Messages

106

Tools of the Trade / Light hang and focus

« on: Sep 13, 2010, 11:26 pm »

I don't know if this is quite the right place for this, but figured I'd give it a shot. I took a full time job that requires some overhire work and I have my first light hang in a long time coming up. I did a little bit of hanging and focusing in school, but not much and I was hoping for some reminders if anyone has any tips or tricks!

107

Students and Novice Stage Managers / Re: Portfolio?

« on: Sep 12, 2010, 01:03 am »

I did my portfolio online for Apprenticeship interviews a while back, but I've actually used it a lot since then. I have a page for each show describing who designed/directed it and then what the major challenges are. Within that are samples of paper work for that show and pictures showing the challenges I described. By flipping through the pages people have told me it's nice to see who we've worked with in common as well as whether I have experience with anything specific they're looking for.

108

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: PROFESSIONALISM: Your Show Sucked.

« on: Sep 05, 2010, 12:55 am »

dewitt is touching on my twist to this question, but how do you guys figure out if people really want to have a serious talk or just need some generic positive reinforcements? I have a lot of SM friends, but sometimes it's hard for me to tell if they really want my feedback or not and you know as soon as you say 'do you want to know what I really thing?' they'll know. I feel like sometimes 'do you want to talk about it later?' has the same effect.

109

The Green Room / Re: Being friends with other stage managers

« on: Aug 19, 2010, 12:35 pm »

The SMs I get along with the best tend to be those that are a couple steps ahead of or behind me in the process. I have a lot of really close friends that are still in school or are just starting out in the SM world and I have quite a few AEA SM friends/mentors-- I'm non-union. I think it's easier for me to stay close with people that aren't applying for the same work I am.

It took me a while to realize that the way I wanted my career to go probably wasn't the way everyone else wanted theirs to go and that it was okay to talk about my plans and goals. That doesn't mean I give up postings I'm responding to or that I'll let someone copy my paperwork/resume/website templates either, though. I dunno, I guess that means competition definitely still plays into my relationships.

110

Tools of the Trade / Re: Headset-suitable eyewear

« on: Jun 18, 2010, 05:41 pm »

I switched to contacts and the number of headset headaches I got dropped exponentially!

111

The Green Room / Re: Tony Awards

« on: Jun 13, 2010, 11:24 pm »

I am just always shocked at how messy things seen. Chief offenders: as you mentioned, audio cuts in and out, but a bigger problem for me is that people aren't sure what comes next. That seems like such an easy fix! Award shows like the Oscars, Grammys, and MTV Movie Awards seem to run so much more smoothly. Seems like the Tonys should be the best, given that live performance is what we do!

112

Students and Novice Stage Managers / Re: How Many times have you stage managed?

« on: May 28, 2010, 01:57 pm »

I just graduated from college and I've SMed 12 shows and ASMed 6 in the last four years.

It's weird to boil it all down to that!

113

Tools of the Trade / Re: PROPS: LED Throwies

« on: May 18, 2010, 12:40 pm »

I bought LED throwies from thinkgeek.com and they come with plastic tabs pre-inserted and they can be reinserted to turn them off. It's actually the only way to turn them off. We've been playing with then for six weeks and none of them have died yet, but they're rarely on for more than 20 minutes at a time. They come made with magnets, but they were really, really cheap. Sweeping them wouldn't be a problem and you should be able to reinsert plastic strips quickly, as long as you take care of the strips so they don't get bent!

114

Tools of the Trade / Excel tips

« on: May 05, 2010, 01:39 am »

So I'm graduating from college imminently and I have some time that I want to devote to learning Excel. Basically what I'm looking for are some Excel hints. What are interesting things that you've learned to do in Excel that you find particularly helpful or interesting?

115

Students and Novice Stage Managers / Re: Other Theatre Jobs

« on: Apr 13, 2010, 12:59 am »

I think it depends on your strengths and weaknesses. I felt like I needed to spend more time working on my people skills, so wardrobe was great for me. I interacted with a ton of actors and designers and it helped a lot. If you are great with people and want to learn more about cueing, something like electrics might be great for you.

116

Students and Novice Stage Managers / Re: 2009/2010 Stage Management Internships for The Shakespeare Theatre Company

« on: Feb 23, 2010, 12:56 am »

Email sent, thanks!
I had recs written already, so I also asked if I could send them in regardless.
I'll update the thread when I hear back!

117

Students and Novice Stage Managers / Re: 2009/2010 Stage Management Internships for The Shakespeare Theatre Company

« on: Feb 23, 2010, 12:38 am »

I'm looking forward to applying.
I have one question: the website asks for 3 references and no recs, while it looks like this posting asks for 2 recs and no references. Do you have any insight into what we should provide?

118

Tools of the Trade / Re: THE Sharpie topic

« on: Feb 10, 2010, 01:54 am »

I keep my daily checklists in plastic sleeves and check them off with sharpies (so they don't smear) then wipe them at the end of the night with moist towlette style alcohol wipes. Then I can even fill in new times at half hour, one hour, etc without reprinting!

119

The Green Room / Re: Is Broadway/West End/etc your ultimate goal?

« on: Feb 04, 2010, 12:31 am »

It's not mine. I want to stay in DC permanently. I would do a show on Broadway if it came around at a good time in my life, but not at the expense of the career I hope to have in Washington. Broadway doesn't offer the kind of atmosphere I'm looking for and while there's some really great new, smaller theatre Off-Broadway and Off-Off, I don't think the high competition and cost of living are worth it. I have a good support system here and the theatre is predominantly stuff I want to be doing.

120

Tools of the Trade / Running Shoes

« on: Jan 18, 2010, 09:57 pm »

I couldn't find this covered elsewhere, but perhaps I missed it. It's been a while since I've run a show backstage and I've discovered that I don't have any crew appropriate shoes. What kind of shoes do you wear backstage? I'm particularly interested in all black shoes. Thanks!