On August 7th, I med my professional Assistant Stage Manager Debut on the Walt Disney Broadway stage. If you had asked me a year ago that I would have this job, I would've laughed in your face - me, working backstage? I'm not smart enough/organized enough for that! And for a long time, that's exactly what I thought. It was a cast of around 80 students, in a 2700 seat theatre, with one of the most famous musical that also happened to be extremely long with a giant set - four moving, spinning columns that each have different sides and arrangements for each scene, two large scaffolds, four fences, four still columns that WOULD fall if hit, as well as a giant staircase and an excessive amount of other set, costuming, and props. Not only that, but the first week of rehearsals was tech and performance week for A Funny thing that happened on the way to the Forum, and the tech/performance week of West Side Story was also our last week of camp. Those three weeks were the longest three weeks of my life!
So yes, it was a very daunting time for me, and there was a lot of self doubt. But I knew that this would be an amazing learning experience for me, and that I had an amazing team to back me up. Who knows when I would get this opportunity again? So I threw myself into it, and at the end of the three weeks, I could not be prouder. The cast was dos talented, kind, and respectful, as well as great fun since a lot of them were my friends. Lucas Babcock, the Assistant Director, was kind enough to be on stage left, and we made a great team, as well as the group of equity workers who I directed backstage, and our incredible Stage Manager Julie and our Director Laura Peete, always helping me out and giving me advice. The show was beautiful and all the transitions went smoothly (Apart from a rain leak backstage). I am so thankful for the experience and although I will not be changing majors anytime soon, I would gladly stage manage again.
