Author Topic: Need some inspiration  (Read 2188 times)

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DeeCap

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Need some inspiration
« on: Jul 13, 2011, 02:44 pm »
Ok. I'm venting. Something I feel like I haven't done here in a long time.

While holding down a full time job, I'm stage managing an opera for a very small company in town. Last summer I swore that I wouldn't work for them again but my future sister in law is majoring in stage management and needed an internship. I asked the company if they were interested and they said yes, as long I came in as the SM. While I thought I did a bad job last year, they said I was their strongest stage manager they've had in awhile.

They decided that the ASM should also do props, and boy does this show have some! The director has the singers eating real food in the show (something that's difficult to do while singing).
She also has the ensemble on roller skates. They were never told in the auditions they would be on skates. And they aren't new skates, these skates are used, so the stoppers are worn.

Then they are skating on a stage that is hardwood and hasn't been repaired in years. The singers and I have been saying this isn't safe, the production managers have said it's not safe, and the artistic director knows it's not safe, but the director won't budge on this despite all the safety concerns.

Also, everyone has gone way over budget. People just buy things knowing they won't get reimbursed because they feel bad for us.

Now about the set: It consists of two moving walls and to foldable walls that are ds left and right. All of which are heavy and require two people to move it. Scene changes are very slow. The singers (when not eating and skating) have stepped up to help, but we have no wing space so we are playing tetris with the set each night.

Did I mention that we only had a 4 hour tech? We're in a movie theatre and we are only in there when there aren't movies playing. We are in the a maximum of 5 hours per night. Last night we finally got through the entire show. We open Friday.

All I'm trying to do is survive, keep my day job,  and make sure no one falls in the pit (which fits 15 musicians and we have 22)

What I'm asking is can anyone share some inspiring theatre stories to get me through this?

planetmike

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Re: Need some inspiration
« Reply #1 on: Jul 13, 2011, 11:29 pm »
Last year I took a ten-year-old boy to see a community theater production of Mulan, Jr. The cast was all kids and teenagers. The theater was a tiny high school stage, with no wing space, all entrances were through the house, or behind the cyc as a crossover, and the theater was sold out. I had never seen Mulan, so he told me all about the movie on the way there. During the show, I was able to see the Magic happening in his eyes as he was transported to Mulan's world. He totally saw the actor playing Mushu as a dragon. It was very exciting to see the Magic that theatre can be. I think I had gotten a bit jaded from working on and seeing so many shows. I have no idea what dramas happened in that production's rehearsal process, or during tech week. I'm sure there were mistakes and problems along the way. But it was Magic.

Hopefully you can take a small step away from the very real headaches you are experiencing and find the Magic that is part of your production. Break a leg!

 

riotous