Messages

1

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Tieing actors up onstage?!

« on: Mar 30, 2006, 04:01 am »

you aren't, by any chance, doing Orphans?

My guess was "Extremities," but I did that almost 20 years ago, so I can't remember how we tied him up... you'd think you wouldn't forget a thing like that...

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Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Left or Right?

« on: Mar 30, 2006, 03:55 am »

I'm a leftie, so the blocking (and the mini ground plan) go on the left hand side, with the script on the right. So I COULD use the blocking script to call cues... but by the time we're done with tech week, there would be no way to legibly mark cues.

I know it's a waste of paper, but I'm very deliberate about recycling and reusing, so I allow myself the indulgence of a separate calling script. Often scripts are sent electronically, so I can adjust margins and enter extra space at cue-laden points, giving myself the best chance to read the darned thing. (And, of course, if I get hit by a bus on the way to the show, whoever ends up calling the show won't have to guess what I meant by "ROS XDS L5.")

Once we've gotten through previews, I spend the hours before opening night with a box of rainbow Sharpies, transferring cues to the calling script. All stand-bys are orange, LQs are green, etc. Action (go, standby) is denoted by pencil... it could still change... by a line from the "insertion" point to the cue name on the right margin. At the top of each page, I write the cue that we should be in at that point; at the bottom, I write the act/scene. And by the time I'm done, I've looked at all of my blocking script notes one last time, and incorporated any changes from the last preview. It's anal retentive, but that's why we do what we do...

3

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / The SM times are a-changin'?

« on: Mar 30, 2006, 03:16 am »

"It's a lot easier to give notes during the run if you establish a note-giving relationship early in rehearsal."

I agree - especially as I am not an actor, I try to establish a relationship of involvement in the artistic values of the show from day one in order to speak with authority once the show is running. I don't feel it's my place to give notes to the actors when the director is shaping the show (even to compliment them - what if the director is taking their character someplace and I stop them?). I do, however, get involved by doing extra research about the show and making sure the actors know I'm involved and interested.

I have been told by my actors that SMs who maintain the show are rare, and that they're comforted knowing that someone's actually in charge (and that they have someone to turn to when another actor is suddenly changing it all up!). Maybe directors need to be more, um, direct with their stage managers about it!

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Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Question for all the SMs out there

« on: Mar 30, 2006, 02:59 am »

Theme Day on Headsets!

I had a show where I needed the crew to give me a lot of visual cues, so I kept them involved in the show (in the long time between their own cues) by creating theme days. One example is Chinese Fortune Day, where I challenged them to add "in bed" to the end of an actor's line to make it funny. The only rules are that the line couldn't already have a double-entendre, and that there is NO talking on headsets during any standby. It kept us all involved in every line of the play (which led to the discovery of some problems with set and audience that could be headed off), and all listening well enough to not talk over any standbys.

On the last show cues were fewer and far between, so I just adjusted the standby times to accommodate putting the crosswords down and still having time to check levels before the cue. And always get a "standing by," even if they're standing right next to you, so that you know they're not still trying to think of a four-letter word for "Ohio lake."