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SMNetwork Archives / CAREER: loyalty vs abuse
« on: Oct 21, 2005, 12:08 pm »
Marci here, SMA chair.
Where does your loyalty to the show/theater end and your protection of yourself begin?
This past summer I had to rehearse three large shows back-to-back without an ASM (that's right, there are AEA contracts where assistants --even non-Equity ones -- are not required.) We rehearsed in a studio where you have to set up everything every morning and strike everything at the end of the day so the evening rental can come in. And since I was the rehearsal SM, not the performance SM (an idiosyncracy of this contract -- there's a resident SM at the theater and a rehearsal SM for each show. It's a remnant of the stock circuit, but that's another story...) I was constantly in rehearsal without a break.
As I have been an employee of this theater for the past 6 years, I'm privy to a lot of info I probably shouldn't have, like their financial situation, which wasn't rosy. So instead of insisting upon an assistant for at least the third show, I sucked it up and ended up with a severely herniated disk, a memento of all the lifting and carrying I had to do.
To make matters worse, immediately following the summer I ended up PSMing the premiere of a new musical in a new theater space. In this case, I had two ASMs, but neither had the experience necessary to understand how to do rehearsal shifts or set up a deck. So I had to do a lot of extra shlepwork. Additionally, the theater itself was understaffed and when one of my ASMs got sick the first day of tech, I had to do a lot of shifting and moving myself -- ONE DAY AFTER BACK SURGERY (thanks to that herniated disk!)
In both of these examples the theaters were extremely pressed for time as well as money. The summer jobs only have a 48 hour turnaround between shows and a five-hour tech before opening. The musical only had 2 10-out-of-12s, with management insistent that the second half of the 2nd tech day be a run-through. For a musical. With 40 scenes. And a turntable.
Now that we're all done feeling sorry for me, here's the thing: we are all constantly knocking ourselves silly, physically and mentally, to get the job done, because we're always up against the wall. If we DON'T make the sacrifice, the fear is the show won't be ready. But if we DO make the sacrifice, what are we really sacrificing -- some extra sleep, or something bigger? And I'm not just talking about health. By going the extra mile, aren't we proving to the theaters that they can get away with hiring less people -- fewer ASMs, fewer run crew, no props people (oh, come on, I KNOW you all have ended up propping shows!) -- because we have demonstrated we can do it all? Even if we are putting our jobs on the line, is it better for us ALL to stand up and say, "No, I can't / It's not part of my job / I need help" and make the theater begin to take responsibility for staffing their shows properly?
What do you all think? I'd love to have this question as a Chat Room forum (maybe in a few weeks we can all get together?) but let's get the ball rolling now. Your comments, your stories, your suggestions -- and what can the SMA do, if anything, to address this?
peace out,
Marci
PS: The back surgery was very effective, and though I hindered my recovery by working physically so soon afterwards (I was allowed to return to work, but told not to lift or carry) I am doing a lot better now.
Where does your loyalty to the show/theater end and your protection of yourself begin?
This past summer I had to rehearse three large shows back-to-back without an ASM (that's right, there are AEA contracts where assistants --even non-Equity ones -- are not required.) We rehearsed in a studio where you have to set up everything every morning and strike everything at the end of the day so the evening rental can come in. And since I was the rehearsal SM, not the performance SM (an idiosyncracy of this contract -- there's a resident SM at the theater and a rehearsal SM for each show. It's a remnant of the stock circuit, but that's another story...) I was constantly in rehearsal without a break.
As I have been an employee of this theater for the past 6 years, I'm privy to a lot of info I probably shouldn't have, like their financial situation, which wasn't rosy. So instead of insisting upon an assistant for at least the third show, I sucked it up and ended up with a severely herniated disk, a memento of all the lifting and carrying I had to do.
To make matters worse, immediately following the summer I ended up PSMing the premiere of a new musical in a new theater space. In this case, I had two ASMs, but neither had the experience necessary to understand how to do rehearsal shifts or set up a deck. So I had to do a lot of extra shlepwork. Additionally, the theater itself was understaffed and when one of my ASMs got sick the first day of tech, I had to do a lot of shifting and moving myself -- ONE DAY AFTER BACK SURGERY (thanks to that herniated disk!)
In both of these examples the theaters were extremely pressed for time as well as money. The summer jobs only have a 48 hour turnaround between shows and a five-hour tech before opening. The musical only had 2 10-out-of-12s, with management insistent that the second half of the 2nd tech day be a run-through. For a musical. With 40 scenes. And a turntable.
Now that we're all done feeling sorry for me, here's the thing: we are all constantly knocking ourselves silly, physically and mentally, to get the job done, because we're always up against the wall. If we DON'T make the sacrifice, the fear is the show won't be ready. But if we DO make the sacrifice, what are we really sacrificing -- some extra sleep, or something bigger? And I'm not just talking about health. By going the extra mile, aren't we proving to the theaters that they can get away with hiring less people -- fewer ASMs, fewer run crew, no props people (oh, come on, I KNOW you all have ended up propping shows!) -- because we have demonstrated we can do it all? Even if we are putting our jobs on the line, is it better for us ALL to stand up and say, "No, I can't / It's not part of my job / I need help" and make the theater begin to take responsibility for staffing their shows properly?
What do you all think? I'd love to have this question as a Chat Room forum (maybe in a few weeks we can all get together?) but let's get the ball rolling now. Your comments, your stories, your suggestions -- and what can the SMA do, if anything, to address this?
peace out,
Marci
PS: The back surgery was very effective, and though I hindered my recovery by working physically so soon afterwards (I was allowed to return to work, but told not to lift or carry) I am doing a lot better now.