2023

This year was our first year back in person since 2019 and our first fully hybrid SMArts conference. The conference ran from Thursday April 20 to Sunday, April 30 with 120 people registered. Unfortunately, due to a strike at our venue, we moved most of the courses back online. But thanks to the generosity of Soulpepper, Rapier Wit, and the National Ballet of Canada, we were able to host a few days in person.

Borrowing from our 2020 conference we offered two free conversations. The first, Upcoming CTA Negotiation Thoughts, was hosted by the Equity Stage Management Committee. The second, OK Stage Managers – What now? was a Town hall discussion hosted by SMArts to discuss the future of stage management in this country.

We continued to offer subsidized seats, and thanks to the generosity of stage managers and other folks, we raised $1,000.

And as is our custom we closed the conference with a Night of a 1,001 Stage Managers on Sunday April 30 at the Imperial Pub on Dundas Street. The event was very well attended by participants, past participants, and community members. It was great to see so many familiar faces.

Courses offered

Effective Communication & Paperwork
LINE! Blocking and Rehearsal Hall Management
Best Practices: Firearms
Giving Notes
Theatre for Young Audiences
Engaging with Deaf Artists
Resumes
Working with Digital Prompt Scripts
Calling a Show
Calling a Show Part 2: More Moving Parts
Canadian Theatre Agreement (CTA)

- Joining Equity
- Assistant Stage Managing
- CTA Overtime
- Reading Plans / Taping a Floor
- How to be a Good Apprentice
- Training Apprentices
- Stress, Burnout, and Finding Balance
- Reading Music
- Scores: Prepping, Qing, and Calling
- Scheduling and Planning

2020

COVID Edition 2020

They say the show must on…but just not always in the same format. When the state of emergency was announced, we were deep in the planning stages for the Toronto conference. We figured we would have to cancel and put everything on the back burner until 2021. But we stage managers are a hardy lot and we decided to pivot and re-imagine the conference.

We were hesitant to move the conference online for two reasons. Firstly, we are very sensitive to the fact that while many stage managers now have ample time for professional development, they have lost anywhere from 6 weeks to 6 months worth of contracts. While we would love to offer our courses for free, we believe in paying our instructors and staff, and SMArts is not in a financial position to carry that cost. Secondly, one of SMArts core values is creating community. Participants and instructors discuss issues not only inside the conference room but also on breaks, over coffee, and at the bar on the closing night. My fear was if we moved online, we would lose that sense of community. So, we came up with a plan that answered both of those concerns.

During the first week, (May 4 – 8) we hosted a FREE national conversation / panel discussion each day on different topics of interest to the stage management community. These conversations took place on ZOOM at 1 p.m. EDT so that stage managers from across the country could join in.

During week 2, (May 11 – 15), we offered one course online taught by one of our expert instructors. The courses were chosen for their fit for online delivery. These courses were offered on a sliding scale from $10 – $35 and capped at 40 participants. The courses were so popular that we had to offer all the courses for a second time in Week 3 (May 18-22).

This was a new venture for SMArts and we were excited, and slightly nervous, about the COVID Edition of our conference, but in the end we made our courses accessible, grew the community, and offered everyone a chance to meet and chat at a time when we needed connection.

Courses offered:

Working with Digital Prompt Scripts
Working with QLab
Effective Communication & Paperwork
Stage Managing Intimacy
Cirque due Soleil: Stage Management & Aerial Show Calling

Conversations Included:

Stuck in the Middle – 2 years later
Branching Out
SMArt Parents
Access/Equity & Inclusion
Accessible Theatre

Corner Brook, Newfoundland

DATES: Thursday, February 20 – Sunday, February 23, 2020

VENUE: Grenfell Campus, Memorial University

Courses which were offered:

Giving Notes
Health & Safety
Stage Managing Intimacy
Reading Plans / Taping the Floor
Foundation of Staged Combat
Mindfulness
Scheduling & Planning
Workplace Harassment and the Rehearsal Hall
Calling a Show / Prompt scripts
Networking 101
What does it mean to be Equity?

In March 2019, Susan Jennings, an Equity member and resident stage manager at Grenfell Campus of Memorial University of Newfoundland, contacted me with a plan. She wanted to host a SMArts on the Road in Corner Brook during the student Reading Week, so her students could get the benefit of a SMArts right in their own home. Susan had attended SMArts and PMArts in the past and was a great supporter of our work. With the help of her colleague, Beth Bradbury, Technical Director at Grenfell Campus, they had put together a list of courses, schedule and found funding to make this happen.

This is exactly what Winston and I had envisioned with our On The Road conferences – taking SMArts outside of Toronto to regions with little to no access to professional development. In the past 23 years we have travelled to Regina (1996), Edmonton (1997), Vancouver (1999 / 2010), Montreal (2003, 2011), Winnipeg (2009), Calgary (2017) and Halifax (2018)

This year, thanks to the help of Susan and Beth, S.M.Arts headed to the rock for the first time.

True to Winston’s vision, this was an inclusive conference: it was a place for working stage managers to learn new skills or brush up their old ones and a place for apprentice stage managers to learn more about their chosen profession and hone their abilities.

All courses took place in the Fine Arts building at the Grenfell Campus in Corner Brook, NL.

A huge thank you to all our sponsors:

Canadian Actors’ Equity Association
Navigate Entrepreneurship Centre
Grenfell Campus, Memorial University of Newfoundland
Dean’s Office, School of Fine Arts
Scholarship in the Arts
Memorial University Conference Fund

For the first time in SMArts history, we offered virtual seats to all courses. Participants from St. John’s, Cape Breton, Edmonton and Calgary, attended courses through a teleconferencing platform. These participants were able to participate and engage in the discussions and hands-on exercises for each course.