Designers, Technicians, and Stage Managers
National Stage Management Fellowship
Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival Stage Management Fellowship
Updated August 9, 2011
Introduction and Purpose
The purpose of the KCACTF Stage Management Fellowship is to provide student stage managers with feedback from professionals working in the field, to give outstanding student stage managers national recognition, and to provide the opportunity for student managers to attend the national festival.
This is a National-eligible award, meaning that one stage manager will be selected at the regional festival to attend the National Festival in Washington DC.
How To Participate
To participate, any interested student who has stage managed an associate or participating entry must:
- Register for the event online using the Design, Tech and Management Registration Form
- Submit by November 15, 2011 to the Regional Design, Technologies and Management Chair by email, fax or US Mail :
- A letter of intent, written solely by the student, including: a short commentary of the stage manager's "approach statement", a brief statement about why the student believes he/she may gain a positive experience by participating in the regional festival and his/her intention to practice stage management in the future.
- A 1-page résumé.
- A letter of support from the entered production's director or, if the director is unavailable, the student's closest stage management faculty/staff mentor outlining the student's strengths, weaknesses and an overview of the student's performance on the entered production.
What To Prepare for the Regional Festival
For the National Stage Management Fellowship, there are three components to the Regional Festival: The Expo Display, a Management Event, and a Response Session.
The Expo Display
Each stage manager will be given a display space in which the PROMPT BOOK from the production entered must be shown.
The prompt script should be the genuine book(s) the student used during the actual production. It should not be beautified or improved after closing night. The student's name and production should be prominently displayed on the outside front cover of the book(s).
The prompt script is not required to include ALL of the production's paperwork; these should include, but are not limited to:
- The "Blocking Script" and the "Calling Script", as one or more books, with blocking and cue-calling notation.
- Rehearsal and performance notes, as presented to the production/design team.
- Schedules, including rehearsals, tech rehearsals, etc.
- Pre-show/post-show checklists, shift schedules, French scenes, etc.
- Forms, emails, communications, schedules, lists and plots.
All of the above materials should be the bona fide working versions, created during the actual production process.
Stage managers are welcome, but not required, to include a simple display along with their prompt script(s), which may present examples of paperwork, unique stage management techniques, production photos (in order to convey the production values and scope of the production), examples of personalized notations, etc. The stage management prompt script display is intended to provide less experienced stage managers and others the opportunity to examine and learn from the prompt scripts. The display itself is not part of the criteria the stage management respondent considers in selecting a Fellowship candidate, though the prompt book is.
Each stage manager will be assigned a table about 3' wide and 18" deep (size may vary slightly depending on what the host school can provide). The table will be in front of a styrofoam panel that will have a surface about 4' wide by 5' tall on which visual display materials may be attached.
Materials should NOT include personal cast/crew contact information. Such information may be expunged. There is no need to expunge the name of the stage manager’s school from paperwork.
Festival Stage Management
In addition to the prompt book display, each Stage Manager will be assigned a festival event to manage, such as the 10-minute Play Festival, Design Storm, Irene Ryan Auditions, etc. The student stage manager's performance on this project will be part of the criteria for Fellowship selection. Shortly after the Region III Selection Committee Meeting the first weekend in December, stage managers will be notified of assignments.
Response
When the student designer checks in and is assigned a panel, he or she will also be given an assigned time at which the preliminary response will take place. Stage Managers will be asked to present their prompt books to a panel of professional guest Respondents. Each designer will give a short oral presentation of their stage management process, noting special challenges with this production, followed by a question and answer session with the respondents. Exact timing will depend on the number of entries, but usually there is about a minute for the oral presentation, and about 4 minutes for the response.
The Stage Management Respondents will select a group of stage managers to advance to a final round. The final round typically takes the format of a mock job interview.
One stage manager from the region may be selected for the National Stage Management Fellowship if the Respondents feel that there is work of sufficient quality to advance to the national level. "Sufficient quality" will be determined by the Respondents and regional DTM chair(s). Selection will be based on the following:
- Professionalism and completeness of the prompt script and other paperwork.
- Effectiveness of coordinating and managing a festival event, based on the respondent's feedback from the regional event coordinator.
- Personal demeanor and communication skills, based on interpersonal communication during the response sessions and feedback from festival event supervisor.
- Written material, submitted prior to the Regional Festival.
The Stage Management Fellowship recipient will be announced at the regional festival awards ceremony, and will be invited to attend the national festival in Washington, D.C. in April.
