Category Archives: cultural events

A Flustered Stage Manager

You’re on stage facing the audience you thank the previous act for their wonderful performance and then lead into introducing the next act – a dance troupe. You build them up, as per your script and just as you raise your voice to say them name comes a whisper. Actually not a whisper, more a cry of desperation from the stage manage.

“Pssst. Pssst. Psst.”

A thousand people are watching me as I stop mid sentence.

“Excuse me ladies and gentle I think I am being summoned from beyond.

Off stage, the stage manager gave a cry for help. “Please give us ten minutes!”.

I was not in any position to say no. So ad lib it was.

“Ladies and gentlemen…a slight delay…we’re not talking a one minute delay or two but ten. It appears our dancers, from lands afar, are putting the final rehearsal on a new dance to show us. Yes, we’ll give them ten minutes. So instead of you just waiting spellbound let’s find out who has been to ‘xyz’ country – the place where our next dancers originate.”

Proud hands reached for the sky as I called a few to the stage and interviewed them about what they liked about that country and then asking what we should visit when we go there. They knew there topic so it was an easy ten minutes.

I have never forgotten that poor stage manager first with her look of desperation and last with a grin of relief.

Psst…Psst.

“We’re ready…”

As an emcee prepare for the best but expect the worst.

No Shirt Madness

As I stood on the stage in front of a few thousand people at a Thai cultural event in Parramatta, my mind was not right. I was wearing a t-shirt. Not a good look for an emcee.

I was told someone would deliver a traditional Thai shirt on the day. That event is my worst case of feeling I had let the audience down. A few weeks prior I met with the official Thai team in Sydney and everything was finalised on this huge event to showcase the Land of Smiles. The day would come with dancers, performers and cooking demonstrations, speeches and fun. The organisers went out of their way to make sure it would be a memorable event. At the next rundown meeting a few days before they suggested the officer suggested I might look smart if I wore a traditional Thai shirt comprising of a long sleeved white shirt and no collar. A member of the team mentioned she had such a shirt and would bring it along for me. All was set for a great day.

A No Show

I arrived one hour before wearing a white t-shirt expecting the shirt would be there for me. It was not. The lady was late. I waited. My home was an hour away and no time to rush home for an emergency shirt. I waited. She arrived with no shirt sharing that she had delegated that responsibility to another. The another didn’t turn up. I was frantic and needed a solution. My immediate thought was to run. I felt I had let down the side.

Painful Solution on the Day

I talked to the dancing instructor about my plight. She found a gold sabai sash I could add. Normally this is draped over the shoulder when you wear traditional dress. A white t-shirt is not traditional dress. As the audience were mostly Australian perhaps they wouldn’t notice. Maybe they didn’t but I was most uncomfortable and felt I had done a disservice to the Thai organisers and the audience for this one person’s mistake. I learned a lot that day.

What would I do differently today?

These days I make my responsible for my own attire. I’d certainly phone the person concerned before the day to ensure the item is coming. I would also have a backup shirt ironed and waiting in my car. Or I would take delivery of the said item before the day. If it’s to be it’s up to me.