Interview: Theatre Life with Kate Kilbane

Today’s subject Kate Kilbane is currently living her theatre life as one of the most important positions in the theatre. She is the Production Stage Manager for Primary Trust at Signature Theatre. The show runs through October 20th in Signature’s ARK space.

Over the years Kate Kilbane has worked as either an Assistant Stage Manager (ASM) or a Production Stage Manager (PSM) at many of our area theatres. Select credits include The Last Night of Ballyhoo, Broken Glass and 13 other productions at Theater J, two engagements with Mike Daisey at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, The Laramie Project at Ford’s Theatre, Follies, Ragtime, and First You Dream at Kennedy Center. Regional credits include productions at Contemporary American Theatre Festival and ASM of the reading series for Williamstown Theatre Festival. She also serves as the Resident PSM for Open Circle Theatre.

You have to be of a certain mentality to work as a stage manager because pretty much everything falls to you during any given performance. The stress level is extremely high. Kate Kilbane handles every situation that is thrown at her with calmness and grace and professionalism. Trust me on this one. There is an added bonus that Kate and every stage manager in the world has the power of the most glorious word in the theatrical language GO!! Nothing happens during a performance until the stage manager calls it. Once they do lights, sound, set shifts, and more all happen perfectly.

Grab some tickets to Primary Trust at Signature Theatre and take special notice of all the technical aspects that happen during the show. The four member cast is in the best of hands with Kate Kilbane at the helm. Her calling precision of Primary Trust adds to the Pulitzer Prize winning experience. That’s what I call living your theatre life to the fullest.

Had you been doing something else in theatre before becoming a stage manager?

I loved doing theatre in high school and was a DJ in college. I didn’t think I had a future in theatre as my parents expected me to get an office job. So, after graduation, I moved to DC and got a job at a nonprofit association. It turned out that my roommate’s girlfriend worked for Horizons Theatre, and they needed a sound board operator. I did that for a few shows before their Artistic Director, Leslie Jacobson, thought I’d make a good stage manager and the rest is history.

Did you go to school for theatre? If yes, where did you receive your training?

After Horizons Theatre, my stage management training was on-the-job with guidance from working stage managers, lighting designers and producers of small companies in the Washington, DC area including Rorschach Theatre, The Theatre Conspiracy, Asian Stories in America, Washington Shakespeare Company and Theater J before I had the opportunity to leave my full-time job to serve as a Production Assistant at the Shakespeare Theatre Company for two seasons. I soaked in everything I could from the various Production Stage Managers and from Brandon Prendergast, one of their Assistant Stage Managers at the time, who provided a framework to stage managing that still serves me today.

What was your first professional theatrical job?

The first time I called a show was for a musical play called Gift, created by Roy Barber that Dorothy Neuman directed at the Source Theater Festival. It was about the lives of a handful of youth from a rural township in South Africa. They traveled to Washington, DC to act in it as well. It was daunting, having never stage managed before, but the lighting designer taught me how to call lighting cues. After multiple tries, I began to see how to time the calling of his light cues. In the middle of the show, I finally got one perfectly and saw the magic. Of course, the next few cues were messed up because I was so excited. I don’t do that anymore, but I caught the theater bug that day.

For those that don’t understand what a stage manager does, can you please give us an overview of what the job entails from pre-production through opening night and beyond?

A stage manager is responsible for supporting the director and performers for a production, and collaborating with the director, creative staff, and production staff of the theatre. In pre-production, we get everything ready to begin rehearsals. During rehearsals, we put the daily schedules together and maintain the production book that records all the performers’ movements onstage. We are the center of the communication hub, with everyone that’s part of it. In tech, the SM leads rehearsals as all departments work to put the show together. Up until opening, changes are often being made.  At opening night, the show becomes the stage manager’s. It’s my job to maintain the integrity of the director’s vision and ensure consistent calling and the smooth running of the show.

Can you please tell us a little something about Primary Trust?

It’s a charming play about a black man in his late 30s whose predictable life is shaken up when he loses his job. He can be a little awkward, but in the process of starting a new job and making a new friend, he learns how to connect with people in ways that previously eluded him. It won the 2024 Pulitzer Prize and is going to be produced around the country. It’s been great to get the chance to work on an early production of it.

In terms of calling a show, on a scale of one to ten, with ten being the level of difficulty, where does Primary Trust land?

Rating the show on a scale of one to ten is difficult to do as a scale is subjective. There are certainly challenging sections, and the show requires 100% of my focus.

A show can bring different types of challenges, from the purely technical to dealing with cast member challenges. I worked on a production with an actor who had an intellectual disability and was also diabetic, who sometimes needed prompting when his blood sugar was low. I would watch his face while he was onstage and if I saw his face drain color, I would tell the ASM.

Along those same lines, what would you consider to be the toughest show you have ever called?

In the time of COVID-19, in the summer of 2022, I was hired as the swing stage manager at the Contemporary American Theatre Festival in Shepherdstown, WV. Tasked with being ready to cover six plays, it was quite a challenge. Right after opening, I got a phone call two hours before the next curtain that I needed to call this sound cue-heavy show. I was really glad I had watched it the day before – it was my only prep since I hadn’t gotten the script. The original stage manager had run sound herself, but staff lined up an intern to run sound. The two actors arrived early to run through a difficult sequence with me and I’ll never forget the other stage managers, company manager and production staff who rallied around me and got me all the things I needed.

Those who had seen it earlier didn’t notice any differences and I knew that I’d done my job which is what the stage manager is supposed to do. So, I was proud of myself.

What advice can you give to someone just starting their professional stage management career?

Strive to do your best and be open to learning every day regardless of what contract you’re on or where you’re working. Shadow accomplished stage managers, be reliable and trustworthy. In addition to the hard skills, learn how to foster listening and communication. Develop leadership skills and learn how to maintain an atmosphere of empathy, compassion and inclusiveness.

After Primary Trust, what does the rest of 2024 and into 2025 hold in store for you workwise?

I’m looking forward to returning to the Folger for a project in December and next year sees me working at Olney Theatre Center for the first time. I’ll be the ASM for Waitress and the PSM for Kim’s Convenience. I’ll also continue to work on a new musical with Open Circle Theatre. It’s a multi-year project that takes place simultaneously online and in the theatre.

Special thanks to Signature Theatre's Marketing Manager and Publicist Zachary Flick for his assistance in coordinating this interview.

Theatre Life logo designed by Kevin Laughon.

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