Stage Manager: The Professional Experience–Refreshed takes the reader on a journey through all aspects of the craft of stage management in theatre, including the technological advancements that have come to theatre and the stage manger’s job. Chapters are laid out to reflect the order in which stage managers experience and perform their work: what makes a good stage manager, seeking the job, building a resume, interviewing for the job, and getting the job (or not getting the job). Included are chapters on the chain of command, working relationships, tool and supplies, creating charts, plots, plans and lists, the rehearsal period, creating the prompt book, calling cues, and the run of the show. These are just some of the many topics covered in this book. In addition, the author uses interviews with stage management professionals in various stages of production, providing another view of how the stage manager is perceived and what is expected form the work of the stage manager. Fifteen years after the original publication of Stage Manager: The Professional Experience, this new and refreshed edition is now in color to help clarify and illustrate points in the text. It is fully updated to reflect the the world of computerized technology: smart phones, thinly designed laptops, tablets, use of email and text messaging, storing and sharing files and information in cloud-based apps. Then there are the innovations of automation–electronically moving scenery, scenic projections–casting images and patterns on the stage; moving lights; LED luminaires; lasers; and greater use of fog and haze machines. In addition, the extensive glossary of more than 600 terms and phrases had been extend to well over 700, providing and excellent professional vocabulary for anyone hoping to be a theatre stage manager or already working in the field.
Table of Contents
1. INTRODUCTION
2. THE ANATOMY OF A GOOD SM
3. The SM’s CHAIN OF COMMAND LIST – Profiles and Working Relationships
4. STAGE MANAGER FOR HIRE: Seeking Work, Getting the Job, Being Hired Again and Again
5. THE ELECTRONIC SM - Tools, Supplies, and Equipment
6. HARD COPY – Transitioning Into Electronic Files: Charts, Plots, Plans, Lists, Schedules, Signs, and Reports
7. PRPOFILES and WORKING RELATIONSHIPS
8. RUNNING EQUITY AUDITIONS
9. THE SM’s Pre-PRODUCITON TIME
10. REHEARSALS
11. THE REHEARSAL/BLOCKING SCRIPT
12. THE LAST DAYS of REHEARSALS
13. The CUE/CALLING/PROMPT SCRIPT
14. Moving Lights, Light Emitting Diodes, Lasers, Haze Makers, Scenic Projections,
and Automated Scenery
15. TECHNICAL REHEARSALS
16. THE OPENING PERFORMANCE (Opening Night)
17. RUN of the SHOW
18. THE TOURING SHOW
19. CLOSING THE SHOW
Glossary: The SM’s Working Vocabulary
Biography
Larry Fazio was born in Providence, Rhode Island and lives with his wife in Southern California. While serving in the United States Army, he trained as a motion-picture photographer. As fate would have it, he became part of the Department of the Army Entertainment—Special Services. While with this group, he was awarded the Army Oscar, the Irving Berlin Trophy, and the Gold Key Award—a three-year full scholarship to the Pasadena Playhouse in California. On the merits of his grades there, he was then given another scholarship to attend California State University, Fullerton, to finish his bachelor’s degree, where he won the Best Director Award.
His first big break came with a musical production of Gone With the Wind as the second assistant stage manager. Since that time, he has worked professionally in theatre, managing star productions of musicals, dramas, comedies, and magic shows throughout the U.S., Canada, Australia, and Europe. His purpose in writing this book is to bring to the student and beginning stage manager the world of professional stage managing as he worked it and experienced it.
