Author Topic: Bows  (Read 22965 times)

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sara0521

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Bows
« on: Jul 17, 2007, 04:36 pm »
I just wanted to know if it is customary at other high schools, or even in the professional world of Stage Managing, to give the SM a bow.

Thanks!
Sara

MatthewShiner

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Re: Bows
« Reply #1 on: Jul 17, 2007, 06:03 pm »
No, it's not usual or customary for crew or stage management to have a bow.
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Anything posted here as in my own personal opinion, and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of my employer - whomever they be at a given moment in time.

Here2serv

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Re: Bows
« Reply #2 on: Jul 17, 2007, 07:05 pm »
Well then. When I do my last HS play next spring I had better get one. It would be nice. I am sure I could like accidentally trip out onto the stage. Got plenty of time to think of a way. Lol.
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KMC

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Re: Bows
« Reply #3 on: Jul 17, 2007, 07:52 pm »
It's just not something that's done, it's part of the gig.

If people notice the stage manager or crew then most times something has gone wrong.
Get action. Do things; be sane; don’t fritter away your time; create, act, take a place wherever you are and be somebody; get action. -T. Roosevelt

BWEEVEED

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Re: Bows
« Reply #4 on: Jul 17, 2007, 08:38 pm »
The audience typically doesn't acknowledge the stage crew. The only time I have EVER gone onstage was for the school talent show when I was part of the act (wheeling someone onstage, how intriguing).

However. Typically when the cast go on for their curtain call, they gesture up to the booth and clap. That's virtually the only recognition we get. But it's still nice.  :)
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Tempest

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Re: Bows
« Reply #5 on: Jul 18, 2007, 10:48 am »
I did work for an opera company, once, that at the end of the very last performance of the season always had was they called the crew bow.  Most of the crew being reluctant to be in the spotlight, singers literally dragged us onstage, lined us up and made us bow.  I think it was just a chance for them to man-handle the crew; the singers enjoyed it more than the crew.

But no, SM or other crew bows are not typical at all.  Actually, at curtain call, I make it a point to give my actors a standing ovation every night, if my position can be seen from the stage.  I'm sure it makes them feel good to see me standing behind my position and applauding for them, too.
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MatthewShiner

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Re: Bows
« Reply #6 on: Jul 18, 2007, 11:10 am »
However. Typically when the cast go on for their curtain call, they gesture up to the booth and clap. That's virtually the only recognition we get. But it's still nice.  :)

I don't think this is Typical - I would never let my cast do this towards me or the crew unless it was choreographed that way by the director.

Again, just part of the gig . . . added to the list of things how stage management is different from the cast.
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Anything posted here as in my own personal opinion, and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of my employer - whomever they be at a given moment in time.

thehayworth

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Re: Bows
« Reply #7 on: Jul 18, 2007, 04:16 pm »
if you want applause, you're in the wrong job
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BWEEVEED

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Re: Bows
« Reply #8 on: Jul 18, 2007, 04:39 pm »
I don't think this is Typical - I would never let my cast do this towards me or the crew unless it was choreographed that way by the director.

Again, just part of the gig . . . added to the list of things how stage management is different from the cast.
[/quote]

It really isn't. It's more of a tradition type thing that we do at my high school. I wouldn't do the job if I actually wanted recognition.
If the world is a stage then we rule the world.

StageMgr2Stars

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Re: Bows
« Reply #9 on: Jul 18, 2007, 05:56 pm »
if you want applause, you're in the wrong job

Bingo.
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JDL

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Re: Bows
« Reply #10 on: Jul 18, 2007, 07:47 pm »
if you want applause, you're in the wrong job

Bingo.

Bingo. Bingo. Applauding to the booth is a secondary education practice. This is when mom and dad come to see their precious son or daughter.
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Trevor7

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Re: Bows
« Reply #11 on: Jul 18, 2007, 09:00 pm »
What my professor told me is that the only time the stage manager gets any attention is if they do something wrong.  If you want applause then you should be on stage.  I love being backstage and my applause is knowing that I did my part to make the show great.

Jessie_K

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Re: Bows
« Reply #12 on: Jul 19, 2007, 12:34 am »

[/quote]

Bingo. Bingo. Applauding to the booth is a secondary education practice. This is when mom and dad come to see their precious son or daughter.
[/quote]

I wonder if this is also cultural thing.  I agree that in America it is strange to gesture to the SM or crew.

Can Brits weigh in on this for me?  I just finished the Brits Off Broadway festival where I SMed 3 shows and each cast gestured to the booth as part of their bows.  Do Brits do this more than Americans?

Mac Calder

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Re: Bows
« Reply #13 on: Jul 19, 2007, 06:07 am »
I know that quite a few Aussie shows have casts who do a crew clap (to prompt side), but I know equally as many who didn't clap the crew.

centaura

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Re: Bows
« Reply #14 on: Jul 19, 2007, 08:41 am »
When I was in high school we had the summer musical for a summer school class, and the crew was choreographed into the curtain call, but it was a case of getting the kids onstage to be seen by their parents.  For school productions like that, I don't see the crew getting a bow to be a problem or issue; but once out of school I would consider it amatuer-ish.  Its fine in education, when the goal is to recognise everyone's contribution, but outside of that environment a good crew is an unnoticed crew.  A recognition of the booth I'm not sure how I would consider - part of me is sure that the audience doesn't know what the significance is, but if its venue tradition then its venue tradition.

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