Notes From The Stage Manager - Twas a rough night.

Readers!!! Did you miss us? I bet you did. As you know, Yorick is in hell week number two as we OPEN for our SECOND WEEKEND!! FRIDAY AND SATURDAY!! 7:30 P.M.!!!! Tall Trees Amphitheater!!! Monroeville Community Park West!!!! BE THERE!!!

Now that my shameless plug is complete (this is a Macbeth/Yorick blog after all), I wanted to share with you a bit of a hysterical adventure the production team and a few dedicated actors had last week at the final dress rehearsal......

It was a calm, humid beginning to the tech set up. We believe in task lists for efficiency and spreading out the responsibility load, so all were at their assigned posts. I got there a bit early to get the light and sound board up so when my amazing ASM Rachel got there, we could plug things in, get a sound check, work with the wireless mic, play with sound effects and be on our merry way. Mother Nature, however, had another destiny for us. Let me just say this.....'Tempest' has nothing on Yorick. NOT. A. THING.

Before we knew it we saw it.....the cloud. The Deathstar of all thunderclouds. About two seconds later.....Gale force winds, slanting thick buckets of rain, thunder that could wake the dead and lightning streaking across the sky in all directions. Go Production Team!! We have a Director, Producer, Stage Manager and Asst. Stage Manager hanging for dear life onto the corners of the tent, ironically meant to protect things from rain.....As I scream for help I get Lennox and Macduff son charging up the hill to come to our aid. Valiant cousins! Worthy gentlemen!

We are just hanging out, getting drenched, holding onto things, using our bodies as warlike shields as Mother Nature rages on for about 20 minutes. We gather our goods to transport back and forth, back and forth. My script? IT SURVIVED!! As did all the cues. For the win.

We finally all make it down to the amphitheater, soaked to the bone, ringing out clothing, watching the newly formed rivers barrel down the pathway. Did this stop us? Ha! In your witch filled dreams. We dried off as best we could, and on with final dress. I would also like to point out we only started five minutes late. I really do not know how much more amazing we can get.

What was it like with lightning aversion therapy and hanging on for dear life? Kristin, please insert water-logged picture here:

note from Kristin: Yeah, it kind of looked like Atlantis. But with less fish and more downed trees.

So there is no curse....right????

Notes From The Stage Manager

Hello Readers :) It is I, April, stage manager extraordinaire. Kristin and I thought it would also be fun to get you the inside scoop on more members of the production team for Macbeth. In this case, as stage manager, I get to talk about stage manager things. What would I like to talk about today? The best friend, confidant, colleague and first mate of the stage manager: The Kit.


All of you well seasoned stage managers know well the awesome power of The Kit. Me? It was a brand new concept for me, as this is my first time stage managing ever. Do not fear, my natural organizational skill/crazy minute attention to detail makes me a prime candidate for this position. I love post it notes, they love me, the world is a brighter place.

What is in this Kit? Pretty much anything you could possibly think of randomly needing throughout a show run. I have got paperclips, highlighters, matches, sunblock (yay outdoor theater!), flashlight, gadget knife/corkscrew magical thing, stopwatch, first aid kit, 'other needs' kit, tape, pencils, pencil sharpeners, a rain poncho........I have to do a shout out to post-it notes, because they are my favorite part of the Kit.

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I have noticed throughout my work with the show thus far, the usual things of use from the Kit are pencils, pens and highlighters. I expect the other bits like safety pins and makeup remover wipes to happen later in the run. Some actors might not even need the Kit at all. What is nice though, that in that time of crisis when the leading lady needs a bobby pin, or the king needs a make up remover napkin to wipe the sweat off of his severed head, I will have reprieve for them.

The Kit is not difficult to maintain either. I plan to take an inventory at the end of the run to see what I need to replace/replenish. I am also sure to think of a few brand new things that can be added for future shows to come. Sunblock was the first new item that I added at the beginning.

All fun aside, there have been two online websites that helped me tremendously with preparing myself to be stage manager (thank you Josh!). Keeping in mind community theater and equity are two different worlds, I still found these very helpful in knowing what to expect and what was expected of me. Theatrecrafts has some great resources available for all there is to know regarding stage management and Upstage Review has a good bank of task lists, checklists and reports available for download!

For all of you novice stage managers out there, this is all really good stuff. For you veterans, maybe it is a good refresher course. Either way, this Kit concept is pretty much the coolest thing ever. Also, do not blame me for munching on those mentos in the Kit....stage managers need icy cool breath to, ya know.

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