Author Topic: The horribly, terribly cursed production of Aida  (Read 1747 times)

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cassandramatt

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The horribly, terribly cursed production of Aida
« on: Dec 18, 2014, 02:21 am »
Alright so I'm new this whole forum thing (...obviously). So let me struggle through this introduction.

I'm currently in college for stage management and I have used the heck out of this website for some time to research and learn how to do things (stage management unfortunately is something that my university doesn't have a whole lot of experience in training, but I'm also an electrician and this school is good for that.) I'm currently one of three SM students here and faculty seems to entrust me in teaching the others how to do things due to my proactive get out there and learn myself attitude. So now that I've stalked SMnetwork to learn for forever and a day I decided to join.

One of the things I love about stage management is that I am constantly learning. I love paperwork and school supplies and organization. I strive to be great in everything I do. I have had a lot of learning experiences so far.

So I'm here to learn. Basically sums up everything.

Now let me tell you a horror story that I hope none of you ever have to experience.
My senior year of high school, my school theatre department loaned me out to a couple other schools to teach them how to stage manage and run a show on the technical side of things. My last show of the season I was working at a school I had worked at the year before, but with a new director. The director was green, first year teaching and overall not the greatest at dealing with students. High schools in my home area already don't get large budgets for arts anyway, but theatre was the bottom of the totem pole. We worked and raised money for most of our budget. His first show in this school he decided to create without the budget in mind. (We spent over half of it renting a torn drop with rusty grommets and safety pins in it, he then cut up the drop and it had to be bought.) We had little budget for things so a lot of small things necessary came out of my pocket or the pockets of other students. During the three weeks leading up to the show I had the director, several actors, and crew members out due to deaths in the family- mostly immediate family. So many that one of the very religious parents involved in the show came in and blessed any company member not opposed and the entire stage area with holy water due to feeling the show was cursed. Opening day, I was excused from classes to help with their sneaks (as I was calling the show). During sneaks their dimmer rack crashed and the controls for the house lights crashed. So we had flickering houselights and lights that were either on in emergency mode or not on at all during sneaks. Afterwards in an attempt to solve the issue, I asked a crew member to lower one of the electrics. They did, but it had been improperly weighted and it nearly crashed to the floor. That issue was resolved. The lights, we rushed in someone who probably wasn't qualified by any standard, but knew what they were doing. So that situation was semi resolved. The house lights continued to flicker, but that was unchangeable. I had requested my ASM check ClearCom before show time, but my mistake had not followed up on it. At 30 till curtain, I got on com and immediately became frantic when I realized it wouldn't turn on. (Mind you I had each board op, 2 asms, a deck chief, someone in each dressing room, spot ops, and myself on com) I spent the next 20 minutes doing everything under the sun I could imagine to make it work. Finally at 10 till curtain I decided it best to relax and find a solution so Opening Night wouldn't go... awful. We decided that a phone conversation would have to suffice. We then conference called everyone who needed to be on com, yeah it messed with our mic frequencies a little, but it was manageable. By the end of opening night I was physically, mentally, and emotionally drained from all that had gone wrong, but the show must go on. The next day at school I was called into the principal's office to find three police officers and all three principal/administrators of my school. I was then questioned about the behavior of the director of the show I was working on. They questioned whether or not I felt his behavior was appropriate or not. I then found out he had been accused of sexual misconduct/providing alcohol to minors and had fled the state. (GREEEEAT) But the show must go on... I then felt some kind of duty to encourage the students to continue to persevere and if anyone felt that they had been a victim of the director's sexual misconduct to go forward to the authorities. I developed such a love for those individuals during that show. I'm still convinced someone mentioned the Scottish Play during the process. I'm not a believer in tales such as the Scottish Play curse or any curse at all, but that production definitely had something out against it.
Midsummer Night's Dream

 

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