Messages

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Students and Novice Stage Managers / Re: ASM Calling the Show

« on: Jul 25, 2011, 07:29 am »

Whoops, sorry about that...

There ended up being a conversation between the SM, ASM and the Director that was completely unplanned after a rehearsal. I was not part of that conversation and all I got afterwards was that the SM stood up for herself, saying that she could and wanted to call the show and the ASM backed her up. The Director thought about it and eventually allowed the SM to call the show. I was not on headset for the actual show so I don't know exactly how she did, but the show itself went great, which I take to mean the SM got everything down for the show. The ASM ended up backstage for the show, which was fine by her as well.

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Students and Novice Stage Managers / Re: ASM Calling the Show

« on: Feb 01, 2011, 10:49 pm »

This is a college production and we have three performances. Both the Director and Tech Director are faculty. We normally have the SM call the show and the ASM back stage with crew. There is one big set change but other than that it it light and sound cues. Show opens next Thursday and we go into tech on Friday with a Q to Q. I don't think what they are talking about is getting rid of the SM completely from the program but having the ASM run cues and the SM be backstage with crew instead.

The Tech Director is also the head of our Tech department at our school so all decisions run through him. The light designer and board ops do not know about the situation right now (I am the sound designer for the show). I have not been officially told about this, the ASM came to me because she did not know what to do about it and I could not answer the question because I had never run into this before.

We are a small school. We have somewhere around 20 people in the program and we branch out into specialties from there. We have a work study program that allows people not in the program to come in, get trained, and work shows with us.

Yes, we could possibly do a dry tech with the board ops for the SM. That's something that is normally done anyways. Everyone in tech gets together and goes over what needs to happen when and all of that stuff. I'm just not sure what to have the ASM do. Should she step up and call the show or let the SM call it?

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Students and Novice Stage Managers / ASM Calling the Show

« on: Feb 01, 2011, 06:43 pm »

I'm helping teach the SM and ASM for our winter production of A Midsummer Nights Dream and recently hit a question I did not know how to answer. Both the Director and the Tech Director want the ASM to call the show because they do not feel that the SM is on top of the show enough to do so. The ASM is unsure of what to do. She would love the opportunity to call the show but know that it is the SM's job to do so and does not know how to respond.

I believe that either person could effectively call the show. The show has been a bit more work than planned for both of them due to a lack of communication from the director. From what I have seen, both the SM and the ASM have been working hard to keep things on track. I'm not sure where the Director got the notion that the SM was not on top of things, but she has passed it on to the Tech Director who agrees.

Has anyone run across this before? Any suggestions on what to do about it?

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Students and Novice Stage Managers / Blocking Script vs Calling Script

« on: Oct 27, 2010, 12:15 pm »

I'm currently working a production where I will be working with a calling script for the first time. Normally I just put my cues into the same script as my blocking because I didn't know that there are sometimes separate scripts between blocking and calling the show. Knowing this, I am going to try it with my production that goes up in a few weeks. I was wondering, other than the cues, is there anything else that goes into the calling script? I wasn't sure if copying over blocking to keep track of everything was something that was done or not. I know every script and prompt book is different, but I'm wondering what other people do. Thanks guys!

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Students and Novice Stage Managers / Re: Co-SMing

« on: Aug 31, 2010, 09:38 pm »

The way we've been going at it is even though my title is Stage Manager, I'm acting as an ASM until tech week. I'm not sure exactly how tech week is going to work but there is no backstage crew. It's all one set with no changes and the only costume changes that happen are within act breaks where there will be an intermission and enough time for the actors to change.

The idea for the Co-SMing was by the other SM and the director. I personally don't mind being an ASM. I also don't mind acting as an ASM with a SM title. I was just wondering if there was any way for both of us to act as SM, or if I did have to act as ASM.

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Students and Novice Stage Managers / Co-SMing

« on: Aug 31, 2010, 01:51 pm »

I'm currently one of two Stage Managers for a college production of All My Sons. This is my first time being one of two Stage Managers and I'm little nervous about it. The other Stage Manager and I have talked about it but I still feel like I'm not as in the loop as I would be if I were the only Stage Manager or even if I was the ASM instead. It's just the two of us with no ASM. We figured that because both of us are at the same level in Stage Management it would be weird to have one of us as the SM and one of us as the ASM. I was wondering if anyone had a suggestions on how things tend to work with more than one SM.

Thanks guys!

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Students and Novice Stage Managers / Re: Potential for issues with ASM

« on: May 27, 2010, 06:21 pm »

I'd also suggest asking the ASM for help if you need it. I was recently in a situation similar to yours, except that I was the ASM. I was working with a stage manager who didn't know what they were doing and they didn't ask for help. All I could do was my job as ASM because I didn't want the stage manager to think I was trying to take her job.

But totally talk with your ASM and go over the ASM's job and the stage manager's job. That will help clarify for both of you what you are going to be doing.

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Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: PROFESSIONALISM: Help, I'm being sabotaged!

« on: Apr 27, 2010, 09:23 pm »

That's a good point computekid. I'd like to think that I wasn't the reason he left (it was the gels that he couldn't get on time) but I did have something to do with it. I did attempt to take care of the problem beforehand but everyone had the same answer that I had: "It's not possible." I'm sure that there were other ways to handle it, but at that moment I didn't think of them. And the choreographer's piece turned out really well actually. Another LD took over for it.

But thanks, I'll think differently about it the next time I work with him.

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Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: PROFESSIONALISM: Help, I'm being sabotaged!

« on: Apr 23, 2010, 12:46 pm »

I've had a similar problem at my college this fall. I was stage managing our production of Trojan Women and for some reason unknown to me one guy was the student TD, the set designer and the A/V person. He did not do any of his jobs, no matter how many times I reminded him that it needed to be done. Eventually the LD took over the set and TD and the student in charge of the A/V department took over the A/V. I'm still not too sure why he didn't do anything. The only reasonable answer that I had come up with was that he hadn't been cast in the show, even though he made it obvious that he really wanted to be in it as well as what part he wanted.

As all of this was going on, I made a habit of talking to both the director and the professor who is the TD of the theatre on a regular basis to let them know what was going on. I've also made it a point not to work with this person again, but at college I can't just pick and choose my crew. He was recently a light designer for our dance show that goes up tonight. (For our dance show we have a different light designer for each dance so that every student has a chance to work at the light board if they want.) I am stage managing the dance show with a friend of mine and the guy came up and gave us a list of demands as to what he said was vital to the design of his dance. It included changing the gels on the cyc lights for one dance, as well as flying all of the goods out for the dance. He also gave me the list three days before the show. I told him that it wasn't possible because I did not have the crew backstage to do all of that and it takes far too long to change the cyc lights. He insisted and would not take no for an answer. He eventually quit because the gel he wanted to use was back ordered and we didn't have enough of it.

I've found that sticking up for yourself as much as possible without making it into a fight is the best path. The student I am dealing with is a senior (I'm a sophomore) and was trying to out rule me because he is an upperclassmen and I was not. I argued my points and once it became a pointless fight, I gave up on it and went to the TD and told him what was going on and asked for some help.

I hope everything for you works out. I think keeping in contact with the Producer is a good idea, as is sticking up for yourself.

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Students and Novice Stage Managers / Re: Humor: Stage Managing the World

« on: Apr 23, 2010, 12:29 pm »

I've done the whole calling cues at traffic lights and calling when the salesperson is going to talk to a customer, but I've never really thought of it as calling cues before. (And not that I have I will.) It's always just been a fun way to guess what people are going to do or to try to get the timing of the light.

Just as a few other people are saying, I'm not at all organized in real life, but extremely organized in the theatre. However, even though my room is a mess, I still know where everything is; it's just on my floor or under my bed, not in the drawers that I have for it.