Topics

1

Employment / Leaving my first job

« on: Jul 31, 2009, 09:03 am »

Hi all,

I've been wrestling with this one for a few days, so I thought I'd post here to get some insight and advice.  Here's the background:

I've been working with my current company since October.  When I came to the company, it was just getting back up on its feet and I was one of three employees (aside from the Artistic Director and the Producer) who worked there.  I did the first show with them and they asked me back for the rest of their season and also offered me a job in their office so they could keep me between shows.  I accepted and signed separate Letters of Agreement for all of these things as they came up. I worked in the office while SMing their fall/spring season up until the end of June, whereupon I trained someone else to work in the office so I could stage manage for their summer season. At one point they were thinking of hiring me on as a full time employee (office work + stage management = full time) with benefits, etc., but at the very last minute (read: one day before I was supposed to sign the Letter of Agreement) they decided not to do this.  It was mostly mutual as I was not terribly fond of working in the office, but it was still unexpected and caused me to re-evaluate working for them. In that meeting, they asked if I was still interested in SMing their upcoming season and I said I was. This was in June.
A couple of the job prospects my boyfriend was looking into also have not panned out for him, so we began thinking about moving simply because this city isn't working for us (commute is too long, we can't afford to live closer, family is closer where we're thinking of moving to, etc.). It took us a month, but we gradually decided that we do want to move.
I know I need to let my current employers know that I won't be able to come back for the next season, but we are going into tech week on Monday.  Is it smarter to tell them earlier, during tech week, to give them an extra week of notice or should I wait until after we open the summer shows when they might be less harried and more relaxed?
I haven't signed anything for next season and my current Letter of Agreement runs out in the first week of August. Next season rehearsals don't start until October. I feel like this is still plenty of notice as it gives them essentially two months to find an SM for their first show.
On the other hand, I've been with them since the re-invention of the company and, even though that was only 9 months ago, I still feel guilty for some reason.  I know I need to make this move for my own personal sanity and mental health, but I don't know how to handle it. This is  one of my first jobs out of college and the first one that I've ever had to leave.  Do I need to write a letter of resignation or will just speaking with both of my employers face to face suffice? Is this normal or will they be angry that I said I was interested in SMing for them and my plans have changed?
I read some of the other threads on leaving a job, but most of those folks had to leave jobs at major companies they'd been with for many years so I wasn't sure if the same rules applied.
Thanks in advance for any advice!

2

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Communication Issues

« on: Oct 28, 2008, 02:28 pm »

As the stage manager, I've always understood it to be our responsibility to facilitate communication between the actors, directors, designers, technicians, producers...etc.  I feel I do a good job keeping everyone up to date on what's going on with the production.  I send out my rehearsal reports, daily schedules, production meeting reports, and follow-up on e-mails/phone calls as quickly as I can. 
But what do you do when your production team is not reading your e-mails, responding to your phone calls or telling you what you need to know?
Example 1:
I spent about 15 minutes making up a rehearsal schedule for the week with my music director and assistant director (our director was out sick that day...another story in and of itself). I then read the schedule back to them, they agreed it was fine. After rehearsal I typed it up and sent it out to the production team as well as the cast.  We then had a two day break and when we returned, they told me that our music director had a conflict with the schedule for that day and we needed to change it immediately (this is 45 minutes before rehearsal). I asked them why they didn't tell me about it two days ago when we were making the schedule or even respond to my schedule e-mail letting me know that we'd made a mistake and they said they didn't know.
Why didn't they read the schedule e-mail or think about it more carefully after I read the schedule back to them?

Example 2:
Our producer signed on a designer (for very little money, but none of us are getting paid much) who had worked for the theatre before and had a soft-spot for it.  Great! I thought. Someone familiar with the space! For weeks I tried to schedule production meetings around this designer's schedule so we could all sit down and chat. I even told this to the producer who wished me luck.  I finally thought I had nailed down a time so I called the designer and asked if she would be available. She told me that when she signed her contract, she only agreed to come to one production meeting, so if I wanted it to be this meeting I should really think about it. I apologized to her for my mistake and spoke to the producer who said that he had in fact made this verbal agreement with her.
Why wasn't I made aware that this designer was only contracted to join us for 1 production meeting?  Especially after trying to schedule around her for weeks?

Example 3:
Late last night I received an e-mail from our choreographer letting me know that she won't be able to make it to rehearsal today because of a scheduling conflict. I immediately send her a note back letting her know that I will take care of it and I forward her e-mail to the director/asst. director/music director and let them know what I think the best plan is. I then ask them to please let me know if they have any other thoughts before I telephone the actors involved and change their call time.  I don't hear anything from them, so I call the director. No answer. I call the Assitant director who says he'll call me back. He doesn't. I call the director again. No answer, I leave a message. I call the Assistant Director. No answer. I wait. I call the director again. No answer. I wait. Finally I get a call from the Director saying that he just got to his desk and he hasn't checked his e-mail yet today so he has no idea what this scheduling issue is. He reads it and says my idea is great and I should go ahead and call them.
That's all well and good, but I was just trying to do the informative thing and not change the call without consulting my director. If he wants to give me the power to change the call when I think it's right, that's fine, but I need him to tell me that (or maybe I just need to ask).

Has anyone else ever encountered communication problems like this?
What can I do to fix the issue?
The people I'm working with are not new to the business (they've been doing it for many many years) so I'm baffled at how poorly they communicate with me and with each other. I really want to help them and make this production go as smoothly as possible, but I'm have a really hard time.

Any advice?

Thanks,
Britney

3

Tools of the Trade / Special Effects Classes?

« on: May 27, 2008, 10:59 pm »

While Stage Management is my first love, I am also very interested in special effects (especially blood effects). I live in the Boston area and I was wondering if anyone knows of a reputable place to take classes in special effects for the theatre.

I know this might be a long shot, but I thought I'd put it out there.

Thanks!

4

Employment / SM Jobs in Oregon?

« on: Oct 23, 2007, 02:27 pm »

Hello!
I'm graduating in May 2008 and I might be moving to the west coast (for the first time in my life), specifically to Oregon (the Portland area). I have had very little luck finding any promising leads for jobs there. Does anyone know any good theatres/theatre companies that might be looking for some (paid) help?

Thanks!!