Calls to the Stage

This is going to be short.

Please hearken back to the early days of my blog when I described one of the tasks for which a stage manager is responsible. No, not the wedgie pulling, but thanks for going there.

I'm talking about making Calls to the Stage. Whenever a singer / performer is needed onstage for an entrance or to sing offstage, I, the stage manager will make an announcement over the intercom system, calling them to the stage from their dressing room. This cuts down on people hanging around in the wings (backstage area) when they aren't needed. It allows the stage manager to control the traffic flow backstage, and also allows the performer to relax / prepare in the dressing room, away from the bustle of the performance.

If you'll remember, I call performers to the stage by their last names i.e., "Mr. Smith, to the stage, please." Often I call more than one person to the stage at a time i.e., "Mr. Smith, Ms. Jones, and Ms. Lee to the stage, please." You'll might also remember me commenting on my habit of mispronouncing or poorly ordering the performers names.

I just read the cast list for a production I'll be working on in the spring. My calls to the stage are going to need to go something like this: "Mr. Geibels, Ms. Vakian, Ms. Elsayed, Mr. Dalke, Mr. So, Mr. Hung, Ms. Rosengaus, and Ms. Oluwabunmi Adedeji-Ogunlalaka to the stage, please."

Aw! Come on!!!!

-v