Show Posts

This section allows you to view all posts made by this member. Note that you can only see posts made in areas you currently have access to.


Messages - chrrl

Pages: [1] 2 3
1
Self-Promotion / Re: Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo
« on: Sep 04, 2012, 01:42 pm »
I start rehearsals for this show next Friday -- looking forward to it! 

2
The Green Room / Re: Halloween 2011
« on: Oct 05, 2011, 03:44 pm »
I have a performance on Halloween, but at least it's for Evil Dead: the Musical, so I'm still in theme.  We are also performing at a huge street festival/Halloween party on the Friday night, so that should be exciting.  Oh, and I'll be in rehearsals for my next show that weekend too.  Good excuses for a zombie costume...

3
Tools of the Trade / Re: Fight certification
« on: Apr 16, 2011, 06:44 pm »
I'm not certified, but I pay attention and I have been the fight captain on several shows.  I wouldn't mind getting certified but I'm not sure it's worth the cost.

4
The Green Room / Re: On anti-success
« on: Oct 22, 2010, 06:04 pm »
This is a great list Matthew, and really hit the mark for me right now.  I'm happy with where I am in my professional life, as I confirmed when going through your questions:), but I do it for different reasons than I started out doing it, and that was really interesting.  Thanks for starting a great topic!

5
The Hardline / Re: Prompt Script Etiquette
« on: Oct 22, 2010, 05:14 pm »
I have the right of first refusal with the show - meaning they have to offer me the position or else pay me three weeks salary at the going rate of the next production (The commercial producer has long been attached to the show and actually directed it as well -- whole other set of problems!)  In this case, it's probably cheaper for him to hire a local SM in New York (and he always chooses the cheaper option).  I also have a full-time job at this regional company and probably would not accept the offer if it were made.

6
The Hardline / Prompt Script Etiquette
« on: Oct 17, 2010, 06:20 pm »
I am working on a new musical that is about to close at the end of next week.  The plan is for the musical to be remounted off-Broadway sometime next year with everything from this show (sans staff) going with it.

My prompt script is functional for me to call and maintain the show, but it is a little bit of a mess.  Changes were made up to opening night and the last few days of it we stopped getting an updated script (blocking also changed and I haven't had the means to be able to update it).  It has also been an absolutely insane process, so I feel as long as my cues are written neatly and clearly and the show can be called consistently from it I'm okay.

According to Equity rules, the prompt script is the property of the theatre, cool, but it also states that "No Stage Manager or ASM will be required to prepare any additional production script or book for publication or archival purposes or for use in any other production of the play or musical, (and) In the event the the Theatre does request a SM or ASM to prepare an additional script or alter the script for any of the above purposes, the SM or ASM may agree provided that he is paid no less than $350 for each such preparation.

My question is, should I take the time this week to update and clean up my prompt script for travel as a good Stage Manager, or am I screwing myself and other Stage Managers by doing this without additional pay? 

7
Have fun!  I Stage Managed The Clean House two years ago and it was a great experience - the visual elements in the show were stunning!

The only difficulty in calling the show that I remember is the subtitles that translate the Portuguese because it happened quickly and I wanted to make sure that we stayed on track with the translation (and that the actors who didn't speak the language also stayed on track).  Speaking of language, having a dialect coach for the Latina women was very helpful (unless you have actors that already know the language and dialect)

Make sure you have items that can be cleaned up and reset in time to be used in the "operatic mess" - we used various potpouri, the chess set, ribbon, and several larger items that could be thrown or knocked down without breaking anything.  Also - Mr. Clean magic erasers were invaluable for the inevitable smudges on the white walls.  Oh, and get a back-up fish (you know, just in case...).  We alternated ours depending on who was acting more "frisky" that day.

As far as the quick change at the end, we did not try to hide it.  The actors stayed on stage and in position while Matilde speaks - Charles took off his coat and Ana took off her robe (I also think that Charles had a flower in his vest that he gave to Ana to put behind her ear).  It was kept very simple and they had their earlier parent costumes under-dressed. 

Hope that helps some; have fun with the show! 

8
We did this last year and the director was insistent about accuracy of the cards and the money -- My ASM did a lot of prep work figuring out how to stack each deck, and also distribute money based on their betting each round.  We had card pockets built into the upstage side of the table for some slight of hand when attention was focused on the other side of the stage.   It was difficult to find a way to smoothly switch the final deck and we ended up just not using a stacked deck for that one.   We have a proscenium house and were able to get away with it.  Having the correct hands in rehearsals helped the actors a lot, though, and I think it would have been difficult to learn the poker lines without the stacked decks.

I'd also recommend daily line-throughs of the poker games.  We did this before every performance because the betting gets confusing and their cue lines are so similar.

9
I Stage Manage full-time for an Equity theatre company in Ohio and our first show of next season is a new musical that is going to rehearse in New York City.  The show has been workshopped there a couple of times and the cast, director, and designers are out of New York so my company is sending me and my assistant there to rehearse it before we bring it back to Ohio for tech and performances.  It will probably go back to New York for an off-Broadway run from here (without me, though).  I'll have a week of prepro there and 3 weeks of rehearsals and the producers will put my assistant and I up in housing yet to be determined (my assistant is the Stage Management apprentice for the full season who I just hired and who will have only started the week before we leave, so that will be an adventure as well...)

I'm excited of course, but there is a lot that I still need to work out.  I'll be in New York starting the last week of August and if anyone has any advice for me I'd appreciate it!
Some things I'm wondering about...

*Is anyone doing a show in New York the last week of August that I can come shadow?  Or want to meet up for drinks?
*I think I need to negotiate a per diem and haven't done this before -- any tips?
*I have a fantastic support system at my company here that I will be doing without in rehearsals for this show and I'm a little nervous about that.  Has anyone else been in a similar situation before? 
*Any tips on finding/borrowing/creating rehearsal props in NYC?

I'm sure I'll have lots more questions, I just haven't had much time to think about this yet.  Any thoughts you have would be most appreciated!

Thanks :)

10
The Green Room / Re: Summer projects
« on: Jun 24, 2010, 04:53 pm »
My company is merging with a children's theatre company starting July 1st.  We've known about it for most of the season, but suddenly it's happening next week!  I know we'll have lots of growing pains as we figure it out so it'll be a busy and exciting summer as we prep for next season!  (I'm lucky enough to still be employed during our summer dark time).  I've been anxious to get started working on it.

11
The Green Room / Re: Holiday countdown!
« on: Dec 03, 2009, 10:07 am »
2 days until a good friend comes to visit (and I have to have my apartment cleaned)
5 days until our Company Christmas party
9 days until brunch with an old friend
10 days until I call my last performance this year
11 days until I am on furlough for 4 weeks (drag about the not getting paid, but on the bright side I have plenty of time to do Christmas shopping and celebrate the season!)
20 days until my sister comes into town for Christmas
28 days until New Year's weekend with my dad's side of the family
39 days until I am back to work and in prepro for my next show!

12
The Green Room / Re: Best one-liner from a performance report
« on: Nov 19, 2009, 05:25 pm »
From a rehearsal report -
"Thanks for Kerry's butt - it was good for her to work with it."

13
Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: Doubt
« on: Nov 03, 2009, 04:57 pm »
I had the opposite problem with the live plants - the play takes place in Fall and we did it in Spring and our set designer used live plants in the garden that kept trying to bud and bloom during the run.  Each night I went out and picked off all the new leafy growth (and felt pretty bad about it, but hey, what else are you going to do?)  Everything else in our production was easy as pie and went very smoothly.

14
The Hardline / Re: Script rewrites
« on: Oct 20, 2009, 03:48 pm »
  I've always felt the overtime and hours rules for Stage Management to be sticky.  We deserve to get paid for the time we're working, but we're also often the personality types to just step up and do what needs to be done regardless (and people come to expect that and take advantage of it).
  I'm also employed as the resident SM - so a lot of those duties that are iffy for a contracted AEA SM get picked up by me anyway for not much supplemental pay, though I am thankful to have a permanent position.  I'll be doing a world premiere this Spring, so I'll be finding out soon how to handle the rewrites.  I think our playwright is pretty on top of her game on that front.

15
Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: Contact Sheets
« on: Aug 27, 2009, 02:13 pm »
I'm 28 and I program all numbers into my cell phone before a show starts because I like to know who's calling me (especially when it's midnight...).   I also don't have my contact sheet with me at all times, but I always have my cell phone. 

I don't do multiple contact sheets and it hasn't been an issue - but if I worked with people with sensitive contact information I would.  Instead I make it very clear that contact sheets are confidential.  Adding a "Confidential" watermark raised eyebrows with people that I work with - wondering why I would even need to do that.  I guess it's a very midwestern company and we aren't that concerned with people knowing how to get in touch with us.  Before I started here contact sheets were posted on the callboard (in a public building) - but that has stopped.

Pages: [1] 2 3
riotous