Messages

31

Employment / moving to the other city PHL

« on: Mar 21, 2006, 11:28 am »

I am a SMA member so I will look into that, I knew they were active there which is one of the reasons I joined. There is only one member here in Alabama and thats me. So thanks for the help. I guess Ill have to wait till August then I was hoping there was something I could do before my contract was up here. If anyone else has suggestions let me know.

32

Employment / moving to the other city PHL

« on: Mar 19, 2006, 03:10 am »

Ok so I am looking into moving to Philadelphia in late August. I am hoping to move in order to be closer to family as we all get older I realize I should be spending more time with them and that's hard to do from halfway across the country. I have Regional, NYC and Touring experience. But I am finding the market hard to break. I keep on looking on Theatre Alliance but see nothing I can take. Does anyone out there have any hints? Are there job listings somewhere I'm not looking or is the community that close?

33

SMNetwork Archives / COMS: technology (headsets and touchscreens)

« on: Jan 29, 2006, 11:21 pm »

My theatres com system is in the process of a complete and long overdue overhaull. We had a meeting with the people hired do do the changes so that the system could be taylored to the stage management staff and our needs when calling a show. Which I feel is a very nice of them to do.
That being said several of the ideas they mentioned seem ridicolous to me.
They want to replace our current pendants with a touch screen meaning that all our buttons, cue lights and paging would be on a flatscreen. We as a group hated the idea and insisted that the cue lights remain on toggles. and comprimised on the rest saying that the other buttons could be on "softkeys" with leds to indicate on or off.
Am I too old fashioned? has anyone ever tried this? I just feel that it would be hard to watch the stage and a computer screen at the same time.

On the good side the old wired/wireless system will now be all wireless on both our stages with low profile ear headsets allowing our ops to keep them on during shifits and the god mic and backstage paging will be put on buttons to allow us to use them via our headset mic, which will be great.
So really what do you guys feel about the idea of touch screens and loss of those big light up buttons that let you "feel" what your doing? Is this were we are heading and I should just learn ?

34

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / THE REAL THING

« on: Jan 29, 2006, 11:01 pm »

wjen I did it we used a small piece of scotch tape to hold the two cards together and the bottom two cards had a thread tied to them and it wound under the bottom row of cards and was attached to a loose card in his hand. when the door slammed he pulled the card and there it is.
As for the changes our set was what one might call a puzzle on wheels so when we changed scenes you saw all the scenery change into a new configuraion and also we projected supertitles decsribing the scene it gave us the tiem we needed

35

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / saftey with a peg leg

« on: Jan 12, 2006, 12:00 am »

Just a follow up to anyone who wants to know or is looking for the same info. Our Peg situation couldn't have worked out better! Our actor is a pirate so he has rather large pants (which helps in hiding the leg) but they have been rigged with what we call the leg zipper, there is set of zippers on the back of his leg so that when he is offstage he can let the leg out of the harness holding it up and get some bloodflow. we have added hand rails to the ramps in the voms and the rake was made rough to add traction for the leg. Also the theatre has agreed to pay for weekly chiropractic visits for him. I spoke with his doctor today and he says that there is a little tension in his back but he was able to get it out and feels confinedt that there wont be any long lasting damage. So thank you for your help in this having examples helped when sitting down with producers and designers and voicing my concerns.

36

SMNetwork Archives / on the other end of the headset spectrum

« on: Jan 08, 2006, 09:29 pm »

I just got the telex p-88 it is amazing and I also got adapters to go with all the common belt packs ect. as for wireless vs wired ther is no need to be wireless unless you need to move. the more wireless you have in a space the more signal issues youare going to get. The theatre I work for has on the main stage hard wired pendants in the boots, on the rail ect and the Stage Ops are wireless. Our second stage is all wired so when we run shows we page over the intercom system all the shifts for the Stage Ops, this only works because the backstage waiting area is behind sound locks it sounds complicated but its not really

37

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / saftey with a peg leg

« on: Dec 08, 2005, 12:50 pm »

that is true, I meant that he need to have it avaliable to him from first rehearsal. Our shop has a habbit of not getting what they call accesories done untill the last min.
I had no plan to make him wear it all the time. I just need him to try walking on a rake and up and down stairs in it, within the context of his character ect...

38

SMNetwork Archives / The Holiday Season -- what are you working on?

« on: Dec 08, 2005, 12:43 am »

Ive got two right now, A Christmas Carol And and OHenry Christmas ... We cant get enough

39

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / COSTUMES: saftey with a peg leg

« on: Dec 08, 2005, 12:39 am »

OK so Im in my prep week for a production of Treasure Island and of course our Long John Silver is going to have a peg leg. I have talked extensivly with director and designer and they explain the sctor will have his real leg strapped up and a peg attached to his knee. I have many concers all of ahich I have broched with the approite people. So much so that I now have an evtire mock up of the set being built for rehearsals (the show is on a rake and has lots of stairs). I have talked to the PM about weekly medical exams (though I have no idea what he might need in that area I just know there will be blood loss if his leg is strapped up). and I have insisted he start using the leg with first rehearsal ( I have scheduled him for a fitting firday before to have the leg fit thank god for rep)
I guess my question is has anyone worked with a peg leg before. What are the things I should know about working with them. What should I have on hand that he might need (a heating pad to incourage blood flow when we are on break maybe)
What are other saftey concerns I should address?
Im not worried about it working I am assured that they have done this before.
I just want some feedback on others experiences.
the things this job leads to, never in my life did I think I would put on a daily schedule xyz actor 12-12:30 leg fitting
ahhh theatre

40

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / PROMPT BOOK: Your Prompt Book - Left or Right?

« on: Oct 27, 2005, 02:54 am »

OK so Ive been out there a while doing my thing and Ive always kida been the only one. I am not working at a LORT theatre which has belive it or not a Stage Managment Staff, people with whom I can share and commiserate. One of the catches with this situation is we end up ASMing each other. So I have had the oppertunity to see their books and now I wonder am I the oddball or them. I have only been here a few months so Im still settling but I have see the book of everyone on staff now and They All have ther books set up with text on the left side and blocking pages on the right. I can see how this would help with blocking but for cueing I think it would totally mess with my head. I asked they said there was no Company standars its just what they do. So I wanted to see what the you guys do.
text left or right?

41

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Drop Count

« on: Sep 28, 2005, 03:02 am »

In a recent production of True West I recorded the number of beercans the were kicked offstage, and awarded points for creativity (ie odd body parts or hitting an audience memeber) After every performance I put the points up on the callboard, however I did not explain the points the chart simply said Lee xpoints, Austin xpoints. It became the running question after I gave 1/2 hour, what are the points for. Well on closing night I handed out the award for most items kicked ( a toaster) it was big fun for me anyway. p.s. only once was an audience member ever hit and that is because they snuck into a taped off seat after intermission and I couldnt reach my house manager in time.

42

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Scary Directors

« on: Aug 18, 2005, 05:01 pm »

Well the show with Anne isnt confimed, budget/ board stage, so I will let you know when it is for sure.

43

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Scary Directors

« on: Aug 12, 2005, 12:50 pm »

thanks, she is bringing her SITI Co so im a lot more hopeful! I am glad to hear she is on the understanding side.

44

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Scary Directors

« on: Aug 11, 2005, 05:16 pm »

well that is what I am guessing, I just over analyze situations. I was just wondering if anyone here had worked with her and could give me some idea if it really is as demanding as it sounds in all the books I read

45

Tools of the Trade / stopwatches?

« on: Aug 11, 2005, 06:29 am »

I have used several stopwatches, and I always just get a small screwdriver and remove the speaker, I have never found a reason I would actually want it to beep, so I figured why not get it cheeper and take out the speaker and have no fear it might go off, I often Have to use them to start shows wher I work the directors like to time out the top of acts with SQ's and I find timing helps me call them