John Gray Production Stage Manager
I was at home when I heard, on March 14. I got a call in the morning from (Mirvish managing director) David Mucci and started texting groups of the cast, four at a time: “The show is cancelled, stay home, more information to follow.”
Mirvish Productions was moving offices that weekend. I went down to the new place and found an empty boardroom with my boss, his boss Brian Sewell, David Mirvish and (director of sales and marketing) John Karastamatis … David Mirvish was contacting different producers. Everyone was trying to suss out the implications. It was wild, not crazy wild, just intense, very focused. “Hamilton” was a huge issue — people had waited a year for that.
I left after I had emailed the company with a fuller explanation. I went back to the theatre, actually. We had recently moved back from the Elgin to the Royal Alex. Someone had complained that the carpets and throw rugs in dressing rooms were a trip hazard. I decided that afternoon that I was going to tape down all the carpets. I pulled out the double-sided tape, to cement our presences.
I used to do a fair bit of work at the Stratford Festival and have a little house in Stratford. I made it my little sanctuary. Actually, I’ve been getting on great. It was unsettling at first, going through waves of missing the people who put on the show.
I never got summers off, so I’ve embraced it and attacked all sorts of projects on my house. I’ve binge-watched all kinds of weird things and all the wonderful theatre productions you can now watch online. Black Lives Matter and its impact: that was a huge deal at the Stratford Festival. I got quite caught up in forum events and online discussions. It opened my eyes.
My mother is 93 and still lives alone, 21⁄ 2 hours from me. I’ve visited her four times and helped my sister open her cottage.
As a stage manager, when I am working my life is completely dominated by time. That’s the most liberating thing that’s happened — I suddenly am free of a clock. I hesitate to say it because I know people are having a tough time, but I’m not. I’m happy here in my little house.
“I decided that afternoon that I was going to tape down all the carpets,” production stage manager John Gray said of learning that the show had been suspended. Gray said he just couldn’t leave the Royal Alex theatre without fixing the dressing room rugs.