Behind the Scenes

	Betsy Paull-Rick

Name:  Betsy Paull-Rick

City of Birth: Detroit, Michigan

City of Residence:  Miami

Occupation: Resident production stage manager

Credits and Awards:
Curtain Up Award nomination for A New Brain, the Musical (Best Choreography, Mosaic Theatre), Credits: 21 consecutive shows as production stage manager at the Mosaic Theatre.  Favorites include Amadeus (Carbonell nomination, Best Play), Art (Carbonell Award, Best Ensemble Production), Topdog/Underdog, A New Brain, the Musical, The Elephant Man, Match, A Shayna Maidel, and The Pull of Negative Gravity ( U.S. premiere), to name a few.  I have also worked locally for New Theatre, The Public Theatre of South Florida, Hollywood Playhouse, Theatre Illuminata, and Broadway Arts Productions.

How did you get into theatre?  My mother was a dancer and ran a dance school when I was growing up.  She choreographed many local productions for schools and theaters.   My brother is a production supervisor with many Broadway and national tours credits on his résumé.  I made my first appearance on stage at the age of three, so I guess you could say that I grew up surrounded by this business.

What inspired you to become a stage manager?  Someone once told me that as an actor, you will work a lot more consistently if you are a stage manager as well.  I have found this to be true.  Although I have worked in other industries and environments, I find that I am only truly happy when I am working in a theater, especially either on or back stage.  Being a stage manager keeps me working in the business that I love.

What exactly does a stage manager do?  The stage manager is responsible for supervising the stage and the actors during a production.  After opening night, the stage manager is also responsible for maintaining the artistic integrity of the show.  If the production is large enough to have a full back stage crew, then the stage manager calls the set, light and sound cues to the crew.  If the production does not have a crew, as is often the case in small non-profit theaters, then the stage manager can serve as the light and or sound operator, and sometimes fills other crew positions as well.  She is also responsible for making sure that the union rules are followed, distributing contracts and paychecks.

How or where did you learn stage management? My first stage management position was as an assistant stage manager for Maestro Gian Carlo Menotti’s 75^th Birthday Celebration at the Spoleto Festival USA, in Charleston, South Carolina.  It featured Colleen Dewhurst, Efram Zembelist, Jr, Yo Yo Ma, and Mikhail Baryshnikov.  I got thrown in at the last minute to replace someone and found that I really enjoyed it.  I learned the job by doing it, and by watching stage managers on the various tours that I have been on.

What traits should one have to be a good stage manager?  You need to have great people skills and great communication skills.  You need to be able to handle stress and pressure while presenting a positive attitude to your actors, the director and producer, the designers and the technical staff.  The mechanics of the job are fairly easy to learn if you are willing to ask questions and or keep quiet and watch as things unfold around you.  I have learned a great deal from everyone I have worked with—designers, actors, directors, stagehands, etc.  You need to be able to multi-task constantly.

What are some specific skills you’ve picked up on the job?  Running a sound and light board.  Trouble-shooting technical equipment when necessary.  Learning to make stage blood!  Finding new ways to create props and set dressing.

Unlike some members of the production team, your job certainly doesn’t end when a production begins.  What is your time commitment to a production?  I start to work at least one week before the first rehearsal.  Depending on the size of the show, my job ends two to three days after the production closes.  I am at the theater at least an hour before the actors are called and am usually done about 30 minutes after the curtain comes down.

What is the most challenging thing about your job?  Keeping calm when everyone around me is under a great deal of stress as we get closer to a production opening.  That and trying to fit 95 hours of work in to a 24-hour day!

Are there some shows that are more challenging to stage-manage than other?   Yes.  Generally, the bigger the show, the more challenging it is for the stage manager.

What production has offered you the most challenges?  I would have to say King Lear at New Theatre.  It was a big show, with a large cast, and a lot of sound and light cues.  There were 33 sound cues in one scene, 13 on the first page, with almost as many light cues.  That’s a lot of cues to stay on top of, and if I call them incorrectly it could be a disaster.

What have been your favorite productions to manage and why?  A New Brain, the Musical, at the Mosaic.  I love musicals and the entire company worked very hard to produce a wonderful show.  It was great fun to call that show every night.

What do non-theatre people ask most often when they learn what you do?  I don’t remember the last time I met a non-theatre person!  I’m serious!

What is the funniest thing that’s ever happened to you on a production you were managing?  A patron mistook the off stage entrance into the kitchen of the set for the exit to the lobby.  He got up from his seat and went back stage accidentally.  I called my assistant stage manager over the headset and fortunately she was on that side of the stage and able to assist him.  It was horrifying at the time, but also pretty funny.

What’s the worst thing that’s happened?  During Big, the musical, there was a bad storm during one performance.  Lightning took out the power to the building and for the few seconds that it took for the emergency power to come back on, I felt completely helpless.  I was in the booth, which is three stories up at the back of the theater, and for those few seconds I could not communicate with anyone backstage or in the front of the house.  It really was only a matter of seconds, but it seemed a lot longer at the time.

What’s the best thing about working in South Florida theatre?  The people in the community.  I’ve met some great people and we all share a passion for what we do.  I’m proud of the work that we do and proud to be a part of theater in South Florida.

Upcoming Productions:
Oleanna at the Mosaic Theatre, which runs through June 4
Directing a staged reading of Summer Brave for the Ghostlight Reading Series