Messages

16

The Green Room / Re: Best reason from an actor for being late

« on: Jul 10, 2009, 01:43 am »

This is actually a reason that I was late (fortunately just to a rehearsal):

I was about to leave my apartment when someone banged on the door (not knocked, banged).  It was the police.  Someone in the building next door had discovered that a recently moved-out roommate had left several sticks of explosives in the freezer.  The bomb squad was evacuating the entire block.  Unfortunately, they were only pushing people down the street and wouldn't allow anyone to take their car out of the garage so I was stuck waiting for an hour for the bomb squad to let me back into my building.  It was fun calling the director to say that I was going to be late to rehearsal because of a bomb.

17

The Green Room / Re: Trivia Tournament II: Electric Boogaloo

« on: Jul 09, 2009, 01:23 am »

I have to admit it--I did NOT miss the Theatre category.

18

The Green Room / Re: Trivia Tournament II: Electric Boogaloo

« on: Jun 03, 2009, 02:00 am »

I'm a big reader, but in general I'm not much for Stephen King.  Now I think I should start reading his books (especially Dark Tower) just so I can get those answers on the Literature quiz.  Yesterday 4 out of 10 questions were about Dark Tower and I got all of them wrong.

19

The Green Room / Re: Trivia Tournament II: Electric Boogaloo

« on: May 07, 2009, 01:37 am »

Wow!  Sports trivia is obviously not my strong suit.  Half the questions I had the only words that really made sense to me were "the" and "and." 

20

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: "We'll sort that out at the theatre"

« on: Apr 05, 2009, 01:45 am »

I will always remember a story told to me by one of the stage managers for the LA Opera.  The dancers had beautiful costumes designed with wide, solid, hoop-style skirts.  Unfortunately, when they got into the theatre the sets had been designed with rather narrow doors.  When the dancers tried to enter, they got stuck and fell over.  If the proper communication had happened in advance (instead of waiting till they got into the theatre) this wouldn't have happened.

21

The Green Room / Re: Trivia Tournament II: Electric Boogaloo

« on: Mar 18, 2009, 04:12 am »

Today, questions #1 and #2 on my quiz asked who wrote a famous book.  Both questions.  The same book.  In almost identical phrasing.  Really.

At least I got them both right.  It would have been embarassing if I'd missed one of them.

22

Students and Novice Stage Managers / Re: Writing down Choregraphy??

« on: Feb 24, 2009, 01:32 am »

I also don't write down specific steps (and I DO have a dance background).  However, I like to note the flow of movement and any major moments/changes/entrances/exits, etc.  This way I at least have a sense of what's going.  It's also good when you're talking to people like the lighting designer to at least be able to say that the group moves into the down stage left corner of the stage.  They don't need to know if the dancers are doing a grand jete or just walking into that area.

23

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: Sound cues: turning off actor's mic when they exit

« on: Feb 08, 2009, 02:26 am »

I generally create a mic plot for the sound mixer (often with some input from the sound designer), including what mic each person is on and which scenes or musical numbers each person appears in.  From there I expect the sound mixer to take responsibility for their own cues (as cprted said, they usually aren't on cans anyway).  The few times I've had a sound mixer who couldn't handle following the cues on their own, I've assigned an asm to sit with them and give the cues personally.

24

Students and Novice Stage Managers / Re: Student SM Challenge #5: Critical Paperwork

« on: Feb 07, 2009, 01:20 am »

Hypothetical question - how do you make a contact sheet before acquiring the actors' contact information?

Often, this information is on an audition info sheet or on their headshot/resume.  It's at least a good place to start.

25

The Green Room / Re: Trivia Tournament II: Electric Boogaloo

« on: Feb 04, 2009, 01:48 am »

I won't miss the Theatre trivia.  It's amazing to me that a group of extremely intelligent, well-trained theatre professionals (and amateurs) often manage to have a high score of 4 on that category.

26

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: Reading a play for the first time

« on: Jan 18, 2009, 03:17 am »

I honestly can't remember the last time I read a play for pleasure.  Not that I don't like reading plays, I just can't turn off the voice in my head (it also talks to me every time I see a play I'm not involved in).  I have to stick to books only, if I want to relax while I read.

27

SMNetwork Archives / Re: I could have kissed them!

« on: Jan 10, 2009, 03:42 am »

I could have kissed my entire Stage Management class.  I gave them an assignment that consisted of 7 situations that often come up as a stage manager and asked them how THEY would deal with them (things like tardy actors, missing crews, mid-show power outages, etc.).  We discussed the assignment in class and everyone had great answers, especially the one who started an answer with "First, I would stay calm," and the girl who said, "I would make sure to keep track of tardiness in my rehearsal reports."  Turns out they do listen when I lecture!!

28

The Green Room / Re: Trivia Tournament II: Electric Boogaloo

« on: Jan 02, 2009, 03:11 am »

So, yay, I'm excited to have the top score this month.  Oddly, the last time I had the top score was LAST December.  Maybe this is just my month...

29

Tools of the Trade / Re: Holiday SM Gifts

« on: Dec 31, 2008, 02:08 am »

It's semi-SM-related:  I have a collection of T-shirts that I wear during tech ("princess,"  "goddess," "Wonder Woman," even one that says "KillerDana"--it's actually the name of a surf shop) that inspire me to live up to my job during a crazy time.  My mom expanded my repertoire this year with a Wonder Woman bracelet--This way I can inspire myself even when I have to dress up for a show.

30

The Green Room / Re: Trivia Tournament II: Electric Boogaloo

« on: Dec 20, 2008, 04:03 pm »

Very weird.  I played today's game and got 10 in 43 seconds (really), but my score didn't come up on the scoreboard for today.