This New England Stage Manager

Very much honored that The Green Room is welcoming me to their team.

I am an Equity Stage Manager who resides and works in the New England region. Did try out NYC for a few years but found that I kept leaving it for work rather than actually living AND working there. I’ve been working professionally for 14 years now. Stage Management knocked on my door as early as Sophomore year of high school when I thought I was destined to be a scientist – Oceanographer to be specific. I come from a family of scientists and grew up on Cape Cod. But I wanted to help out with the school musical and the director assigned me the job of Stage Manager. From then on, I was hooked.

I attended Ithaca College where I could major in Drama and be able to experience every aspect of the theatre department at my leisure and take courses from other departments that happened to catch my interest. History was a huge draw. I managed to include several opportunities to work on a stage management team. Junior year was spent abroad for one term and on an internship for the second term. It was a test to see if I truly wanted to pursue a career in stage management. I returned to Ithaca feeling that this was the right path for me. Within a few years of graduation, I worked at 3 different regional theatres and at the third one, I acquired my Equity card.

Then I took a brief hiatus from Stage Management to pursue a Masters degree in Theatre History (Medieval and Renaissance) at the University of Toronto. I still had a passion for academia that I couldn’t resist. But after completing the degree, I realized that the academic within was finally satiated and I had missed the practical component of theatre.

I love the variety of challenges that I face and meeting new people as well as working with longtime friends and colleagues. I enjoy being a part of putting a production together to show the public and watching how everyone sitting in the theatre will react to it. I am, by nature, quiet and reserved – two qualities that tend to be frowned upon for someone who wants to be a Stage Manager. But I have proven that they are beneficial and preferable. One doesn’t have to be loud and brash to be effective or heard. And so, my perspective (if you will) is that of a quiet, reserved, supportive, and yet passionate Stage Manager. Much of what I have written on my personal blog pertains to my experience as a Stage Manager and the philosophy of the profession. I remember thinking during my undergrad years that I had wished for more broader accounts of Stage Management to read and research – not just published books or face to face experiences. The reason for starting my blog stems from this. These days, I am happy to find more and more blogs appearing and I can only hope my entries will be of use (or perhaps amusement). Onwards and upwards!