My Top 5 Stage Managers: In Celebration of International SM Day
Happy International Stage Manager Day! I have been reflecting lately on the wonderful Stage Managers that I have worked with across my career and how much fun and chaos we have caused across the globe. In celebration of International Stage Manager Day, I thought it would be fun to highlight my top 5 Stage Managers and a few reasons why I think they are so special. I won’t shirk from the fact that this IS A BIASED OPINION, these are the Stage Managers in my orbit and ones who not only have impacted the work we have done together, but have had an impact on me personally. There are many more I could list but we would be here forever!!
1. Rebecca Lockyer (Rex)
Rebecca Lockyer (Rex) was my Senior Stage Manager, when I was the General Stage Manager of The House of Dancing Water. I remember back in 2012, us looking at each other in my office one day and thinking “OH SHIT” as we both realized that we were pregnant at the same time. The picture you see here is us in our “Pregnancy Mumuus” with the rest of our SM team. The pregnancy mumuu was a show tradition before maternity leave, where any pregnant staff member was required to wear the pregnancy mumuu for an entire day.
Not only have Rex and I shared many years working together, we have shared our children’s birthday parties, our parenting and work struggles and many long hours and late nights keeping one of the biggest shows in the world running. One of the things that I admire most about Rex, is that in front of the team, she always supported me, even if she didn’t necessarily agree with a stance I was taking. If she had a problem with my leadership, she would take it up with me behind closed doors, never in front of the team. Rex always had my back and that of the teams, and that’s what makes her a great SM.
2. Matthew Stern
Not only does Matthew Stern stage manage, Matthew writes about Stage Management, teaches Stage Management, speaks on Stage Management and runs the annual Broadway Stage Management Symposium. This guy does not stop. He’s also the person to call if you have a crazy idea and need a wing man. Matthew and I decided to produce the EPIC Conference at the end of the pandemic and when I suggested we make the conference 24 hours straight, without even hesitating, Matthew said “OK, let’s do that”.
Matthew is such an advocate for Stage Managers and the practice of Stage Managing, so he’s on my list not just because he is a great stage manager but because of his advocacy and support for SMs everywhere.
3. Mary Barnett
Mary, as far as I’m concerned, is now Vegas Stage Management royalty having worked for Cirque du Soleil in Las Vegas for 17 years. Mary was the General Stage Manager for LOVE, by the Beatles for many years and then moved over to be the GSM for Michael Jackson’s One.
We met, many years ago, working together on LOVE, by the Beatles as fellow Stage Managers. Mary’s quick wit and sarcasm, made her an honorary Australian in my book. Her SM capability landed her a GSM role pretty quickly and now you could throw any big show at that woman, and she has got you covered. I keep trying to pry her away and employ her on shows overseas, but she won’t budge. In a weird parallel, we both have similar personal lives. We both married guys that work in automation, we both had two children, both had a boy first and then a girl. Only difference is that we live on different continents.
4. Gareth Hulance
Gareth not only is an incredible Stage Manager and has run some of the biggest Ceremonies and shows on the planet, he also runs Cue2Cue, which is a service that allows companies hire qualified Stage Managers to their projects. He also is an incredible teacher of Stage Management. Gareth has the wonderful ability to break down the process of Stage Management and all it’s responsibilities in a clear, concise and practical fashion. Even though I have Stage Managed for over 20 years, I still love listening to his lectures, his approach, his philosophy on how to run a room and I always learn something from him.
He also has the uncanny ability to show up in Hong Kong, and text me for a meet up, to which we will hit a cafe and drink coffee for hours on end and discuss work, life, the industry and how we can continue to make a mark. He’s an inspiration.
5. Karena Letham
You won’t see Karena online or in photos often as she tends to avoid publicity at all costs, but I managed to take this picture while her guard was down on a gig in Saudi Arabia. If you want to talk about creating culture in a company, Karena is your Stage Manager. Karena has a strong ethos when it comes to managing a company, a cast and a show and sets the tone for everyone else. One of the qualities I seek when hiring Stage Managers, is the ability for that person to take ownership and responsibility of their role. Karena is the embodiment of that. I often feel when I watch Karena work, that I’m looking at a 10 year younger version of myself.
On this particular show in Saudi Arabia, the gig was outdoors and the stage had a large section of sand covering the main part of the performance space. The local stray cats took that stage as a giant kitty litter box and for the first few days before we got a cover, they would go poop in the sand. On a number of occasions, I watched Karena jump onstage and clean out the sand instead of asking someone else to do the job.
It reminded me of something a mentor of mine said to me many years ago. “Anna, no matter what you get paid, or what your title may be, if you remain willing to sweep the stage before the show, you will be a good stage manager.”
Honorary Mentions
I couldn’t finish this article without a few honorary mentions.
- Carolyn (Nog) Wyld– The first GSM I got to work with and learn from in the Cirque du Soleil world.
- Nathan Grimoulas – An SM, who I wouldn’t hire for 2 years as he was too green to bring into my SM department in Macau, but then I did, and I watched him grow from ASM to SM to GSM. An incredible journey to watch and be a part of.
- Madison Burkett– One of the best Show Callers I have ever worked with.
- Sam Orme – A former SM, turned Executive Producer who is an amazing creative and production leader in the industry.
- Damien Long – A former PSM and now my fellow founder at OLC (Our Legacy Creations).
- Ryan Colbran – All round amazing SM who I recently hired again and the colleagues that we work with literally said to me yesterday “We are very happy to have Ryan onboard. Only two days and things have already improved”.
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