Messages

106

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: SM & Designer's Relationship

« on: Aug 02, 2015, 02:29 pm »

(I once had a young lighting designer who handed me a complete cue list before we had even had our first rehearsal - meaning sets were still being finalized, not even allowing for adjustments that come up during rehearsal, and blocking hadn't even been introduced. He didn't understand why he couldn't plot the whole play and be done until tech!)

107

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: TOURING: Venue info/questions

« on: Aug 01, 2015, 01:52 pm »

who do you talk to abt what issues -

if crew is union who is the shop steward (and take them aside and ask if there is anything you shd be aware of abt the crew including how they like to work/hear calls etc)

Site based:
best places to eat cheap locally - or specials/discounts for show folks

anything special/unique to see in that town, and areas to avoid (esp after dark)

curfews (if you are working w minors) and what's open late.

108

The Green Room / Another great t-shirt for the collection

« on: Jul 23, 2015, 06:03 pm »

yup. Good points all.

109

Tools of the Trade / Re: Submit your story about tech use for inclusion in Stern's Stage Management

« on: Jul 23, 2015, 01:17 am »

wow, I had no idea!

110

Tools of the Trade / Re: Submit your story about tech use for inclusion in Stern's Stage Management

« on: Jul 22, 2015, 04:53 pm »

Gosh it would be nice if the publisher still (as used to happen) sent you a copy of the book if your story was included......

111

The Green Room / Re: Trivia Tournament IV: Trivia's Revenge!!

« on: Jul 19, 2015, 02:40 pm »

There is a mistake in today's quiz but it won't let me send a correction, and this has happened before, It says I need to sign in (but I am signed in) - and if/when I get signed in, it then doesn't allow me to send a note to the quiz writer. Argh! Hate that. Esp when it's bizarre trivia I actually know!

112

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: STAGING: Realistic CPR

« on: Jul 18, 2015, 01:03 am »

(SMMEade! So am... well was ... I!! and I use that training all the damn time!)

Talk to the set designer about a way for there to be give under the person, and yes some kind of chest shield can work - maybe the costumer can build a foam or pillow cover to that chest shield  is great. And it's essentially fight choreography - it's gotta look good but there shd be no (or as little as humanly possible) pressure on the person who is receiving.

You will notice on TV that actors give CPR with bent elbows like a plié. Much as that's wrong, it protects the actor receiving it.

113

Employment / Re: Working in USA

« on: Jul 16, 2015, 04:55 pm »

AEA and Canadian Equity have reciprocal agreements, but British Equity does not - it has to go thru (I believe it's the Aliens) committee and get all kinds of permissions. It has to do with similar numbers of union members working in each other's countries.

114

Job Postings / Re: Urgent! DC: Spanish<>English Bilingual SM needed! Rehearsals start in 2 weeks...

« on: Jul 15, 2015, 02:49 am »

Is this under a union contract? If so, which one? thanks

115

The Green Room / Re: Patrons behaving badly

« on: Jul 15, 2015, 02:48 am »

Is there a good way to make sure something is being watched at all times the audience could interact with it?

In a lot of the larger union houses, the FOH staff has that job. Ushers are stationed at the stage both L and R to keep audience members (and their hands) off.

116

The Green Room / Re: Patrons behaving badly

« on: Jul 13, 2015, 01:17 pm »

I have done onstage "bars" for several shows - Cabaret, Song of Singapore etc - and inevitably audience members wander up there to try and buy drinks (cuz, I guess, the lobby bar is just too damn far away.....)

117

Employment / Re: Is Stage Jobs Pro USA Useful?

« on: Jul 13, 2015, 12:20 am »

I haven't found it useful yet. I tried for a couple of things early on, when they were testing it here, and there were several things that just made no sense. For example, you had to type in your whole resume rather than linking it and being able to easily update it as you did shows. And categories? They are a British company and it took them way way too long to figure out that using American (and Canadian) terms helped those of us across the pond identify what we did.

FWIW I have yet to see a union listing that wasn't already on the AEA site (for free), and they send me stuff that just makes no sense for my skill set. But if you are nonunion, a trial run might prove otherwise. They used to give a 7-day free trial (maybe no more?). And hey, if you decide to give it a go, please use my name so I can get my free week. (And yes, it's only a week, so there may or may not be anything for you in that week. Also sucks. Shd be at least a month, if not a year, for anyone you refer! But that's a separate subject.)

118

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: PROPS: Breaking a vase

« on: Jul 07, 2015, 02:24 am »

Deliberately broke into large pieces - which is not as hard as you think. I tested a few super cheap plates to see how they broke when dropped, hit and so forth, then repeated what worked best. As I recall (it was a long time ago), a flat drop from about 2 feet worked best. But you can also use a hammer in specific places.

119

Tools of the Trade / Re: Google Docs.

« on: Jul 04, 2015, 03:04 am »

thanks - that helped. If only all the borders hadn't disappeared while editing. Argh! And no border options seem to exist (the help file agrees).

I had resized the columns to fit in two more categories, but just as the hedders didn't match the entire document, only that single page, similarly the resizing had to be redone on each page. Pretty darn stupid programming if you ask me.

But thanks cuz that solved at least one of our problems!

120

Tools of the Trade / Re: Google Docs.

« on: Jul 03, 2015, 04:40 pm »

QUESTION to all you google docs folks. I am learning it and have created a chart that now needs additional categories (columns) and each column to be split in half below that hedder.

I can't figure out how to do this!

I can add a column on p. 1, having resized to accommodate the new column, but then I have to do the same thing by hand on every page?

And - how do I now create the split column below? I can't find anything that implies this ability. Darnitall!

Thank you in advance for any assistance!