Community, Round 4: Glow Tape vs Paper

[PSMKay]

The Community League may be the one to watch this time around, with the home team's flash and sparkle pitted against the away team's solid foundation and unique slice & dice offense technique.

Of the four tapes that have taken the field so far, Glow Tape is the one most likely to save someone's life in a backstage situation. While its staying power is notoriously weak and it will likely need to call on some assistance to get all the way to the goal, it is nevertheless outstanding in its field and utilized in pretty much every production. However, knowing that the winner of this match will have to go up against Flashlight in the Sweet Sixteen may harm its chances.

However, while nobody will claim that Paper has saved their life, it is undeniably a central element to every single aspect of the Stage Manager's job. Many of the preceding winners - including Pencil, Binder, Scale Rule and Multi-Hole punch, would be useless without Paper. Never before has it been an attractive option to vote for more paper. Perhaps in this situation we will create the exception that proves the rule.

The fourth round will run through Friday at midnight CST.

[Kaleigh.Knights]

Has anyone tried Glow Gaff Tape? We got a huge batch during my summer stock job and I fell in love with it!

But I couldn't do a show without paper. I read that article about the paper-less stage managing experiment...but I just don't see it being possible on a realistic budget.

[nick_tochelli]

Glow Gaff is good. We got samples of it at work a few months back. Now that being said...still way too pricey for regular use. But once it comes down, glow tape itself may shuffle off.

But in the meantime....Holy crow. what a match up! I don't think I realized in my pre tournament ramblings that Glowtape had to go up against paper....brutal!

I may be swapping my answer back and forth a lot....

[MatthewShiner]

Glow tape is the biggest sham in technical theatre . . . thank goodness for small LED's now.

[LCSM]

I bet Paper is going all the way. Think of all the items in our bracket that are made to be used with paper, or that would be useless without it.

I wonder how many years back we would have to go before paper took the board unanimously.

[On_Headset]

I will do *anything* to get myself around having to use glow tape. It's the worst of all possible worlds: it doesn't go flush to the surface (an annoyance rather than a fatal flaw, but what an annoyance), it's so expensive you can only justify using tiny slivers (even when you really need a big 'ol chunk), it peels off (either on its own or with the assistance of a bored actor with bigger thumbnails than brains), and there are so many more important things ASMs could be doing at preshow other than wandering around the stage with a flashlight.

Whenever possible:
- Glow paint (at least this way I can use as much as I like without breaking the bank--and I can bring in patterns: hazard stripes, dots, lettering and symbols [painted on with the brush from a nail polish bottle], etc.)
- LED throwies (expensive [$0.20-1.00 per throwie], but they attach to anything metallic (or you can make them without the magnet and tape them to anything that takes tape), they're removeable and reuseable, they never need to be charged, and you can get all kinds of different colours.)

Conversely, paper?

Could not work without paper. Would not work without paper. (You're giving me a contract without issuing a paper copy? No thanks.)

[SMAshlee]

As great and useful as everything in the tournament is, I think it will be paper and pencil fighting it out to the bitter end!