For my ethnographic study of the Theatre District, I have found that my favorite people to talk to are backstage personnel. People that actually run Broadway shows, have an insight into theatre, performance, and life around the Theatre District that most people do not. Crew members, stage managers, audio engineers, automation engineers, carpenters, electricians… the list goes on forever, but these are the people who see a completely different side of Broadway 8 times a week; so I find their stories, their insights, to be the most interesting ones of all.
Outside the Broadway Theatre, the current home of SISTER ACT: THE MUSICAL.
In my time here so far, I have been fortunate enough to have the chance to talk with many backstage crew members, but my favorite experience so far was the opportunity I had to shadow the stage management team at Sister Act: The Musical. I wrote a letter to the production stage manager, asking if he allowed aspiring stage managers to shadow his team during a performance, which basically means I would come in, watch them do their pre-show duties, observe from right backstage the process of calling and running the show, and then conclude by seeing all of their post-show responsibilities. The experience was incredible. It is quite rare to be able to (as an outsider) see a Broadway musical from that perspective, and I am very grateful to the Sister Act management team for allowing me to be their special guest for one performance. I learned so much by just observing them at work, but I also took the opportunity to talk to each of them a little bit about what exactly their job entails, and about stage management in general. I was actually able to uncover some really interesting facts about stage managing, and a few fun stories about dealing with a company of performers and mishaps that sometimes happen during live performance.
I want to take a moment here to pause and examine why telling stories and passing along information in our industry is so important. I think it is because the stories are all we have. These experiences, these memories are all that is going to stay with us. As with all aspects of theatre, you do it, it is crazy, it is fun. But during the production, all you are doing is work. It takes time afterwards to realize what you had and to see what you have learned. You almost have to take a step back to really understand what you are doing and what you have done. And how it changed you. These stories are wonderful, but I cannot even begin to express in words all of the things that I learned and felt and attempted during the process of it all. I just know that I am doing what I love so much, and feeling this way about it all makes the work completely worth it to me.
Speaking with, and watching in action, a real Broadway management team inspired me to do a little bit of historical research on the craft of stage management, as I realized that I actually did not know that much about its history and figured that most other people don’t either. I did a bit of reading, visited a few websites, and combined that new knowledge with some of the things that I learned from the stage managers at Sister Act. It turns out that prior to the seventeenth century, it was the responsibility of the playwright and the actors to run rehearsals, handle finances, decide blocking, and all-around stage theatrical productions. Then, when the works of Shakespeare and Moliere began emerging, it was the “Director” who took on the bulk of those responsibilities. Early directors were brought on as “actor-managers”, but would also be responsible for overseeing the erecting of a stage and any scenery, casting and directing the actors, and addressing the audience at the top of the show. This person was often a senior actor in a troupe who chose the repertoire and managed the company. This was especially true with the form of “Commedia Dell’Arte”. It was not until the eighteenth century in England that the term “stage manager” was used. When live theatre became more complicated, i.e. began including scenery that was mechanized, required lightning fast costume changes, and utilized controlled lighting cues, the “director’s” job was split into two: what we know today as the director and the stage manager.
In modern theatre, the stage manager has a whole host of responsibilities, possibly reaching up to, and dare I say surpassing, the amount of work that is required of a good director. Basically the stage manager is the person who has to make the entire production run smoothly, from behind the scenes, to center stage, and through all phases of rehearsal and production. If you need something to happen at any time during the process of putting on a show, it is usually the stage manager that can make it happen. A stage manager’s duties for different types of performance, for example, a comedy performed in a theatre in the round vs. a traveling pantomime troupe, might be totally different from one another. But the function of the stage manager does not change. The stage manager is always the individual who accepts responsibility. I should also point out a couple of characteristic traits necessary for good management skills. Being highly organized and feeling comfortable in a position of leadership are both key. The stage manager must be able to influence the staff, cast, and crew. He or she must be a take-charge type and a self-starter and must be the kind of person who has the capacity to accept responsibility.
Some of the important (and more specific) duties required of a stage manager are to acquire the script or libretto of any show that he or she is managing and analyze it carefully, looking for things like: how many, and exactly which, actors are in each scene, what props might need to be acquired by the props master, possible complicated scenery changes or lighting cues, and many other things. Then, to start off the rehearsal process, the stage manager is responsible for making a schedule for the production. Rehearsals for blocking, choreography, and music (if there is any), are just the beginning of the scheduling process. Acquiring the rehearsal space and securing a time that the company can move into the actual performance space are also duties of the stage manager. During a typical rehearsal, the stage manager will make sure that all actors are present, on time, kept quiet, and have their needs met. He or she will also notate any blocking that is given, and keep track of any requests made by the director. He or she will always know the medical and emergency information of the members in the company and on crew, and will always have a first aid kit ready, as well as information regarding safety for fire or other hazards.
This is all just during the rehearsal processes. Most of these things are continued into performance, but there are other duties that become necessary once a company moves into their theatre. The stage manager must know the space better than anyone else, and be prepared to facilitate questions. He or she must always be one step ahead of everyone else, and fully prepared at all times for any possible incident to occur. Once the tech process begins, the stage manager becomes responsible for learning the lighting, sound, and fly cues so that the design elements can be added into the show seamlessly. He or she must know exactly when a cue needs to be called for the appropriate action to happen, and how to recognize if there is a safety concern. For example, sometimes actors do not move out of the way of a piece of scenery fast enough, and the stage manager might have to hold the cue or stop the moving scenery in order to keep the cast safe. This actually happened at Sister Act one night. The stage has a giant turntable built into it, so actors must be extra careful in watching for moving scenery if they are riding the table while in motion. Luckily, no one was injured, but the turntable had to stop halfway around itself so that a certain fly could make it in safely and not collide with any performers. The stage managers literally saved the day because they were paying such close attention to everything that was happening on stage, and they knew that an accident was eminent, so they calmly proceeded with preventative measures. In fact, the audience probably did not even pick up on the fact that anything was different.
So, how does all of this history… this story, contribute to my knowledge about the Theatre District? Well, because stage management is my area of interest, and because stage managers have been changing the face of theatre and Broadway for hundreds of years now, learning about their history broadened my horizon of knowledge about theatre in general, and helped me to gain a deeper understanding of the collaborative nature of the art form that I love. The theatre District, Broadway, is all about the magic that people create when they work together to form a show, and seeing things from a different angle, from the backstage side, from behind the emerald curtain… really brought me closer to feeling that I understand what it is to be a part of the magic. A part of this incredible neighborhood of New York where artists come together to put magic on stage for millions to behold 8 times a week.
This picture, and the one above, are examples of two different stage manager consoles, located just offstage.
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