#actblr

Hi Anon,

Below is a response I did to a similar question.

Communication, communication, communication!!!!!!

Meet with your SM BEFORE the 1st production meeting, auditions and rehearsal.

Ask them how they like Production meetings run

Inform them how you want auditions run:

(ex: I want one actor at a time for a ten minute slot)

Are walk ins welcome? Is it sign up only? Is it only open to members of your school?

How you like rehearsals run?

Do you want a time check every 30 minutes? or do you want a sharp cut off to move on to working another scene?

Tips on how not to piss off a Stage Manager:

Don’t get a power trip. Respect is a two way street.

I have seen many first time directors have the power of controlling their show go straight to their head. You can get the vision you want without being rude.

DON’T call them out in front of actors or crew if you see something they are doing you wan’t done otherwise.

(Ex: Pull them aside to tell them you would like them to wait until after notes to find actors to sign up for costume fittings. Don’t yell to the SM across the theatre: “Don’t talk to the actors right now.”)

They are not your personal assistant:

An SM is not there to bring you coffee or run to your car to grab a book. We have so much on our plate already, so unless we offer, don’t ask us to do personal errands for you.

Respect their time:

A lot of theatre’s don’t let the SM leave until EVERYONE has left. (So if you are having a talk with an actor about cupcakes, perhaps talk outside the theatre.)

If the Stage Manager sends an E-mail or text message, respond to it as soon as humanly possible.

If you want to schedule a special out of rehearsal meeting, ask the SM if they are available first before sending an E-mail out to all the actors.

Remember for about every hour you spend at rehearsal the Stage Manager spends an hour of that outside of rehearsal working on the show.

Show up to rehearsal’s on time, use breaks wisely.

We are human beings too:

We need breaks too, so don’t expect us to reset the entire stage during a break.

Understand the sacrifices we make to be at rehearsal every night.

Listen to our concerns and knowledge.

Don’t be a know it all:

If you have never worked on lights, sound, sets, costume extensively, perhaps trust your SM’s instincts and experience’s with something.

(Ex: I once had a director try to convince me that it was possible to wet down a dance floor and NOT have it be a slip hazard for actors.)

Don’t be afraid to ask a tech related question

(Ex: Do you think we could have a light reach this far back stage?)

Tech Week:

Meet with you SM before tech week to ask them how they like things run

This is where your SM gets to fully drive the bus. You get a say in what streets to turn down but let your SM do their job.

Don’t spend 10 minutes looking at a light cue, if you like it move on, if you want something adjusted, speak up.

Stay out of the way of crew.

Don’t go back stage to talk to crew and ask them to fix things, they listen to the SM. If you want something fixed tell the SM.

Only hold a dress rehearsal if something is WAY off. Not like a cue 2 seconds late, that’s what notes are for.

Run of show:

Don’t hover.

Trust your SM.

Don’t go into the booth during the show (this includes intermission).

Let the SM handle the show

I can promise you there is a 95% chance the SM knows if a cue is late or early.

However, that doesn’t mean you can’t be around.

The last show I worked, I had the director want to lead warm ups every night. She showed up, lead warm ups, maybe gave me a note or two, then left or sat quietly in the house to watch the show. Worked great because she stayed out of everyone’s way.

Actors:

Most of what is above that doesn’t apply straight to stage management.

Respect their nerves

Respect their trying

They are people too

There is a very fine line of being a hard ass and being too nice.

Sometimes it’s better to be a hard ass in my opinion. I am a very blunt person, the very first rehearsal I tell actors that so they don’t get offended. I am straight forward and to the point and not a lot of actors like that. I have a lot of actors who prefer to work shows with me because I can be a bit of a hard ass but I “get things done and keep things moving”. However, I am well past the age where I care what people think about me (except close family and friends of course)

Sometimes people get mad at you for petty things and there is nothing wrong with that. I once had an actor get mad at me because I wouldn’t let her leave strike because she wasn’t wearing closed toed shoes. She is still salty about that.

If things get sticky or out of hand, consult someone above you who can help sort things out or act as a mediator.

Just respect everyone and try to go into things with an open mind and you should be fine.

Best of luck!

it’s finally happened, you’ve hit rock bottom. your worst fear has come true

the decision is out: “we regret to inform you” and everything else is a blur. your world: shattered. ever know what it feels like to have your world shattered?

breathing? gone. sense of awareness? gone. one full, fledged, panic state. evething you have ever thought of, every single ounce of hope pent up in the last 6 months are useless. it ends here. what you thought were your dreams, ended here. your cheeks turn red, your feet turn cold, you can’t hear anything around you. the people there for you are trying to say things, are trying to hug you, all you see is gray pain. just... pain.

you question if you’re good enough for anything you want in this life. leaving your fate in the hands of the more powerful while you sit there for months drowning in what seems to be your optimism. i’m sorry, it’s the only thing that gets me to sleep at night, the only thing that keeps me grounded. cover your face and duck down because the uncertainty of getting accepted is too great.

there aren’t enough stories about anxiety and persevering, there aren’t enough “my family has been in poverties”, there aren’t enough “i couldn’t afford an SAT tutors” “here’s why i got this grade please reconsiders” there aren’t enough sad stories to tack onto your back for everyone to see to at least get deferred? God forbid accepted? at the end of the day you wonder if anyone knows or wonders you’re good enough? how is the institution you’ve been pouring your heart into for the past 4 years telling you you’re not good enough for them and you’re still supposed to think you’re good enough for yourself?

i’m not sure if you’ve ever felt this kind of pain before but i just know one day it’s all going to subside. pain doesn’t go away: it numbs overtime but the question is how long do i have to wait until it does?

one day we’re gonna be okay. one day we’ll go to college in the fall and realize “maybe i belong here instead” you’re not going to have the biggest name brand of the century, you’re not going to have internships pouring at your door, your school will not be on the news, people will not be asking you for future connections from all kinds of countries, maybe your school doesn’t have as many resources, maybe the president’s kid didn’t go to your school, maybe your teacher doesn’t have a ph.d, maybe your school isn’t ranked top 5!! MAYBE it doesn’t matter? life is only miserable when you ignore every other factor besides the unrealistic expectations you’ve set for yourself.

maybe you have to work harder for what you want in life: and i’m talking big picture. maybe life turned out that way because life knew you could handle it.

you’re gonna be okay. i can’t promise you’ll be great, i can’t promise it’ll be easy. but you’ve made it this far and that means you can keep going, one step at a time ✨

2.14.18 [3%] I wasn’t going to post another picture of my script so soon but I had candy hearts at rehearsal and I thought it would be fitting for Valentine’s Day 💕 and because I’m literally always rehearsing

Today I:

- Took my Bio test -- I think it went okay, but it was difficult so i’m nervous /:

- Learned a new topic in calc -- I don’t understand it much now, but it’s okay because I’ll practice!

- Ate heart-shaped donuts with my friend/valentine -- it’s important to have fun too, not just work 24/7 (personal reminder)

- Went to rehearsal, obviously

- Practiced a bit for my audition (:

Hello! My name is Natasha and I am in my eleventh year. I’m from Argentina. I made this sideblog a couple of days ago and I always keep it active! I hope to study Acting in college. I will be posting about:

Acting

Theatre

Specially my own posts will be about excesises to do at home to become a better performer, but I’ll post one per day.

Greek (I am also fluent in english and a native spanish speaker)

Note-taking

Every study-masterpost to cross my dash

I am not likely to reblog or post much about studyspo, but I will be doing the 100 days of productivity challenge and maybe start a bujo!

So far, the most inspiring and helpful studyblrs (a.k.a my favourites) have been:

@reinedutheatre @allydsgn @studyblr @studywitheva @polyglottraveler @damastudies @elkstudies

1. One of my favorite tips is from Samuel Jackson. He’ll read the entire script a dozen times over before getting on set, which helps him both learn his lines and learn his cues. 

2. What I do is I write out my lines over and over until I don’t have to think anymore, and the words come naturally. 

3. I sing my lines a few times. Putting a script to the beat of one of your favorite songs helps both for memorization, and for not getting used to reading your lines in a set way (I mean, unless you think you’ll go on set and say your lines to the beat of “Staying Alive” bahaha)