Stage Management, 10th Edition

15

Keeping the Show in Hand

 

 

The dictionary is the only place where success comes before work.

—Attributed to Vince Lombardi, football coach; Vidal Sassoon, British hair guru; Donald Kendall, co-founder of PepsiCo; or Mark Twain, American writer

 

The most difficult problem in a long-running production is keeping the quality of each performance as good as it was on opening night. If the director remains with the show, in attendance regularly and in communication with the cast, it’s the director’s burden. But if the director says to you on opening night, “It’s all yours,” and means it, then you have your work cut out for you.

•It is your basic responsibility to retain the director’s artistic intent (page 110). It is good practice for all ...