a while at the high school level. As a whole, my experience shadowing Thoroughly Modern Millie was exceptionally valuable, not to mention, the tips I picked up on will help me call the same show next year when we perform it at the high school level!