Broadway Stage Management Symposium Schedule Announced

After two successful years fully online, the 8th annual Broadway Stage Management Symposium will be presented in a hybrid format: both in person in New York City and Online.

The 2022 line up of speakers features a diverse group of Broadway professionals sharing their experience and expertise on numerous topics on the art and craft of stage management. In addition, BSMS registration includes full replay access to all sessions, so no one will miss a moment of the important discussions if they cannot attend live. All the sessions can be enjoyed whenever they are available.

BSMS sessions and panels feature valuable insights, information, and inspiration for stage managers of all levels. Attendees from across the country and around the world engage with top Broadway professionals, make new connections, and expand their knowledge at this important event created by stage manages, for stage managers, featuring Broadway's stage managers.

The 2022 BSMS sessions include:

Stage Manager & Tony Honorees. This exclusive, one-of-a-kind discussion brings together the only two stage managers to ever receive Tony Honors. Peter Lawrence (2013) and Beverly Jenkins (2020) share their experience as Tony Honorees, reflecting on their journey, looking forward to the future, and imparting lessons and advice from their incredible 75 years on Broadway!

New Team Members: The Directors of EDI & More. Some Broadway shows have added a new position to their production teams. The titles vary, but this position will bring strategies and tools to drive necessary changes in equity, diversity, and inclusion to their productions. With stage managers at the center of the production process, it's vital to understand how we interact, support, and learn from the people in this new position. BSMS welcomes: Christina Alexander (Director of Social Responsibility at Wicked), Chloe Beck (Director of Equity, Diversity, & Inclusion at Moulin Rouge), Colette Luckie (Director of People & Culture at Hamilton), & Philip McAdoo (Director of Equity, Diversity & Inclusion for Disney Theatrical) along with stage managers/production supervisors: Lisa Dawn Cave (Frozen), Matthew Dicarlo (Moulin Rouge), & Amber White (Hamilton) for an insightful exploration of our collaboration with our new colleagues and how their work can inform and improve our process.

Self-Care & Stage Mangers. Over the last few years, Broadway stage manager Justin Scribner (Once On This Island, Rock of Ages), has been working with self-care consultant and author, Gracy Obuchowicz (author: self carefully) in developing techniques for stage managers' self-care and how we can create a more sustainable and harmonic life. For those tasked with taking care of everyone else in the production process, this will be an extremely valuable session, filled with thoughtful and practical applications.

Keynote with Cherie B. Tay. The multi-talented Cherie B. Tay (A Strange Loop, Slave Play, Hadestown) is so much more than a stage manager. An advocate, voice-over artist, musician, photographer, and tik-tok sensation, Cherie's career is a testament to forging one's own path and paving a new road according to your own rules. On Broadway, Cherie has worked at every level of the stage management team from production assistant (Doctor Zhivago) to production stage manager (Slave Play) and brings both a depth and breadth of knowledge and experience to impart from her unique experience.

Calling Jagged Little Pill, will explore the show call of the popular musical, Jagged Little Pill with the stage management team: Ira Mont (Ghost), Vicky Navarro, (The Lion King) & Jennifer Rogers (Cats). The hit show, with its rock and roll score by Alanis Morissette and imaginative story telling by director Diane Paulus, had its run was cut short due to the pandemic shut down. This will be a wonderful look at this awesome show, revealing the challenges of cueing this rock & roll story, as well as the techniques and strategies to successfully call the show 8 times a week.

Stage Hands and Stage Managers: Collaboration & Communication. Coming together during the intense and pressure filled time of technical rehearsal, the stage managers and the crew need to work efficiently and effectively to bring any show to life. In this panel, stage managers Kamra Jacobs (Skeleton Crew) and Kenneth McGee (The Lion King) join stage hands, Jessica Dermody (wardrobe: Hamilton), Carin Ford (audio: Paradise Square), & Emiliano Pares (props: Matilda & owner BB Props) to examine positive strategies for building a team approach, ensuring clear communications, and navigating potential misunderstandings that can impact the production process.

Navigating New Plays. New Plays present unique challenges as the play is constantly being re-written. Stage managers are literally tasked with keeping everyone on the same page. This panel reunites the stage management team from Chicken & Biscuits, lark hackshaw (for colored girls...), Brant Sennett (Dear Evan Hansen), and Brian Hanshaw (Mystic Pizza), along with director Zhailon Levingston (Tina) to illuminate the challenges and solutions employed to successfully manage the birth of a new play on Broadway. Moderated by Broadway stage manager Michael Rico Cohen (Be More Chill), founder of Bway Printing.

The Study & Analysis of Stage Management. During the shutdown, Dr. Jennifer Leigh Sears Scheier (Illinois Shakespeare Festival) published her dissertation on the history of stage management. Meanwhile, Karyn Meek (Paradise Square), earned her second masters degree, an MS in Project Management and Leadership, to go along with her MFA in Theatre. Together, they will reveal how their research and analysis can illuminate the present state of stage management, as well as how we can best move into the future.

Broadway to DGA aka from Theatre to Television. This panel features Stage managers: Arthur Lewis (Grammys, Super Bowl, SNL), Jeffrey Markowitz (The Wiz Live), Cody Renard Richard (Jesus Christ Superstar Live), & Lauren Class Schnieder (The Tony Awards) who all made the pivot from Broadway and Theatre into Television. They are applying their theatrical skills in new ways and working in a new union, the Directors Guild of America (DGA) on a live-televised events, TV's live musicals, commercials, regular televised programs, and more. Hear their stories, as they reveal the inside scoop and details about stage managing for television, how it's similar and different from theatre, and how they got there.

Technology & Innovation for Stager Managers. Technology has brought innovation to many aspects of theatre production, but what about stage management? There are tools available for us beyond the spreadsheets and word processors that we've been using for decades. BSMS brings together some of these creators: The Empty Space, Showbuilder, Cue to Cue, and Clear-Com to discuss how they see the current & future integration of technology into stage management, so we can be more efficient & effective.

The full schedule is available at https://www.broadwaysymposium.com/schedule

All sessions have Q&A time for participants to engage with the panelists. The hybrid experience will allow attendees to network with each other and panelists between sessions, as well as visit the partners and vendors at the NYC and online Expo.

This educational intensive is open to the public. See the website for full details, including schedule, registration, and payment plans. Contact: matt@broadwaysymposium.com with any questions.

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