Author Topic: Calling/teching your first show, your experiences.  (Read 11851 times)

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smsam

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Re: Calling/teching your first show, your experiences.
« Reply #15 on: Dec 26, 2006, 11:08 pm »
Equally I don't remember the first time I called a show or my first tech at all really (which is really weird!) but ... I remember the first time I worked on a show. I was an ASM on a Victorian Melodrama in a studio space and it was fantastic! I knew practically nothing about the 'proper way' to do things or what exactly I should be doing, I'd read parts of books about Stage Management but I had NO real experience and I only just learned my Stage Left from my Stage Right! What I do remember was working my ass off and loving every minute on it. I had to do loads of research, make loads of lists/ plots etc. The director was lovely and I went on to work with her for a further two years.

What's funny is to look back on the paper work I did then (which I have kept hold of for years and years) and compare it to what I do now I'm trained/ experienced and obviously know the proper way to do it. It really is very similar, and shows that good Stage Management is based lots of maximum information in the simplest terms or in other words common sense!

This post may make little sense as I'm slightly tipsy (!!) but writing it at least has put a great big smile on my face thinking about my wonderful first theatre experience!

Sam x
Sam x

baaaldwin

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Re: Calling/teching your first show, your experiences.
« Reply #16 on: Jan 02, 2007, 11:24 am »
I remember plunging a scene into blackout half way through....

The lead male wasn't best pleased....

And that was opening night.

The show report said: DSM/LX error

kiwitechgirl

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Re: Calling/teching your first show, your experiences.
« Reply #17 on: Jan 07, 2007, 08:46 pm »
I don't remember the first show I SMed....I do remember my first professional show though - it was a huge in-house production of The Wizard of Ozat the theatre where I was house crew.  The LX operator (who was also house crew) hated me, didn't think I could do the job, and so pretty much ignored a lot of my calls and took the cues where SHE thought they should go, which did not often coincide with where I thought they should go.  Needless to say, this did not last long before the director went mad and told her to stop being such an unprofessional child.  The rest of the crew were brilliant and the cast was all lovely, so generally it was a positive experience once we'd had the row about lighting cues!

blaha_haha

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Re: Calling/teching your first show, your experiences.
« Reply #18 on: Feb 17, 2007, 08:19 pm »
Well my very first time as stage manager, I didnt make it to the performance as a SM. About two weeks before the show, the Production Manager pulled me aside asked me to assume a lead role after the actress quit. So I am now in my second first time calling a show lol. we're are still rehearsing so hopefully this time i'll get to make it to the show as a SM! ;)

Matt.L

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Re: Calling/teching your first show, your experiences.
« Reply #19 on: Feb 20, 2007, 06:55 pm »
I remember my first tech i spent the whole thing on the cans talking to the LD about the director cos she was trying to do everything herself... In the end i think me and the stage hands did about 3 strikes in the 4 hour tech the rest of the time was spent with the actors. bassically we spiked the set for each scene and went to sleep. Annoying at the time but quite funny looking back   :D

 

riotous