Week 2

Monday 12
Auditions began! I was so nervous to begin the audition process. I didn't know what to expect at all. I went a half hour early to talk with the director about what all he needed to have done before we started. I had to make a sign to say that our auditions were in the Lab Theatre instead of on the Mainstage because the other play was rehearsing in there. I also wrote down all the people signed up on the list so I had an idea of how many to expect while in the audition. Oh, I was also excited to sit in on the audition process to see how the director decided on things and ran his auditions. We brought in 4 people at a time (if there was a full group). We didn't have a full night and got done a few hours early. Which was nice.

Tuesday 13
Day two of the auditions! This was a hectic night because we had people in every time slot. We also got more men this night. We hadn't had very many show up the night before so having them the second night was relieving. It went the same way as the night before as far as the set up. After the auditions were over the directer and I had to put the call back list together. That was a complicated process, but we managed to get the list sent out via email before midnight.

Wednesday 14
Callbacks! Now I thought Tuesday was a hectic night, but I was wrong! Callbacks were crazy. I tried to keep us on time as much as I could, but I think when we were making the callback time slots we should have made them bigger than what we had. I had to keep track of all the piles of audition forms. I had paper clipped together groups for the director and then handed the ones he was going to see to him. I would usually sort the piles he handed back into seeing later or cast pile. I'm glad that I had sorted the audition forms before I came as well. That helped me out alot when we were bringing in groups quickly to try to make up time. I felt bad that we were behind but the people auditioning didn't seem too upset about it, or as far as I knew. I definitely made sure to thank them for their patience. After we finished with all of them we had to decide on a cast. It was a difficult process, but we managed to get done right before midnight once again.

Thursday 15
Our first read-through! I made it my goal before the read-through to form a contact list so I could have them check over the information. I made the mistake of leaving the lead role off the list because she was already cast and felt pretty foolish about that, but I doubt she'll feel animosity towards me for it. We met for the first time as a cast. Had introductions and then read the play together. I think everyone is excited to work on it and that makes me even more excited. Knowing people are looking forward to it as well makes me think this is going to be a enjoyable process. I am worried about finding a juggler for the show, though. We need an excellent juggler but no one seems to know how. I hope we find one soon, it'll be one less thing to worry about. Now for a week off from the show while the director and some of the cast runs off to KCACTF competition.

Day 3

I bought a 'tool kit'. I didn't exactly buy a tool box because all that I looked at were clunky and unappealing to me. I figured if I was going to try a new technique I should at least bend the idea to fit me as a person. So I found a really cool bag with a ton of pockets to use instead. It is actually originally a bag for crafts and such, but I thought it would work great for what I needed. Now I'll start gathering supplies for my bag of everything. (I need a nickname for my bag I think.)

With this new development I'm looking forward to the production even more. Hopefully this new bag o' supplies idea will really work for me and help me out greatly once I start working with people. I think people are really excited about the show and that keeps my excitement up as well. Can't wait for auditions on Mon/Tues!

Day 2

Today I had a meeting with the director. Discussed what will happen for auditions on Monday and Tuesday of next week, then callbacks on Wednesday. I'll have to keep track of who comes and goes during the auditions. Also I get to sit in on the auditions as well, so that should be really interesting. It'll be neat to see how another director(I have directed before as well) chooses people for their cast. I won't be able to go too much into detail about the auditions though because what happens in the audition stays in the audition.

I also need to create a couple templates for different things I need to keep track of. The production reports, and contact sheets for both production staff and actors. It's a lot of people to keep track of.

I got a very unique idea from the director as well. He suggested a toolbox of sorts as a stage manager. He said the best ones he has worked with had toolbox with anything and everything in it, ready to fix or do anything. I'm intrigued by that idea but I don't' exactly have a toolbox lying around. I might look into a small one. We shall see, but I can definitely see the benefits of it.

Next meeting I have is Monday in the morning just in case the director needs anything else done before the auditions. Then I have another one Tuesday for the production staff meeting together. It's pretty exciting now that the ball is rolling!

Oh one more thing. The one challenge I'm going to have to overcome in this process is the fear of asking questions. I usually just keep my mouth shut if I'm afraid of sounding silly or stupid, but now if it is at all unclear I need to ask to make sure I have the correct information. I'm doing good so far but I've caught myself a couple times already in this first meeting trying to hold back questions. Good thing I'm aware of this now and don't discover it half way through.

First of many

I've made this blog partly because I'm supposed to keep a journal for my senior thesis project this semester, and because I think this would be a good way to keep it someplace I won't necessarily lose it.

I'm going to be stage managing the play The Madwoman of Chaillot by Jean Giraudoux. I'm really looking forward to it. From the moment I first was given my copy by the director I felt a sense of excitement because I'm going to venturing into a world I unknown. I have been an assistant stage manager before, but never the big one in charge; a stage manager. Plus, the play is a really interesting piece.

My first job as a stage manager was to create my prompt book for myself and the director. He had a very specific format he wanted it in that caused me to come up with an interesting tactic to do it. He wanted the script page in the middle of a regular sized page and with lots of space all around it. I traced the size of the script and cut out out of the middle of a regular sized paper, and then I taped that down to the scanner and placed the pages in that hole to get it to end up satisfactory(or so I hope). This is probably really boring information, but it was part of my creative process to complete my task at hand. I managed to scan all 63 pages in a couple hours. Long process but got the prompt book to my director within 24 hours of receiving my script.

I haven't had to do anything stage management related since last semester when I received my script, but now it'll be full swing. I would've gone to a production meeting last semester before our christmas break but I couldn't make it due to class. Tomorrow I have a meeting with the director because we have to start getting audition information out because auditions are next week. It snuck up on us both. (I have already been shameless promoting in basically everything I do. I'm pretty sure I told everyone in the musical I was part of last semester to try out.) I'm excited to see what this audition process will be like from this angle. I've auditioned for the director before, but I'm sure this will have completely different feel to it.

Well, I won't go on and on anymore. I'll try to keep postings in this everytime I do something stage management related. That's a hefty deal to make, but it's a part of a grade for me so it is important.