Messages

886

Stage Management: Other / Re: New to SM'ing Opera

« on: Feb 08, 2010, 01:11 am »

There's a good thread on timings already on the boards: http://smnetwork.org/forum/index.php/topic,4620.0.html

They are marked from the beginning of the score through the end- not marked from the cue itself. They can be used to help place lighting cues, paged warnings for entrances, prop handoffs, costume changes, etc. Basically, they let you know how much time a given section of music takes and you can use that information in whatever manner is most useful for you.

If you're creating a document like a WWW (who what where), the timings are crucial in placing all of that information accurately on the page. The music will take the same amount of time to play each night (with very little variation) and these timings can fairly accurately tell you where you are in the music.

Does that help? There's a lot more that can be said about timings but I think the above thread covers some of them. Lots more opera info on this thread: http://smnetwork.org/forum/index.php/topic,1249.0.html

887

Tools of the Trade / Re: Google Sketchup

« on: Jan 05, 2010, 12:44 pm »

Never used it for any theatrical purposes, but when I moved to a new apartment I did a little mockup of the new place and used it to figure out where to put my furniture.

It took me a few hours of practice and some online research but once I got the hang of it, it worked well for me. Can't say I have a lot of use for it most of the time, but good to have.

888

Stage Management: Other / Re: Cheat Sheet of Dance Terms for SMs

« on: Dec 28, 2009, 06:17 pm »

I am in no way a dance expert. All of this is what I have picked up in my own experience- SMing dance and taking dance classes (which I highly recommend, in terms of improving dance vocabulary).

There are some good articles on Wikipedia relating to dance terms:
Ballet Glossary: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glossary_of_ballet
In case you're not only doing ballet: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glossary_of_dance_moves 
A "Video Dictionary" of ballet terms:  http://www.abt.org/education/dictionary/index.html

Depending on what kind of dance you're working on, some companies/styles of dance may have a vocabulary of their own. Modern dance has slightly different positions of the feet than ballet. Oftentimes I will ask someone in the company what a particular move or step is called.

The different ways that dancers describe movement are incredibly useful - in ballet, a turn can be described as "en dedans" or "en dehors"- basically inside and outside turns, and sometimes dancers will talk about "homolateral movement" vs "contralateral movement"- homolateral has you using the same arm as leg (e.g. right arm with right leg), while contralateral uses opposite arm and leg (right arm with left leg).

I will also write things down in a hurry and make up descriptions for things I don't know, and fix them later. Or draw a picture. What kind of dance were you doing?

889

Students and Novice Stage Managers / Re: Resume questions

« on: Dec 19, 2009, 02:47 am »

Personally, I think most people only need a one-page resume. It's tough to cut things out, but I think it's better to leave off credits and have it fit on one page- keep the most relevant information, the shows that best represent you, and leave the rest off. It makes it easier on the person hiring- the same reason I put my references on the same page. One less thing for someone hiring to have to do.

I think it's less important to have a 'comprehensive' resume that includes all of your experience, and more important to have a resume that best highlights your experience and shows why you are the right person for the job.

890

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: CALLING: Musical number where I can't hear....countdown software?

« on: Nov 30, 2009, 06:10 pm »

Have you thought of writing the beats of the drums you can hear into your score? My instinct is to see if there is a way to either use visual cues or count the music based on the drums. (or a combination)

I'm thinking that I'll just stopwatch the timing for "approximate" placement and then use visual (dance moves or conductor motions) to get back on track.  I guess I could even mark every 5-10 measures with a time.

I do know of a stopwatch program that has a countdown option: http://www.shodor.org/interactivate/activities/Stopwatch/?version=1.6.0-oem&browser=Mozilla&vendor=Sun_Microsystems_Inc. You can make the timer fairly large on the screen as well, which is nice. You can also "record" timings on this one- click the "record" button and it marks out what times your record in a box below. So in theory you could start it when the band started, click any "landmark times" that help you find where you are in the music, and then write them into your book. Multitrack stopwatch is also good.

Hope this helps- let us know what you end up doing.

891

Employment / Re: What else can you do to get the job?

« on: Nov 30, 2009, 07:32 am »

A few months later I heard of a job going that I thought I would like but wasn't sure I would be qualified for. I contacted two or three people who might know the employer and asked what they thought of my chances. One of them happened to be meeting with the employer later that day so I asked him to bring my name into the conversation (which he did). Turned out the employer was actively seeking applicants, not just relying on the advertisements, and she later called me and asked me to apply - the rest is history as it is my current job!  I did also make big efforts to do everything you are supposed to do including calling all my referees and telling them about the job and why I thought I would be good for it (turned out one of them had also already suggested me to the employer, oh yes it is a small industry / world) See I have improved!

I've been thinking a lot about this kind of thing lately- I recently talked to a friend/fellow SM about a company I learned they work with, and mentioned that I have always wanted to work there. He sent my name along and told me to send them a resume. I'm really hoping it will open the door and help me get future jobs there.

I have also applied several times to the same theatre, and only gotten an interview after changing my references to include someone who had worked there before. And I definitely get a lot of work by letting friends and coworkers know that I am looking.

I have no real advice to contribute right now, I just wanted to agree and keep this topic open for discussion- it's something I think about too.

892

Employment / Re: Where should I put it all???

« on: Nov 30, 2009, 12:35 am »

Hi Dee-
Sorry it's taken so long to reply. Why don't you post your resume? I think it might help us see what you're thinking about. You could list your educational shows as a separate category, or integrate them with your other shows, or put an asterisk next to them and explain below. How is your resume broken down?

893

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: Performance Reports Excerpted or Made Public

« on: Nov 24, 2009, 04:31 pm »

I had an artistic director quote my performance report in the theatre's blog. It upset me- I don't write anything that I would be embarrassed about having been made public, but I think that performance reports should be in-house documents and not for public consumption, and I also think it would have been appropriate to ask me before including me in the blog. What was quoted wasn't gossip but it was being used to market the show in a way that misrepresented the audience response. (The show wasn't very successful, but he quoted my "audience response summary" which, for one performance, was very positive). Ultimately, I think I let it go, though I spoke with the production manager about it.

After it happened, my audience response notes became more matter of fact- he can do what he wants with the blog, there's no rule against putting report info on it. The only thing I decided I can do is to limit what "descriptive" information I put in it- this theatre views the nature of the reports in a much different way than I do, and doesn't seem to consider them internal documents.

894

Employment / Re: resume format

« on: Nov 09, 2009, 01:45 am »

I only put stage management credits on my SM resume- I think it helps to show where my focus lies. (I also do some scenic painting). If it were me, I would put the electrics credits on a separate resume, or put them into a section of my resume that included related experience.

My resume is sectioned into "Stage Manager", "Assistant Stage Manager", "Education", "Related Skills and Experience" and "References". Currently I have shows from when I was an apprentice under "Education". I feel that this is the best way to show what my experiences are and in what positions. However, it might be different for you. I don't have my (very limited) touring experience separated, but if I had more of it, maybe I would. My work in events I have under "Related Skills and Experience".

What on your resume would you like to showcase? I personally think that it might be more confusing to have more than a few headings- organize it based on what you're using it for.

As for your tour/opera experience, is it being produced by a company with a name that is separate from the university? Or is it being produced by a department at the university? If it has a separate company name I would just list it under then company's name and not mention the university. If there's no way to list it as such, you may want to describe the nature of this experience in your cover letter.

895

Tools of the Trade / Re: Google Wave - SMNetwork Sandbox

« on: Oct 15, 2009, 12:28 am »

count me in too.

-received invite-

896

Stage Management: Other / Re: Opera tips

« on: Oct 07, 2009, 09:40 am »

Concerning the orchestra

Find out whether actual curtain time is the same as published curtain time.  I have encountered several companies that contract the orchestra to start 5 minutes after the time printed on the tickets, as they are well aware that a production in a theatre seating anywhere up to 5000 people is not going to start on time.  So rather than paying the orchestra for that almost inevitable house hold, they just assume that the house will need to be held at least five minutes.  This can mean the difference between squeaking in right under three hours or going into overtime for those biggies like Carmen.

That is a really good note- thanks.

897

Stage Management: Other / Re: 15 vs 30 second timings

« on: Jul 27, 2009, 07:37 pm »

Judging from what has been said above, it seems these are used to mark blocking...are there any other uses?

Lighting cues: how long a count as it pertains to the timing in the score
Scene changes: how long can we have between start to finish of a particular set change
Costume changes, etc. etc.

Also, since opera singers are paged 5 min before each entrance, you can use your timings can be used to figure out when to page them by counting back 5 minutes.  And then 2 minutes before, you can put a warning for that entrance in your book.

Timings are helpful in making the WWW as well- entrances, prop handoffs, etc will happen at the same time during each performance. Using the timings to make your paperwork will make it more accurate and useful to the crew.

898

Employment / Re: where do you find work?

« on: Jun 26, 2009, 05:07 pm »

If you are an SMA member, they send out job postings via email as they are submitted. I have seen a lot of postings for the NY area, especially Showcases. The Equity website also has a job posting section- under "casting call", you can search for current SM notices. Opera America has a job posting section on their website but I don't often (if ever) see stage management positions listed.

I know of a couple of other websites for theatres and other arts positions, but they are in the DC area. I would imagine that there are similar websites for NY.

The other way that I hear about available positions is through an email list of stage managers in the DC area. I'm not sure who (if anyone) maintains it currently, but occasionally a job posting will make its way around the email list.

899

Employment / Re: Freelancing - How far out do you commit?

« on: Jun 26, 2009, 12:13 am »

For me, about 6 to 12 (about a season ahead). But, like others have mentioned, I sometimes regret not being available for other opportunities that come up at the last minute. I like to have a certain amount of the season booked, so that I can count on that amount of work (and the health weeks) and then I usually have some flexibility/availability to do last minute things with the rest of the time.

900

Tools of the Trade / Re: Rehearsal via Skype

« on: Jun 02, 2009, 11:19 am »

I used Skype recently in a rehearsal situation- it was a new play and the playwright was on the other side of the country. We used it fairly sparingly (I think only twice) to allow her to see the first read-through and to allow her to see a run after she had given us a new draft.

On the whole it worked well- I think it was just a computer-store quality webcam that was hooked up to a router. For the read-through, the only real difficulty we had was getting all of the actors speaking in the shot- I sat with the camera and moved it to capture who was speaking. (It was a very large cast). For the run with the new draft, we set it up in a stationary position and left it.

We had a few connection problems - we tried using a wireless connection at first, but once it was hooked up to the router it was fine.