Stage Managing in the Blue Ridge Mountains

What a great experience I have had so far this summer working with Endstation. It has been a blast and we have only been here for about four weeks. There is such a family vibe within this company that it makes it so comfortable to work here. Coming from Connecticut, it has been a great experience and I am afraid that it is going to go too quickly.

 For this season, I have the honor of stage-managing two non-traditional shows. What I mean by this is that both of my shows are not performed in a theatre. Good Good Trouble on Bad Bad Island was performed in a dance studio that was converted into a tennis court performance space (there is seating on both sides).  

Also with Good Good, we have traveled through elementary schools, which was a blast. Seeing the actors perform for elementary students was a great experience, seeing all the children’s faces light up when actors would perform and interact was amazing. There were many challenges for me during this run such as I had to have two props list. One prop list was configured to our tennis court style and the other prop list that was configured to the school settings where it was done in Proscenium. Also with my blocking (where the actors go) I had to make sure that their entrances and exits made sense when we were at the schools because a lot of the schools didn’t have a cross over space.  It was an amazing experience working on Good Good.

Since Good Good is now over, I get to focus all my attention onto Twelfth Night, which is a lot of fun. Again this show is not being performed in a theatre but outside at the Train Station on Sweet Briar's Campus. I am really excited to be working on this show. Being outdoors while enjoying the beautiful view is going to make the experience of seeing a performance of Twelfth Night truly amazing. Again this is something new to me because it is not in a theatre. I have had to adapt paperwork and blocking to fit within the acting space. It has been difficult for me to focus on our rehearsals with the spectacular sunsets that have been happening each night. 

Another exciting aspect for Twelfth Night performances would be that 9 out of our 10 performances will have a wine tasting which local vineyards are providing. It is wonderful to have the support of so many local businesses-it is truly a family community. Also you can purchase a box dinner from Sweet Briar to enjoy during the show.  Great Wine, Great Food, Great Location, and Great theatre, who wouldn’t pass up a deal like this.

            Besides all of that wonderful theatre that is happening here at Endstation, it has been an awesome summer just hanging out with everyone.  As others have mentioned we are one big family. Some of the fun things that we have done are camping/fishing, hanging out at the boathouse, and exploring Virginia.

This experience has been amazing so far and I can’t wait to see what is to come.

--Kelly--Stage Manager Intern