Ultimately, I generally liked stage managing, but the satisfaction it returned wasn't worth the time invested. Once we got into tech week, I would commonly spend up to 8 hours at the theater.
My dedication was appreciated, though. The director claims exclusivity with me for all future productions (I declined to sign that pre-nup). Although I initially butted heads with the sound designer -- she's an experienced theater tech who felt that this show didn't require separate light and sound board operators as well as an in-booth SM calling cues -- I won her over by my eagerness to learn, and to do what I could to insure a smooth, perfect run. Towards the end of the run, she began lobbying me to SM a production for her at a different theater.
Initially, I declared that I wouldn't SM again until I'd retired. But I might consider doing it again, perhaps once a year, under certain conditions:
- A maximum of 2 acts. The 3+ hour run-time of this show was brutal.
- Inside the loop. The 40 minute commute to the theater easily doubled during rush hour.
- Get Michael involved. Rehearsal and performance reduced my interactions with my husband to short, sleepy conversations as I arrived home late and settled into bed, where he already had been dozing.
- A technical director runs strike, and I don't have to be involved. That was long, hard work, and made a bitter, unpleasant end to the experience. I don't want to do that again.
I enjoyed the satisfaction of learning something new and doing it well. It was fun running the sound board for pickup rehearsals during the run of the play, and one afternoon I ran the light board so the tech could go see a different show. (It was easier, I found, to actually hit the "Go" button myself than to tell someone else to do it.)
Now that it's all over, I expect I'll get a bit restless, but for now, I'm very much enjoying the old routine of meals with Mike and quiet evenings at home in front of the TV.
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