Messages

1

Tools of the Trade / How to best use Dropbox?

« on: Aug 04, 2011, 10:03 am »

Greetings all

Our production department just announced that we will begin utilizing Dropbox this season.  They will store design research, drawings, model photos, etc. for each show in a folder shared with that show's production staff.  I can see how that would be handy.  What is not clear to me yet is how Stage Management could take advantage of the features that Dropbox offers.

-We could contribute the Production Calendar and Contact Sheet

-What would be the advantage of putting our daily paperwork (Daily Call, Rehearsal Report, Performance Report) on Dropbox when we email those documents to everyone involved anyways?  Just seems like an extra step.

-I was thinking it could be useful to store the Master Prop List, Costume Plot, etc. in the shared folder so that those departments could get an up to date look at those documents as they're being developed.  Also, they could then contribute information to that paperwork as they come across info from their respective designers, etc.

BUT, here are my questions about that:

-I know when I'm creating the Master Prop List, I have that document open on my laptop for the entire rehearsal.  If I have the document open and the Prop Master goes and edits it, Dropbox will save it as a separate conflicting copy because 2 versions of the document are open/being edited at the same time.  That's what I've read anyways, I haven't actually done this yet.  That seems like it would create extra work to go and figure out what edits from the 2 documents you want to keep and merge them.  I don't think it's a realistic solution to have me switch to opening/closing that document every time I want to update or reference it during rehearsal and hope that the Prop Master isn't editing it at those same times.  How do you maintain sufficient access and version control with Dropbox?  Is this even a worthwhile idea?

How has Dropbox been helpful for you??  I'd love to know!

Thanks kindly

2

The Green Room / Re: Spider-Man: Turn off the Dark

« on: Dec 21, 2010, 06:44 pm »

The article that accompanied the link that kiwitechgirl posted said:  "A later statement, from Actors’ Equity, said that it had been determined that the cause of the accident was “human error.”  There was no further explanation about what error that might have been. 

It's a good reminder to us all to be diligent about safety.  I'm about to start rehearsals for a show that will have our actors in harnesses, climbing walls to platforms... gonna stay on my toes for sure!
Post Merge: Dec 21, 2010, 07:27 pmI just saw the older/longer Spiderman thread that is in this section of the forum... my apologies for not placing my original post there.  I suppose that's what happens when I try to search for a thread subject in the middle of the night

3

The Green Room / Spider-Man: Turn off the Dark

« on: Dec 21, 2010, 05:31 am »

Has anyone been following the development/previewing of Spider-Man: Turn of the Dark and it's mounting obstacles/injuries?  Here's the latest:

http://gawker.com/5715530/ambulances-called-show-stopped-after-big-accident-in-spider+man-musical

Hope everyone involved is okay, and my thoughts go out to that Stage Management team, how stressful their lives must be right now!

4

The Hardline / Re: LORT: Seasonal Contract

« on: Jun 15, 2010, 06:24 pm »

Hey there Julie!  I didn't know you came 'round these parts   Hope your foot is doing better!

Matthew - I have to admit I'm very confused about that scenario you're sharing.  How was this accomplished?  I'm under the impression that if you're working on two LORT shows at the same time you're considered in rep and follow the rules on restricting your hours.... that leaves you with one paycheck.  Were the two shows on the same stage?  If different stages, were they different categories?  How can they contract an actor and SM differently?  Very interesting stuff.

We also do TYA shows at my theatre and when you have an actor doing a TYA and a LORT at the same time you are not required to take into account how long they've been working that day or week on the other contract when making your schedule for the show you're working on.... and obviously that would be a 2 paycheck a week scenario for said actor.

Hope you're enjoying your time in New York

5

The Green Room / Re: The Stage Manager's Nightmare

« on: Jun 01, 2010, 11:46 pm »

We do an annual production of A Christmas Carol that just hit it's 30th anniversary this past season (and we've had the same actor playing Scrooge the entire time!  He's amazing ).  I've run the deck for it for the past 5 seasons.  My recurring SM dream, which tends to come around as I'm about to head into tech for any show.... is that I show up to work and am told that instead of doing the show I'm supposed to do we're going to do a special performance of A Christmas Carol... but we don't have the set, or the props, or suddenly instead of being on the stage it usually performs in, I find myself in an Elks lodge, or a school cafeteria.  It's a show that haunts me

6

The Hardline / Re: LORT: Seasonal Contract

« on: May 30, 2010, 11:13 pm »

I'm a little late to the party but wanted to throw in a reply...

I'm just finishing up my first Seasonal contract on a LORT B stage.  In previous seasons, I was contracted show by show.  This season it was decided that myself and another Stage Manager would just do the entirety of the season, flipping SM and ASM roles as we went... a similar model to what Sarah was describing.  When the person ASM-ing leaves a show, a Prod. Asst. is brought in to cover his/her track.  Once the next show starts rehearsal, the person SM-ing attends 5 hours (or 5.5 depending on what he/she votes) of rehearsal each weekday (and perhaps some on a weekend day again depending on vote) and then runs his/her show at night.

As others have mentioned, this becomes very beneficial for the Producer for all of those weeks where we do double duty:  Prep week (we prep during the day, run a show at night) and the many weeks over the season when the current SM is moonlighting during the day as an ASM.  During these weeks, they pay one Equity paycheck where if they had 2 different SMs working they would have to pay 2.  For the record, the person moonlighting gets paid the same amount he/she would get paid if they were not moonlighting.  As long as we're within our weekly hours, we can use them all to work on both shows.  Of course, they do have the added cost of paying a PA to cover us on the deck, but that isn't as expensive a paycheck.

This is good for me because:  43 weeks of continuous employment.  That is 43 weeks straight without any time off.  This is also very sucky for me because:  it is 43 weeks straight with only one day off a week and a very demanding schedule.... this could very easily lead to burn out.  But every time I want to complain about that part, I've given those around me the right to pinch me because I really shouldn't complain about steady work ever 

Another interesting note:  There is an Equity rule that states that your salary cannot be reduced during a contract.  For example, if the producer wants to cut salaries to save some cash, he has to wait until your current contract is done before he can make you a lower offer.  But this also works in our favor on a seasonal contract.  Once you SM on a seasonal contract, if your next role is as ASM the producer CANNOT alter your pay rate to be lower... so you are stuck with your SM pay rate for the rest of the season regardless of what role you have.  Can't argue with that!

Hope this was helpful!  Best of luck to you!

7

The Green Room / Oh earthquakes, how I loathe thee...

« on: Apr 04, 2010, 09:15 pm »

I thought it was particularly nice that today's major earthquake didn't hit until just as we were about to fade to black at the end of Act I!  And here I thought our biggest worry for this Easter Sunday matinee would be getting a full house!

Any other SoCal-ers get caught unawares by this Earthquake today? 

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Students and Novice Stage Managers / Re: Labtop vs. Pencil and Script/Notepad

« on: Apr 04, 2010, 04:24 am »

On topic:  I do not see myself taking blocking on an electronic device anytime in the near future.  All it would take would be one poorly timed program crash, or the Windows blue screen of death and I'd throw in the towel for sure.  Sure, Mr. Director, I can let you know where Actor Jones made that cross... I just need to reboot first, hold please.

Thread hijacking:  I'm really surprised to hear so many Stage Managers have bad feelings about using laptops in rehearsals!  While I completely understand all the distraction reasons outlined in previous posts, I guess I don't feel that those traits are necessarily connected to a laptop.  If an ASM does not have the multi-tasking ability to see and hear that a director would like to run a scene again (and therefore the ASM should re-set) because he/she is taking a note... to me it doesn't matter if the ASM is TYPING that note or WRITING that note.  The skill to multi-task is a skill that does not relate to what media you're multi-tasking in. 

And if you're worried that the SM might be tempted to sneak onto Facebook, or SMNetwork, while he/she should be paying attention to rehearsal... well, without a laptop, that SM is probably texting friends, or doing crossword puzzles, or something else that a person with a lack of discipline does when he/she should be working.  And the Prod. Asst. who types as if he's a jackhammer?  I'm sure he's clicking his pen repeatedly, or chewing gum loudly, or some other annoying thing since he obviously has no understanding of what he is negatively contributing to the rehearsal environment with his excessive noise.

I find my laptop invaluable in rehearsal (and yes, I did do a keyboard test on all the ones I was considering to find the quietest model!).  It does give me a leg up on getting reports done during the day, even if the only typing I do is on a break.  Also, I would lose so much time not being able to receive, reply to, and communicate pertinent information to those in the rehearsal room if I could not get my email.  How distracting is it if the Costume Shop Manager tries to sneak into the rehearsal room while you're in the middle of a scene?  Or calls you on the phone?  I find it so much easier to just see her email pop up on my screen instead saying "Big fitting problems, come see me next break!".

I work at a theatre who is run by a pair of gentlemen who are definitely of the "Old School" variety and I CERTAINLY had a hard time convincing them laptops were not just for games.  But over the years, they've finally come around - they even installed internet access in the rehearsal room a couple of seasons ago!  In fact, I think our dramaturgs are getting a bit of a break because now instead of questions going to them via notes, we just google everything in the rehearsal room

I hope this post made some sense... I just opened a show last night and am still in a bit of a Tech fog   Hope you all are enjoying your weekend!

9

SMNetwork Archives / stagemanager portfolio

« on: Jul 12, 2005, 10:50 am »

Admittedly, I am not pro - I am a uni student, and I fit shows into my schedule when I can, so I have only done 5 or so payed SM jobs (portfolio required for one of them), none of them have had problems when I handed everyone a basic breakdown of roles during the production.

I agree with kjdiehl - and mc I do think your point of view is because you're in a different situation.  There comes a time in every Stage Managers career when he or she starts drawing lines in the sand of what he or she will tolerate in a job - be it money, perks, working conditions, etc.  For example, I am at the point where if I thought walking into the first production meeting and distributing a breakdown of production staff roles/responsibilities was an appropriate action for a particular company, I would not take a job there.

We do this job because we love it and unfortunately it's a job that invites some companies to take advantage of us if we let them.  It's hard enough trying to make a living with this career, we all need to look out for ourselves and try to avoid situations that will lead to burn out.

Congratz for fitting shows outside your university into your school schedule, not an easy accomplishment but definitely worth the experience

10

SMNetwork Archives / Salary Negotiations

« on: Apr 01, 2005, 04:30 pm »

How do you guys generally handle negotiating your salaries, especially when working with a variety of union contracts that have varying minimums?  Do you have a number in mind, regardless of contract?  Or do you negotiate for a percentage above minimum?  

If you work for the same theatre regularly, what do you feel is an acceptable salary increase each season?  Do you just do cost of living increase or do you want a cost of living increase plus a raise?

How often do you find yourself working for minimum?

I'm very curious to hear what you guys have to say  :wink:

11

Employment / What is really required?

« on: Mar 24, 2005, 03:13 am »

Thank you Nook for bring up the world of academia, an area I neglected to mention in my previous post.  I think we all spend a great deal of time thinking about how to find stability in this field for when we want to live a more settled life.  Entering the college arena as a professor and aiming for tenure track is definitely a way of accomplishing that.  Personally, it's an arena that holds no appeal for me, which is probably why I didn't mention it.

12

Employment / What is really required?

« on: Mar 23, 2005, 09:37 pm »

Greetings Casper!

I'm a little unclear as to what your goals are.  Are you looking to try and stage manage as your full time job or are you just looking to stay in the non-union, more community theatre, world of stage management?

I live in Orange County, CA and in my experience of non-union (paying very little if at all) theatre there are a lot of opportunities here for stage managers, hardly dependent on your experience.  Many places would be overjoyed to have a complete newbie walk thru their doors saying they want to stage manage, let alone have someone with experience make the same request.  And there are plenty of these quasi-community theatres to keep a casual stage manager quite busy.  Of course, this is not the type of gig that you would make your living on.  These schedules run around people's daytime job hours and perform mostly on weekends.

If you're looking to relocate though, I'd imagine you're probably looking to make your living at stage managing at some point.  If that's the case, I personally don't think I would spend my time trying to get more experience in non-union theatre before making the leap to paying theatre.  If you feel you don't have a lot of experience, I would try to get a paying internship at a regional theatre, if you can afford it.  That way, you're learning and getting experience on a professional level as well as making contacts along the way.  Starting out like this is often a great way to work your way up in a theatre, and in my experience a theatre is often more likely to promote from within to fill vacancies than hire in a non-union, unknown stage manager.

Of course, it is all dependent on your ability to be able to take a very low paying internship as your full time job for a while and still be able to survive!  A fella has got to eat after all  

Others may not agree with me, but I would not consider going to college to pursue a theatre degree at this stage in your life.  I do think higher education is important, but I do not think having a degree in theatre or in another discipline is a prerequisite for being able to be hired as a stage manager.  I think college theatre programs give you two very important things: experience and contacts.  If you're motivated, you can get enough experience on your own thru community theatre.  If you're able to arrange an internship, you can get both experience and more valuable contacts thru that.  It would be the better option to try to figure out how to live very cheaply for a couple of seasons while you pay your dues at a professional theatre than go into debt for a couple of years as a full time student.

Just my opinion of course!  

13

SMNetwork Archives / on the other end of the headset spectrum

« on: Mar 23, 2005, 09:04 pm »

what if you want all wireless? Is that bad? I've never seen much point in the ones that hook you to a certain spot.

Wireless headsets are certainly the ideal.  I work at a theatre that has wireless headsets on its older stage and yet the brand spanking new theatre they just opened 2 seasons ago was built with hard wired headsets.  Budget reasons I know, but boy does it make life on that deck difficult!  You either stay on headset as much as possible and trip everyone with the cord running 20 feet behind you or you leave headset anytime you have to walk somewhere...  sometimes it's a very tough choice.

14

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Runsheets

« on: Mar 23, 2005, 08:59 pm »

ummm... I feel really silly, but what do you guys mean by run sheets? What is the exact purpose of them?what exactly do you want on them?

A run sheet is a piece of important paperwork generated by the Assistant Stage Manager that details all the specifics of running the show from the deck.  While formats and styles vary from person to person, the basic information you want in this paperwork includes your larger transitional shifts (what needs to happen to go from the garden scene to the living room scene) as well as your internal shifts (hand off a prop stage left, or make the bed and close the curtains when the bed chamber comes off stage right).  This paper should detail who is doing what, when they are doing it, where they are doing it and how.  

You may want to take a look at a book on stage management to give you a better idea of the general scope of the job - you can also find examples of all the paperwork our position is required to generate.  Lawrence Stern wrote an excellent book that many of the posters here recommend.

Good luck!  

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Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / warnings verses stanbys . . another poll

« on: Mar 23, 2005, 08:42 pm »

WAIT!!!!
what's the advantage of using standby instead of ready?!?!?

I was taught ...Lights 45 ready..(10-18 sec. interval)...GO

Is that the oldschool version? What are the advantage of using Standby?

Like in many industries, there are common standards and an established vocabulary used by people in theatre to help us communicate more efficiently.  While the word "ready" would get the job done, it is the usual practice in theater to use the word "standby".  Certain words in theatre are meant to elicit precise reactions - "Go" sets people into action... a response not likely to be seen if you used the word "Now" instead; "Heads!" alerts people to danger specifically from above; "Standby" means people are at the ready, hands over buttons, etc. to execute a cue.  The list goes on...

The advantage to using this already established vocabulary is that you can walk into any theatre and be able to communicate with the staff in place without having to explain to them the special ways you prefer to do things.  

Also, you may want to keep in mind that while some of these things may not pertain to the show or space you're using now, you will doubtlessly come upon these issues again if you plan on stage managing in the future.

Hope this helps