Messages

121

The Hardline / Re: Employee-Handbook Required Preshow Calls (and more)

« on: Oct 11, 2013, 02:24 am »

No one has ever dictated my calls - except one ballet we had guest dancers who didn't speak English, so it was requested that I make my calls in Mandarin as well as English. My English speaking dancers got jealous, so I ended up making the 5 minute call in 8 different languages by the end of the run.

We have discussed in another thread about what calls we make, and there I was also one of the few who gives 30, 15, 10, 5, Places - just how I was trained, so I have no qualms. I also spend so much time with dancers that they need those constant reminders. If they don't hear the 10 minute call, they freak out when they hear 5 because they don't have much time left. 

122

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: PROGRAMS: ASMs left out

« on: Sep 22, 2013, 04:34 pm »

Any company that I have worked for has always listed the ASM and PA, regarding of the ASM being union or not. The PSM and ASM used to get title page credit at one company I worked for, but management decided to bump them back to the admin page recently. At least they were listed and not removed completely.

I do think it is important for those that physically work on a show to receive credit, somewhere in the program - even if it is with the staff on the 2nd to last page. As long as names/job titles are known before the program goes to print, there isn't any reason not to credit the people working on the show.

A question: do they have Assistant Directors on their shows? If so, are they listed in the program?

123

Introductions / Re: An actor who fell in love with tech at first sight

« on: Sep 19, 2013, 12:01 am »

Welcome, pantsky. You will find this forum to be a wealth of information for a new Stage Manager. I would suggest browsing the Students and Novices board for tips from other High School SMs. You can also use the search tool in the upper right corner of the website, if you want to find something specific.

Best of luck to you!

Remember to breathe.

124

The Green Room / Re: Non-Profit Tumblr

« on: Sep 17, 2013, 11:51 pm »

I would like to share this one item from the Non-Profit Tumblr, as I feel it affects SMs quite a bit...

http://workingatanonprofit.tumblr.com/post/60441679684/when-someone-replies-to-my-email-with-questions-that

(and my husband swears I've said this on more than one occasion)

125

Employment / Re: Advice or moving cross country to stage manage

« on: Sep 12, 2013, 11:41 pm »

I did the same thing - straight out of college I moved across country to the SF Bay Area. Even though the area is rather spread out, it is a tight-knit community, so it's all about who you know.

SF Opera performs in the War Memorial Opera house, which is the same venue that SF Ballet performs in. I checked both of the company's websites, and I didn't notice any SM internship offerings. It may be worthwhile to contact SF Ballet directly to see if they do offer a SM Internship, as that would at least get you into the same venue, meet a lot of the same crew, and potentially get a connection to the opera. The opera's website only lists admin-type internships. I checked the Merola program and it seems to be for performers and stage directors. Depending on your passion, maybe try to get into the Stage Director summer apprenticeship?

If you want connections in the City, I'd recommend applying to the ACT internship program. It does pay, which is helpful; gets you in the right area, and you can start getting your name out there. I started at ACT, got a recommendation to a summer Shakespeare company that got me recommended to Ballet San Jose, where I've been since 2003. PM me if you want any help.

126

Employment / Re: Job Offer: How Long to Make a Decision

« on: Sep 05, 2013, 01:54 am »

In that situation - getting the compensation information 4 days after the initial offer - I'd start counting your week to respond from the compensation offer date.

Also, in my special case, I stated at the end of the previous season (May 2013) that I wanted to hire this person - and I told them to their face, but only in the last 2 weeks we were able to give them their dates and compensation information. I started counting their response time from the compensation announcement. And that was 1.5 weeks ago. I think you're still in the clear.

127

Employment / Re: Job Offer: How Long to Make a Decision

« on: Sep 04, 2013, 11:26 pm »

Being on the other end of waiting for a reply, I give people 10 business days to return a signed offer letter (from the date of receipt) - and that is stated on the offer letter itself.

However, before sending that letter, I do give a verbal or email offer first. I prefer to hear back from someone within a week to that verbal/email offer.

As SM applicants, we want the best job financially, emotionally and artistically fullfilling-ly that we can get. So we delay responding, and sometimes the employer is fine with that. However, I've been in the situation twice where I offered a job and the person I offered it to put off the response for a week, then another week, then another - then it gets to the point where it is difficult for the employer (me) to find someone of equal or greater quality to fill the position because it's too close to the start date.

I'm presently in a situation where we offered a job to someone, they said they would respond the next day - then they said they would respond by that Friday. When we heard nothing on Friday, we contacted them the following Monday and they asked again for the following Friday as a new deadline. The job starts in 2 months. I said I was opening up the position, and they could still tell me Friday, but I had to start looking. At this point, I am already 3 months behind on the search.

1 week is my new limit, as an employer. As a job hunter, I should probably take my own preference into consideration and make a personal rule to respond in a week or less.

128

Employment / Re: "To Whom It May Concern"

« on: Sep 03, 2013, 03:32 am »

I will say that I am turned off by the "To Whom It May Concern" or "Dear Sir/Madam:" in cover letters. If you know where your resume is headed, whether it be HR, Production Management or a PSM, I'd go the extra mile and add the name - if you can find it on the website. It shows that you care about how you are represented, and it shows that you did make an effort to know something more about their company besides their job posting.

Because my name is most often mistaken for a man's name, I give bonus points to those who apply to "Ms. Reinhardt" in their cover letters to me. It only takes one Google search on my professional name to find my headshot and bio and realize that I'm a Ms. and not a Mr.

129

Students and Novice Stage Managers / Re: Contracts?

« on: Aug 26, 2013, 10:58 pm »

I don't recall ever having something like that in high school, college or community theater - but that was almost 15 years ago.

For any ballet students that are invited to participate in one of our professional company ballets, a few years back I started writing contracts. In a nutshell, saying that they read the rehearsal and performance schedule and were committing to it. It also outlined behavior, costume requirements and a few other things. I feel it's entirely appropriate these days, as some families attempt to over-commit.

130

Job Postings / Re: New Conservatory Theatre seeks NON-AEA Stage Managers (URGENT) Bay Area

« on: Aug 22, 2013, 03:29 pm »

I have posted your job in the Bay Area SMs facebook group.

131

Tools of the Trade / Re: A bit of software some of you may like to have a play with...

« on: Aug 05, 2013, 01:20 am »

I downloaded the demo version and it is very interesting. I downloaded it onto my iMac and onto my iPad. Once I figured out the "Push" button meant my updates during rehearsal/show mode would show up for the iPad users, it does seem like a good replacement for a cue light system. However, if you have headsets, I think I would still prefer that, as wifi systems aren't always reliable. (My Martin moving lights have gone out on more than one show....) Though it's not to say that ClearComm or others aren't without their failures as well.

I do think this is more geared towards a conference-style event, as I would expect something Bright or Big to catch my attention when a cue is "called". (A must for a Bump BlackOut Cue.) A small box appears on the lower right corner of the iPad saying "Cue Changed" and my Current Cue is now at the top of my screen with a Standby Cue underneath. All subsequent cues are below a solid green line. I just wish something popped out more and made the current cue more obvious. The reaction on the iPad seems to be almost instantaneous from when I hit the Go button. However, my iMac version just crashed, which caused the entire cue sheet on the iPad to go away and a message says "Lost Connection to Server" and then, when I try to reconnect, I get "No Live Shows." So if there was a back up system of headsets or walkie talkies, there would be no paperwork (unless you remember to hit "Save" on the iPad so that a static version of the cue sheet is available - or printed a hardcopy from the main computer).

With the Demo version limited to 5 cues, and the Lite version (both free) only allowing you to work in Design Mode (which means it won't broadcast cues to any iPad users), your only option for really using this program is to fork over $399 for the Full Version. I suppose you could use the Lite version to generate cue/run sheets. I just don't know if it's worth that much money to me. Of course, if you buy it, does anyone that you need to have cues taken this way have an iPad to receive your cues? Does the company/client you're working for have iPads for show use?

132

The Green Room / Re: Are there any AEA SM moms?

« on: Aug 02, 2013, 03:06 am »

Since I started this and just re-read the entire thread, I thought I would give an update. We decided to have a baby.

My son is just a few days shy of 14 months. It's been tricky, but we planned the pregnancy around my season - and it actually worked. I closed a show and about 2 weeks later he was born. The pregnancy didn't really affect my work at all, though I did get to do fewer things because no one wanted me lifting/moving items.

I was off for about 2 months then I returned to the office. Thankfully it was my 10th season with my regular company (and they really wanted to keep me), so I was able to bring my son with me 2 days a week, a nanny watched him for 2 days and my husband took Fridays. Our parents flew out during my performances, as there was no way I could bring my son to the theater. I don't feel like I've missed out on much, since he was with me most of the week and all of the weekends, when I didn't have shows. And with us living across the country from our parents, it was nice to have him see his grandparents every other month.

So far this summer, I've been off and spending tons of time with him. However, I did take a short gig out of town for 4 days. That was hard on me. Even with 12 hour days of Nutcracker, I would see my son and spend a few hours with him in the mornings. Being completely removed was hard. And now I'm getting ready to go into a 2 week contract for a staged reading, which will have me out of the house when my son is awake. This will be a test for me to see if I can even personally handle going back to freelance SM work, or if I should just stay at my regular PSM job that gets me home in time for dinner.

Also, while I never wanted to go down this road, we will be enrolling our son at KinderCare later this month, before I return to my PSM job. I've been around him for so many of his "firsts" I just worry that I am going to miss major milestones by going back to work.

133

The Green Room / Re: Non-Profit Tumblr

« on: Aug 01, 2013, 10:10 pm »

Oh man, this has made all the rounds on facebook today.

And another tumblr that goes along with it (for the ladies):

http://ryangoslingartsadmin.tumblr.com/

134

The Hardline / Re: Theatres That Have Closed--Can You Say "Emergency?"

« on: Aug 01, 2013, 09:54 pm »

North Carolina Shakespeare Festival suspended operations today.

http://www.ncshakes.org/news_display.cfm?nid=196

135

The Hardline / Re: Half Hour Call

« on: Jul 24, 2013, 07:39 pm »

When I was working outdoor Shakespeare, there wasn't a half hour call for the afternoon rehearsal, since there were no costumes, but for the evening rehearsal, after the 2 hour meal, we did have a half hour call for costumes and hair.