“I like it here.”

We have now finished and struck our production of  “Murder in the Cathedral”. I consider myself extremely privileged in this whole process. I have had the opportunity to watch the audition process and the casting process, warm up the actors vocally and physically during rehearsals, paint drops, sew costumes, and (my personal favorite!) “walk” the knights backstage.
I suppose there are places out there SOMEWHERE that may have similar opportunities to be so widely involved in a production. But you know what? The people here are just plain cooler. Why would you want to paint a drop for hours on end, unless you could join the painters around you in singing at the top of your lungs to rock n’ roll, and occasionally listen to a bit of Dane Cook? What would be the use of staying up until 3:45 in the morning stitching hoods and capes and jackets and tutu’s, unless you could be surrounded by people who appreciate the finer points of the movie “Clue”, and then join in a late-night-run to Whataburger for food? One of the loveliest moments yet has been applying a stage-tatoo to the back of a “priest” while she read aloud to me the play “Art”.
It’s moments like these that make me walk up to the Chair of this dept., (Joe Frost) and just say
“I like it here.”
A simple statement; but you should know… I mean it with all my heart.

Meanwhile… back in Rehearsal…

Last night’s rehearsal was splendid. If, in your language, splendid is defined as: the passing of two hours during which amiable conversation is made concerning blood, guts, howling winds, putrescence….well, you get the idea….basic dinner conversation.

The task in rehearsal last night involved divvying up the lines of the four young ladies playing the Chorus. Apparently the “poor women of Canterbury” have two styles: gross and grosser. Other extremely applicable synonyms include (gotta love dictionary.com) creepy, revolting, disgusting, repulsive. It’s true. Ask anyone in the cast!

After the gag-fest, our SM team got to work spiking the stage. All this means, is that  we are laying down visible tape that marks out the actual dimensions of the stage…it also means practicing your math skills. That’s why I left the numerical conversions to the much more talented Stage Manager!

Can’t wait to find out what comes from tonight’s rehearsal!

Stage Manager — Model of a Servant Leader

Being the completely-new-to-theatre person that I am, it will come as no as surprise to discover that I had never heard the term “stage manager” before coming here. Well guess what? I KNOW IT NOW! I discovered almost immediately that the Stage Manager of a show is the very picture of servant/leader, and deserves so much respect and gratitude.
For those of you out there who are as uninformed as I was when it comes to theatre, a stage manager is essentially the person in charge of keeping the show moving forward! That person is there from beginning, through auditions and every rehearsal, and eventually “calls” the show during performances. The reason I say that a stage manager is the ideal servant/leader, is that he/she is invariably in charge most of the time, and yet is also a servant to the needs of each person involved in the show.
Last fall, D.S. informed me that she would be stage managing for “Murder in the Cathedral” in the spring, and asked if i would like to be an Assistant Stage Manager. Well who am I to turn away an opportunity to display my vast theatrical ignorance?! I happily agreed, mostly because D.S. is one heck of a person, and I couldn’t possibly pass up a chance to work with her!
Well, two very large shows later, here we are; finally beginning rehearsals for “Murder in the Cathedral”. With the final member of our SM team, (S. B.-Assistant Stage Manager), we are full steam-ahead in this production! So far, one of my favorite parts of being an ASM is that I got to sit in on the casting process. It was a huge gift for me to be able to watch the creative process of choosing who would be cast. I saw a lot of thought and love poured into the decision-making, and it was beautiful to see.
As an Assistant Stage Manager, I try to make the Stage Manager’s job as easy as possible. That includes getting her coffee, doing whatever paperwork I can, helping prepare for rehearsals and meetings, and sometimes just singing in harmony while we take our minds off of things! Isn’t life as a theatre major fabulous?!

-G H

Loving Theatre & the Belhaven Family

I’m a Sophomore here at Belhaven University. I came from out of country to Belhaven, I never got to go to the Art Discover Days, and the one time I got to visit… there weren’t any students on campus, and the theatre department was pretty much empty… It was a scary decision to make without really knowing what I was getting myself into. Luckily for me, there was someone else who was looking out for me, and knew what He was doing.
I arrived at Belhaven shaking in my boots, relatively unexperienced in anything having to do with theatre, but knowing that something was pulling me to this school and this theatre program. I threw myself into the program, not knowing what else there was to do. And somewhere along the long hours in rehearsals, in learning to work the sound board, in working on the sets… I fell in love with it. All I know is that now I can’t picture myself doing anything else.
Someone a few weeks ago asked me if being a theatre major with an emphasis on production sucks you life away. My response: YES! Hahaha, we all feel like that sometimes, especially around show times… it gets stressful. But the truth of the matter is that while being a theatre major consumes large time blocks of your life, it really is just giving you a different and unique lifestyle. It puts you into a ‘theatre’ family. And that’s just what we are here: one big theatre family. It means life is not always a bowl of roses, but it means that we can lean on eachother for support… Loving theatre and striving for excellence worthy of our creator is what we’re all about here. That and the fact that our foundation is Christ means that you share some common ground with everyone here. And though your time is spent in a large dark room for extended periods of time you do it together with your ‘familiy’ creating…… and that is such a thrill.
WM

New Semester, New Opportunities

Well, this semester started with many changes,  but as we examine the changes and trials God brings our way we are starting to see the silver lining and the new opportunities this is opening up for us.  In regards to the show we started everything a week behind due to some unplanned water shortages and school closure so we were in a scramble to catch up.  But in our desperation and weakness God has opened some new doors to work with new people and renew some old acquaintances.

Thankfully a former student has returned to fill in as our Shop Supervisor and TD keeping the progress moving forward in the shop and working to read our Designer’s (my) mind as best he can. 🙂

Our costumes are being taken care of …. (at least the beautiful gowns) for our upcoming production of “The Importance of Being Earnest” by a company in Michigan called “The Sewing Room”.   Kellie & Kathy have been great and the bonus for us as they are just as excited about doing these as we are about having them made.

Anyway I wanted to share with you how we are using technology to our advantage to try and collaborate from a distance regarding these costumes.

We have started with a blog site that has renderings and and measurement sheets and  a few pattern suggestions with Designer notes and from that have been emailing and blogging back and forth as we go along.

To See our Costume blog check click on this line of text.

To check out Kathy’s blog as she keeps us updated as to her progress click on this line of text.

Hey and if there is anyone talented and ambitious enough reading this blog to tackle any one or more of the men’s costumes rendered on our site and can meet the deadline of in our hands here at Belhaven by Feb. 12 …. Please email me ASAP because we would be a happy to negotiate a deal with you.  — or leave a comment on our blog.

Portfolio Day

or Judgement Day….

….as it is sometimes referred to by the students, happened the last Friday of classes.  It is a day for the Production emphasis people in the Dept. and those taking production or deisgn classes to present their semester’s work to the rest of the department.  It is often  preceded by a day of furious activity by those presenting until each display is tweaked just right and ready for public consumption.

This year we had a healthy number of people presenting and I wanted to share some of the pictures of their displays from that day.

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sg1webWe were lucky to be able to have Professor Marc Quattlebaum, the Design & Tech professor from Milsaps join us and help give our presenters feedback on their work, presentations, and displays.  In turn the students are able to process the feedback and apply it.  This in turn helps prepare them for the presentations and interviews they will have as they pursue jobs  or Graduate schools opportunities.

Please leave some feedback for them here as well as the

I found a new love in the world of theatre……

My experience with the One Acts Festival started my freshman year, when (for some stupid reason that I do not even remember) I missed my chance to see the one and only performance.  Trust me, after hearing all about the show, I truly wished and still do wish I had been there.

The next year, I co-stage-managed for Philosophy of a Kiss, directed by Rachel Bowman.  (Before POK, I had only stage managed for a dance show at my high school)  At Belhaven, I quickly learned that calling a show is not the only job of the Stage Manager.  I don’t think I had any idea how important a stage manager is to a production.  I had an awesome time tapping into my very strong Type-A, oldest-child personality.  I loved all the organization and office supplies that I was required to use.  Making forms, calling late actors (almost every rehearsal), taking blocking notation, supporting the director…  I had found a new love in the world of theatre.

Junior year I was cast in The Collector, directed by my roommate, Moriah Whiteman.  Seeing as how I am a Production emphasis, I had only been in one other show at Belhaven.  I was a wee bit worried.  Jumping right in with my fellow cast mate, P.A.S., we had a real groovy time exploring and getting to know the characters.  Our rehearsals were not exactly what one would call normal.  We spent one rehearsal just wandering around the Center for the Arts, taking pictures.  Another time, we brought in five things that we found meaningful and told the story that each object held; these became the props we used for the show.

It was after The Collector that I pretty much begged Joe to let me take his directing class.  (I had to beg, because the directing class was not within my catalogue and I had not taking the Acting I class.)  I did not really have a desire to direct, but I wanted to learn what a director’s process is and how, as a designer or stage manager, I could better communicate with and aid Directors in their process.

This semester has been a huge learning process.  I am learning how to communicate with actors, stage managers, designers, and professors in a way that I have never had to before.  I am in charge of making sure that the story is told in the best way possible.  Talk about pressure.  My roommate and former director, Moriah Whiteman, wrote the script that I chose to use.

[Sic] is a strange and personal story and I have been very aware of upholding the integrity of the script and making sure that the story is told in a respectful manner.  My amazing cast and wonderful Stage Manager have made this process unforgettable.  I cannot wait for everything to come together, and to see how an audience responds to the story.  I have been so blessed by this directing experience, and by the vast and varied experiences, I have encountered through the One Acts Festival.

—– Senior Production Emphasis (CS)

Directors Unite or at Least Share

We took the opportunity to ask our Student Directors in our One Act process the same questions we asked the Student Stage Managers and these were their answers:

1. What is currently the most exciting part of your job in the one acts?

  • Interacting with my cast and crew; being able to collaborate with such talented people is wonderful.
  • The learning process. My goal is that the actors, SMs, the audience, and myself all react to each other as both teacher and student. We all are discovering and going away from this show having learned something. Even if it is that they hated it. Even that reaction is still exciting to me.
  • The most exciting part of the process has been the fact that I have been able participate in something new and challenging.
  • Watching the collaborative process happen.
  • I never thought I would want to direct a show and now that I am, I am simply loving it! I enjoy witnessing the progress of the actors from day one to performance night and seeing the collaborative efforts of everyone involved. It’s a wonderful experience!
  • The most exciting thing as a director has been getting into the first few rehearsals with my cast.  I loved getting to know them and helping to foster their relationship onstage.

2. What has been the most challenging part of your job in the one acts?

  • Translating what is in my head into terms that my actors can understand.
  • Just sitting back and realizing what the most important things to work on are. It’s too easy to get bogged down in a single aspect or a single detail to the point where I neglect the big picture. It’s also too easy to get into unnecessary exercises that I don’t even use properly.
  • The most challenging part of the process has been clear articulation sometimes of what I want the actors to do.
  • Being decisive and economical with time.
  • The process of learning to modify and adjust your ideas (on the spot) when you plan for a rehearsal and it doesn’t work. 🙂
  • The biggest challenge for me has been setting blocking!  As we explored the text, so many interesting things were happening, I hated to have to choose just one.

3. What are you most looking forward to that is yet to come in the this process?

  • Letting go of the show. It will soon be in the hands of my very capable SM and actors.
  • I look forward to is seeing if my actors can take it to the next level using the information I have already given them.
  • Seeing all the pieces come together-I want others to see it.
  • What I am looking forward to in the process is seeing the actors perform in front of an audience.
  • Sitting back with my close friends and watching this show bloom onstage!
  • I am most looking forward to experiencing the audience’s response to my play.  It will be interesting to see how the audience influences and affects my cast’s performance.

4. What piece of advice would you want to give to next years Stage Managers?

  • Don’t worry so much about getting the blocking and what not done. It is way more important to create a good environment that will inspire creativity and then let your actors do their job!
  • Your actors emulate you, so be confident. A weak director with no energy will create a similar cast. Know your goal, theme, common vocabulary, and meaning of the lines in relation to these. If you know these, your decisions will be working towards them, and so will your actors.
  • The advice I would give to directors next year would be to write down exactly what you want to say in reharsals so there won’t be any confusion or miscommunication between you and the actors.
  • Relax. Believe. Enjoy. You’ll be surprised what will happen.
  • The best piece of advice I was given about this class was basically: don’t worry about it being the most spectacular thing you’ve ever done; it’s the first thing you’ve ever directed so it’s ok if it’s a failure. That definitely took the pressure off my shoulders. Just have fun with it and expect to learn A LOT!

The Stage Manager’s POV

Well, we are midway through the exciting annual One Act Festival process so we thought it would be a good time to ask the student Stage Manager’s a couple of questions to gain an little insight into their perspective.  Here is what they came up with:

1. What is currently the most exciting part of your job in the one acts?

  • –Anticipating my director’s needs
  • Seeing characters progress through two people acting, to characters from a play, to real-live characters that breathe life into words.
  • The most exciting part of my job is interacting with my cast and watching the show grow and change over time.  Shows always evolve so much from the first rehearsal to opening night, and it’s awesome to see what your cast learns and how they change.
  • The most exciting aspect of the One Acts currently for me is the organization (sounds nerdy, I know) and being the one behind the scenes getting stuff ready so that the Director and Actors have what they need so the rehearsals can run like they should.
  • — I’ve really enjoyed the collaboration between the director, the cast and I. It’s a HUGE responsibility to be in charge of taking down all of the blocking, making sure everyone knows when and where rehearsals are, and being sensitive to everyone’s needs but I’ve loved doing that. Knowing that I am trusted to keep the entire process running smoothly is daunting, but a challenge I feel I’m qualified to meet.
  • — I think the most exciting part of my job so far has been being able to be in rehearsal and see all the action.  I have liked working on the blocking notation, although Schneidering can be a tough one sometimes, it is fun and I like the experience.
  • The most exciting part of my job is watching the actors develop in their characters.
  • I think the most exciting part of being an SM right now is watching as the show continues to progress and blossom into an amazing show, so cool!
  • Scheduling all the different shows and being in a sense in charge of that
  • Being involved in the rehearsal process is, so far, the most exciting.  Blocking our show was my favorite part.
  • Setting up the rehearsal and tearing it down.


2. What has been the most challenging part of your job in the one acts?

  • — Obtaining accurate information about the performances
  • — Learning the boundaries of my job as to not speaking my own aesthetics opinion.
  • It is sometimes challenging for me to keep all the schedules, requests, calendars, forms, notes, meetings etc. under control.  Organization is not my strong point, so this has definitely been a challenge for me.  It’s a lot to keep track of and can be pretty overwhelming at time.
  • —  The biggest challenge for me so far has been staying within my job boundaries as the Stage Manager. When it comes to creative aspects of the show or something like getting the costumes checked out (which in this case is the director’s job), it has been difficult for me to just sit back and trust that whoever needs to get it done will do it. The type A side of me has been learning to trust in others over the past month…
  • I’ve struggled a little bit with having to remember and do so many duties at once. I have to follow the actors in the script while simultaneously following their blocking and listening to the random requests the director comes up with throughout rehearsals. My multitasking skills are being sharpened everyday in order to meet everyone’s needs and still keep focused on the tasks I have at hand. Another challenge is successfully taking down blocking in Schneider so that I’m able to relay the actors’ blocking to them whenever they have questions.
  • One thing I found challenging was getting certain deadlines/dates set from those that set those sort of things.  Another thing that was also challenging was keeping up with all the paperwork that comes with stage managing.  There are a lot of forms!!
  • The most challenging part of my job is working out all of the schedules among all the people.
  • Keeping up with blocking for a show that is only blocked in general stage directions is a little more difficult, not to mention, making up schneider for yoga is a bit challenging too! hahaha
  • Being on top of things that I am not always have been informed directly about
  • So far, the most challenging part of the process has been making forms for my prompt script.  There are so many!!!
  • Keeping up with all the paperwork and the ever developing blocking notes.

3. What are you most looking forward to that is yet to come in the this process?

  • — Calling the Show
  • Sitting in the booth on headset calling “light cue”
  • I’m really looking forward to calling a show for the first time.  Although I know I will be really stressed out, it’s one of those responsibilities that I really look forward to.  It’s just really exciting to get to performances and see everything come together!
  • I am really looking forward to getting to sit in the Stage Manager’s booth to call the show…. I saw the booth when I visited during Discover day ’07 and have always wondered what it would be like to sit there and call my own show.
  • The satisfaction that comes with calling a successful show on opening night!
  • —  Calling the show and seeing everything come together!!
  • I am most looking forward to watching the final show come together on show night.
  • I think I’m really looking forward ti seeing this onstage, and being up in the sm booth, calling the cues, and knowing that I am actually influencing the outcome of this production.
  • The show starting
  • I am most looking forward to calling the show.
  • —  Seeing the final show put on with all technical cues going at the right time.

4. What piece of advice would you want to give to next years Stage Managers?

  • — Don’t freak out about your job. Be a little stressed out, but don’t freak out. Freaking out helps no one.
  • As we learned in class paperwork is the most time consuming task… you should get it done FAST and FIRST!
  • Get your paperwork done as soon as possible!  There’s a lot of stuff that you can do even before auditions, and it will make your job SO much easier if you go ahead and knock it out before you really get into the process.
  • Take copious notes during class. Kris covers everything you need to know and they’re a great reference for when One Act time comes around. Do your paperwork beforehand- get it out of the way. Don’t procrastinate on anything- just get up and do it. And be AWSOME!! (One of you will be my SM next year 😀 muahahaha)
  • Something that I learned early on in Production Supervision-“You’ll never have as much time to do paperwork as you do before the first rehearsal.  Also, make your own forms so that you have them all on your computer and you don’t have to deal with trying to get the ones from the book blown up to the correct proportions on the copier!
  • 1.)Keep your forms ORGANIZED, it really helps when all the paperwork comes in. Also have your prompt script organized and labeled so things don’t get lost.  2.) SCHNEIDER ALL THE TIME! When it’s time to take blocking notes, it really helps to know your schneider and it can be difficult to try and read your key and take notes at the same time.  So Schneider when ever you can, it really is worth it. 3.) Remember this: “Prior planning prevents poor performance.” If you keep that in mind throughout this process then you will do just fine. 🙂
  • My piece of advice I would give to next year’s SMs would be to keep up with all of the paperwork.
  • I would say stay on top of your paperwork cause it will get you every time you get behind, it’s always really hard to catch up, no matter what you tell yourself!!
  • Learn how to be a good leader, and maintain your calm in stressful times
  • I would say, make sure you get your forms done early!  Even though there are so many, you will never get them all done in a timely fashion if your form making run into rehearsals.  It’s just not a good idea.
  • Paitience is key and keeping up with paperwork is a tedious but necessary task.

The One Act Play Festival

We are in full swing with rehearsals on our Fourth Annual One Act Play Festival!

The Festival is a joint class project between our Directing and the Production Supervision classes.  The Directing students choose 10-20 minute plays (from a pile of scripts that includes pieces written by students in the Scriptwriting class), and the Production Supervision class act as stage managers for the productions.  This fall, the students in the Technical Resources class are functioning as Lighting programmers for the productions as well.

This year, we have 6 directors, 11 stage managers, and a cast of 16 actors from all across the campus, who are already a week into preparations for the performances on December 1 & 2.  The performances will be presented in a Dessert Theatre format, with two stages and seating at tables in between.  Proceeds from the sales of the desserts will go to benefit Belhaven’s Alpha Psi Omega cast, Iota Upsilon.