Author Topic: Stage Manager in Taipei  (Read 1455 times)

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theladywiththemap

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Stage Manager in Taipei
« on: May 17, 2017, 10:25 am »
Hi everyone,

I'm a SM in Taipei working with a local English-language theater. I've worked on three community theater shows and am just about to start my fourth. I do this part-time on top of a full-time job. Honestly, I don't know how I manage the time, but I do. I eventually want to go into theater full-time, but with work permit issues being the way they are here, it won't be until I move back to North America. Until then, I'll get as much experience under my belt as I can, and look seriously into work options when I'm back in the West.


The first production I worked on was The Bomb-itty of Errors. Each cast member in the show (there are 4 and a DJ, if you're unfamiliar with it) plays 3-4 characters each. The cast member playing Adriana was also playing Antipholus. Almost every time Adriana exited the stage, she would have to whip off her red wig and go straight into her costume for Antipholus. As we're a local theater, I basically take on every role on top of SM and it was my job to take care of all costumes and wigs. The wigs we use in Taiwan are very low quality, and can stand about 5 or 6 uses before they become unmanageable. After a week of dress rehearsals and 9 performances, Adriana's wig looked like the Bride of Frankenstein's hair. I managed to make it work, but it was only a few weeks after the show closed that I discovered a solution you can spray on the wigs to actually be able to get a comb through them.

I'm looking forward to learning a lot more tricks like that on this forum, as I spend most of my spare time (which isn't much) learning as much as I can about the job from books, online, and the directors/costume designers/set designers I've had the pleasure to work with here.


Thanks for having me in the group.
« Last Edit: May 17, 2017, 10:28 am by theladywiththemap »

 

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