Messages

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Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: PROPS: Spray Paint on Stage

« on: May 11, 2011, 03:52 am »

Do you know if that Krylon paint leaves really strong fumes?

And yes, they do have to actually spray paint a wall. Or at the very least, it has to look to the audience as if the actors are spray painting the walls. I can't think of a way to cheat this though. How is the mist used in the In the Heights tour?

2

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / PROPS: Spray Paint on Stage

« on: May 05, 2011, 01:06 am »

Hey all.

Okay, so I'm working on a show being produced in a very small blackbox theater. The script requires that a group of five male actors run up to a wall with spray paint cans, and do some graffiti. I would have no problem with giving the actors actual spray paint cans to do the graffiti, but the problem is that the theater is so small that five cans of spray paint going off at once might make it a bit difficult for the audience to breathe. It would definitely not be very healthy for the audience members to be breathing in all of those fumes. Does anybody have any solution? Is there such a thing as fume-less spray paint?!

3

Students and Novice Stage Managers / Re: House is Open or Closed?

« on: May 05, 2011, 12:54 am »

Yeah, I have always heard stage managers say, "The house is now open" to the actors and crew when the doors first open and the audience starts coming in so that no actors or crew members wander onto the stage when they're not supposed to. When the doors close and the show is about to start the stage manager then says, "The house is closed."

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Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: PROPS: Is there really an easy way to break glass on stage?

« on: May 05, 2011, 12:51 am »

From what I remember all we did was score the glass. The glass would break into large pieces that were easy to sweep up later on when the actor pulled out the broom. It's worth a try maybe. But definitely let me know how your idea works out though!

5

Uploaded Forms / Re: Blocking notation

« on: May 04, 2011, 04:06 am »

I know this is too late for the OP, but just in case somebody else has the same question I've uploaded a sample of how I was taught to take blocking notation. You print out the script one-sided so that each page of text has a blank page accompanying it on which you can write your notations. Hope this helps!

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Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: PROPS: Is there really an easy way to break glass on stage?

« on: May 02, 2011, 07:22 am »

I actually just worked on a production of this exact play this past summer! I don't remember the script saying it had to be a glass jar though. I specifically remember the actress throwing a wine glass. The stage manager bought a bunch of very cheap wine glasses, and then the technical director used a glass cutter to score the bowl of the glass. If I remember correctly, he only scored it four times, so that when the glass was thrown it would break into four pieces. It worked like a charm every time. Here's a pretty helpful video I found on how to cut glass:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6jyP0_nEoM

If you don't have a glass cutter readily available, you can get one for a few bucks from almost any hardware store. I know that Home Depot sells them for a few bucks. Hope this helps!