Messages

1

The Green Room / Re: Best one-liner from a performance report

« on: May 25, 2011, 01:39 am »

These are all notes from reports related to the last show I ASMed, Coram Boy.

Rehearsal report:

Props: "There will now be only one dream baby with umbilical cord in Act I, Scene 29 (pg 56). Could we add a violin case to carry the baby in as well as autumn leaves to fall out of the case? Thank you!"

Later on in the report....

Lights: "Could we please explore the possibility of adding dry ice to the violin case carrying the dream baby and leaves [See Props Note #4] in Act I, Scene 29 (pg 56)? Thank you!"

Production Meeting Report:

Scenery: "It has been determined that the baby holes will need to be large enough to accommodate partial baby skeletons as well as the freshly dead babies set into the holes in Act I."

Needless to say, props tracking for that show involved a lot of babies in various states of alive and dead.

2

Students and Novice Stage Managers / Re: Stage Managment Colleges in NY

« on: Nov 29, 2010, 05:43 am »

If you don't mind going farther away from NYC (which I didn't after growing up near there--its good to be other places, gives you perspective!) than take a look at Ithaca College. Here's a couple reasons why it could be a good choice for you:

1. It's a BA program, so transfering in works well and we've had a couple transfers the past year that managed to come in, have all their previous credits count, and get right into working on shows.

2. They just finished renovating the entire theatre building, so everything's nice and shiny!

3. There's plenty of opportunities for undergrad SMs because we don't have a grad program.

4. The theatre department is very tight-knit and supportive--you pretty much automatically have friends and lots to do on the weekends. Obviously since you're looking for a college, education is the most important thing but finding people you'll want to be around for the next however many years is a plus.

5. You could do nifty things like intern at a fringe theatre in London, which is what I'm doing right now.

That's my barely-awake-spent-all-night-at-a-load-in summary, but if you have any questions feel free to PM me : )

3

Students and Novice Stage Managers / Re: BFA SM Students or Students who entered college knowing they wanted to be a SM

« on: Nov 29, 2010, 05:21 am »

I also fell into it about sophomore year of high school, and now I'm a junior in college very nearly finished with my BA. Questions are welcome!

4

The Green Room / Re: Stage managing your life

« on: Aug 10, 2010, 12:14 pm »

I think I flip flop. I do tend to keep rather organized and neat--my apartment is clean, until tech when it isn't at all. I'm also the person that makes spreadsheets for trips and budgets and etc. However, I can let all of that go and often choose to not care if the dishes aren't washed-- and I am kinda a spazz personality-wise when I'm not working. For example, I am severely directionally challenged. My friends will often ask me which way we should go next, and then go the opposite direction instead...and that usually is the right direction! Overall while I tend to keep pretty Type A, I enjoy those moments in my life when I don't have to be the most organized or put together.

5

The Green Room / Re: What did you learn today?

« on: Aug 10, 2010, 12:03 pm »

Today I learned that staring at an empty suitcase will not make it pack itself....shame, that.

6

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: TECH: Overheated actor

« on: Aug 19, 2009, 11:46 am »

Thanks to everyone who dropped a suggestion! We just closed the show, and no one passed out thank god! Which was kind of surprising, during the opening show's intermission, the TD walked up to me and told me that it was 81 degrees in the house! We sold 12 cases of water the first night, and left out coolers of ice for the actors backstage.

For Ren, we set up a station on stage left with a gallon container of water, and a gallon container of Gatorade, as well as towels for drying off (the sweat was literally pouring of of him) and one of those spritzy fans that's a fan and a water spray container. It was definitely a long show, but we got through it!

7

Students and Novice Stage Managers / Re: Just graduated and need advice terribly

« on: Aug 05, 2009, 09:37 am »

I've only heard good things about the Kitchen--and I go to a lot of productions there, I'm a student at Ithaca College. Ithaca is a great place to live, good luck!

8

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / TECH: Overheated actor

« on: Aug 04, 2009, 03:08 pm »

I'm stage managing Footloose for a youth theatre company, and we are just entering tech. As we begin to run the show, it's become apparent that our Ren is very tired, overheated, etc during the run of the show. With the amount of times he appears in scenes added to the demanding choreography, he literally comes offstage out of breath and sweating every other scene.

We're doing the best we can to make sure he stays hydrated, but I was wondering if anybody has any tricks that are useful to help an overheated actor cool down. I've been told cooling off their wrists with ice packs is the quickest way, any other thoughts?

9

Students and Novice Stage Managers / Re: Schools

« on: Apr 24, 2009, 07:39 pm »

Just finishing my freshman year at Ithaca, and I love it! Message me, we can talk.

10

College and Graduate Studies / Re: Help choosing which college to attend!

« on: Mar 18, 2009, 06:33 pm »

I'm a freshman at Ithaca now and I couldn't be happier that I chose to come here. Britney covered a lot of it, but if you have any questions, feel free to contact me also. Or, if you're going to be visiting at all contact me and I could show you around! I'm living here for the summer too, so no rush.

One thing to consider along with what you want from the program is the area itself. You should also be happy to live wherever you decide to go, you will be there for four years after all! Ithaca is beautiful, and has a ton of snow. The town is fun, and has a few theaters in the area that IC students tend to work in/get internships with. I'm staying here this summer and working for a theatre company. IC theatre students of any major don't generally have problems finding internships and jobs for the summer and when they graduate.

Anyway, good luck in your search and if you have any questions feel free to ask me!

11

College and Graduate Studies / Re: looking for a school

« on: Oct 25, 2008, 08:52 pm »

I'm a freshman at Ithaca College, their BA Drama major is great for people who want to stage manage but also want to explore other areas of theatre...PM if you have any questions!

12

Students and Novice Stage Managers / Re: Student Stage Manager's Challenge #3: SMs Everywhere

« on: Jul 09, 2008, 12:35 am »

Olympics?

13

College and Graduate Studies / Re: What Major?

« on: Apr 07, 2008, 05:07 pm »

I am graduating from Ithaca this year!

I love the BA Drama program here. It gives you a lot of hands-on experience especially in the stage management realm. I've stage managed for 4 years here and I feel very prepared for a career in stage management upon graduation.
Name recognition for Ithaca College is extremely high and people are ALWAYS looking to hire Ithaca Theatre Department alumni because they have a reputation of being well trained and highly skilled.
We joke about Ithaca College having "the Ithaca Mafia" because so many of our graduating seniors get jobs because past Ithaca alumni hire them.

So that's my two cents.  I think the BA degree is really the way to go. You can be as involved (or not) as you choose.


-Britney

!!!!!

That makes me really happy! I really like the program at Ithaca and I can't wait for fall 

14

College and Graduate Studies / Re: What Major?

« on: Apr 06, 2008, 10:45 pm »

I second the liberal arts school theater major. I just went through the whole college process, and while I want to pursue stage management, I'm also interested in other aspects like directing and producing. I just had to decide between going to Syracuse/Emerson for a BFA in Stage Management or going to Ithaca for a BA in Drama and I went with the BA...

There are a lot of colleges that let you major in theatre and then pursue concentrations, or tracks, in a few different areas of theater. You're usually able to tailor the curriculum to your own set of interests, which sounds like it would work for you. Also, one thing you should definitely look for when your looking at programs is if the undergrad students get to participate a lot in the shows as SMs, ASMs, directors, etc...You'd be surprised how many schools limit what you can do or won't let you do anything until junior or senior year.

15

College and Graduate Studies / Re: Stage Management Colleges

« on: Mar 21, 2008, 11:40 pm »

Question about Rutgers, do you think their undergraduate or graduate program is stronger? I was looking at it for undergraduate, but I decided against the BFA route in favor of getting a more general BA degree in Drama. I want to go to grad school for stage management though, and I think I will go back and look again at Rutgers.