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HeadsetChatter

@headsetchatter.bsky.social
101 followers 27 following 476 posts

Stage Manager. 2nd ASM on the North American Tour of The Lion King (Rafiki Company). Addressing the elephant in the room. Profile 📷: Matthew Murphy

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HeadsetChatter @headsetchatter.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Bidding an early farewell to Indianapolis to go on vacation (i.e. have a colonoscopy and other dr's appointments, don't get excited!) This was the last of the touring houses I played during my merch career that I hadn't played with Lion King. I was here with Phantom I think sometime around 2000.
A tall building with a spire and a dome stands beside a street. Cars are parked and driving near the entrance. A sign reads: "AMERICAN LEGION".
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HeadsetChatter @headsetchatter.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
This week on “Big Tour, Tiny Plane,” we’re on a CRJ-900 with 55 people (keep in mind the traveling company is currently around 120, so even when we’re all on one flight, it’s a minority of the company). The airline let us tag our bags with diff colors to indicate which we care more about getting.
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HeadsetChatter @headsetchatter.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
Airport advance day. While googling house photos, I learned the Benedum Center in Pittsburgh opened in 1928 as the Stanley Theatre, designed by the firm of Hoffman-Henon Co. I’m hoping they made sensible choices, but the Antelope position is absolutely cuckoo-bananas, and will no doubt ruin my day.
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HeadsetChatter @headsetchatter.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
AAAAHHHH! I got my 5-year service pin tonight! I was not expecting this until we returned to the States at least. What a nice surprise!5️⃣🏆
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HeadsetChatter @headsetchatter.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
5 years in the Pridelands today! 🏆
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HeadsetChatter @headsetchatter.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
When your friend is loading into your theatre the day after you load out.
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HeadsetChatter @headsetchatter.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
International travel day🇨🇦Another case of the whole company on a regional jet that won’t fit our bags, so I’m ready to play the luggage lottery! Flight was delayed so I had lots of time to work on my advance, putting together a cheat sheet like this, ready to be marked up on my walkaround tomorrow.
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HeadsetChatter @headsetchatter.bsky.social · 27/07/2026
We’ve decided we’re just going to keep taking this pic every 5 years or so. (Interestingly, we couldn’t match it exactly because my name regularly moves between the 2nd & 3rd columns depending on the alphabetical demographics of the cast, and today it would be blocked if I stood in the same place.)
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HeadsetChatter @headsetchatter.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
You know it’s bad when I’m working a Tuesday rehearsal. I have so little interest in doing more work for OT, I would happily *pay* the OT amount to be able to extend my time off. But life happens and we have two simultaneous rehearsals, so I’m making a rare special guest appearance.
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HeadsetChatter @headsetchatter.bsky.social · 19/07/2026
It’s Saturday night in Cleveland. Let’s make a Lion King!
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HeadsetChatter @headsetchatter.bsky.social · 17/07/2026
Honored that in a few minutes I’ll be the first person to call LX 218.75 for our company.
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HeadsetChatter @headsetchatter.bsky.social · 02/07/2026
Getting started early on warning people about our Friday matinee, during our put-in.
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HeadsetChatter @headsetchatter.bsky.social · 27/06/2026
Cincinnati Pride Rocks! Here we come!
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HeadsetChatter @headsetchatter.bsky.social · 27/06/2026
PSM time is over, back to actually doing the show instead of just doing paperwork about the show, and hovering around problems during the show.
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HeadsetChatter @headsetchatter.bsky.social · 18/06/2026
I just responded to a radio call and failed so badly at pronouncing the word “available” that eventually I just gave up. Now I’m gonna sit down and call the whole show with this mouth.
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HeadsetChatter @headsetchatter.bsky.social · 08/06/2026
One of the more artistic Yellow Antelopes I’ve done lately.
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HeadsetChatter @headsetchatter.bsky.social · 07/06/2026
Last night just as our show ended there was a complete downpour that most of us were totally unprepared for. The locals revealed a drawer under the callboard and started handing out dozens of disposable ponchos that allowed us to get home nice and (mostly) dry. Well played, PPAC!
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HeadsetChatter @headsetchatter.bsky.social · 01/06/2026
Every time I think about the existence of lobsters, I think about Footbridge Lobster. And how all other lobster is inferior. I figured over the years my memory has built it up to be more special than it actually is. I was wrong. It is BETTER than my memory. It is so unbelievably fresh.
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HeadsetChatter @headsetchatter.bsky.social · 01/06/2026
There’s a few Ogunquit alums on the tour. Two are a married couple that I did shows with in the beforetimes. They have a car. They got the idea to do a road trip when we were in Providence. I said pick a date, I’m in! So glad we decided to do a relaxing overnight to experience all the things.
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HeadsetChatter @headsetchatter.bsky.social · 30/05/2026
Stage managers on short dinner break trying to get enough time to eat sometimes rush the process of leaving after the show a little too much.
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HeadsetChatter @headsetchatter.bsky.social · 17/05/2026
The Wizard and I: after the show started I asked for a cast list cause I figured I must know somebody. Totally forgot one of my favorite humans in the business, Blake Hammond, is the Wizard now. Spent all of intermission in his dressing room catching up. Was a great night all around!
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HeadsetChatter @headsetchatter.bsky.social · 17/05/2026
This vacay I spent a couple nights actually in the city. Caught up with my old mentee at his suggested hangout spot of the calling box at the Gershwin. He was my PA starting when he was 16, I was in the audience for his first call here years ago, what a treat to have him show me the call.
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HeadsetChatter @headsetchatter.bsky.social · 24/04/2026
Fridays are important for me because we have our head of department meeting which the PSM and 1st attend, so I lead the remaining team in preparing for the performance. We’re just a team of 4 here and one’s out sick tonight, so it’s just me, making a puppet show by myself. Like my childhood. 😢😉
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HeadsetChatter @headsetchatter.bsky.social · 17/04/2026
The keychains I make for Broadway Cares are flying off the rack as we finish up our collection season. Spent my morning making another boxful. One more box of empty keychains to make! Hoping for some more dashiki fabric so I can make my rare “One By One Confetti” design, but I need lots of colors.
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HeadsetChatter @headsetchatter.bsky.social · 11/04/2026
I knew the sign on my mirror wasn’t going to be enough to remind me that we have an ASL show this afternoon so I left myself a little more.
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HeadsetChatter @headsetchatter.bsky.social · 08/04/2026
In today’s game of “What Is This Lion King Thing?”, we had a bolt that I would have started with Puppets on, except they’re in the basement, so I started with everyone on the deck. Answer: props uses them to attach the pole holders to the show deck. Not the answer I was expecting.
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HeadsetChatter @headsetchatter.bsky.social · 06/04/2026
Sitting in traffic entering Grand Rapids and this truck pulls alongside. Hi friend!
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HeadsetChatter @headsetchatter.bsky.social · 06/04/2026
Very short bus travel day from Detroit to Grand Rapids. I’ve grabbed my snacks and I’m claiming the Designated Adult seat. Really looking forward to a relaxing drive and half a day off.
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HeadsetChatter @headsetchatter.bsky.social · 05/04/2026
There’s always something to learn about this show. I’ve been here more than 4.5 years and tonight I noticed the crocodile has a tongue.
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HeadsetChatter @headsetchatter.bsky.social · 29/03/2026
It’s Saturday night in Detroit, and I’m calling the world’s #1 musical. I’m practicing more craft than art tonight, but I’m choosing to be proud of the times my difficult decisions have been correct.
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HeadsetChatter @headsetchatter.bsky.social · 27/03/2026
The stage house of course is a safe zone, but interestingly the lobby isn’t (nor are the aisles, though that falls under the category of “come on, don’t ruin it for everyone.”) I predicted at the start the lobby would be a bloodbath, and indeed that’s where I was slain by a hyena on Tuesday.
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HeadsetChatter @headsetchatter.bsky.social · 27/03/2026
If one catches their assassin approaching they can yell “Sarabi!” for 10 minutes of immunity. There are show-critical safe zones which are clearly marked by neon tape on the floor. Our office is one, so some people have taken to spending most of their preshows with us.
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HeadsetChatter @headsetchatter.bsky.social · 24/03/2026
We got a tour of the Fox Theatre in Detroit, which is identical to the Fox in St. Louis, except for different renovations they’ve had in the last 100 years. It was really freaky for most of us to walk into a building for the first time and know how to get everywhere.
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HeadsetChatter @headsetchatter.bsky.social · 23/03/2026
Ya think? On my first day back at work I walked 14,000 steps and climbed 19 flights of stairs. And that was while trying desperately to preserve my stamina for the week.
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HeadsetChatter @headsetchatter.bsky.social · 22/03/2026
Since last fall I have a new job: making keychains out of our costume fabric. One of our dancers made bracelets with show-related phrases as her put-in gift to us, and has ever since for BCEFA. Today Michelle finished some new displays for them, which include our photos as the creators. So cool!
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HeadsetChatter @headsetchatter.bsky.social · 22/03/2026
When we do Broadway Cares I basically have two jobs: on Photo Day I work the line taking credit cards and sharing fun facts about the show if people ask. Had to get a pic with two of my favorite ladies.
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HeadsetChatter @headsetchatter.bsky.social · 16/03/2026
Spent the day calling the show at the hotel, amazingly getting to use a video taken YESTERDAY. We have a running joke of how every time I want to use a recent video I end up using my call in Chicago in 2022. This was also my 1st time having to review since our take-home cue lights got upgraded.👍🏻
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HeadsetChatter @headsetchatter.bsky.social · 12/03/2026
3 months ago we did a press day in Seattle, for Grand Rapids, which is still another month away. Apparently I really cut my hair right before press day and THEN put that shirt on. I may have sold more Subarus than tix to The Lion King. (Click link for the interview.) www.woodtv.com/abc4/maranda...
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HeadsetChatter @headsetchatter.bsky.social · 19/02/2026
I was going through some old photos and found this one of the Kennedy Center (2023). It didn’t make me as sad or angry as I would expect. I don’t know what its future will be, but wonderful things happened in this building, and I’m honored to have been a tiny part of it.
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HeadsetChatter @headsetchatter.bsky.social · 03/02/2026
With stairs ok, I started the hill and immediately the abs hurt and I noped out. Day 2 I approached the hill gently, weaving back and forth like a switchback, and this time it felt fine. In celebration I continued on to the stairs and made it to the top. Sent the SMs this pic like I climbed Everest.
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HeadsetChatter @headsetchatter.bsky.social · 03/02/2026
After being cleared to push my walks I set myself a goal that within a week I wanted to obtain a sandwich from the Potbelly next to the Keller. This requires both hills and stairs, neither of which I had attempted. The first day I tried a few stairs on my river walk, which felt fine.
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HeadsetChatter @headsetchatter.bsky.social · 29/01/2026
More scrolling, I see our picture. Even discounting two of the Standbys are in the pic, I count 13 swings including one of the dance captains on the phone cause she’s on vacation — without a replacement because we’ve already used up every swing in the Pridelands!
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HeadsetChatter @headsetchatter.bsky.social · 29/01/2026
It was National Swing Day. I’m scrolling Insta to keep up with the Pridelands, and first I see Broadway’s post. Pushing aside the sadness about the wonderful swings they stole from us, I’m happy for them to see they have 8 in the picture: exactly the number they should have, the sign things are OK.
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HeadsetChatter @headsetchatter.bsky.social · 25/01/2026
Taking my daily walk, not a care in the world, when I suddenly asked myself, “What’s a Lion King?” I wasn’t really expecting to try to answer this question so soon, as it’s only been two weeks. That’s a vacation. I often go nearly two weeks without calling the show when we move cities.
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HeadsetChatter @headsetchatter.bsky.social · 17/01/2026
Wanted to do a “It’s the day of the show, y’all!” post from the hospital but they took me so fast. Got phone back just in time to take a pic to send to the folks at the 1:00 put-in so I could be included in the “80s workout” theme. I was hoping to be awake in time for it to be announced I was ok.
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HeadsetChatter @headsetchatter.bsky.social · 12/01/2026
It’s time for the big event! My colleagues sent me off for my final show with a series of celebrations, the clear winner of which was Wardrobe’s presentation, which included a set of wearable ovaries they crafted (with a little support from Puppets, I gather). The best part is the beaded “egg”.
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HeadsetChatter @headsetchatter.bsky.social · 25/12/2025
Ahhhh we got travel-sized theraguns for Christmas!! All agree this is by far the best holiday gift in years — definitely in my time! Well played, DTG!
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HeadsetChatter @headsetchatter.bsky.social · 28/11/2025
Thanksgiving is one of the more special days of the year when our tour family comes together for dinner as a true family. Company management always provides a truly special setting, the Vegas version of which was to book the Eiffel Tower Restaurant. Delicious food, and a stunning view!
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HeadsetChatter @headsetchatter.bsky.social · 25/11/2025
In-unit laundry: When your brand new hotel hasn’t received its laundry machines yet.
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HeadsetChatter @headsetchatter.bsky.social · 02/11/2025
It’s management’s favorite day, a tradition that’s been going on for YEARS: Stage management posts our rather dark Lion King take on daylight saving time on the callboard, and company management sends a Cher-themed reminder email. (There are also versions for the spring.)
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