Topics

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Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / CALLING: Cast/Crew call format question

« on: Apr 15, 2008, 01:36 pm »

I am currently working with a community theatre and trying to make the SM (and ASM) positions a bit more professional.  This is a great group with very dedicated people who have done a great job - I just wanted to make things a bit more formal.

So, I think I have pretty much got a "PA" rigged from my SM position to the dressing/green room for calls.  I will be making the calls in the form of:

"Ladies and Gentlemen of <Company> this is your half hour call.  30 minutes please."

and

"Ladies and gentlemen of “Show Name” this is your beginners call for Act One.  Beginners to the stage please: Miss F, Mr O, Mrs S and Mr S.  Standby assistant stage manager, front of house and technical staff."

This will be new for this group.  I like the formality and the tradition (which, even though they may not realize it, I think will come through).  I also like the business of addressing the beginners by name, etc.

My question is this... I notice throughout this board when calls like this are refered to it usually (always?) is in the format of .... "Show Name" Company.... Do SMs really always include BOTH the show AND company name in each call?  I personally find this awkward lengthy... however, I dont want to destroy a tradition of theatre by cutting down to just the Company and leaving the "Show Name" out of the calls.

Sandy

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Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / SCENERY: Fire Effect - need help FAST!

« on: Apr 15, 2008, 11:15 am »

Our community theatre is staging "No S-- Please, We're British"... in that show there is some "burning" of paper in a wastebasket, which is then quickly doused with water and flowers from a vase.

We have some very enthusiastic volunteers (remember... community theatre) one of whom has created a rather elaborate rig with compressed air and flour which gives sort of a "smoke" effect coming up from the waste basket.  However it makes a dreadful roar (like a small elephant) and the flour in the air is making cast members cough.

We have our dress on Thursday (two days) and first public performance on Saturday.

What is needed is some black/grey smoke - no need for flames.  I need to make it happen fast and simply... we all have regular jobs so running around the city tracking down little pyrotechnics etc. isn't really a possibility.

Any help is appreciated.

Sandy

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Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / VENUES: Community theatre group

« on: Mar 13, 2008, 04:32 pm »

I've looked around the board and havn't seen a group specifically for Community Theatre.  Wondering if that has ever come up before.  Every theatre has its own set of issues, but CommTheatre often has lots of them all in one location... low ceilings, using other groups spaces (church halls), lack of resources and of course the list goes on....  Maybe the members and Mods have heard this a dozen times... maybe not.  Thoughts?

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Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / SHOWS: Question about - "No Sex Please, We're British"

« on: Mar 13, 2008, 03:26 pm »

HI all,

I am stage managing "No Sex Please, We're British" at a Community Theatre in Nova Scotia.  If anyone has done this show, maybe you have some ideas (you might even if you aren't familiar with the show) that can help us with a problem: We need to have a "hatch" come down on a boquet of flowers and guillotine the stems off... any suggestions as to how we can make this happen??

Thanks for any help.