Job Description (DSM)
Rehearsal Stages
The role that I was given was (DSM) Deputy Stage Manager.
The role included going into rehearsals and watching the performance to gain an
understanding of the musical ‘In the Heights’. I liaised with the Director and
the Stage Manager on matters such as costumes and stage Props. An example of
this would be when the Director required stage lights I would then report back
to the Stage Manager and then they would pass the information onto the Props
Manager. I also operated the sound system ‘Sinfonia’. This helped me gain an
understanding of the sound cues as on the night I would be cueing the show for
lighting and sound. The show was ninety percent so in my own time I needed to
listen to the soundtrack. Another reason why I was in rehearsal was due to the
fact the cast were rehearsing in a different space, due to the set being built,
so I had to make sure they knew their exits, entrances and spacing without the
guidance of the set.
Tech Rehearsals
There were many different tech rehearsals throughout the
week. The first rehearsal that I needed to attend was the lighting tech
rehearsal. The reason why I was in the lighting tech rehearsal was to write
down the lighting cues so that on the night I could cue the lighting operator. I would write them down on the script with an
arrow pointing to the line which the lighting should change on. The most
lighting cues would be in the songs and not the dialogue as it would be
realistic. Once all the cues had been written in my script then I highlighted
the cues so they stood out. I would then go back to the beginning of my script
and start writing the sound cues down. In the script most of the cues were already
written in so it was mostly for the de-vamps and vamps. I had to write all of
these cues in because I would not have remembered them all as there were
hundreds.
The most important tech rehearsal was the Final tech which
was for me. The reason why was because I had never cued lighting and sound
together. If I thought something wasn’t right for example I had missed a
lighting cue then I would stop the rehearsal and start again until I felt
comfortable.
Show nights
On the night everything would be down to me technical wise.
I would start the show off and everyone would take my word. I cued everything
from the follow spot to the sound and lighting. I cued everything because then
everything would happen at the same time such as lighting and sound going into
a song. All the crew had to go off my word because say if a cast member wasn’t on
the stage I would then have to wait for them to get into position and then cue
the crew. If everyone went on their own accord then cues could be missed. Also
everyone would know that it would be down to me.
