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30th Anniversary Blog: A Letter From Props Designer Danna Segrest (Part Three)
Hello again Purple Rose Theatre fans! In this month’s 30th Anniversary Letter we are talking about Stage Managing.
After helping Terry Heck make her quick change at the top of the stairs in Blush at Nothing and being hired into the staff, becoming an Equity Stage Manager was the next step in my Purple Rose rolls.
Actors’ Equity Association (“Equity”), founded in 1913, is the U.S. labor union that represents professional Actors and Stage Managers. To be a professional theatre, the Purple Rose needed to have a contract with this union. We fall under a Small Professional Theatre (SPT) contract and that stipulated having at least two actors and a Stage Manager that are Equity members working on each of our productions. As I said in the last blog, Sandra Houde had agreed to come up from Florida to help Jeff Daniels and T. Newell Kring get the theatre off the ground. But she was ready to get back to the sunshine state. For our second production, Shoeman, I was Assistant Stage Manager to learn the ropes and acquire my Equity candidate points to become a full-fledged Equity Stage Manager and take over for her at the end of the run so she could get back home.
I was quite familiar with stage managing since my degree from Michigan State University is in Communications and Theatre with an emphasis on Mass Audience Communications and Stage Management. I had stage managed black box productions, opera, ballet, and mainstage productions at MSU. Crimes of the Heart on the main stage, is one of my favorite memories. I had the pleasure of working with Suzi Regan and Jean Lyle Lepard on my first stage managing assignment on that production. Later I loved working with them again on Purple Rose shows. I think I have had a “Mom” personality all my life and love taking care of everyone at the theatre. Between university and The Purple Rose, I was the Assistant Stage Manager for Detroit Opera for 3 of their touring shows. Sandra and Dana Gamarra were great mentors to start my Purple Rose training under and I received my Equity card and took over the final weeks of calling Shoeman.
Our first Stage Manager Booth in 1991.
The view from the Booth during All My Son’s.
Stage Manager and her crew, Chris Jacobs, TerrI Czarney & Tice Aten.
The Stage Manager covers many duties on a single production. They start by working closely with the directors to prep for rehearsals; making sure the cast has everything they need to work on the script, prepping the rehearsal space and working with all the designers. They run production meetings long before the cast assembles. They schedule each day’s work to be sure the show is ready for opening night. After opening, the Stage Manager must keep the production consistently safe and keep the director’s intent even as the Actors grow in their characters in our long performance runs. They call all the lighting, sound and other cues for the performances from their working script. A good stage manager can multitask, communicate and solve any problems that arise. The level or tier of the equity contract dictates how many hours are allotted for Stage Manager prep and rehearsal hours, so it is important to make the most of every minute. I enjoyed stage managing Ties That Bind by Kitty Dubin with a guest director from UofM, Julie Nessen. But it was very hard to juggle production managing, resource managing and stage managing at the same time (just not enough hours in the day). I had to pick and choose the best Stage-Managing gigs.
It was a few productions later I had the privilege of working as Stage Manager for Guy Sanville on his directorial debut at the Purple Rose Theatre. Nooner by Kim Carney was a wild romp with a pair of co-workers who never end up in their noontime affair because of the interruptions of a slew of crazy characters. It was a pleasure to work with Guy as he conducted this orchestra of a comedy. (Guy had been Stage Manager on National Anthems by Dennis McIntyre earlier that season) As we added the Apprentice program to the lineup, we were able to train many fine Stage Managers with 8 guest Stage Managers coming in from other training programs over the years. I have been blessed to have known so many dedicated theatre professionals who have served in this vital role in producing the best possible shows at The Purple Rose Theatre Company. Thank you all for your contributions!
Love ,
Danna
Dedicated to Nancee Sanville , our background Stage Manager, “mom” and voice of reason for 25 years.
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