Where do you call your shows from? (High school especially)

[bendersen]

A quick thought.

I've always called my shows from our theater's balcony, but I know a lot of stage managers who call their shows from backstage.

Which do you use, and what are the relative merits of each?

Thanks!

[icewolf08]

Originally Posted by bendersen

A quick thought.
I've always called my shows from our theater's balcony, but I know a lot of stage managers who call their shows from backstage.
Which do you use, and what are the relative merits of each?
Thanks!

It often depends on the show, the SM, and the venue. Some theatres don't have room in the booth FOH for the SM. Many Broadway shows have the SM in a wing somewhere with a wall of video monitors. I have been in a theatre where the SM was tucked in a corner between the seating risers and the wall. The audience couldn't see her there, and she had a full view of the stage.

For our theatre, the SM usually sits in the booth. We have plenty of room, and it really is the best view of the stage. If you can be out front with a real view of the stage, that is usually best. Calling a show from the wings can be a lot harder, especially if you have a box set. Calling from the wings usually requires having a good CCTV setup, with at least two stage views, one with an IR camera. Often, even when an SM is out front they will have an IR monitor so they can see transitions.

In the professional world there are AEA rules that can affect where the SM calls a show from. Certain types of shows require certain numbers of AEA SM's/ASM's to be on the deck, and sometimes to meet this requirement the SM will call from the wings.

Frankly, I don't think the SM should ever call the show from the house. You mention that you call shows from the balcony. That seems like a not so great idea. Mostly because an SM usually never stops talking during a show, and it can be distracting to the audience if the SM is sitting in the house.

In short, there is no right answer, it all depends. There are often many things that factor into the decision.

[midgetgreen11]

Stage manager's at my high school always call from the SR wing, almost right behind the proscenium wall, they have a little podium set up.

we don't ever have cameras set up either, its just what they can see from eye's view.

[bcfcst4]

The SM at my school calls from the balcony also. We don't have a booth really... the balcony acts as our booth. There wouldn't be any room backstage for the SM in our current set up. We haven't had trouble with the audience hearing the SM and getting distracted, so I think it's a good set up, especially since it offers a complete view of the stage. When they build the new high school however... who knows what that setup will be. I certaintly won't be here to enjoy it.

[bendersen]

I don't open the balcony usually (only had to for one production, West Side Story last spring). So I don't worry about the noise. Frankly, I don't think the audience was really too bothered by my talking -- I'm quiet and the music and actors were loud.

We do have a booth though, which I've always wanted to use for the stage manager. Right now we're just using it for storage. The biggest issue with the booth is that there is no monitor, so I cannot hear what is going on onstage. Plus, it means I need an extra headset for the spotlight op that I normally sit next to and cue manually.

Thanks for the thoughts.

--

Also, to reply to Charlie: How does your SM call the show AND remain an active participant in set changes? That strikes me as absurdly confusing, and I'd love to hear how the SM makes that work.

[soundlight]

Originally Posted by bendersen

We do have a booth though, which I've always wanted to use for the stage manager. Right now we're just using it for storage. The biggest issue with the booth is that there is no monitor, so I cannot hear what is going on onstage. Plus, it means I need an extra headset for the spotlight op that I normally sit next to and cue manually.

A Booth used as STORAGE? Wow. You should fix that one. If the booth window is big enough for the followspot to shoot through as well as let you cue the show, then you're set.

Things were kinda whack at my HS. I was the Student Technical Director, which meant that I cued sound and lights and followspots off of my script, and communicated with the stage manager and ASMs via cheap two-way radio for curtain, set change, and prop cueing. The stage manager was responsible for everything that happened upstage of the edge of the stage - the curtains, the actors, the props, the set changes, and all that fun stuff. We did have an ASM in charge of each side of the stage, and the SM delegated many responsibilities to them, but the SM was ultimately responsible to the director for everything that was on the deck and the goods in the air during the show. I often choreographed set changes, but the SM was the one who cued them. The SM was also the one who kept the actors in order with a huge super-soaker. No one ever went on wet, but some came pretty close...

[Chris15]

You know we did discuss this some time back, with a poll and everything...
Stage Manager backstage

And my gut reaction is still how you manage the stage without being on the stage...

[midgetgreen11]

yeah the title "stage manager" has always been a self-explanatory one in my school... a manager of the stage... because they have complete control of the shows in my high school... they ARE the TD.

[bobgaggle]

in response to Ben Anderson's question of how the SM calls and helps with set changes...IT DOESN'T WORK. My drama department has had a brand new SM each time we do a show (like, still doesn't know what a traveler is, that kind of new) My director is...interesting.
Anyway, a guy in my department found a night vision security camera for free on craig's list. He rigged it up in the catwalk so that the SM can watch the scene changes during the blackouts and call lights at precisely the right time.
Unfortunately, our tech crews suck and the SM has to run out there and be like "see the neon green spike tape that says 'chair' in glow in the dark paint? the chair goes there"
So by the time she gets back to her chair and calls lights, the audience has been sitting in the dark and hearing enraged whispers from the stage for 2 minutes (well, maybe not that slow...I think that their record slow time for our production of Dracula was 1:13)
I picked up a spare headset one time pre-show, 5 minutes after the 2 minute warning and heard this, "umm...lights and music, you can start the show now."




'nuff said

[themuzicman]

Anyway, a guy in my department found a night vision security camera for free on craig's list. He rigged it up in the catwalk so that the SM can watch the scene changes during the blackouts and call lights at precisely the right time.

a "guy" haha..

their the best thing I've ever found

anyway, as Bobgaggle was saying, our crew is full of idiots, and our SM is too new to get any sort of routine down and nail some sort of consistency between shows.