Topics

1

Students and Novice Stage Managers / Tech week signage

« on: Jul 23, 2011, 06:38 pm »

Question for everyone: what kinds of signs do you usually find that you need to put up for the tech/run of a show?  I am the SM for a children's production of Guys and Dolls (12-18 y.o. is the age range) and I am having a hard time thinking about what might need to be labelled...

So far:
Male Dressing Room (on actual door)
Female Dressing Room (on actual door)
Male/Female Dressing Rooms Directional (on stairwell door)
DO NOT USE ELEVATOR (next to elevator opening)
Mic Station (above mic pickup/dropoff station)

Am I missing something obvious here?

2

Students and Novice Stage Managers / Asserting yourself in front of cast

« on: Mar 07, 2009, 10:39 pm »

So, I have a problem =)

I have a really difficult time asserting myself in front of the cast. A lot of the cast are upperclassmen (mostly seniors), and being a sophomore, there is sometimes the issue of seniority floating around in my head.  I have a hard time telling the cast to be quiet (because of that unfortunate fact, the director usually has to yell at them [which I feel terrible about]) and giving them instructions.  I've been working on that flaw by asserting myself in front of smaller groups of actors, and then progressively bigger groups.  But once I get past a certain amount of "listeners", maybe 3/4 of the cast (15 people), I just lose my nerve.

Now what is weird is that I have absolutely no problem with asserting myself to the tech crew.  I know that they are my charge and responsibility.  I think one of the issues here is I am not sure how much authority I have over the cast, whereas I know for sure how much I have with the crew.

Can anyone who has had to deal with a similar situation give any advice?

Thank you