pre-production

meetings w/ team
auditions
read script
conflicts
sched/cal
tool kit

rehearsal
blocking
communicate needs
scheduling
maintain breaks
reports

tech
call sheet
notes
cueing
props presets
scene shifts
costume change plot

previews
foh coord
timing/calling
extra rehearsal
fight/int/lift calls

performances
running/maintaining
understudies
Hierarchy
Production SM (mostly for bigger productions)
Stage Manager(s) (multiple if big production)
Assistant SM(s) (typically one on a play, two on a musical, might have up to 3 for
large chaotic productions) (in charge of Everything backstage)
Production Assistant (could do anything an ASM does, just depends on where
hands are needed)
Interns

Need SM and ASM as a minimum on any AEA contract

Production Manager
- budgets
- hiring (sm) - your direct supervisor
- designers (sometimes), crew (aja)
- scheduling
- setup auditions
- book the space
- copyright information
- hypothetically does everything if your company is teeny tiny

Technical Director
- shops (scenic, costumes, props)
- designers
- safety

Company Manager
- marketing
- hospitality
- housing
- company referring to actor people company not business company
- transportation
- luggage
- box office/foh
- payroll/contracts

General Manager
- hiring (creative team)
- budgets
- scripts (securing/costs)
- operations (venue, electricity, security, etc)
call board items
- daily sign-in
- updates to schedule + added rehearsals
- show schedule
- emergency contact info (+ production team)
- equity rules
- general notes (changes list, set your clocks back, memorization, clothing,
etc)
- rehearsal itinerary
- name of production
- dramaturgy resources
- safety policies
- mental/physical resources
- anonymous comment box?
- fun aspects: dumb holiday of the day, specific tactile element related to
production, quote of the day, etc

- no private info of actors/techs

- no show notes/rehearsal reports
- no confidential complaints
- overly negative notes
- no unnecessary info: production meetings, etc
document stuff
- font
- format
- focus
- color
- titles
- orientation
- accessibility
- size
- spacing
- audience
- continuity
- shading

pre-production
- read the script
- challenges/concerns
- research
- history
- show
- venue/space info
- sm team - assemble
- contact info
- distribution list
- meetings/intel
- director
- producer
- paperwork templates
- rehearsal schedule
- production calendar
- cover sheet
- script (printing?)
- reports template
- prompt book/blocking
- props list (asm)
- costume change sheet (asm)
- character/scene breakdown
- script breakdown

“how many fire hazards should i expect?” “seven.”

production calendar
- production/creative team
- production meetings
- design meetings
- design/production deadlines
- designer runs
- tech/dress
- previews/opening

rehearsal calendar
- cast
- sm team
- creative team
- off book
- weekly rehearsal blocks
- fittings (esp groups or before rehearsal starts)
- tech/dress
- publicity
- designer runs
- performance run

props list
- what props needed
- tracking
- quantity
- source
- consumable
- character(s)
- notes
- rehearsal/actual version
- organize by props or scene

contact sheet
- contact/communicate
- name
- phone number
- email
- role
- pronouns
- equity
prompt book
- single sided
- script could change, blocking could change- need it on separate
pages so you can replace easier
- cut corners so you grab the next blocking page instead of a blank
page when you flip
- when things are really solidified, tape stuff together
- increase margins
- photocopying (run two copies so you have a clean one)
- digital scans
- re-type it
- put page breaks at ends of pages so if you add lines, it creates
a whole new page in between

- lines
- blocking box/diagrams
- page number
- show title
- notes section

rehearsals
- reh schedule
- daily/weekly
- run the room
- pacing
- tracking time
- run times
- breaks
- communication
- tech reports
- call board (notes + schedule)
- fittings
- schedule needs (spacing, sitzprobe)
- note taking
- props
- blocking
- attendance
- scene changes
- costume tracking
- lighting changes
- sound cues
- script changes
- safety
- injury reports
- trainings
- covid protocols
first day
- meet n greet
- team introductions
- design presentations
- protocols/rules/expectations
- read-through/script handout
- cast deputy voting

table work
- familiarity with the script
- overall theme/vision
- getting on the same page
- why this play now?
- character development
- superobjectives
- plot points
- questions?

blocking/staging
- traffic/movement
- blocking notes!
- props tracking/how used
- costume tracking
- entrance/exit plot

“ignore the title at your own peril”

intimacy coordination is not to make the room a safe space- you cannot make a
room a completely safe space for everyone and that’s okay

fries - consent
freely given
reversible
informed
enthusiastic
specific

intimacy is any time we are leveraging an actor’s personal experiences or identity

two big tools

- self-care cue word (button/hands up)
- what do you need- let them decide
- you decide how best to move forward
- boundary practice
there is a difference between a boundary and being uncomfortable
theatre IS uncomfortable and it always will be

never do intimacy alone with actors

also never do difficult conversations alone
you want a witness in the room

never video intimacy choreo

note level of touch

- skin level
- muscle level
- bone level

take sexualization out of your wording

“make eye contact with her lower back” rather than “stare at her butt”

keep track of counts

tempo is huge
treat it like choreography
don’t confuse reality one and reality two

prod meetings
- require a conversation
- if it can be an email, make it an email
- multi-department elements
- big ticket items/reminders
- budget
- schedules
- pressing decisions/answers

tech
- adjustments for actors (reh -> theatre)
- groundplan- taped out -> actual set
- safety walkthrough
- props
- costumes
- volume/mics
- time/schedule
- lights
- adjust blocking
- glow tape
- plan out backstage
- everything needs a place
- prop tables
- costume storage
 - set pieces
- where do actors stand
- cue lights + running lights
- sm positions
- revise paperwork for tech elements
- physical elements
- train crew
- cues
- preshow/setup
- write cues in prompt script/learn to call the show
- buttons -> sq, lx, proj, auto
- scene shifts
- people -> cue lights
- rail cues -> curtains, anything that flies
- delegate to asms
- you’re in the sky!! can’t move that chair anymore!
- manage the needs of Everybody
- communicating to whoever needs to know whatever

tech rehearsals
- dry tech
- cue to cue
- tech rehearsal
- quick change rehearsal
- dress rehearsal
- invited dress rehearsal
- sitzprobe
- wandelprobe
- spacing rehearsal

stevie used to teach a voice/speech class for stage managers/directors

go over body, breath, and phonation
- craning your neck, etc. can hurt your voice- check your posture
- do not practice breathwork right before a show. you will cry
- practice in a safe, calm space
- phonation is the actual vocal cord vibration
- drink water thumbs up
- regular vibration + breathiness + vocal fry
- pick your safe spaces- you don’t need to work at this vulnerability and
openness in a space where you need your protective barriers up
- keep your different hats in mind- different spaces require different hats

- let go of the jaw- give the sound space to come out

- singing exercises with breathing through a straw- watch class recording
(nov 18)
giving actor notes
- you could end up giving director notes
- keep it technical
- gives changes based on venue
- make sure to state the “why”
- respect the actor
- private notes
- timing - end of the night
- brief/to the point
- know when you need backup
- fights, intimacy, actors who are minors, music director,
choreographer, anything high drama
- don’t let things turn into he said-she said

ask open-ended questions instead of yes or no

“how are you feeling?” instead of “you good?”

introductions
- name
- job/title/studying
- area of specialty/why you are studying what you are studying
- why you are here
- objective/goal for being here

who i am -> where i came from -> where we are going