During a busy tech week rehearsal for She Loves Me, we caught Alexandra Teixeira, the show’s stage manager, in the theater lobby to ask her about her role and how things were coming along with the show’s opening just a few short days away. Over the din of the orchestra playing in the background, she talked to us about her backstage assistants, her favorite parts of the show, the challenges they have discussed, and why people should attend.

The show continues through Feb. 15, 2020, at the Saratoga Civic Theater in Saratoga, CA. Tickets at southbaymt.com/shows/ticket-sales/she-loves-me/ or 408-266-4734.

Watch the five minute video below, or scroll down the page to read the interview transcript.

Transcript of interview

Hi. My name is Alexandra Teixeira, and I am the stage manager for She Loves Me.

What does a stage manager do?

A stage manager… I try to describe as one of the many pieces of glue that makes theater all come together. So, I am one of the main coordinators who make sure that all of the different elements are communicating and everybody knows where to go, when to go. During the actual show, if there’s anything technical that happens, it’s because I’ve told people to implement them.  So, I kind of like have the birds-eye view of the show and I make sure that all of the elements come together nicely.

How much of a crew do you have backstage?

This year, I have two assistant stage managers, which is wonderful, because usually I only have one: Carla and Dana. And I believe that’s it for a backstage. The actors are doing a lot of the shifts themselves, which is nice.  I also have Laura helping with props. And I may or may not have a lighting person helping me out. But that’s… We’ll see. We’ll find out. (laughs)

What’s your favorite part of the show?

I think my favorite part of the show, right now, is “Where’s My Shoe?” It’s just a very cold-ridden, insane song that’s just very sweet. And it really helps develop the characters and their relationships, which I always love. This show is very sweet. It’s very endearing. And that is a prime example of what makes the show endearing.

(singing) I am going. You can’t stop me. Stop it. No, please! Drop me. Put me down. Where’s my shoe?

What led you to become a stage manager?

I started as a performer, like many people do, and I still do perform. But in university, there was one year where none of the mainstage  productions really interested me, and I didn’t really see a role for myself in any of them. So I chose not to audition that year and instead learned some stuff about what happens behind the scenes and to be a crew member. So I started as a running crew person, and then I was an assistant stage manager and I was good at it. It came pretty easily to me. And it really fit, so I started stage managing. And I have been doing that for the past, however many years. Yeah.

What is it like backstage during the show?

Backstage is a live game of Tetris. We have very large set pieces that all have to fit backstage, so the ASMs are, almost during every song, are moving stuff around.

What challenges have you had to face?

We have been having a lot of conversations about how to make a tube squirt instead of ooze. So that’s been an interesting conversation that sounds silly, but are very important to business in theater.

How are dance rehearsals coming along?

(song patter) One, two, three, one, two, three. Very good, Georg. Relax. Smile!

It’s not a hugely dancy show, for a musical, so we have, I think, we only have one major dance number. And we have a lot of movement pieces. We have a couple of dance numbers, but most of this show is very much actors singing because they can’t find the words to speak anymore. So it’s not a lot of jazz hands, it’s not hugely performancey, it’s very simple. It’s small, almost. Yeah.

Why should people come see the show?

You should come see this show because everybody needs to be reminded about love. It’s just… it’s very sweet. It’s very endearing. And there is a lot of darkness out in the world right now, and I think there is room for coming and watching 2 1/2 hours of a sweet, endearing rom-com, basically, and just escaping from it all for a couple of hours.