From Stage Manager to Set Designer

Little Shop of Horrors had a great run but it has been over for a couple of weeks now. We tore down that set on October 9th and started building the set for the next show, Holy Days, on October 10th. In the theatre department, there is really no break for actors or technical personnel. As I have mentioned before, for Little Shop I was the stage manager. For Holy Days I am on the scenic design team. I went from being the go to person for every aspect to the go to person for set, props, and construction. This was a major switch with no break time in between. 

The design for Holy Days was a collaborative effort that began in a class, called CAD or computer aided design, that a bunch of designs students took last semester. Our final project was to design the set, costumes, lights, and sound for Holy Days, which we already knew was going to be in our season for this year. The class broke off into three teams and the whole design was created through use of a computers. 

Now, a few months later, it is time for me, along with my other two teammates, to execute our design. It is a first for all of us and we are all very excited to see our work come to life. It is hard work to work on a team and make decisions as a team but it is also very rewarding. We get to make detailed decisions about what paint colors to use, which specific props well be in the play, what type of wood, where certain pieces are supposed to go, and the list goes on. The technical director, artistic director, chair of the department, director, and stage manager all come to us when they have questions or when they need something changed. It is sometimes hard to make all of these decisions but it is also exhilarating to be able to have power over exactly what the design will turn out to be. 

Both stage managing and set designing are demanding jobs. It is important to stay organized, calm, and informative. In both cases I am in charge of something. As a stage manager I was in charge of the whole production going smoothly and the way that it was supposed to. As a designer I am in charge of making decisions and making sure everything that needs to get done will get done in a timely fashion. 

The exchanging of hats was not a difficult one but both jobs have their ups and downs just in different ways. I am having fun learning about the different things that I can do with theatre and I am getting much needed experience in the field. 

Holy Days opens on November 10th and it runs through November 20th. If you think you would like to see a production that was totally designed by students and acted by students, you should come see it and support the work that we are doing here to change the world of theatre. 

Little Shop - Opening Weekend

This weekend was the opening weekend of Little Shop. Opening week is a crazy and rewarding time for theatre students. This is when you get to see all of your hard work paid off. We opened on Thursday, September 29th. We had one show Friday night, two shows on Saturday, and a show Sunday afternoon.

This week was a success. Wevhad many sold out shows and the audience seemed to love every minute of it. The show runs for about an 2 hours and 45 minutes which is great for the audience. The musical is also well known by a lot of people which helps the audience understand what is going on. The show evolved into a creative and enjoyable piece of art.

Being a Stage Manager

What is a stage manager? A stage manager is someone who supervises the physical aspects in a production of a show and who is in charge of the stage when the show is being performed. The stage manager's job is to be organized and able to handle anything and everything.

Currently, I am the stage manager for Little Shop of Horrors. It is a challenging but rewarding job. I get to deal with all aspects of the play including: lights, sounds, stage, costume, and script. Itis my job to keep the integrity of the play from opening night until the show closes.

September 23rd-28th,the Helfaer Theatre went through an exhausting tech week. Tech week is where the show goes through a transformation. The actors have been rehearsing for a month and tech week is the week were all of the designs get integrated into to the production. The lights and sound are the first aspects to be perfected. It I'd my job to call the a light cues and make sure the are to the designer's liking. This took us two days to get right and up until opening night to prefect. Calling light cues for a musical is a difficult process for the stage manager because cues are often called off of music. It is very important for the stage manager to have the script, music, and staging memorized for this reason. Next, I had to figure out how I was going to call fly cues. Often times, light, sound, fly, follow spot, and scene change cues overlap. That is were it gets difficult. I like to think that I am a Hobert organized person and none of this seemed to be too big of a challenge for me.

It is crucial for a stage manager to be organized so that once it comes to tech week and performances, there is not much to worry about. I love my job. It is a challenge most of the time to make sure everything is in order at all times, but it is also very rewarding. It is awesome to see the productions come to life and without the stage manager, it could not possibly be what it has become.

Little Shop of Horrors opened on Thursday the 29th and will be closing Sunday, October 9th. It really is a well done and professional production done created by Marquette University.