A look into Scarborough practice from the stands. Photo by Rowan Sosovec.
Liberty Lancer Theatre is now beginning preparations for the upcoming spring musical, Legally Blonde. However, many audiences for Liberty productions don’t know exactly what goes on behind the scenes.
Each crew, being student-run, has individual duties and responsibilities for each show– ensuring that the audience experiences the show to the fullest.
Before cast auditions and crew interviews, there’s one crew who truly sees the show from beginning to end: The Stage Management team. Led by senior Ava Smith, the Stage Management team meets to discuss every technical aspect of the show, before the crew leads and crew members are even picked.
As the show progresses, Stage Management is there for every rehearsal and tech call, ensuring everything goes smoothly backstage. They spend lots of time on paperwork, and they log every set change, lighting change, sound cue, prop exchange, and everything else covered in the rehearsals.
The best part of working as Stage Manager, at least for Smith, is the socialization. As Smith describes, “I get very close with the cast, because there are a lot of them and they’re all in the same spot at the same time. So, I get to know them more. But, I also get to know all of the crew leads, everyone on the crew, and I just work with everyone.”
Stage Management, in summary, acts as a connector between actors and techies, and gets to know every single aspect of a show, from start to finish.
