Messages

1

Employment / Re: Promissory Note versus Contract

« on: May 01, 2010, 04:35 pm »

I decided to step down from the position. I first spoke with the director/producer/lead actor/production manager/artistic director/writer about my concerns and he refused to make any changes. One of my request for changes was simply adding the name of the theater company onto the promissory note.

Over the past few weeks he's called me multiple times every day but today he has ignored all of my calls and so I sent a very polite email to step down from the position. Even though I am not an equity stage manager, I have always had a contract with every non equity theater and equity theater that I have worked with. Asking for clarification in the expectations of my role or the theater name to be added seems like a small request. Its not like I was asking for more money. I would have done the job for free and performed as if they were paying me a million dollars. I don't SM for the money. I do it out of love.

Anyways. I stepped down. Besides the promissory note was just another problem in many growing issues.

You asked if this person was someone who was connected and could advance my career. Maybe, maybe not. You never know who is connected to who. And that actually goes in reverse as well. I'm not looking to make a career out of being a stage manager. I'm looking to continue working on projects that I believe in with people who believe too. In all my years as a theater artist and stage manager, I have been blessed to be able to work with those standards and I don't plan on changing them now. I know that I am probably only able to do so because of the flexibility and salary of my other job. Not everyone has that luxury.

Thanks for you all's advice. It helped!

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Employment / Re: Promissory Note versus Contract

« on: Apr 30, 2010, 05:14 pm »

So the note only outlines that they will pay me in two installments. One installment will be on or before opening night and the other on or before closing night.

I was concerned that they didn't list when my contract would begin or end. Rehearsals haven't even begun and I've been asked a lot already and there have been nurmerous meetings I've been expected to attend. I wanted my contract to list in detail what they were requiring of me.

Being paid wasn't a concerned. But what i'd have to do to get paid is. I spoke with the director..who is also the star and the producer and the writer and the artistic director of the theater and he has said he will not make any changes and will not issue me a contract. He will only issue the promissory note saying that he will pay me.

I told him I would give him an answer tomorrow on whether or not I was still going to do the job.

There have been a few other yellow and orange flags raised. Huge controlling issues and micro managing issues and this is another thing to take into consideration.

They are a theater where they want people to wear multiple hats and I don't want to have to jump through rings of fire when its all said and done.

*Sigh*

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Employment / Promissory Note versus Contract

« on: Apr 30, 2010, 12:54 pm »

Hi All,

I know its been awhile since I've logged in but now that the dust has settled in my new location, I'm ready to get back into things. I've relocated to New York and have started working as an ASM on a production. I have a question. The director is asking me to sign a "Promissory Note" and not a contract for a show I have just started working on. I've never heard of a promissory note. I suppose the only difference is that it doesn't not outline my responsibilities and their expectations. I have NEVER worked on a show before even as an ASM where I did not have a contract. Is this how New York does theater or is this something weird? The director mentioned that only the SM and Designers get contracts. Why haven't I ever heard that before in my 9 years of theater experience?

Is this weird or is this the norm? Please help and advise before I sign this!

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Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: Keeping up morale when the house is small

« on: Sep 29, 2009, 11:02 am »

I've had encounters where there was a full house but the sense of engagement and the energy was not happening. Might as well had been an empty room. And I've had encounters where 20 people were in the audience and pure magic took place. I remind actors of this when its a small house. That this is the audience's first time encountering the show and it would be a mistake to treat them as if its their fault the seats aren't packed. And that even though its small that does not mean, it won't be engaging, interesting, timely or relevant.

Saying that helps a little.

5

The Green Room / Re: Best reason from an actor for being late

« on: Jul 13, 2009, 02:14 pm »

I've mentioned it in the topics on why we had to hold the show for 20 minutes or so but the call went something like this, "I forgot to wear panties."

Which is a bad thing since she strips down to her panties during the last scene in Bare and she had agreed she'd be responsible for supplying the panties. I directed her to a near by store that carried womens panties. I wondered how she forgot to wear panties in the middle of a freezing winter.

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Employment / Re: where do you find work?

« on: Jun 26, 2009, 03:20 pm »

For the Chicago area I also look on ChicagoPlays.com and (not sure of the website) but Chicago Artist Resource. TCG.org too is useful but there is a fee for this website.

There is also a list of theaters that list job postings on their websites and I check their websites every now and then.

I also will just send in my resume to various theaters with a cover letter. I got one job that way once.

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Employment / Re: your thoughts please (stood up for a craigslist gig)

« on: Jun 25, 2009, 04:31 pm »

I am all about signing contracts.

I've accepted jobs over the phone but that's after I've actually had in person interviews with them.

But to never have met the guy...that would be a little suspect for me.

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Employment / Re: Taking Time Off (different situation)

« on: Jun 11, 2009, 02:44 pm »

I purposely take breaks in between shows so that I can tend to my personal life, travel, rest and etc. When asked about that I say that very thing. As of right now I include dates on my resume but they can see from previous shows that I've worked shows back to back and at the same time. So now, me making the choice to take breaks isn't a reflection of my professionalism but just personal choice.

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Employment / Re: Websites

« on: Jun 11, 2009, 02:39 pm »

Mike has been working on his site for years now.  He was one of the first people to contribute stuff to SMNet many years ago.  Based on how it looked back then, I would not be surprised if that's all his own work.

I love his website!

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Employment / Re: Websites

« on: Jun 10, 2009, 02:46 pm »

Hey gang,

I've updated my website and would love input!  I'm at josephheaton.com

Please let me know any thoughts you may have!  I'm working on getting a new photo ASAP.

Thanks,
Joe

http://www.themikejones.com/index.html (So this website, I found randomly one time. And there's just something about the opening page that makes me want to know the person, if that makes any sense. Now he probably pays a lot of that website or knows how to design them way more than I understand, but I love the way it looks.)

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Employment / Re: Read your contracts carefully

« on: Jun 09, 2009, 01:30 pm »

Here's a lame question to have to ask: For a show where you've been offered pay, at what point should I have a contract? Before any work is done I assume. Should we have contracts only for paid work? What about community theater? Should the contract include clauses about payment if the show closes early, or never even opens? Is there a normal way of getting paid? All at once after strike? Half up front, half at the end? Weekly? I'm learning all this the hard way, after my summer show got cancelled, after some work has been done, and without a contract.

It really depends on the theater and what you're willing to sign your name to. I worked with one theater that paid in two installments. At the end of tech and at the end of strike. Another theater paid me every other week. One theater paid at the very end. (I don't like that and wouldn't agree to that now unless it was with a company I loved).

After I've agreed to take the position I sign the contract at the very next meeting. After reading through it very carefully.

I recently volunteered to work as a dramaturg for one show just because I enjoyed the director so much and if I were to ever do that again..volunteer work, I think I'd make a sort of contract just so that we have an understanding of what's expected, how often I will be there...that sort of thing.

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Employment / Re: How much can you find about yourself online without paying anything?

« on: Jun 09, 2009, 01:26 pm »

Wow. That's a lot of info PSKay.

If someone were snooping they would find that I had a facebook and twitter account but they wouldn't be able to see anything. They would find my SM website. And then they would find my blogs. I have a couple public blogs. One I started during college, so I'm actually in the process of editing out a lot of my old spill your guts type of stuff. So anything I put out online, I'm fine with. Even some of the personal stuff. They might also find a few of my friends blogs who mention me on there.

Its very interesting.

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Employment / Re: your first paid SM job

« on: Jun 09, 2009, 01:22 pm »

First paid gig....kind of happened three fold.

Right after I graduated, I was hired by the college to take a trip to South Dakota to do a three week Chekov project as the stage manager. Then for two years I worked as the box office manager part time for the theater company at the college. How did I get the job?

As a student I envied to previous box office manager who was an older lady who had a sort of archaic way of running the box office. Everything was hand written. She had never turned on her macbook pro. I always told the artistic director that the day she retired, I wanted her job. I told him that multiple times for four years. The summer after I graduated he called to offer the SM job in South Dakota and the Box Office job at the theater. (I thought I had a clue as to what I was doing and didn't realize how much I did not know. But they were so gracious and taught me so much)

During this time I also worked as a training manager for a hotel five days a week and then three days a week I would work in the theater. What I really wanted was to SM though.

So I quite the hotel job and the box office job and had made plans to move to NY. I had an apartment lined up and a few interviews. Two weeks before I was to move a friend from the hotel who had his own theater company called me and said, "Didn't you quit to do theater full time because i need a Stage Manager tomorrow for a short festival!"

I went in not knowing what I was getting myself into. My college did not teach me half of the technical things I needed. I had never touched a light board. I didn't even know where the power switch was! We had only called the shows! So when I went in and the lighting designer started calling cues, I looked at her like she was crazy. I told them I had no clue what they were talking about. And so that taught me all they knew. The pay was tiny. I think I ended up spending more traveling there than they paid me.

But two days after I learned where that power button was I got an interview with Building Stage for their Noir show. (amazing, by the way). In the interview Blake Montgomery asked me if I knew how to operate a light board. I said yes. (I didn't tell him that I had only learned two days before) After a long interview I got the job. And during that show I learned how to work Qlabs and all sorts of other things...and after that the jobs started pouring in where now I find myself working with the one theater I had dreams about in undergrad. All my random connections and friends and last minute acquired skills paid off!

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Employment / Re: How do you get jobs>

« on: Jun 09, 2009, 01:11 pm »

How to I get my stage management jobs. Most of them I've found through ChicagoPlays.com and its been enough to have steady work for two years. I'm now at a point where I turn down projects just so that I can have a break or because I can't fit them all in. That's a good issue to have.

I also contact theaters I've worked with before...because I have great relationships with them and let them know that I'd love to be involved with them again. I did this with my favorite theater randomly and they called me the next day saying they needed an ASM and I didn't even have to interview for that.

I also always give my business card to all the actors...one, so that they have my contact information. But it turns out I've had three job offers because actors called me or gave my name to a theater that was looking for an SM.

Establishing and building great relationships with the theaters and actors and everyone involved is how I've gotten over half of my jobs and many of them I did not even have to interview for. Its so important to maintain good relationships. Word of mouth travels farther than resumes sometimes.

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Employment / Re: Websites

« on: Jun 09, 2009, 01:06 pm »

Honestly, I love the content. I just wish it were a bit more aesthetically pleasing to show a more creative side of you as well. But all the info is great. Having blurbs from people you worked with is great... I might steal that idea from you and add it to my site...