Exit Interview Questions

     1)What is your EQ, what is your best answer, and why?

My essential question is What makes a Stage Manager essential to a theatrical production? My best answer is his or her duty of calling the show, because calling a show is what makes it come alive from the script. According to Emerald Gonzalez, Stage Manager at Chino Community theatre, if the cast were to perform strictly from the book, the show wouldn't have the same energy as if it was called live, leading to a full performance. The Stage Manager is completely responsible for the show at this point, and according to Thomas Kelly, author of The Backstage Art of Stage Managing, there is a mass exodus of creative forces, leaving the Stage Manager to maintain the show.

  2) What process did you take to arrive at this conclusion?

Coming into senior year, I already had knowledge of what a Stage Manager was. Junior year, I was a Stage Manager for the iPoly improv club, having started training sophomore year with Noreen, the Stage Manager before me. It was through improv that I became an Assistant Stage Manager for the iPoly Drama club, working directly under Joseph Hogan, and assisting Teo Crisanto with whatever he needed help with. It was through this connection to Joseph Hogan that I found my mentorship working on The Rainmaker under director Greg Cohen at Chino Community Theatre. It was on The Rainmaker where I was always being thanked for helping out where I asked myself why my services were necessary, which led to my essential question.

My essential question, what makes a Stage Manager essential to a quality theatrical production, needed to be backed up with a solid foundation. While I did come into senior year with a basic knowledge of Stage Management, I needed to refine my knowledge to come up with some answers to my essential question. To do this, I found research, a lot of which came from UpstageReview.org, and conducted several interviews with Greg Cohen and Emerald Gonzalez, and completed my first independent conclusion, which led me to my first answer, recording the blocking. After some more research on LoisBackstage.com, I came to realize that blocking was only a small part of a prompt book, allowing me to claim my second answer as creating and maintaining a prompt book. My third answer, calling the show, stemmed from an article on calling a show on LoisBackstage, and The Backstage Art of Stage Management by Thomas A. Kelly.

From these three answers, I had to pick one best one, the one that undoubtedly made a Stage Manager essential to a quality theatrical production. After conducting my fourth interview with Emerald Gonzalez, I made up my mind that my best answer was going to be my third, calling the show. There was some competition, especially from my second answer, maintaining the prompt book, but I came to the conclusion that the prompt book helped shape the quality, but calling the show brought it to life. My answer was backed up when I read the chapter in The Backstage Art of Stage Managing that explained calling a show, and Thomas Kelly explained that when a show opens, all of the creative forces move on. This is where the Stage Manager steps in and takes control over the running of the show, and maintaining the original quality of the show.

  3)     What problems did you face and how did you overcome them?

One of the first problems I faced early on in the school year was mentorship. While many of my peers were having trouble finding a place to complete their mentorship, I had finished all of my required 50 hours by the end of September, leaving me without a mentorship to go back to. This was worrisome when I had questions and needed advice on where to go next, because my mentor lived in Long Beach, a far drive from home in Fontana. While I did have all of my hours done, I was afraid the overall quality of my senior project would go down because of the lack of a regular place to go back to and continue my service learning.

The solution eventually came in the form of my independent components, which were Stage Managing plays for the iPoly Drama Club. While working on Lady of the House and Delval Divas, I was able to jump right back into Stage Management and get hands on with every aspect of the job. In addition to my work at iPoly, I also got into contact with the regular Stage Manager at Chino Community Theatre, and was able to go back to where I had done my mentorship and work as an Assistant Stage Manager with Emerald Gonzalez. I worked with a great cast, and with the president of Chino Community Theatre, Christopher Deihl. This provided me with plenty of people to talk to who have held every job in the theatre business, and guidance in my search to find a best answer.

Another issue that arose was during Investigation and Experimentation, and I was trying to put together a survey to find what kind of impact a theatre degree had on a Stage Manager’s salary. While creating the survey had not been an issue, finding at least 22 Stage Managers to take the survey proved to be a difficult task to accomplish. At first, I was under the assumption that I would be able to use SMNetwork.com, a forum for Stage Managers to give advice and tips, and this seemed to be the perfect solution. But when the time came to have people take the survey, I found out that control booth required that users remain active for so long before allowing them to create posts on the section of the forum where my survey would fit. This left me distressed and frantic to find at least 22 people to take my survey.

While the clock ticked down, I went to Mr. Hogan, desperate to find anyone that could connect me to the people I needed. After explaining my situation, Hogan immediately jumped onto his email, and found an old friend named Whinnie Lock who he had known at USC, and asked him if he could point us in the right direction. Mr. Lock was able to put me into contact with the Production Manager for the theatre department at USC, Ells Collins, who then sent my survey to Stage Managers who she had known and met over her career. This gave me a selection of Stage managers with different backgrounds, and when combined with other people I had managed to survey, left me with enough people to go on with my report. This just goes to show how important networking is in Stage Management, whether it comes to finding new jobs or getting help with whatever project you’re working on.

  4)     What are your two  most significant sources and why?

My first most significant source is The Backstage Art of Stage Managing by Thomas A. Kelly. This book, lent to me by Jon Shoemaker, is a very detailed descriptor of everything that has to do with Stage Management. The author picks apart every small detail, and relates every description with a story or example from his career. This book is so significant because it treats Stage Managing as the main topic, as opposed to most other sources I’ve read, which give the topic one small section among the many topics in theatre. It also helped confirm that I made the right decision in picking my best answer.

Another most important source was my second interview with Greg Cohen, my mentor. This interview took place at a time when I was confused about picking answers, and Greg helped me decide. Greg is a director, but he has held every job in a theatre, and has worked on dozens of shows. This experience, and his thoughtful answers guided me to picking out my answers, and ultimately my best answer, in addition to helping me build a solid foundation.

  5)    What is your product and why?

After completing my mentorship and independent components, I would have to say that my product is the relationship I have formed with Chino Community Theatre and the wonderful people who work there. While I don’t really consider Stage Managing to be a career choice, it has become a great hobby and creative outlet, and having this theatre that I can always go back to when I need an outlet is a great feeling. Having these very experienced people who I can go back to and ask for help when I need it gives me a piece of mind. It is also an opportunity to go back and make a little bit of cash if I ever need it.