A Stage Manager Prepares

Abstract

To continue my journey of developing my skills through the process of a production, I served as the production stage manager for SSU Theatre and Speech Department’s production of the musical Ragtime. Throughout this process, I worked with a management team, including a co-stage manager, to run rehearsals, generate the necessary paperwork to develop a stage manager’s prompt book and, come performance, call the show. To give myself an opportunity to respond to my individual process, I also kept a personal journal. Throughout the rehearsal process I maintained the journal with my thoughts from the week in response to the general notes taken for the production. This allows time for self-reflection, to focus in on how I need to improve as a stage manager day to day. Once the show has closed, I will use these journal entries to reflect on my process. This will be a chance to discuss what I think went well and what could be improved, both in my individual experience and in the process. Ideally, selections from this prompt book, as well as the subsequent journal entries, will be able to serve as an insight into the mind of a stage manager, a potential reference for future managers to use to guide their own process. The production process, and the subsequent skills I have learned, serve me far beyond their place in the theatre. I want to take all that I’ve learned and continue, finding a way to help both myself and others, in the only way I know how: through the process.