Stage Managers Heat

I sat down with the stage management team of Lou Butler and Miranda Pratt before they dove into day one of second weekend.

What is it to stage manage 14/48?

Constantly lower standards, you have to be on your toes the whole time. The worst and best is dealing with challenges as they come to you. Like how to get a door, a couch a table all off stage at the same time in three seconds with two people. You know things like that.

Its’ a misnomer to call it "stage manger." there's no line notes. Love that. And it's the only time you get to show up last. Sometime before 3 is their call.

They are both eating lunch as we speak

So you have arrived. and now what happens next?

I am going to smoke a lot of cigarettes (Lou)

And then we do a check-in with designers. The more we know going into the directors meeting the better. Surprises suck for this team. Second weekend is harder then first. Because they see last weekend and they have a better idea of the limitations of the theatre and they want to push those boundries.

Then the director’s meeting happens and it is non-stop for these two. They immediately go into tech each show has twenty minutes, and they go back to back until dinner, where other details are ironed out and then a quick all call general meeting at 7 and back on they go. Really, it's constant for them.

It’s beautiful to have a double team especially when we get behind, one can troubleshoot the other can keep it running. It’s helpful. We have a deck team, people who are there to move the furniture and help keep the tech’s moving. And a shusher backstage. It’s helpful to have someone especially on the 8 pm Friday show. After that, everyone gets it. For the most part. This weekend, we have uniforms...14/48 shirts. not just all blacks for us. no sir. Lou mentions she has to be sure to buy a new tank top as it gets very very hot and she knows she'll have to strip down.

Backstage there is the challenge of the heat, space and it’s as if you have to be really good at Tetris. And they are!!! And then Miranda ‘Captian Awesome’ Pratt commented about the fact that she can’t bring two six packs of hard cider as Lou can handle only one and that means…” oh captain my captain.”

And off they go, to smoke to download to prepare...