SCENES FROM THE ODYSSEY
Directed by: Sarah Gabel
Adaptation by: Mary Zimmerman
Rehearsals: February-March 2020
Performances: April 2020, rescheduled to September 2020 due to COVID-19
My very first show stage managing! I was absolutely thrilled to find out I was going to have the opportunity to work on this show and with such an incredible production team and get my start as a stage manager. I had just taken the THTR 227 Stage Management course and was interested in exploring a new path in theatre, and being engaged on this project made me realize I have a passion for this line of work and enjoy being part of a team that helps keep things moving and keep everyone together. I was a bit overwhelmed at the scope of the show, but I learned so much and found something I actually felt like I was good at!
I learned the basics of stage management and really dedicated myself to shadowing my fellow stage manager superheroes, Parker Bailey and Amelia Ablan. They both mentored me and helped me learn how a stage manager works both in the rehearsal room and outside the room managing production team members and making sure the production stays on track in terms of making design deadlines and keeping us moving with staging. I learned how to create tracking documents and the importance of having those documents be accurate and easy to read/translate. We had several tracking documents for props, costumes, scenic pieces, just stools, and a main tracking document. At first, it was really overwhelming, but once I got the hang out of it I loved being able to know what was happening during each moment of the show and being able to help the actors and directing team remember their blocking. I also fell in love with being in the rehearsal room and watching the magic happen and was fascinated at the ensemble movement and kinesthetic energy that we witnessed each night.
Unfortunately, due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, our university shut down/closed and production was postponed. We were about to load-in to our performance venue and begin our technical rehearsals, so it was really heartbreaking to stop right as the show was really coming together. However, we were able to have a final invited dress rehearsal where a large majority of our fellow classmates and staff and some family/friends came to see the show, and it was one of the most magical moments of my life. It was our very first day in space, no one had a costume on, we didn't have most of our props, some actors still had scripts, but the run went unexplainably well and it was truly unforgettable. While we lost a lot during the pandemic, this is something I, and everyone present in the room, will always cherish and hold onto as something we were lucky enough to do as the world started to shut down and our theatre closed its doors for the next 18 months.
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In an effort to keep theatre alive and honor the valiant work that our team made during the last few months of the pandemic, we moved forward with producing this show live over Zoom. A few of our original cast and production team could not move forward with their participation in this production, and we re-worked a few scenes and internally filled in a few roles that were missing. Moving forward with this show created a new set of challenges and an extreme amount of time and effort on all parties, but we made it possible and put on a captivatingly beautiful production. Our tracking became different as we had to manage when people turned their videos versus their cameras off, when certain crew members (including myself) were images onscreen, as well as helping manage a massive delivery of set/video equipment, props, and costumes to all our actors around the country. It was an interesting process, but we were happy to still be creating and have something to distract us from the events unfolding around the world. Overall, this process taught me a lot about myself and helped lay the groundwork for my knowledge in stage management and made me realize I had a new passion in theatre!