Messages

106

December Madness I: 2012 / Re: Regional Round 6: Headset vs Cell Phone

« on: Dec 19, 2012, 12:55 am »

So what on_headset is telling us is they commit the cardinal sin of headset use and press the talk button prior to screaming hold.

The cardinal sin of sitting in a soundpoof booth a few dozen meters away from the actor who's about to get squashed? (In a house where, I might add, cellphones don't work anyway.)

But again, wouldn't a god mic be more useful then? What happens if someone is off headset? You can tell them hold all you want. For the example you're giving, a god mic is the best tool. It's a direct line to the sm and it goes through the sound system.

Now, I may be misunderstanding how your set up works. Headsets can tie into the sound system i realize that. But if you're calling hold through a relay of people, that's not exactly a plus.

If the question were "cellphone vs. headset vs. A Good Microphone", you might have a point.

107

December Madness I: 2012 / Re: Regional Round 6: Headset vs Cell Phone

« on: Dec 18, 2012, 09:47 pm »

So what on_headset is telling us is they commit the cardinal sin of headset use and press the talk button prior to screaming hold.

The cardinal sin of sitting in a soundpoof booth a few dozen meters away from the actor who's about to get squashed? (In a house where, I might add, cellphones don't work anyway.)

108

December Madness I: 2012 / Re: Regional Round 5: Multitool vs Photocopier

« on: Dec 18, 2012, 09:21 pm »

I would like to note that it took Matthew at least a few moments of searching to find a broken multi-tool: he had to go out of his way to locate evidence that such a device even existed.

A broken photocopier, on the other hand, appears to be the device's default state. 

109

December Madness I: 2012 / Re: Regional Round 6: Headset vs Cell Phone

« on: Dec 18, 2012, 09:05 pm »

My cellphone totally saved a show when the headset system shorted out. Just saying...

But how many actors and technicians are alive today because of the split second it takes to press the talk button and scream "HOLD", rather than the 20-30 seconds it would have taken to dig out your phone, switch it on, "open" it (slide the switch/punch in a code/however you lock your phone), open your contacts, find the right contact, wait for it to find service, press the call button, wait for it to connect, wait for the other person to answer (assuming their phone is even switched on) and communicate "Hi, this is stage management. HOLD."? ("What? This is Tony." "HOLD" "Donna, this is my day off. You need Patrick.")

Edit: and that's assuming your building even gets reliable cell service, which--as many of us know--isn't always the case.

110

December Madness I: 2012 / Re: Regional Round 6: Headset vs Cell Phone

« on: Dec 18, 2012, 06:14 pm »

I still work with technicians and other staff who don't have cellphones. (Or if they do, only turn them on when they're expecting or making a call.) Modern theatre works just fine in a landline-only world: it's less convenient and you don't get instant responses (where are you, why aren't you here, change of plans: we need you to swing by the party rental place when you're finished with the LX rental, etc.), but you can correct for most of this through planning.

F'rinstance, it's true that, without a cellphone, you can't reach someone when they're late. So instead you make it their responsibility to reach you. Here: this is a business card with the Running Number on it. (The Running Number = a landline somewhere in the theatre on a desk which is staffed for at least the first half of the show: box office, stage door, house manager's office, etc.) As soon as you know that Something Has Gone Wrong (the subway breaks down, you get stuck in traffic, you're sick, whatever), go find a payphone (yes, they still exist) and call this number. Crucially, you should do this even if it involves a detour: I'd rather you be five more minutes late (with some notice of when to expect your arrival) than for you to be "only" 30 minutes late but have no clue when you'll be in the door.

There. It's not a perfect solution, but we can run a theatre under these circumstances.

Conversely, I'm not sure I'd consider it baseline safe to run a modern automated show without headsets. Even without automated elements, I'd still take the headset over a cellphone.

111

The Green Room / Re: Hell in a Handbag (A Game for Stage Managers)

« on: Dec 18, 2012, 05:42 pm »

Perhaps a different note...

NEW NOTE: the producer's wife has seen a preview and decided that the final act is too dark. Can we find some way to make the Nazis bursting into Anne Frank's attic less threatening and cynical?

112

December Madness I: 2012 / Re: Regional Round 6: Headset vs Cell Phone

« on: Dec 18, 2012, 05:19 pm »

I'm constantly telling people to turn off their  cell phones and put on their headsets. (At least at show calls.) Never mind sloppy follow-spot operators who blow their cues because they're playing Angry Birds or what have you. If I had to banish one from the theatre forever...

113

December Madness I: 2012 / Re: Community, Round 6: Flashlight vs Paper

« on: Dec 18, 2012, 05:17 pm »

As a very laptop-friendly SM, I cannot imagine running a show without paper.

Conversely, I have run shows without flashlights. (Tiny studio space + blue gel + station lights = I guess I might have used it to charge glow-tape, but hardly anything else.)

Theatres do need flashlights (otherwise latecomers would be tripping all over the place), but stage managers? Useful, but not mandatory. Paper, on the other hand...

114

December Madness I: 2012 / Re: Community, Round 5: Gaff Tape vs Spike Tape

« on: Dec 18, 2012, 03:19 am »

Well, my rationale: Spike tape ensures that actors hit their marks.

Gaff tape ensures that actors don't cut themselves to bits on sharp/pointy objects. (Especially in the dark.)

Given the choice between having an actor blow a mark or having to rush an actor to hospital, I'm quite content to let them stand a few feet out of their light.

115

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: TERMS YOU NEVER HEARD OF BEFORE

« on: Dec 17, 2012, 01:40 pm »

I call my cast pages Brady Sheets. (Reason why.)

With large casts, I use them to take attendance while I'm still learning names. Crossing the person's face off is a little dire (especially if you do it in red sharpie), but it's a quick and efficient way to learn those names--and to cover your butt when you inevitably forget one.

One term to add: Tinkle Call, which translates to "The House opens in five minutes, and we can't flush the backstage toilet without making thunder in the auditorium, so if you hafta go..."

116

December Madness I: 2012 / Re: Regional Round 5: Multitool vs Photocopier

« on: Dec 17, 2012, 12:24 pm »

Also, If you misplace a multitool, you go to a local hardware store to replace it. To replace a photocopier you needed a fundraising campaign and a grant in order to afford it.

Yes, but I'd like to see you try to misplace a photocopier. Go on, try.

"Hey, Janice... are you finished with the portable copier?"
"Oh, yeah, I was finished hours ago. I gave it to Steve."

"Hey, Steve, you finished with the portable copier?"
"Uhhhh... I think Claire has it now."

"Claire, you done with the copier?"
"Yep. Keisha needed it. You know, grant season and all..."

"Keisha, you seen the portable copier?"
"Oh, yes, totally. I left it in Martha's office."

"Martha, do you have the copier?"
"No, Dennis picked it up twenty minutes ago."

"Dennis, have you got the copier?"
"Yeah, I did, but Janice came by and grabbed it right before you walked in..."

117

December Madness I: 2012 / Re: Regional Round 5: Multitool vs Photocopier

« on: Dec 16, 2012, 07:28 pm »

Forgive me, but are you really suggesting people should vote for photocopiers because the alternative breaks down too often?

I've got several dozen ERROR 5126B PC CHUNK errors you might want to take a look at.

118

December Madness I: 2012 / Re: Regional Round 5: Multitool vs Photocopier

« on: Dec 16, 2012, 05:10 pm »

Matthew says that photocopiers are god's gift to America--but how much do we really know about Matthew?

Did you know that last week, Matthew put his two-way radio into the wrong charger? He had radio number 8, but he put it in charger number 7. Like a dick. Do you want to be a dick like Matthew?

And while Matthew supports the billion-dollar photocopier lobby, we have photographs of the copier-scanner-printer-fax lovechild he keeps locked away in his office--where he thinks nobody can see it. Can you trust a man who still owns a fax machine with your sign-in sheets? It's not 1978 any more!

This two-show Saturday, don't be fooled by the soothing hum and bracing clickity-click-whirrrrr of his Photocopier campaign. Don't vote for a dick, vote for a tool.

EDIT: Let's not cause any Google harm to our members who post using their real names. - PSMK

119

December Madness I: 2012 / Re: Regional Round 5: Multitool vs Photocopier

« on: Dec 15, 2012, 08:03 am »

and no stage manager would want to be far from either to get the job done.

...well.

Okay: small venue. Small cast. Production staff of three. (Carpenter-electrician, SM, ASM. SM/ASM will handle all running tasks.) Scripts are rented from the author's agent, and the author's contract forbids alterations. An etext version is provided to stage management. Very few cues: little more than "Act 1, Lights On. Intermission, Lights Off. Act 2, Lights On. [...]"

Under these circumstances, you can just about make do without a photocopier. It might make your life easier, but it's not bare-bones essential.

The multi-tool isn't strictly essential either, but when it's the difference between popping it out and tightening a screw, rather than having to dig out the big keyring, go down the hall, unlock the carpentry shop, unlock the tool storage, find the right screwdriver, sign out the screwdriver, lock the tool storage, lock the carpentry shop, walk back into the venue...

120

December Madness I: 2012 / Re: Commercial Round 5: Pencil vs Three Hole Punch

« on: Dec 15, 2012, 07:54 am »

I'm not ashamed to admit that I've used a pencil as an emergency hole borer.

I have never, however, been able to take blocking notation with a puncher.