As you can probably guess, I was the stage manager for The Brother’s Grimm Spectaculathon, in the Black Box Theatre. It was the first time I had been in charge, with a crew of 5, and a cast of… much more. On top of that, Brother’s Grimm was sheer madness! It was a tangle of interwoven fairy tales, characters popping back in and out of the play. Wrapping my brain around the script took a few rehearsals, but within the first few days, I had it down. To some degree…

Now, while stage managing can be quite a daunting position to take, (believe me, I was worried if I could manage all the responsibility) it is definitely worth it. Everyone is friendly and understanding, cast and crew alike. And, for me, at least, the actual show was the most relaxed part. At least then, as long as nothing goes wrong, you’re running down a script and simply have to pay attention to get the timing correct. Before the show was a different story… It is your role to count down the time till the doors open and till the shows start for everyone. Every time a walked the rounds of the backstage area, I got more and more nervous. A bit of stage fright, I guess, because everyone can see if the cues are off. Of course, hearing all the actors respond with “Thank you!” upon hearing the time left is a bit helpful for that.

I honestly didn’t know what to expect with this position. Well, I expected to completely panic and collapse due to the pressure, but that was a bit of an extreme possibility. But I truly enjoyed it. Partly because I liked the people involved, and partly because I proved to myself that I could actually do what was, in my mind, the most difficult position in TEC.

So go out and sign up for stage manager, if you want a rewarding, if challenging, position. There is nothing quite like it.

-Michael Kloc