Pre-Production

Pre-Production Expectations

You may think your first task will come with auditions, but the stage manager’s job actually begins long before an actor even sets foot on stage. You will need to work with your director to complete your pre-production work according to their needs for the production.

This includes:

Paperwork: Reading the show and completing your technical analysis to prepare for rehearsals
Meetings: Beginning communication with the director about their vision; learning how they want to run the rehearsal process; reaching out to the design team, and having your first design meetings
Organization: Setting up the Google Drive and creating your templates; getting to know your team

If your rehearsal process is extremely truncated and you aren’t given a chance to work with the director and the cut script prior to auditions, you will be playing a game of catch-up for the first week or so of rehearsal. Always try to set aside some time for pre-production, whether it is a week or only a couple days.

Are you more a visual/audio learner? Check out this video !

Part One: Paperwork

Each of these elements of paperwork are discussed in more depth under the Paperwork tab of this website.

The main point of these items is to:

Familiarize yourself with the show
Give you an indication of what rehearsal props you will need
Provide resources for you and the design team
Make sure you and your team have the tools for success you need for the show
Prepare documents like the contact sheet, audition packet, and calendars for use of the cast

Part Two: Meetings

The Director

Your first meeting is with the director. This should happen far in advance, before you begin working together, and is just for the two of you. This meeting will teach you about the director's working style, the way they want rehearsals to run, and most importantly, their vision.

Below are examples of some questions you may want to ask your director. There are a lot, but you don't need all of them at once. There is also an example of Zane's first meeting report from Kiss Me Kate, which shows all the questions he asked Dimino in preparation. This is a great resource and I strongly recommend looking it over!

Make sure you ask the questions you need from below to get to know the director's working style. Better to do it now than feel confused later!

Director Questions

10/15/19 Meeting Report

Questions to Think About Asking Your Director

Are there any specific rehearsal props you would like to see that are not in the script?
How do you want auditions to work? Over how many days, what information do you need me to collect, etc.
How would you like me to signal you in regards to breaks, and how often breaks should be?
Ask about safety issues within the text––ex. one of the actors hangs upside down for 20 minutes. How are we going to do that?
How would you like the rehearsal space to be set up every day?
How will warmups work?
When should the actors be off book and how early should we tell them?
How would you like to break down rehearsals––when are we doing music, choreo, staging and when do you need to have all rehearsal props and costumes organized? Are there specific songs or scenes you want to work first?
What is the length and frequency of rehearsals going to look like?
Do you want me to read stage directions during runs? How about vocalize sound cues or state when there is a blackout?
Will we be using the grand curtain for scene changes?
Clarify the SM's role in rehearsals: Will I be calling the actors back from break and communicating with them directly, or would you prefer to do those things yourself? *Note: you and the director should appear as a united front early on
Are there any snacks, drinks, or other items you like that would help set you up for success?
When is the best time to contact you? Is there a cutoff time after which I shouldn't reach out unless it's an emergency?
Is the cast receiving book scripts & scores or are we printing and binding them? (The SM team needs to get started on this as soon as possible)
How will the chain of command work as far as communicating with the actors or approving conflicts? If I can't reach you, can I go ahead and answer or should I always wait?
How do you want production meetings to be run? Will I lead them or would you prefer to?

Production Meetings

After you have collected the design team's contact information, you will have your first meeting. Each member will listen to the director's vision and present any ideas they have.

Your job is to run the meeting. You make sure everyone gets a chance to speak and this happens efficiently and in the allotted time frame. This depends on how the director wants the meeting to go, but the first meeting is mainly just them talking. You MUST take notes in the meeting and send out a meeting report to the production team.

This is also a good time to create a Production Team chat on BAND. Make sure to send them the meeting report via email and/or BAND, as well as reminders of important dates (like the next design meeting) and what they need to have done by then. Meetings can be posted in a Production Team calendar in the calendar on BAND.

Contact Database Pro Tip

You will need access to the 1139 Contact Database in order to stage manage. Once it is shared with you, I recommend adding the production team, crew, and cast into your phone as contacts so you can call them quickly and easily.

The Design Team

People will be given a chance to apply for designer positions. Some of these positions will already be filled, but everyone needs to apply. You may be asked to create a Google Form or Airtable form for people to apply. Here's an example of what this looks like: https://airtable.com/shroW2hI6s6fEkTb9

Once the design team is assembled, you will reach out to everyone via email and get them to fill out the 1139 Contact Database, if they haven't already as part of the application. You can find that link on BAND in the troupe LinkTree, although you will have direct access to the database as well.

Recap on Design Team

Part 3: Organization

This is setting up all your organizational systems so that you feel prepared to start rehearsals.

Think ahead and see what else may need to be done for your specific production––the list on this website is a starting place.

This is also a great time to collect your rehearsal supplies! There is more information about how you can organize yourself in both the Digital Realm and Physical Realm under the Organization Tools tab.

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