Interview with Barry Burns - Shaw Festival ASM

Back in September I arranged a phone interview with Mr. Barry Burns, an ASM at the Shaw Festival in Niagara-On-The-Lake. I got in contact with him through a contact that my mom had. This was the first occurrence that made me realize that networking and making connections is quite crucial in this industry.

Here is my Q&A interview with Mr. Burns:

Q: How long have you been an ASM?
A: Since 1988.

Q: Why did you choose to become an ASM?
A: I was pursuing acting, but fell into liking stage management after trying it a couple times. I liked the process and thought it would be a good 2nd option if I didn't get work as an actor.

Q: Where did you apprentice and how long did it take to get your Equity Card?
A: I didn't apprentice, actually. I was offered a stage management job in Ottawa with a theatre that couldn't find an Equity stage manager that was available. I paid a fee to get the card and took the job.

Q: What was your apprenticeship experience like?
N/A- Didn't apprentice

Q: What companies have you worked at and what type of work did you do?
A: I have worked at the Shaw Festival, Stratford, National Arts Centre in Ottawa, The Globe in Regina, Vancouver, and Manitoba Theatre Centre, all working as an ASM or an SM. I have also worked with Livent doing Phantom of the Opera in Toronto, but the company doesn't exist anymore.

Q: What are the pros and cons to the ASM lifestyle and job?
Pros:

• Responsibility
• Finding a good team you like to work with and working with them on projects on a regular basis
• Job is good for a certain type of personality

Cons:

• Don't get the same recognition as a stage manager does
• Long hours

Q: What shows at the Shaw Festival are you working on at the moment?

A: The President and Drama at Inish

Q: Can you give me some advice on being an ASM?
A: - Have a good sense of humor.

     - Stay bright and cheerful under pressure.

     - Be well-organized and prepared for the job always.

     - People like to work with people who make work fun, so just relax and enjoy your work.

I really enjoyed talking to Mr. Burns. I found out some important and insightful information into being an ASM. I was really nervous at first, since it was a phone interview, but what I found that helped me was to just relax and practice asking the questions before calling. When I was on the phone, after the initial greeting, I started to feel more comfortable and the questions I asked came out sounding normal, rather than stuttering when I spoke when I was practicing before hand. Talking on the phone and calling people is important in this industry, I have found out, so I was grateful for the opportunity to talk to someone on the phone.

Sometime next week I am trying to arrange to shadow at Theatre Aquarius during a rehearsal.

Job Shadow - David Rundle

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Last night I went for a job shadow with the Stage Manager for a show called East Of Berlin at the Staircase Theatre in Hamilton. The show was written by Hannah Moscovitch, directed and produced by Ryan Trepanier, and starred Gregory Cruikshank, Robert Brown, and Crystal Jonasson.

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David Rundle was the stage manager that I shadowed for the show. I arranged the job shadow through e-mail and arrived at 7pm on Friday, November 18th, 2011. Since it was a small cast and no crew, I was introduced to everyone in the cast and the production team as soon as I got there.

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Before continuing my description of my job shadow, I would like to mention the theatre itself. It's a small, intimate theatre with only 67 seats and a cafe in the lobby. It is named after the cast iron spiral staircase in the lobby. The exterior columns and interesting brick work stands out against the modern businesses and houses that surround it. The interior has a warm feeling to it that I felt as soon as I walked in. The whole theatre is unique and cozy, which I thoroughly enjoyed.

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After meeting the cast and director/producer, David brought me to the booth, where we would be located during the play. Since it was a very small production, he ran the sound (which was only the pre-show music) and the lights as well as being the stage manager. He showed me his prompt and his cues for the lights briefly and explained about the manual light-board that he had never used until the first on-stage rehearsal of the production. He mentioned that, being a stage manager (especially for small productions like this), you might sometimes have to run everything yourself and learn on the spot. So just be open to trying and learning new things.

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We then went to give the half hour call. To give the actors their call, we went down one very long flight of stairs. We went up and down that flight of stairs for every call, and he does this every night also because it's a small production so he acts as the only stage manager with no ASM.
During the run of the show I watched the actors and noted when there was a light cue so I could follow along in the prompt book while he worked the lights. With each cue he explained to me what he was doing so I could understand. I thought it was really neat to be in the booth during an actual show, since I had never been to shadow someone before.

One major thing that I picked  up on from this shadow was the fact that sometimes stage managers have to do more than one thing, and some things they might not be comfortable with. David mentioned he had never used a light board before this show, so he had to learn how to use one. I didn't think what we learned in lighting and sound about how to operate the equipment would apply to being a stage manager, but I realized that it actually does and it's very necessary to have knowledge in all the different fields.

One thing that I did not care for while I was shadowing was that, in between giving the actors their calls, we would go out to the lobby so that David could talk to some friends he had invited to the show. I don't think I would do that if I were a stage manager. If I invite friends, I'll talk to them after the show. I just think that it could be distracting and it would be easy to lose track of time and miss a call.

Overall my experience was quite fulfilling. I learned a lot and I thought it was interesting to experience a very small show, compared to the larger ones I've been learning about. I liked the atmosphere of being in the booth, at this smaller production in particular. It made me feel that I could possibly be doing this one day, and that made me feel really nice.

I think I would like to go for another Job Shadow in the future. :)

(NOTE: Unfortunately I didn't have my camera when I went, so none of the pictures belong to me. All the sources of the pictures can be found underneath each image.)