Putting It Together

 

Slowly the show is starting to take shape. We’ve staged the entire first act, and then did a stumble through. Unlike most past shows, where we blocked the show in sequence, for this show we jumped around scenes depending on characters. So it was cool to finally start to see the arch of the first act emerge, as we put all the pieces together. 

It was weird from a stage management perspective to be playing catch up. I had to miss two major rehearsals due to the United State Institute of Theatre Technology (USITT) conference, so the run through was the first time I was seeing some of the big group dance numbers. Three of the big dance numbers (Disco Inferno, Night Fever, You Should be Dancing) had internal cuts to the music, so it was a challenge to properly collate my prompt script, making sure the pages synched up to the action onstage. One page of music may only last about half a minute of stage time, so it’s easy to get behind fast when you are trying to write down the spacing of the actors, and you flip to the next page while the actors are actually two pages in front of you. I’ve found stage management relies heavily on an individual’s ability to adapt, and to roll with the punches. 

We’ve also started doing simultaneous rehearsals with staging in the Dance Studio and choreo review in the John Patrick Theatre. This resulted in a humorous crossover with the other show that BW is currently working on, Dark of the Moon. They are rehearsing in the Allman, which is the blackbox across the hall for the JPT. It’s a heavy show about the romance between John, a witch boy, and Barbera Allen, the town girl he falls in love with. In the second act he gets her pregnant, and she gives birth to a witch baby. The townsfolk view the child as demonic and in zealous ferver burn the baby. While they were rehearsing the witch baby burning scene, they could hear “Burn baby burn… disco inferno…” coming across the hall. I’ve been told they all froze in a silent “what the…f?” moment before continuing with the scene.Very humorous and yet very disturbing.

Thinking Inside the Box

            At Playhouse Square we will be performing in the Helen Lab Theatre. This is an intimate little black box, which can be set up in any multitude of configurations. For SNF, the audience will be on three sides creating a narrow thrust stage. The stage is an open dance floor, with a checkered design, with a three or four foot diameter mirror ball hanging above. All the furniture will be simplistic and on casters so it can easily roll in and roll out. Here is a photo of our groundplan: 

This week we started blocking rehearsals. We are rehearsing at BW in the Kleist Dance Studio, where I taped out the floor grid to scale. Since the stage is so narrow, it became clear that stage left and stage right might get confusion. Instead, I am going to be utilizing the grid and to block the show as if it were a chessboard. So I have the width numbered and the length lettered, creating a simple plot. Instead of saying “Tony crosses Center from SL” I’d say: “Tony crosses from A1 to E4” like it was wizarding chess from Harry Potter. It’s this creative thinking outside the box (or rather inside) that makes stage management fun.

As stage manager, one of my primary jobs is to record all the blocking for the show into the prompt book. This is to be used as a guide to look back upon, in case an actor needs to check where they enter from, or when they make a certain cross. In professional theatre, it is also the basis of teaching the show to new actors when they are replacements in a long running show. So it is paramount that blocking be as detailed and thorough as possible. The trick with early staging rehearsals is to know that it can and will change as the process goes on. That’s why you always write in pencil. I’ve actually started using erasable colored pencils and my primary tool. Along with writing the notation, I also have Groundplan on which I show the character’s movement’s with arrows. I assign each character a color and an abbreviation (Tony = Red To) to help keep things clear when I have a large crowd scene. Blocking can be difficult initially, because it’s more intuitive than stated when you should start recording things. Some directors immediately set where they want things to occur, while others simply have the actors jump up there and start trying things. I tend to always write everything, even if I know it’s going to change two minutes later, because it’s better to be safe than sorry.

What’s made these first few staging rehearsals difficult for me is the fact that I don’t have an ASM in the room. It was surprisingly difficult to find an ASM for SNF, and I didn’t get one sign on until about two weeks before the start of rehearsals. My ASM, Jessy, is currently running our yearly dance concert which goes up 3/19. So until then, I am flying solo in the rehearsal room. Since I am an experienced SM, it’s not that big of a deal to run rehearsal entirely by myself. But through doing so, it makes it clear why an ASM is needed and how such a division of labor is helpful. Another big job for stage management is being “on-book”, which is following along in the script with the actors, and being ready to prompt them if they forget their line. Being on-book demands intense concentration and focus. So it is extremely difficult to be writing down blocking and to be on book at the same time. I’ll be looking at where the actors are standing on stage, and  when suddenly they will call ‘line’ I have to instantly find where they are on the page and give the correct pick up. So I will be relieved when I do have an ASM who can focus on being on book, that way my attention is not divided.

First Week, New Script

Saturday Night Fever rehearsals have officially begun. Now that we have finished the first week, I have a much clearer sense as to what this show will be like. It’s going to be groovin’ swingin’ roller coaster from start to finish.

The week before rehearsals started Vicky and David Pepin (our music director) had an industry reading in New York City for the writers and producers. Using a cast of mostly BW grads, they work shopped the show further fine tuning and redefining the script and score. Vicky forwarded me the stage manager’s script from the workshop that had all of the changes penciled in. Large sections of text had slashes through them, existing lines had internal changes, and there was some material that was completely new. It was clear that the script I had was far from being the final version and changes are going to occur throughout.

Our first two rehearsals consisted entirely of music, with David teaching the songs to the cast. The first thing that struck me was how much I had missed being in rehearsal. I haven’t been in rehearsal since October when I was stage managing Romeo & Juliet. While I had initially been apprehensive about starting Saturday Night Fever (because it is a much more challenging show than R&J) I suddenly felt at ease. SMing a show is like riding a bike, once you know how to do it, it becomes second nature.

It’s often said that the job description of the stage manager is: “The SM is responsible for everything. Period.” And that is actually pretty accurate. For example, when Vicky told me that we probably wouldn’t get an updated copy of the script from the writers for two weeks, it instantly became my job to change that. As stage manager I need to make sure this process goes as smoothly as possible. So that means the actors need paper copies of the updated script as soon as possible. So I took the original pdf of the script I had (from November) and converted it to a word document. From there, I took the scan of the NYC script with all the penciled changes, and manually made all the revisions. This was Wednesday, and Sunday was our full read through. And since printing services closes on Friday, it became clear I had to complete this all that night so I could send the new version to be printed and copied the next morning. So I stayed up till 2:00 in the morning revising the script.

This example shows the legwork and dedication that is inherent to stage management. To me, being a good stage manager means always going above and beyond. I could have simply printed and copied the messy NYC version, but it could have led to confusion in the long run. It is better to put in the extra effort to make sure everything is clear and everyone is on the same page.

The Show

A little background information on the show. Saturday Night Fever (the musical) is based on the 1977 film of the same name starring John Travolta. A time capsule of the 70's, the story follows Tony Manero a young man who tries to forget the monotony of his life through dancing at the local disco.The stage musical premiered in London in 1998 and on Broadway in 2000. While not a downright flop it also wasn't a solid smash.

This new production between Baldwin Wallace and Playhouse Square is to serve as a tryout production for the future licensing of amateur productions and possibly a new national tour. The director Victoria Bussert (who last spring staged a hit production of the infamous Carrie) has been working with the writers as they make revisions to the show. Working on this production will be more like working on a new show, where the script and score are living documents that can continue to change, rather than scripture set in stone.

As a stage manager I've only worked on shows with existing scripts were you weren't allowed to make changes. It will be a new and challenging experience for me to work this different type of show. I'm excited for what I am sure is going to be a fun and fast paced process.

Hello!

This spring I will be Production Stage Manager for the new production of Saturday Night Fever co-produced by Baldwin Wallace University and Playhouse Square. This blog will chronicle my experience working on this show, as part of my senior capstone experience. So sit back and relax and get an inside glimpse into the musings and mind of an upcoming stage manager.

-Dayne