HEIDi dehn on stage management

Jayme: Heidi. How long have you been working with BHCT?

Heidi: In a tech role, it's been about a six month period. As an actor and a writer like a year, year and a half, something like that.

Jayme: And how did you hear about BHCT?

Heidi: I grew up in the area, so always knew it was around. I just did high school theater so didn't really do anything with BHCT. And then I was gone for six years.

Jayme: What were you doing in those six years?

Heidi: I went to college and then I lived away for a while. At college, I got my BA in theater and English and did a lot of tech theater, some acting, some directing, lots of stage management.

Jayme: And what is your job right now? Because we know that you work in the middle of the night. Ha ha.

Heidi: I am a residential treatment counselor at the Black Hills Children's Home. And it's pretty much I make sure kids don't wake up in the middle of the night and run off. And then I help deal with behaviors and help them go through their treatment plan and deal with their trauma.

Jayme: That sounds like a lot.

Heidi: It is. It's a very unique experience. You get used to having little kids swear at you a lot. And it's a time…

Jayme: Is that good preparation for stage management?

Heidi: I think its more stage management prepared me for the job, but it is because you learn how to deal with interpersonal issues. You learn how to manage people and how to effectively move things along when dealing with hard situations.

Jayme: And you're stage managing for 33 Variations, which we're so grateful for. What drew you to stage management?

Heidi: That's a fun question. My first show doing stage management was my freshman year of college and it was just, "I want to be involved." And they were like, "You seem like you could do this. Here, assistant stage manage." And then I did stage management for like 10 shows over the next four and a half years. And it didn't really ever stop after that. It was just kind of like, "Oh, this is a weird thing, because I'm a very chaotic person. But with stage management, I'm very organized to a point where it's almost scary." And people go, "How does your brain work like this?" I'm like, "It's just how it works, guys. I don't question it. Have pretty paperwork, be happy."

Jayme: There's so many different facets of stage management. Is organization the thing that you like the most or what is it..?

Heidi: For me, it's actually not the organization. It's more the movement of all of the parts coming together. Because as stage manager, you are pulling the work that the director and the actors do along with the different technical elements that the designers and the technicians have all done. And you're pulling it all together and making the machine operate properly. You're making sure everything flows smoothly. And that is what I like the most: the flow.

Jayme: Awesome. Anything else that we should know about you?

Heidi: About me? I really love my cats. They're adorable. And they don't like the fact that I'm never around because I do theater things. But they're very understanding because they get extra scratches and treats.

Jayme: Wonderful. Thank you, Heidi, for all your hard work!