Topics

1

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / SOUND: Need Sound Help!!!!

« on: Feb 24, 2006, 02:04 am »

I'm working on Bye Bye Birdie, and the director want live phone effects (instead of a recorded ones.) My director knows what he wants, the thing that we need help with is knowing how to make it.
(I think you can actually buy this sort of thing, but we wanted to make it instead of paying a ton of money for it.)

he wants a live ringer, with a push button. We have an old bell from a rotary phone. What do we need to do to make it ring when you push a button? has anybody had to make one of these before? how do you wire it/ does anybody have any plans or directions?

HELP?!?!?!?!!?!?!?!?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
-isha

2

SMNetwork Archives / fake cigarettes for under-age actors

« on: Jan 14, 2006, 03:59 pm »

I'm looking for a realistic type of cigarette that can be smoked on stage. We've looked at the cigarretes that have the powder in them that you just puff out, but my director wants something they can actually light and smoke. The actor is underage, and obviously can't really smoke on stage, but I was wondering if anybody knows of a stage cigarette that would work. Maybe a cigarette without tobacco....

thanks in advance for any advice/help!
-isha

3

SMNetwork Archives / SOFTWARE: Does anybody know any ticket printing programs w/ numbering?

« on: Jan 06, 2006, 11:26 pm »

I'm looking for a program that will make tickets, (or some way do this on Microsoft word, excel, or something like that) that will number tickets for us..In the past our highschool has made the tickets on word, and then cut them out and perforated them by hand. We've never tried numbering them because we would have to print sheets of tickets off seperately (instead of pushing start on the copy machine )
Are there any programs out there that will do that? Or is there some key that will do that for us? we were hoping we could get the number on both the main part of ticket and the stub of the ticket

Thank you in advance for any help!

4

Students and Novice Stage Managers / Script requests: Bye Bye Birdie Script!!!!!!!!!!! HELP!

« on: Dec 14, 2005, 08:22 pm »

I already put this on the general board but I haven't gotten anything so I thought I'd try this one.

okay...so I really dislike the format that Bye Bye Birdie is in, and I was wondering if anybody has ever done this show and typed up the script for their use. If so can I have it....I'm a slow typist and I don't trust myself to type it up without mistakes. IF THERE IS ANY WAY I CAN GET AHOLD OF A DIFFERENT VERSION IT WOULD MAKE ME VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY HAPPY! I would like to paste the music into the script and if it's typed up somewhere out there that would work reall well.
^^^^^EXTREMELY DESPERATE!!!!!!!!!

Also, if anybody has any words of advice or suggestions for the show, I would love to hear them. I'm halfway done with plots, the show is cast, and we start rehearsals in 2 1/2 weeks.
-isha

5

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / JOB DESCRIPTION: Assistant Directors vs. Stage Managers

« on: Oct 14, 2005, 12:09 am »

Has anybody worked with an Assistant Director on a show?  

How do SM responsibilities change when you have and AD in a show?

Does it affect your relationship with the director? (since SM's are usually the director's right hand man/woman) Does it change the relationship for the better or worse?

Has anyone ever addressed the differences between the 2? It seems like I've looked but haven't found much useful info.

I can't quite figure out what to say to the director about this:
The director at my school (the guy who directs the fall play...I'm not stage managing, but a friend is...I'm the production stage manager (I work with the teacher who does the musical)) calls his SM the assistant director, and his  Assistant stage manager the stage manager. (he's a teacher volunteering to direct, so he really doesn't know much about theatre) He asked me exactly what a stage manager is/does. I've been thinking about how to answer him, and  how to say diplomatically that there is no difference (in the way he works) between his Assistant director and SM responsibilities. I hoping to figure out a way to get him to switch over to my way of thinking, (calling the SM the SM) and if he wants an AD, to use his AD for directing stuff only, and to let his SM do the SM stuff.

The problem is, I've never worked in a situation with an AD, and I don't know exactly how that would work. In my opinion, the the AD would strictly do what her/his title says, assistant DIRECT, (he/she would be the directors right hand man for artistic decisions,) but the SM is still the stage MANAGER, and they still manage the actors and the technical happennings for the show.
^ Any suggestions will be appreciated
-isha

6

Students and Novice Stage Managers / Broadway?

« on: Mar 31, 2005, 01:02 am »

So what is it like to SM for broadway?

I mean what is the difference between a humdrum stage manager and someone on broadway?

It seems like I've heard a lot on this site about regional theater..what IS regional theater? Whats the difference between that and industrial/broadway/international?

what's THE place to stage manage? That If you get there you know you're REALLY good.

What do stage managers aspire to? The perfect show? The perfectly called cue? The perfect theatre?

At what point do you get somewhere and say you are there? Is there even any huge goals like that for stage managers?
-isha

7

Tools of the Trade / stopwatches?

« on: Mar 27, 2005, 03:17 am »

I've heard a lot about stopwatches recently. I think someone made a joke about how stage managers all have the same brand. What is "the" stopwatch? Is it "the" stopwatch because it's really accurate, or easy to use, or is there some other rockin' feature?
-isha