School Project

[charliethai]

Hi everyone. My name is Charlie and I'm from the University of Windsor. I'm taking a stage management class and one of our projects is interviewing professional stage managers with a specific topic in mind, so responses would be immensely appreciated. So here it goes...

My topic is working with animals on stage. Has anyone worked with animals on stage? If so, how do the animals get chosen or "casted" in the first place? Once you have the animal, how is it taken cared of and who is in charge of taking care of the animal? Also, if you have any interesting stories or tips handling animals, that would be appreciated as well.

You can contact me at my email, or you can reply to this thread. It is very possible that I have follow up questions.

Thank you again
Charlie Thai

[gafftaper]

Hi Charlie,

You might want to pass along to your Windsor friends that although many of us around here have occasionally done S.M. work over the years and can offer advice on how to call a show or backstage life. I only know of a few members who really consider themselves stage managers first (most of us are lighting, sound, and T.D. types). Secondly, I think people are a little reluctant to answer because it sounds like your professor wants to to go and interview a stage manager in person. Posting on a forum, where you have no idea the credibility of the person responding, is not what I would call an interview in the classes I teach. So I think some people are reluctant to respond because they feel you may be sort of cheating the purpose of the assignment.

I wish you well. Call your local theater and ask to speak to the stage management department. You'll be amazed how nice people are.

[bdkdesigns]

I agree with gafftaper on this subject however it does remind me of a funny story from when I was working at Busch Gardens a few summers ago. We were installing a new animal show at the Tampa Bay location. The stage was slightly raked I believe and there was about a 5 foot drop off stage right. A "moat" surrounded the stage and then you were in the audience. They decided to march out this full grown camel out onto this tiny stage and then got to stage right, they went to have him make a turn and walk right back out. The only problem is that it didn't exactly make the turn and his back legs went right down the side. It took a lot of people to get it back onstage and off the set. Needless to say, the large camel ended up getting cut from the show and went back to it's normal enclosures.

Beyond that, I've worked with several animals onstage in real theatre but I wouldn't be of any real help to you since I was just the lighting designer. They do have a way of stealing the show though. Especially the lamb in Gypsy. Wish you luck in finding someone to interview though!

[BDS0111]

I agree with gafftaper too. This forum is a great tool for leanring and getting information. I'm sure there are people here who would be more than willing to help you but posting a question here is not exactly "interviewing" a professional stage manager. The way to go might be to find some one who might be willing to chat with you on the phone for a few minutes...

That being said, please see my response to the other post about Stage Hazards which just happens to be about animals...maybe from a fellow class member??!!

[mstaylor]

I have some experience working with animals. In every case that I can think of there has been a handler that cares for the animal. In some cases the handler actually did the onstage performance. I did the tech rehersals for the Moscow Circus before it went to Broadway. The only animal was a dog act where a poodle was dressed as an elephant. The only problem we had was in one show at the end of the act the preformer rolls the dog out of the costume and rolled him off of the front of the stage.
As suggested try contacting a local theatre or try searching for theatres out of your area and interview the SM. You can also try checking here for a possible interview candidate. Sign In to TheatreFace - TheatreFace

[Anvilx]

Originally Posted by BDS0111

That being said, please see my response to the other post about Stage Hazards which just happens to be about animals...maybe from a fellow class member??!!

Was about half way through a pm thinking you had mis-posted till I read this.

[seanandkate]

Try going through the Theatre Ontario talent bank: Theatre Ontario - Talent Bank Stage Management They can tell you who is in your area, and maybe they'd be willing to talk with you over a beer, say . . .