This edition of "In the News" is a bit late - but here's a recap of Stage Management related news from June 2017!

This was a busy month for the theatre world! In early June, NYC hosted the Broadway Stage Management Symposium, and shortly thereafter, the 2017 Tony Awards!! In honor of the Tony Awards, NPR wrote an amazing piece on Broadway stage managers called "Stage Managers: You Can't See Them, But Couldn't See a Show Without Them," featuring Cats SM Ira Mont, Sweat SM Donald Fried, and Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812 SM Karyn Meek.

Controversy arose in mid-June, again in New York City, towards the Public Theater's Shakespeare in the Park production of Julius Caesar. Amidst protesters repeatedly storming the stage, the stage manager "handled it beautifully" according to Artistic Director Oskar Eustis, by calling for security then prompting the actors to continue their performance.

Near the end of the month, Actor's Equity and the League of Resident Theatres reached an agreement & ratified the new LORT contract - stay tuned on how those changes will affect stage managers across the country!

Regional stage managers were applauded in Broadway World's "Thank You, Places" series, honoring SMs from Nashville, Tennessee, Deborah Rodus Arvin and Alexis Lavon, and in Lancaster Online's piece called "What does a Stage Manger Do? Everything!"

A recent Leaky Cauldron article writes that Sonia Friedman, British producer of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child and winner of The Stage Award’s ‘Producer of the Year’ award for the past three consecutive years, began her theatrical career as a stage manager (first hired by Sir Laurence Olivier!) She joins that ranks of seminal theatre professionals that began their careers as stage managers, including Hal Prince and David Belasco.

Broadway World published another article in their “Thank You, Places” series about Tennessee Stage Manager Suzanne Spooner-Fault.

On a more serious note, Art McConnell, stage manager of the Ariana Grande concert that was attacked by a suicide bomber in Manchester on May 22, talks about his experience after the bombing.