Door to Door
I’m stage managing a play called “Door to Door” by James Sherman. It’s been awhile since I’ve stage managed, maybe a couple of years. I like stage managing for the most part. I enjoy being a part of everything that is happening, seeing it all come together, but it is hard work and long hours.
I usually work 10:00 - 7:00, but when we went through the layoffs and repositioning earlier this year I talked to my boss about a flex schedule. I love my 10:00 - 7:00, in fact, it is nearly the ideal schedule for me. I used to work 11:00 - 8:00 and I loved that too. But with the changes in the company came a cut in pay for me, a fairly large one. It is a temporary thing, but it makes my bank account a bit tight - especially for the fun little joys in life like dinners out, vacations, or new red leather pumps. So, I convinced him to let me work what I wanted to, as long as I worked 40 hours a week. That lets me do shows when needed, and a few of them, like stage managing, even pay.
On the days I have rehearsal I’m working mostly 9:00 - 6:00, or more frequently 9:30 to 6:00 and taking a half hour lunch. (I love my time in the morning, I hate giving even a minute of it up.) I leave straight from work and drive over to the rehearsal space and get the doors unlocked and the lights on for the actresses. Rehearsals are scheduled to run until 10:00. I get home a little after that, eat dinner, talk to my husband and then go to bed. In the morning i get up and do it all over again.
Right now we are doing “table work.” The three actresses that make up the cast, the director, and I sit around a table and read the script. I fill in and read the parts that will prerecorded and played over the speakers during the show, like the voice of the television newscaster. Other than that my job is to make sure that the room temperature is ok, the bottled water is out and available, and notes are taken for things that the director thinks should be done. I sit and listen to the actresses read their lines and talk about the play, discussing their character’s motivation and themes in the script. At the end of the evening I put everything away in the closet and lock it up, turn down the lights, set up the chairs and lock the doors.
I have one more job as well. The space where we are rehearsing is in a pretty bad area. It’s being cleaned up, but it still has a long way to go. As the stage manager I watch everyone, I’m like the mother hen. I make sure everyone gets into their cars ok, and everyone is safe. Front the back door to the car door no one walks alone on my watch, not at night, not in this neighborhood, not nohow.
I usually work 10:00 - 7:00, but when we went through the layoffs and repositioning earlier this year I talked to my boss about a flex schedule. I love my 10:00 - 7:00, in fact, it is nearly the ideal schedule for me. I used to work 11:00 - 8:00 and I loved that too. But with the changes in the company came a cut in pay for me, a fairly large one. It is a temporary thing, but it makes my bank account a bit tight - especially for the fun little joys in life like dinners out, vacations, or new red leather pumps. So, I convinced him to let me work what I wanted to, as long as I worked 40 hours a week. That lets me do shows when needed, and a few of them, like stage managing, even pay.
On the days I have rehearsal I’m working mostly 9:00 - 6:00, or more frequently 9:30 to 6:00 and taking a half hour lunch. (I love my time in the morning, I hate giving even a minute of it up.) I leave straight from work and drive over to the rehearsal space and get the doors unlocked and the lights on for the actresses. Rehearsals are scheduled to run until 10:00. I get home a little after that, eat dinner, talk to my husband and then go to bed. In the morning i get up and do it all over again.
Right now we are doing “table work.” The three actresses that make up the cast, the director, and I sit around a table and read the script. I fill in and read the parts that will prerecorded and played over the speakers during the show, like the voice of the television newscaster. Other than that my job is to make sure that the room temperature is ok, the bottled water is out and available, and notes are taken for things that the director thinks should be done. I sit and listen to the actresses read their lines and talk about the play, discussing their character’s motivation and themes in the script. At the end of the evening I put everything away in the closet and lock it up, turn down the lights, set up the chairs and lock the doors.
I have one more job as well. The space where we are rehearsing is in a pretty bad area. It’s being cleaned up, but it still has a long way to go. As the stage manager I watch everyone, I’m like the mother hen. I make sure everyone gets into their cars ok, and everyone is safe. Front the back door to the car door no one walks alone on my watch, not at night, not in this neighborhood, not nohow.