The Drowsy Chaperone Part I

The Drowsy Chaperone, a play within a play.  The fourth wall is broken on a consistent basis; there are spit-takes, songs and dances, simple misunderstandings blown out of proportion, and even an anal sex joke.  What more could one ask for?

My first full week as stage manager was met with uncertainty as the responsibilities I was prepared to undertake were being tossed on other people’s shoulders.  After a quick meeting with the staff, I was given more clarity but overall am still vague on the total of my duties.

Rehearsals

I have to keep telling the kids to be quiet.

My directing style is quite different from this director.  We only have two hours to rehearse each Mon.- Thur.  We have set things to do each rehearsal, but it seems very half-assed.  If there was more discipline we could do more each rehearsal or the little we do actually get through could be much more polished.

One problem is a main actress is the choreographer and the director’s daughter.  He defers to her opinion every time she is in a scene, so here I am in disbelief of how little directing he actually does.

I find the need to continually remind myself that this is a community theatre. This is not these people’s jobs; they do not have the resources many other theatres have.  This is a good experience to see how others produce theatre.  As my first work experience, I could do a lot worse than a community theatre filled with people who love and care about this art.