We have a bad Stage Manager on the show we're currently working on. He's a board member but prior to his election he was working with a private group's show which hand picked the cast consisting of regulars from our CT and another private CT. Sort of our town's version of A-List actors.

Anyways he didn't start coming to our rehearsals until about halfway through as he was stage manager for that other show. He refuses to be on book. He's basically a rope puller and moves some props on and off. He spiked something on the stage the other day and the director (first time director) made an ironic big deal over it.

The SM is never first there or last to leave. Far as I can tell nothing is done off of his watch and he rarely ever even pulls the rope for the curtain as he's chosen a chorus member to be his assistant when she's not on stage.

Last night he told a friend of mine that working on the previous show was really great as any of them could easily have been equity actors and switching to this current show is like night and day.

Now sure, he had the cream of our crop on the last show but that was just rude and unprofessional. Plus he's a board member.

What complicates this is that I'm also a board member (younger) and the SM has been around for years, not always as a board member, but in other capacities.

How do I go about this without rocking the boat too much?

Patrick -

You mentioned bad blood staying in the theater for a long time, and that is true.  But I totally disagree with your suggestion to just let it drop.  What this SM is doing is completely unprofessional, and while we, as community theaters, are not truly professionals, we do strive to act as such.

imamember-

I would definitely mention something to the director of the show, and hope that he/she will be able to fix it.  But I would also take it one more step, and at the next board meeting, make sure you get a discussion going about this subject.  You can mention that some people approached you because they knew you were on the board, and expressed some concerns about this problem.  For starters, I would try to be as general as possible about the situation, presenting it as a "What if...."  If the problem is not solved by talking to the director, then i would be more specific about the problem with the board.

Just my 2 pennies worth..... Good luck with the situation.

It may be more judicial to get the SM to be reeducated about the position.