Messages

886

Stage Management: Other / Re: Opera tips

« on: Oct 11, 2010, 07:55 pm »

I have been looking back at this topic, and I love how much great information is on here!

Recently, my SM suggested that the SM team spiral-bind our scores (instead of keeping them in a larger binder), and I think it's really useful. The score is a lot more portable that way, and I can walk a part in a cover staging rehearsal without lugging my whole binder with me (helpful when running the show as well). I still keep a show binder with all of the other paperwork, but having the score bound separately makes it a lot easier to tote around.

Concerning the orchestra

Find out whether actual curtain time is the same as published curtain time.  I have encountered several companies that contract the orchestra to start 5 minutes after the time printed on the tickets, as they are well aware that a production in a theatre seating anywhere up to 5000 people is not going to start on time.  So rather than paying the orchestra for that almost inevitable house hold, they just assume that the house will need to be held at least five minutes.  This can mean the difference between squeaking in right under three hours or going into overtime for those biggies like Carmen.

This also can affect the chorus call time on an AGMA contract.

887

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: Recording blocking

« on: Aug 19, 2010, 10:39 pm »

I think blocking is a necessary part of the rehearsal process. Your blocking notes can be used as a reference for any number of things- understudy rehearsals, archiving the show, for that moment when the director asks you "how did we do that yesterday?", etc.

There are a number of threads on SMNetwork regarding blocking methods-

http://smnetwork.org/forum/index.php/topic,3348.msg20505.html#msg20505
http://smnetwork.org/forum/index.php/topic,4038.msg24550.html#msg24550
http://smnetwork.org/forum/index.php/topic,438.0.html
http://smnetwork.org/forum/index.php/topic,1884.0.html

(along with, I'm sure, tons of others)

One thing that can help free up some page space is to write the blocking on either the back of the next page, or on a page inserted between pages of text. If you insert a "blocking page" between your text pages, you can put a diagram of the stage on it, which can be useful for noting where people and props are onstage. Using a separate page also allows you to easily replace a page, if it gets too cluttered or if, say, the director decides to completely re-block a scene.

If you have your blocking on a separate page, then you can write your cues on the same page as the text. If you need more room to write, printing the script with a wider margin can give you more space.

Everyone has their own method- some people use colors or shapes to make their cues stand out, some make a clean copy of the script just for cues. Find a method that works for you.

888

The Green Room / Re: Being friends with other stage managers

« on: Aug 11, 2010, 02:18 pm »

but, I was wondering for those who have been able to maintain friendships with other stage managers, how do you deal with?  with the competition, the jealousy, the career envy, etc.

I wouldn't say that I have a lot of stage manager friends- I have some, and a couple more that I really enjoy working with but that I would consider "colleagues" more than friends, and a number of former SMs as friends. (Interestingly, I feel like a huge number of my friends are former stage managers....)

I think it's really easy to be envious of someone else's career- but if they are someone that I like, I'm more likely to ask them what worked for them, and have a conversation about the business, in general. There are days when I feel competitive/jealous regarding the SMs that work at the same places I do and are "in competition" with me for jobs. But, I try not to think about that- I think it's more productive to concentrate on my own career and try not to worry about what "might have been".

I'm also a big believer in career karma, that if you help someone get a job by putting their name on the table or forwarding a post, it will come back around to help you in the future.  I feel like it's worked out that way for me a number of times.   I'm more likely to have a touch of career envy for SMs I don't know personally, or I know them but don't think they are good stage managers.  Then it sucks to find out they got a job I wanted and seemed equally qualified for.

I second that- I hooked a friend up with a job recently, and got offered a show within a week. I think it was the good karma.

889

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: The Clean House - any traps?

« on: Aug 04, 2010, 10:16 am »

Never SM'ed it but saw a great production of it (twice) a few years ago. Hope you have fun! it's a great show.

890

Employment / Re: Local and not so local job resource websites

« on: Jul 24, 2010, 06:59 pm »

DC area- Cultural Alliance of Greater Washington http://www.cultural-alliance.org/cgi-bin/jbsearch.cgi

National- Opera America  http://www.operaamerica.org/applications/jobs

891

Students and Novice Stage Managers / Re: Accidentally Set Off Building Alarm: What would you do?

« on: Jul 14, 2010, 08:21 pm »

Done it. I think I did it in high school once, in a similar situation to yours, and I don't remember how I handled it. Definitely done it at a professional theatre (with a key)- I called the county, who controls the alarm system, and told them the situation, and called the 2 people at the theatre who are on the county's "to call" list if the alarm goes off.

It's no one's ideal situation, but it's no one's fault- it happens. Explain the situation, and everything should be fine. Things happen- the best thing you can do is remain calm. You called the people you can call. That's all you can do.

892

Stage Management: Other / Re: Operations Manager job...need answers fast!

« on: Jul 11, 2010, 11:56 am »

Does the opera company use an AGMA contract? If so, if you look on the AGMA website (www.muscialartists.org), on the left hand side, click "Agreements", then "Opera", and then the individual agreements will appear as pdfs. It's slightly different than the AEA website- the agreements are specific to the company.

Good luck!

893

Stage Management: Other / Re: Possible interview ?s for opera ASM

« on: Jul 02, 2010, 10:18 pm »

Here's a thread on what a WWW is- http://smnetwork.org/forum/index.php/topic,1003.msg5830.html#msg5830

Examples that members have posted: http://smnetwork.org/forum/index.php/topic,2495.msg15392.html#msg15392

And I think there was a discussion that included it in this thread as well: http://smnetwork.org/forum/index.php/topic,1249.15.html

894

Stage Management: Other / Re: Possible interview ?s for opera ASM

« on: Jul 02, 2010, 10:07 am »

Do you have experience with large cast shows? (with the principal singers, chorus, supers, etc the cast of an opera can be enormous).
Can you call cues from a score?
Do you know any foreign languages? (even a little bit of foreign language can be useful)
(Depending on the venue) Do you have experience working with a union crew?
(Depending on the opera) Do you have any experience with dance?
Are you familiar with opera paperwork, particularly a WWW?

895

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: What's the most controversial show you've ever worked on?

« on: Feb 26, 2010, 06:44 pm »

I did a production of a play about Israeli settlers in the Gaza strip, produced by a theatre company at a Jewish Community Center- it provoked a lot of controversy within the audience base of the theatre. We had a lot of talkbacks for the production, and there were usually at least a few people in the audience who were really upset by the show, and the theatre got some really horrible letters about it. One of the characters in the show was a rabbi who committed suicide, and the actor who played that character was approached by a patron (not at the theatre) who was really angry about the portrayal.

It was a really thought-provoking play, and the production was well-attended.

896

Stage Management: Other / Re: New to SM'ing Opera

« on: Feb 08, 2010, 01:11 am »

There's a good thread on timings already on the boards: http://smnetwork.org/forum/index.php/topic,4620.0.html

They are marked from the beginning of the score through the end- not marked from the cue itself. They can be used to help place lighting cues, paged warnings for entrances, prop handoffs, costume changes, etc. Basically, they let you know how much time a given section of music takes and you can use that information in whatever manner is most useful for you.

If you're creating a document like a WWW (who what where), the timings are crucial in placing all of that information accurately on the page. The music will take the same amount of time to play each night (with very little variation) and these timings can fairly accurately tell you where you are in the music.

Does that help? There's a lot more that can be said about timings but I think the above thread covers some of them. Lots more opera info on this thread: http://smnetwork.org/forum/index.php/topic,1249.0.html

897

Tools of the Trade / Re: Google Sketchup

« on: Jan 05, 2010, 12:44 pm »

Never used it for any theatrical purposes, but when I moved to a new apartment I did a little mockup of the new place and used it to figure out where to put my furniture.

It took me a few hours of practice and some online research but once I got the hang of it, it worked well for me. Can't say I have a lot of use for it most of the time, but good to have.

898

Stage Management: Other / Re: Cheat Sheet of Dance Terms for SMs

« on: Dec 28, 2009, 06:17 pm »

I am in no way a dance expert. All of this is what I have picked up in my own experience- SMing dance and taking dance classes (which I highly recommend, in terms of improving dance vocabulary).

There are some good articles on Wikipedia relating to dance terms:
Ballet Glossary: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glossary_of_ballet
In case you're not only doing ballet: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glossary_of_dance_moves 
A "Video Dictionary" of ballet terms:  http://www.abt.org/education/dictionary/index.html

Depending on what kind of dance you're working on, some companies/styles of dance may have a vocabulary of their own. Modern dance has slightly different positions of the feet than ballet. Oftentimes I will ask someone in the company what a particular move or step is called.

The different ways that dancers describe movement are incredibly useful - in ballet, a turn can be described as "en dedans" or "en dehors"- basically inside and outside turns, and sometimes dancers will talk about "homolateral movement" vs "contralateral movement"- homolateral has you using the same arm as leg (e.g. right arm with right leg), while contralateral uses opposite arm and leg (right arm with left leg).

I will also write things down in a hurry and make up descriptions for things I don't know, and fix them later. Or draw a picture. What kind of dance were you doing?

899

Students and Novice Stage Managers / Re: Resume questions

« on: Dec 19, 2009, 02:47 am »

Personally, I think most people only need a one-page resume. It's tough to cut things out, but I think it's better to leave off credits and have it fit on one page- keep the most relevant information, the shows that best represent you, and leave the rest off. It makes it easier on the person hiring- the same reason I put my references on the same page. One less thing for someone hiring to have to do.

I think it's less important to have a 'comprehensive' resume that includes all of your experience, and more important to have a resume that best highlights your experience and shows why you are the right person for the job.

900

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: CALLING: Musical number where I can't hear....countdown software?

« on: Nov 30, 2009, 06:10 pm »

Have you thought of writing the beats of the drums you can hear into your score? My instinct is to see if there is a way to either use visual cues or count the music based on the drums. (or a combination)

I'm thinking that I'll just stopwatch the timing for "approximate" placement and then use visual (dance moves or conductor motions) to get back on track.  I guess I could even mark every 5-10 measures with a time.

I do know of a stopwatch program that has a countdown option: http://www.shodor.org/interactivate/activities/Stopwatch/?version=1.6.0-oem&browser=Mozilla&vendor=Sun_Microsystems_Inc. You can make the timer fairly large on the screen as well, which is nice. You can also "record" timings on this one- click the "record" button and it marks out what times your record in a box below. So in theory you could start it when the band started, click any "landmark times" that help you find where you are in the music, and then write them into your book. Multitrack stopwatch is also good.

Hope this helps- let us know what you end up doing.