Author Topic: Making coffee (and other novice assignments)  (Read 4952 times)

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jerseySM

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Making coffee (and other novice assignments)
« on: Jun 20, 2009, 10:15 pm »
There's a book (or website, i can't remember) that is called: Stage Managers Do Make Coffee.

Personally, I'm not much of a coffee person but the very first task I was given at my first professional SM job was exactly that. A coffee run. I've also made coffee and tea and refilled water bottles. The funniest/strangest time was where I had to army crawl backstage behind some stairs (because there wasn't enough masking) to give a sick actor a water bottle. I don't mind doing that sort of thing of course, but it just makes me chuckle that in a lot of professions it seems, the first thing you do is make coffee (or something similar).

So, I'm curious...
1. What were your first tasks early in your career? (coffee type tasks)
2. What was the silliest thing you've had to do along those lines?

EDIT: Thread title expanded for easy browsing.  --PSMKay
« Last Edit: Jun 20, 2009, 11:13 pm by PSMKay »

ChaCha

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Re: Making coffee (and other novice assignments)
« Reply #1 on: Jun 21, 2009, 01:12 am »
I was the asm on the Australian Film Industry (AFI) Awards night, it was a delayed telecast from a Melbourne Theatre. Just before the show was due to start I got told to sit UNDER the stage holding a stick which had something attached to it just above the stage floor ( I really cant recall what it was) an if the MC said a particular line I was to push the stick up through a small hole in the stage floor just in front of the MC position, thus pushing the object up off the floor and into the air. It was some idea the MC had arrived at the venue with that night (and management had decided to humour him). They told me the first time the MC would say the cue word was in the first 5 minutes, but after that I should just be ready at any time. So I spent about 3 hours in a small space under the stage. And never got the cue again after the first time. That was one boring evening, where you really wished all the winners did not get to make speeches! But I got paid, so not all bad I suppose...
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Tigerrr

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Re: Making coffee (and other novice assignments)
« Reply #2 on: Jun 24, 2009, 08:30 pm »
Whoo boy!! I've had to do some silly things!

- follow an actor around after her exit to open doors for her (she was wearing 1' long fingernails)
- army crawl between some cyc strip lights and the cyc to open and close a crash mat
- give an actor a bottle of water with a straw while her head was off stage but her body was still on
- call a show from behind a dumpster in an alley (I couldn't see or hear anything, and used the feed from her wireless mic to take my cues)
- do a talkback BEFORE the show about stage managing in my second language to a bunch of French Immersion students because the 2nd school was 30 minutes late
- dress up as a rodeo clown and manually run a bucking bull (unfortunately there are pictures.)

Tempest

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Re: Making coffee (and other novice assignments)
« Reply #3 on: Jun 25, 2009, 04:44 pm »
For one show that I worked on, one of the actors was night-blind.  In dim situations, i.e. backstage, he couldn't see a thing. My job was to stand just off stage with my arms wide open, and catch him every time he came running off, and then escort him to the green room door.  It was a little peculiar!
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missliz

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Re: Making coffee (and other novice assignments)
« Reply #4 on: Jun 25, 2009, 05:44 pm »
Ok, perhaps the BEST thing I got to do, because everyone else thought it was terrible-

I was asked to make a 3hr drive to the airport and train station to pick up THE TEMPTATIONS! They were coming on separate trips, and I shuttled them around all day, getting them dinner, checking into the hotel, helping coordinate the band, etc. Not really in my job description as SM Intern, but really, a 3 hr road trip with The Temptations, singing and telling jokes? Rockin.
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bethanyb5

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Re: Making coffee (and other novice assignments)
« Reply #5 on: Jun 25, 2009, 08:14 pm »
For one show that I worked on, one of the actors was night-blind.  In dim situations, i.e. backstage, he couldn't see a thing. My job was to stand just off stage with my arms wide open, and catch him every time he came running off, and then escort him to the green room door.  It was a little peculiar!

That is funny because I worked with an actor that the minute the lights went out on stage for a black out it was like he had no idea where he was and he would wonder around on the stage with his hands in front of him while the prop guys were rushing past him with the set change. eventually he found his way to where I could reach him. I was on a head set that was connected to the wall so I couldn't go far. once he adjusted to the darkness he was fine one show I worked with him on the director suggested he grab a prop and take it off the stage with him and I said no way and explained what would happened and we all had a good laugh.   

LisaS

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Re: Making coffee (and other novice assignments)
« Reply #6 on: Jun 28, 2009, 12:44 am »
This is nowhere near as silly as some of these things, but I can say that I spent a lot of time last summer making coffee, sweeping, mopping, doing line notes, and folding origami rabbits.  (The show was about origami and we basically killed a rabbit a night, usually by accidentally spilling tea on it during a cleanup sequence.)

nmno

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Re: Making coffee (and other novice assignments)
« Reply #7 on: Jun 28, 2009, 03:03 am »
I was PAing for a show's pre-Broadway out-of-town run/tech and the director requested that at the first break after dinner that the creatives have hot towels (a la first class on an airplane).  So after the dinner break, I would go downstairs, dampen towels, heat them in a microwave and roll them at just the right time so that they would still be steaming when the first break hit 80 minutes after dinner.  Kind of a crazy request but it really seemed to perk everyone one up and help them get thru the evening. 

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Re: Making coffee (and other novice assignments)
« Reply #8 on: Jun 28, 2009, 11:26 am »
Quote
and folding origami rabbits.

I opened WONDERETTES and until I got someone else to do them, we had an almost-nightly cootie-catcher to replace - it was amusing, all the girls knew how to do it, as did our director of course, but all the boys who came thru had to be taught.....