Article: After a rehearsal, you basically need to be Rainman. What was that blocking note that the director gave around 7:45? Boom, you have it written down, no worries. You'll be taking notes on blocking, choreography, length of scenes, notes for rehearsal report, lighting and sound cues, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. It seems like overkill until the one time when the entire show hinges on something you have written down on page 47 of your book. It's imperative that you have a good system of shorthand down pat. And it should be legible if, God forbid, you ever get sick. So besides the standard USL, DSR system, get something consistent down for blocking and choreography patterns and all cues. That way you won't be scrambling 32 counts behind. Every show has that person who's notorious for being late. It's your job to call them up and make sure they're not dead and if they're not dead to chew them out for being late (in a civil way, of course). When everyone and everything's ready, you get the show on the road. When the city wants you out of the building, you're keeping an eye on the clock, too. Otherwise these things will go on for hours. You're calling breaks, too, and making sure one person with authority doesn't hog all the rehearsal time. Basically you keep things ticking. You're the time and the timekeeper. For some theatres (and provided you're not working a dance show), you'll be the one on book. That means when an actor drops a line, you call it out. You need to constantly be focusing and following along. If an actor doesn't know a line and you're not there to pick up the slack, you're losing seconds constantly and you will end up being behind schedule. "On book" means you have the script in front of you. Everyone else may be "off book," but you're the one ready with the script because just because everyone is off book doesn't mean they should be. And for the record, actors drop lines all the time. With your props master or mistress, you'll need to coordinate something for rehearsals. They may or may not be the real props, but you'll need something akin to what the actors will actually be working with when the show opens. Requests will naturally crop up as rehearsals progress and you'll need to provide something shortly thereafter. But you know the book so well, you saw that coming, right? If you're lucky enough to be working in the theatre the show is going up in and you're lucky enough to have a design and the actual props to work with, you'll need to have the stage spiked. That means putting that cool glow tape on the stage where the set pieces go. What colors do you want to use? Make sure to spike the upstage side of every piece. You don't want tape chillin' in front of every piece you have onstage. The audience might notice that. There will probably come a time when your director wants Sheila to exit stage right, make a quick change, and enter stage left fifteen seconds later. There will be other times when your director tries to design a hazard symbol from memory and, unbeknownst to her, it turns out more like a flower. It's your job to kill her fierce display of obliviousness -- you have to chime in for the good of the show. If something isn't possible or correct, speak up. However, it's not your place to offer artistic vision. The only time your opinions should come into play is when the director (or someone similar) asks. You're logistics here, letting them what will work and what won't -- not what vision you think the director should have. Obviously, your hands are going to be quite full, and that's one heck of an understatement. Because of this, you need to delegate. That's what your crew is for! Think of the ASM as assistant to the stage manager. Call the shots. Don't be worried about coming off as bossy -- the show needs to go on and you can't do it all yourself. An easy job to delegate is to make sure the rehearsal space is safe. Sweep (and mop, if necessary) the stage before rehearsal and make sure all is kosher afterward, too. Especially if you're renting the space! Reset the stage between each scene. Each night there will probably be several scenes that are being rehearsed; it'll be quickest if you or someone on your crew resets the stage instead of watching the actors fumble with things they shouldn't be fumbling with. Be hands on and ready to pitch in on everything. There is no such thing as "not my job" or a job that's beneath you. This shows that you are not afraid to do a little grunt work and might ensure your job. After each rehearsal, you'll need to send out a rehearsal report to all the necessary authorities (producer, directors, etc.). You have a template for that, right? It's in your prompt book? Cool. Talk about any issues, things that will be solved and changed tomorrow, timing, things that got done, notes for each department, and so and so forth. And then email it away with your handy dandy email list you made six months ago. If there are injuries or one of your actors end up in the ER, you have to hold replacement rehearsals to put in a replacement. This will mess up your schedule, but you'll make do. It's not enough that you've scheduled them, you gotta keep them on agenda, too. That means discussing budget, safety, publicity, allotting time for each department to chime in, and making sure the calendar is out for the next meeting. And you should probably take a few notes on this too (depending on how well everyone gets along, you know). Sometimes certain departments will be absent. You are the eyes and ears of the rehearsal hall and your job is communicating clearly and effectively to all of the production departments what is happening in the rehearsal hall and what the director wants. You never want anything to be a surprise come tech week. All departments should know what is happening and what affects them. There will be a company meeting at the beginning of tech week that you'll be running. That's when you field any last minute questions or concerns, talk about ticketing, emergencies, etc. Run over the procedures and policies of the theatre and let each department add final notes if they'd like. Kinda like a funny joke, right? Now you've gotta make your run sheet for your crew, the tech schedule, blocking script, prompt script, and a calling script (production script). But the good news? That's it for paperwork! Well, apart from the stuff you fill out every day. Your run sheet is a sheet describing what the crew has to do. Keep it as simple as possible yet still discernible by anyone who walks onto the job never having seen the show before. Basically, you write the cues, what pieces move and where. That's it. You're calling the cues for sound, light, fly, motor, and stage, so you'll need a calling script for yourself.

What is a summary?
Track everything. Be the timekeeper. Know that you may be on book. Pull props or rehearsal props. Spike the stage. Let the team know when something isn't possible or correct. Delegate. Send out the rehearsal report. Keep the production meetings running. Do even more paperwork.