Remote Learning for Stage Management Students

For any stage management students sent home or unable to attend classes:

Practice Taking Blocking Notes on Single Set TV Shows!

Any TV Show that primarily uses the same set can provide some AMAZING blocking note practice!

1. Pick a TV Show! TV shows that regularly use the same set are USUALLY sitcoms, try:

   • Friends (Rachel & Monica’s Apartment)

   • The Big Bang Theory (Leonard & Sheldon’s Apartment)

   • Cheers (the bar)

   • Fraiser (Fraiser’s Apartment)

   • Golden Girls (their house)

   • Full/er House (the living room)

   • and many more…

2. Obtain the Ground Plan

   • Some shows ground plans are easily obtainable online - check out this AMAZING ground plan art

   • Draw your own! Break out the papers, pencils, and rulers!

3. Make a blocking KEY

4. Watch the show and take those blocking notes!

   • Check out the Awesome Stage Manager’s post on blocking notes!

Practice Calling a Show

This one works best if you have TWO THINGS:

1. A recording of a show

2. A copy of the calling script

Then, just follow along and practice making all the calls on time!

CONSIDER: Recording yourself so you can hear how you sound over headset!

Have a Paperwork Exchange

Sharing ideas for paperwork format & content is ALWAYS fun (to stage management nerds) - find some people to exchange paperwork with and use those ideas to improve yours!

Actually Read the Textbook

Or read the ones from other schools…

• A Survival Guide for Stage Managers by Mary Ellen Allison

• The Back Stage Guide to Stage Management by Thomas Kelly

• Stage Manager: The Professional Experience - Refreshed by Larry Fazio

• Essentials of Stage Management by Peter Maccoy

• Production Stage Management for Broadway by Peter Lawrence

• The Stage Management Handbook by Daniel Ionazzi

• The Stage Manager's Toolkit by Laurie Kincman

• Stage Management: The Essential Handbook by Gail Pallin

• Stage Management Basics by Emily Roth (includes info on theatre, dance, & opera)

• Last Stage Manager Standing by Daniel B Morgan (about TV stage management!)

• Stage Management: A Gentle Art by Daniel Bond

• A Stage Manager’s Survival Guide: From Callbacks to Closing by Michelle Marko

• Stage Managing & Theatre Etiquette: A Basic Guide by Linda Apperson

Learn Useful Skills

Many skills will make you a better SM!

• Learn to read music
  It will expand the jobs you can work - musicals, operas, dance!

• Learn Basic ASL

• Focus on a specific theatre tech element to learn more about (lighting, sound, projection, props, scenic, etc.)

Take Internet Courses

Stage Management is COMPLEX and there are a lot of courses that apply to stage management!

FREE ONLINE CLASSES

Coursera

• Creative Problem Solving by the University of Michigan

• Improving Communication Skills by University of Pennsylvania

• Personality Types at Work by University of Florida

• Inspiring Leadership through Emotional Intelligence by Case Western Reserve University

edX

• Inspiring & Motivating Arts & Culture Teams by University of Michigan

• Mindfulness and Resilience to Stress at Work by UC Berkeley

FEMA Online Courses

• Leadership & Influence

• Decision Making & Problem Solving

• Effective Communication

Watch Videos

• Ted Talks about theatre!

Read… More

Theatre Industry

• The Season by William Goldman

• Sense of Occasion by Harold Prince

• Untold Stories of Broadway (Volume One) by Jennifer Ashley Tepper

Business & Leadership

• Still Surprised by Warren Bennis

• Good to Great by Jim Collins

• The Advantage by Patrick Lencioni

• The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni

• Daring Greatly by Brené Brown

PLEASE NOTE: This post includes affiliate links.

Have more ideas? Comment below!