So when I began my PhD journey, it was very important to me that, along with whatever academic outputs I managed, I wanted to create something that had the potential to impact the industry. It’s one thing to write a PhD thesis that like 10 people total might ever read about how care ethics and…
Stage managing can be a difficult job to balance with anything else. The hours are long. You don’t always know exactly when you’ll be needed. And you may be nomadic – out on tours, cruise ships, or hopping contracts to where ever the next place is that might hire you. And early career stage management…
Friends, things are starting to happen again. I have an interview this week for a short contract with an opera company I worked for a few years ago. And I have to be honest, I don’t know how I feel about it. I really enjoyed working for that company. The director is my favorite director…
Back in June, I did my first Zoom production of The Yellow Wallpaper, you can find a detailed breakdown of it in this post. In July and August, I worked on a second production with the same company, which was pretty exciting because it gave me a chance to try to fix a few of…
It’s been a while since I read something that was “good for me” that was also so easy to read. I really enjoyed the parable style story telling by Patrick Lencioni in The Five Dysfunctions of a Team. The book takes you on a journey with a new CEO as she starts a job at…
**This post contains affiliate links.** Looking for something for your favorite stage manager for the holidays? Well, here are some cool items that won’t break the bank but will likely make their day. NINJA This store is full of awesome shirts, cool pins, fun patches, clever stickers and, my personal favorites, snarky pencils (because, yes,…
I don’t know if I’ve mentioned this much lately, but this weekend I’ll be speaking on a financial panel at the Broadway Stage Management Symposium and I’m pretty excited. While there are stage managers of all ages and from all walks of life there, a lot of attendees are also college students and recent grads.…
Burnout is a funny thing. I think it’s very cool we talk about it these days. I think it’s weirdly alarming how common it is. Like – my grandparents have been dead a while now, but I can’t imagine any of them having much to say about burnout. You just do what you have to…
Maybe I’m alone in this opinion, but I think short-term regional contracts are, by far, the loneliest of contracts to take. If you move to a new area, you build a new life, make new friends, join clubs, etc. If you go on tour, everyone is in the same boat and the people you’re on…
For the last several years, my annual goals list has included adding two resume skills. I got this idea after reading “I am my biggest asset” over and over again on career related blogs, but it’s kind of true. It’s funny how long I overlooked that investing in myself often has some pretty big returns,…
I’ve toured several different ways. I’ve lived on boats and trains that were like a little apartment that stays with you the whole time you’re on tour. I’ve done week long sit downs in hotels, which also gives you a little of the home feeling. But I’ve also done van and box truck tours and…
Guys, do you know what I was doing 10 years ago today? I was embarking a cruise ship for the first time. I was reminded of this because we’re having some growing pains out here at the circus and trying to figure out more effective ways to orient new people and get them the proper…
In the arts, we talk a lot about how miserable the pay is out here but often justify it with following our dreams, how expensive it is to make art so of course there’s not much left for salaries, how difficult fund raising is… etc., etc., etc. The vast majority of time I’m on the…
Now that I’m actually a little settled into my job and no longer running around like a chicken with my head cut off (most days), here’s a look at what my three most common types of days look like. And if you’re wondering about the type of skills that led me to this jobs –…
This post does contain affiliate links. Opening Night is pretty exciting and it’s generally traditional to spring for a gift for your cast and your ASM. If you’re looking for some great, inexpensive ideas for your cast, check out these five opening night gift ideas for less than $5.00. Sometimes the same is done on…
When people think about side hustles or survival jobs, a lot of them seem to revolve around being on the same place all the time or work hours outside of 9-to-5. Any stage manager knows that doesn’t really help us out. Work hours change a lot in the theater. While you might be able to…
Finding work can be difficult for anyone, but breaking into the theater world can seem impossible sometimes – especially if you come from a school with no network (cough, cough, Stockton University, cough). Here are a few resources worth looking into to find a job as a stage manager. Please note that under the paid…
It’s been a while since we’ve done a day in the life of! It occurred to me though that my days on my last tour were wildly different from any other job I’ve done. I was on a bus and truck non-Equity national tour. The means that I lived on a sleeper bus. The fact…
Profile I am thirty two years old and I’m unemployed. It’s cool though. Well… no it’s not. But I’m surviving. Saving & Spending 2017 might be cursed. I’m not sure yet. For the first time in my career, a job got cancelled at the last minute. And by last minute I mean, like… less than…
I’ve been working in theater for 12 years and this month is the first time I’ve ever had a job fall through at the last minute. There’s been the occasional job way off in the horizon that didn’t work out for some reason or another, but there was plenty of time to recoup and find…
Stage management can be a pretty rough gig. It’s difficult to find any work at all and even when you do, the vast majority of it is stipend work that is wildly underpaid. As a matter of fact, if you are offered a stipend and then divide it based on a 40 hour work week…
For my last job, I had to live on a tour bus, and almost everything I Googled to try to figure out what this life would be like was pretty useless. The only thing the internet told me, on every single site about living on a tour bus, was don’t poop on the bus. (It’s…
So you’re heading out on a tour? Here are some apps I can’t live without on the road: Google Maps I love me some Waze too, but Google Maps walking function is unbeatable when you’re constantly trying to find your way around new cities. Venmo I probably use this at least a dozen times a…
In college, my parents were horrified when I said I wanted to major in theater. I was actually forbidden from doing it, so I just quietly double majored while they didn’t pay any attention to where their money was going. Mentally, I think I was prepared for a Plan B from the get-go. I’ve maintained…
A few years ago, I wrote about the financial dangers of touring. It’s really easy to turn into a spend thrift without paying attention when your life is just wandering from place to place. Lately, I’ve come to face to face with another money peril on tour. Getting sick. When you get sick at home,…