This is my first proper dispatch of the year! And I’m writing at very nearly the one-year anniversary of launching my Substack. (Scottstack??? Nope, don’t think so.) But 2023 started barrelling down the track right out of the gate and didn’t let up until the end of March. Plus it was my (46th!) birthday last month so I wanted to slow down a bit for that.
So how’ve you been? What’s new? What have I been doing? Let me tell you …
The show must … draw on the combined perseverance of all its artists to muscle itself across the finish line.
I have two stage managing gigs on my calendar this year and the first began late in 2022 with design meetings, but didn’t get really get rolling until early January when rehearsals began. “Crumbs from the Table of Joy” was written by one of my favorite playwrights, Lynn Nottage, and debuted in 1995. This was the third play by Ms. Nottage that I’ve stage managed. The first being “Intimate Apparel” which was originally produced in 2003 and “Sweat” which debuted in 2015. We didn’t get to finish “Sweat”. We were still in rehearsals and about three weeks from opening in early 2020 when the pandemic shut down the production. I wish we could have seen that one all the way through performances; it’s one of my favorite plays from Ms. Nottage.
“Crumbs” ultimately ended up being a good show, but it was stricken with one curveball after another. Every show has it’s challenges, sure, some more than others, but “Crumbs” had one after another and they continued pretty much the whole time. Some upended and redirected the course of our rehearsal focus for weeks at a time. We had one cast member come down with the flu … TWICE! Once during rehearsals; a second time during performances. Another actor came down with something the doctors couldn’t decide on what it was and it knocked him out of nearly a week of performances. Took two rounds of antibiotics for him to finally recover.
Those were some of the things we couldn’t control. Nobody came down with Covid, which was a damn miracle. Despite two direct exposures, too. (One of them was a direct exposure I had at work. I would rail against the people who still insist on coming to the office when they know they’ve been exposed to someone with Covid or are experiencing symptoms of anything, but that’s a different Substack.) But there were many things that could have been controlled or averted and too many of them were handled poorly, which had considerable ramifications during rehearsals and performances. It was not a big show, but it had big show problems.
Ultimately, the show was a success. We ended on a high note. The director is an old friend and this was the first time I got to work with them as their stage manager. We’d been talking about it for years. They pulled me aside one day before the season was announced and asked if I would consider being their stage manager if they were to direct a play in the upcoming season. I didn’t need to know what play, I just said ‘yes’.
Also, my partner was in the play - (she’s the one standing on the table) - and this was the first time we worked together on a play in many many years. First time I was her stage manager, too. There’s a scene in the play when her character - in the imagination of the narrator - steps up onto the banquet table and sings “Falling in Love Again” a la Marlene Dietrich. I love listening to my partner sing, so this was quite literally my favorite moment in the play. Very happy I got to be part of a show she was in. We’ve been enjoying some much needed rest in the aftermath.
Next things …
My partner’s already at work on her next theatrical endeavor. I won’t be far behind with my next project, which hasn’t been officially announced yet. Then my next stage managing job will be for a production of King Hedley II by August Wilson in the Fall. But in the meantime …
Revisions!
I am revising a new draft of a play I’ve been working on for a few years. This has been a challenging piece. It’s a single-character play. My first of any considerable length. Each draft gets me a little closer to where I want the play to be. I think I’m about ready to hear it read aloud again.
Also, I am developing two pitches for creator-owned comics that I’m aiming to get finalized and sent out to publishers this year. So it’s a busy busy 2023 and I’m very happy I can look ahead to making theatre and making comics with a lot of great people all throughout the year.
That’s all, folks!
Until next time, thanks for reading. Please, I encourage and invite you to share this post, subscribe, comment - all of the above. And don’t forget you can engage with me - and a ton of amazing writers - through the Chat feature of Substack and now also in Notes! I’ve been enjoying the rollout of this new feature. I’m excited to explore how I want to use it.
Take care, everybody. Hope your year is off to a great start!
See you next time!