Topics

1

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / TECH: ASMs Role in "Paper" Tech

« on: Aug 28, 2010, 07:57 pm »

Maybe it's because I don't know terms, but I'm wondering if what I do is a form of paper tech...

I'm currently the ASM for a production, and the SM never gives me anything to do, and so now that we're out of the blocking phase, I've just been sitting there. So one day I went through the script and wrote all the light,sound,fly and any other cues down in order, and asked the director abot any other cues he wanted added or taken away from the script. I'm emailing the sound cue's to our sound guy ( he's the designer, and sound board operator I think.)

Is this at all like a paper tech, or was I just doing my job?

This topic has been split off from a 2005 thread on Paper Techs:  http://smnetwork.org/forum/index.php/topic,572.0.html -Rebbe

2

Employment / is this normal?

« on: Jul 15, 2010, 08:51 am »

Back in april I accepted an SM job for september from my hs teacher when he does a play at a community theatre. I'm currently living in another state.

He hasn't contacted me at all, luckily a friend of mine was cast in the show and passed on any info he had. Apparently 'september' means 'this sunday' because that's when rehersals start (which I found out last night)

I had been sending him messages in various format for the past week with no response. I finally got one at 5 am, when he replied to am email I sent saying I had been replaced at the theatres demand.

I was upset to say the least. But do I have a reason to be? Even if it's non equity community theatre, should the director inform you that you will be/ have been replaced?

3

Students and Novice Stage Managers / Accidentally Set Off Building Alarm: What would you do?

« on: Jul 14, 2010, 12:51 pm »

Ok, so I have a question about decision making.

For a tech my first hs show, the crew and I (the SM)  arrived for our call to find the theatre completely locked. Because I was a 17 year old student I didn't have a key, and our technical director was already suppposed to be there and have the place unlocked. So we waited for about 45 minutes, and nothing, and just out of habit we tried one of the doors. To everyone's surprise, it opened. For about 3 seconds we stared in awe until the alarm started going off! I dashed inside, since I was the only one who knew where the alarm was, and tried to turn it off after seeing a sign pointing out there would be a $500 fine if the police showed up to a false alarm. I pressed all the buttons, nothing worked. Called my technical director and head director multiple times (along with his wife!) No response. The police station was down the street, and I was terrified of a cop pulling up to the theatre seeing a bunch of hs kids dressed in black (doesn't look good!) And I would be taking the blame for it all (which my ASM though was crazy, cause she was the one who oopened the door) I finally found the phone number for the alarm company (and in tears with a terrible headache by this time) called them. They asked for the password, which I didn't know, and they told me they couldn't disregard the alarm till the password was recived. I had a crew member drive to the directors house (he lived in the area) and of course he wasn't there. Eventually my director got there, I gave him the number for the company, and he turned off the alarm useing the password, which was horribly obvious, and everything was ok.

Later I saw a cop car across the street, my ASM assured me it was unrrlated, but I wasn't so sure...

Anyways, I now know I want the key, and the alarm password.

But my question is, aside from the crying, did I handle this correctly? Was there somthing else I could have done? Has this ever happened to anyone else? How did/would you handle it?