Fran Rubenstein '92 has been making it in the whirlwind world of
theater for the past six years after graduating from
Union.
“It's taken awhile, but last year
I had my first long-term theater job since
graduating,” she says. Until recently a stage
manager at Signature Theater in New York City, Rubenstein
stayed with the company for four shows over two seasons,
the longest job in one place so far in her career.
As a stage manager, she acts as the
liaison between both the director and the actors, and
between the actors and the theater company. “We're
responsible for the props, keeping track of blocking
(where actors move on the stage), and making sure that
the actors are sticking to the script,” she says.
“We keep track of light cues, sound cues, and scene
changes. We're the ones ultimately calling the
show.”
There also have been some off-beat
responsibilities — the care and feeding of a lamb, for
example, and obtaining a permit for rifles and shotguns,
and getting a permit to act as a fire marshal.
The nature of theater means that jobs
often last two or three months, and many in theater have
difficulty finding steady work. Yet even with the rumors
that life in the theater can be so difficult, Rubenstein
decided to give it a shot.
An arts major at Union, she stumbled
into her career her sophomore year when friends in one of
her painting classes asked to help out backstage at the
Nott Memorial on Three Penny Opera. She did and
immediately fell in love with working behind the scenes.
Facing graduation, she wasn't fully sure what to pursue.
“I didn't know whether to go into music or fine
arts, but theater seemed right,” she says.
To make sure, she did an internship at
Primary Stages, an off-Broadway company in New York,
during her senior year. The experience confirmed that
this was right for her, so she decided to give it a shot.
“It seemed like there was always work for someone
who can build sets or make props,” she says.
Rubenstein went on to pay her dues by
doing two more unpaid internships before she got her
first paid job and her Equity card, which meant
membership in the actors and stage managers' union.
“Through the internships I made some really good
contacts that gave me a foot in the door,” she says.
Those connections have helped
Rubenstein succeed as a stage manager. “I wasn't
working all the time; it took awhile. Even now, I don't
work for a couple of months and then I do, but it's
great.” Since off-Broadway shows usually have a
limited run, she's often looking for a job, but she says
that once she got used to this rhythm, she was fine.
“I get to meet and work with lots
of different people. I just finished working with Peter
Falk on Arthur Miller's world premiere of Mr. Peters'
Connections. Garry Hynes, the first woman to win a Tony
award, directed. We worked with Mr. Miller all season.
It's hard work, but it's fun.”
Rubenstein would advise students
interested in theater not to be dissuaded by the rumors
of starving artists. “It's not as hard to get in as
you might think it is,” she says. “You hear
lots of horror stories, but, like anything else, if you
do good work people will hire you.”
Fran is working with Naked Angels
company and continuing to look for her next big job.