The Stage Manager's Toolkit, 3rd Edition

The Stage Manager's Toolkit, 3rd Edition

by Laurie Kincman
Released December 2020
Publisher(s): Routledge
ISBN: 9781000287639

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Book description

The Stage Manager’s Toolkit Third Edition provides a comprehensive account of the role of the stage manager for live theatre with a focus on both written and verbal communication best practices.

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Half Title
  3. Series Information
  4. Title Page
  5. Copyright Page
  6. Contents
  7. Foreword
  8. Acknowledgments
  9. Preface to the Third Edition
  10. Introduction: The Stage Manager as Communicator
    1. COMMUNICATION VERSUS SELF-EXPRESSION
    2. FORMAT OF THIS BOOK
  11. CHAPTER 1 Avenues of Communication
    1. FACE-TO-FACE COMMUNICATION
      1. NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION
    2. EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE
    3. WRITTEN COMMUNICATION
      1. EMAIL
      2. SOCIAL MEDIA
      3. THE CALLBOARD
      4. FILE STORAGE AND SHARING
      5. BLENDING METHODS
    4. COMMUNICATION WITHIN THE THEATRE HIERARCHY
  12. CHAPTER 2 Principles of Document Design
    1. IDENTIFYING YOUR AUDIENCE
      1. INFORMATIVE OR INTERACTIVE
    2. PAGE LAYOUT
    3. FONTS
    4. FONT STYLE
    5. COLOR AND SHADING
      1. SELECTING COLORS
    6. ACCESSIBILITY
      1. ONLINE ACCESSIBILITY
    7. CONTINUITY
    8. WHAT’S IN A NAME?
    9. READY TO BEGIN
  13. CHAPTER 3 Pre-Production
    1. GIVEN CIRCUMSTANCES
      1. PERSONNEL
      2. LOCATION
    2. THE CALENDAR
      1. THE PRODUCTION CALENDAR VERSUS THE ACTOR CALENDAR
      2. FORMATTING THE CALENDAR
    3. ANALYZING THE PRODUCTION
    4. THE CHARACTER/SCENE BREAKDOWN
      1. CONTENT CONSIDERATIONS
        1. Listing Your Cast
        2. Scenes Versus Pages
        3. Page Numbers
        4. Identifying Scenes and Locations
        5. Key
      2. FORMATTING THE BREAKDOWN
        1. Guiding the Eye
        2. Shading Versus Color
      3. EXTRA CONSIDERATIONS FOR THE MUSICAL
      4. DISTRIBUTION
    5. MEETING WITH THE DIRECTOR
      1. SHOW INFORMATION
    6. MEETING THE PRODUCTION TEAM
    7. THE PROP LIST
      1. WORKING WITH THE PROP LIST
    8. SPECIALTY CHARTS
    9. AUDITIONS
      1. THE AUDITION FORM
      2. WHAT THE STAGE MANAGER CAN LEARN
      3. ANOTHER FIRST IMPRESSION
      4. ORGANIZING THE AUDITIONS
    10. THE CONTACT SHEET
      1. FORMATTING THE CONTACT SHEET
    11. THINKING ABOUT THE SM TEAM
    12. NEXT STEPS
  14. CHAPTER 4 The Prompt Book
    1. ORGANIZING THE PROMPT BOOK
      1. AN ARCHIVE, BUT NOT A HISTORY
      2. WORKING WITH MULTIPLE BOOKS
    2. PREPARING THE PROMPT SCRIPT
      1. THE BACKING PAGE
      2. A TRICK FOR THE SPLIT PAGE
    3. THE SCRIPT FOR THE MUSICAL
      1. THE HYBRID SCRIPT
      2. DANCE, DANCE, DANCE
    4. THE DIGITAL PROMPT SCRIPT
    5. READY FOR LAUNCH
  15. CHAPTER 5 Rehearsals
    1. FIRST REHEARSAL
    2. TABLE WORK
    3. MUSIC AND DANCE REHEARSALS
    4. BLOCKING
      1. PREPARING THE REHEARSAL ROOM
      2. MEASURING THE GROUNDPLAN
        1. The X-Y Method
        2. Triangulation
      3. THE MULTIPLE-LOCATION SET
      4. THE BLOCKING KEY
        1. Naming the Set
      5. PUTTING IT TO WORK
      6. BLOCKING FOR THE MUSICAL
    5. THE DAILY CALL
    6. CONFLICTS
    7. FITTINGS
    8. THE FIRST RUN-THROUGH
    9. ORGANIZING YOURSELF
    10. SCENE WORK
      1. LINE NOTES
    11. SAFETY IN REHEARSALS
      1. FIRST AID
      2. A SAFE STAGE
      3. EMERGENCY MEDICAL FORMS
      4. WORKING IN COMFORT
      5. THE HEALTHY REHEARSAL SPACE
      6. INTIMACY DIRECTION
    12. THE REHEARSAL REPORT
      1. ANALYZING THE REPORT
      2. CLARITY AND COMPLETENESS
      3. NUMBERING NOTES
      4. REPORTS FOR A MUSICAL
      5. PRESENTING THE PROBLEM, NOT OFFERING THE SOLUTION
      6. FINDING BALANCE
      7. DISTRIBUTING THE REPORT
    13. PRODUCTION MEETINGS
      1. MEETING MINUTES
    14. ADDING THE ELEMENTS
    15. UPDATING PAPERWORK
    16. REHEARSALS FOR DANCE
    17. CONCLUDING TIME IN THE HALL
  16. CHAPTER 6 Technical Rehearsals
    1. CREATING THE TECH SCHEDULE
    2. TYPES OF TECH REHEARSALS
    3. PREPARING FOR TECH
      1. SM LOAD-IN
    4. TECHNOLOGY FOR THE STAGE MANAGER
    5. DELEGATION
    6. WORKING WITH THE CREW
    7. THE PRESET LIST
    8. MORE ABOUT PROP TABLES
    9. THE SHIFT PLOT
      1. NECESSARY INFORMATION
      2. PROVIDING LANDMARKS
      3. DOCUMENTING THE MUSICAL
      4. FORMAT CONSIDERATIONS
      5. WHITE SPACE
      6. SHADING AND COLOR
      7. PAGINATION
      8. UPDATING THE SHIFT PLOT
    10. PAPERWORK VARIATIONS
    11. THE COSTUME PLOT
      1. FORMAT CONSIDERATIONS
    12. CUEING
      1. PARTS OF A CUE
      2. CUE NAMES
      3. PLACING CUES IN YOUR SCRIPT
      4. RECEIVING CUES
      5. SPECIFICITY IN A MUSICAL
      6. THE STANDBY
      7. THE CALLING KEY
      8. WATCHING, READING, AND TALKING
      9. WORKING ON HEADSET
    13. PARTNERSHIP WITH THE MUSICAL DIRECTOR
    14. TECH FOR DANCE
    15. THE ART OF IT ALL
    16. STEPPING UP TO RUN THE SHOW
    17. REHEARSAL REPORTS DURING THE TECH PERIOD
  17. CHAPTER 7 Performances
    1. PREVIEWS
      1. STOPPING DURING PREVIEWS
    2. REFINING YOUR ROUTINE
      1. THE RUN SHEET
      2. FORMATTING AND CONTENT
      3. RUN SHEETS FOR ASSISTANT STAGE MANAGERS
    3. OPENING NIGHT
    4. WORKING WITH FRONT-OF-HOUSE
      1. FORMAT
    5. THE PERFORMANCE REPORT
      1. CONTENT CONSIDERATIONS
      2. FORMATTING THE REPORT
      3. DISTRIBUTION
    6. CHANGING PERSONNEL
    7. MAINTAINING THE ARTISTIC INTEGRITY OF YOUR SHOW
      1. TECHNICAL CONSISTENCY
      2. GIVING NOTES
    8. WORKING WITH UNDERSTUDIES
      1. UNDERSTUDIES, STANDBYS, AND SWINGS
      2. UNDERSTUDY REHEARSALS
      3. PUT-IN REHEARSALS
      4. UNDERSTUDY DOMINOES
      5. FORMATTING THE PLOT
      6. NOT JUST FOR ILLNESS
      7. CHANGING CREW
    9. EMERGENCY PLANS AND PROBLEM-SOLVING
      1. TECHNICAL PROBLEMS WITH THE SHOW
      2. FACILITY PROBLEMS AND OUTSIDE FORCES
  18. CHAPTER 8 Next Steps
    1. MOVING THE PRODUCTION
      1. PREP FOR THE NEXT VENUE
      2. NEW AUDITIONS
      3. MAKING THE HANDOFF
    2. TOURING
    3. THE END OF THE LINE—OR IS IT?
      1. PAPERWORK FOR OTHERS
      2. STRIKE
    4. THE POST-MORTEM
  19. CHAPTER 9 Epilogue
  20. Appendix
    1. Actors’ Equity Association
    2. Other Information
    3. The Stage Manager’s Kit
    4. Emergency Announcements
    5. More Paperwork
    6. Web Resources
    7. Suggested Reading
  21. Notes
    1. Introduction
    2. CHAPTER ONE
    3. CHAPTER TWO
    4. CHAPTER Three
    5. CHAPTER Four
    6. CHAPTER Five
    7. CHAPTER Six
    8. CHAPTER Seven
    9. CHAPTER Eight
    10. Chapter Nine
  22. Glossary
  23. Author Biography
  24. Index

Product information

  • Title: The Stage Manager's Toolkit, 3rd Edition
  • Author(s): Laurie Kincman
  • Release date: December 2020
  • Publisher(s): Routledge
  • ISBN: 9781000287639