Messages

16

The Hardline / Re: Considering Going Equity

« on: Mar 13, 2009, 11:16 am »

I have been sming now for about 4 or 5 years. and I know that's not long, but I assume building up the points will take some time.

17

The Hardline / Considering Going Equity

« on: Mar 06, 2009, 08:17 am »

Hello,

I have been SMing for quite some time now and lately I have been going back and forth about going Equity. Now a year ago, I would never have said, "I want to go equity!" - but I am getting older, and it's hard to ignore certain things...like the pay difference, like the fact that I have to have my breaks too and so on. I have no points as of now - so ya know, I still have a long way to go. But I feel like deciding to even go down that road is a big decision in itself. I just wondered what everyone thought about it. In my opinion, in a few years I will either have to be equity or doing something else, because I can't live on what I'm making now for the rest of my life. Due to the fact that I am actually considering it, leads me to believe that it is time also because, like I said, a year ago it wasn't a thought in my head at all.

Going equity may seem like the obvious choice, but I have always been happy as non-eq, so I didn't worry about it.

Also, I was wondering, because of the economy and all that good stuff, and by good I mean horrible, is it harder to get in now? And does that just mean I would be competing with a ridiculous amount of SM's now because everyone is competing for the same 5 jobs? Because of course, if I can't get a job as an equity sm, then it would be counterproductive.

Just some thoughts I was thrownin out there.

18

Tools of the Trade / Re: Protecting your tools

« on: Jan 09, 2009, 08:16 pm »

I haven't had the need to safe guard my tools as of yet - but I have a friend who puts that red reflective tape on everything he owns - downside is that can come off.

19

Tools of the Trade / Re: Holiday SM Gifts

« on: Jan 03, 2009, 11:49 am »

I received a new leatherman! it's awesome. I think i might be in love with it.

20

SMNetwork Archives / SM: the musical

« on: Dec 16, 2008, 11:49 am »

I think you could actually, since we all feel that actors would never get it right (of course, because we think we are the only ones who can do our jobs right!). You would also have to throw in an electrician, the td, the designers, a director and like one or 2 actors that do EVERYTHING a horrible actor could possibly do (the actors are of course dating each other). Oh, and some of the scenes would have to take place during the smoke break.

Wait wait wait! You could totally do a murder mystery thing or alfred hitchock or something, except on the line of, the missing prompt book! Omg, we are so writing this. It's gonna be the best musical ever.

21

The Hardline / Re: MILWAUKEE SHAKESPEARE CLOSING ITS DOORS

« on: Dec 16, 2008, 11:31 am »

Theatre is needing to reinvent itself.

It's funny that you mention that. We have been having this discussion at my theatre for sometime now. I was thinking about Peter Schumann and the Bread and Puppet Theatre. I know it was from the 60's (they still exist) and things are different now but I find the whole idea behind it very interesting. Perhaps we should consider the questions: What is theatre and what is it's future?

The quote below is by Peter Schumann.

"We want you to understand that theater is not yet an established form, not the place of commerce you think it is, where you pay to get something. Theater is different. It is more like bread, more like a necessity. Theater is a form of religion. It is fun. It preaches sermons and it builds up a self-sufficient ritual where the actors try to raise their lives to the purity and ecstasy of the actions in which they participate. "

22

Students and Novice Stage Managers / Re: What is a ASM suppose to do??

« on: Dec 08, 2008, 09:03 am »

As an ASM, i knew where every prop was at any given moment, knew about all quick changes and who was doing them, kept track of all scene shifts (I also ran the scene shifts), took sound q's from my SM, preset all props and put them away at the end of the night. It varies from job to job as to what is needed. Currently I don't have a fulltime ASM, so when i do get them for the rare show - I forget how to use an ASM because I became so used to doing it all myself. Just remember, they are there to Assist YOU. So, give them some tasks and let them help shoulder some of the stress with you. A good ASM is great and should be highly valued.

23

College and Graduate Studies / Re: Is MA in stage management helpful?

« on: Dec 08, 2008, 08:52 am »

Personally, I am not going to go to get my MA for Stage Management. All through undergrad I said, I want to go to grad school - but I didn't know for what. Then I started SMing so I started looking at that. And then I graduated and started working that summer. I started applying for grad schools in the fall for the next year - I basically was gonna jump right in. And then i realized - I do NOT miss school. I might eventually - but for now, I have no desire to go back to school.

Here is the thing, SCHOOL WILL ALWAYS BE THERE. If you decide 2 years from now or even 10 years, you want to go back to school, you can. As for assistantships and such, you are more likely to get those with real world experience. And yes, another job will always be around the corner - but I guess my point is, don't feel like you have to go into school immediately or things won't happen for you.

Both will help you in their own ways - you have to know where you are at and what you want out of either experience.

24

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: Daily rehearsal report notes

« on: Dec 08, 2008, 08:21 am »

I agree, everyone should be getting the reports. How is the production supposed to work at all smoothly if the costumer's don't get notes like, Sally does a headstand while wearing a dress in this scene. I have never worked anywhere where the designers and the TD did not get the notes also. I believe that you did the right thing in letting them know, but they should also be getting the reports which means you don't have to send more than one document.

25

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: Do you call from house or backstage?

« on: Dec 05, 2008, 04:19 pm »

Backstage if I can have it. I admit this is a control thing and comes directly from my ASM days. Yes, it is easier to call Q's in one sense from the booth because you can see everything and there is less craziness going on around you so you can concentrate better - but most theatres have video monitors at least. I prefer to be backstage for when things go wrong. Yes, I trust my ASM's, but when things go wrong and you are in the booth, there is nothing you can do about it except keep calling the q's - it is MOST frustrating. And really calling from backstage isn't much different than calling in the booth. The first time I called from backstage I was like, Oh, I don't understand what the big deal was - this is fine!

26

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: When the show is going bad

« on: Dec 05, 2008, 04:12 pm »

I worked on a show once where I knew the director was not doing his job. The actors had started staging themselves and the director was just kinda all over the place. I sent an email to my artistic director and was very careful about how I worded everything. I also sent an email as a way to cover my butt so that later on, someone couldn't try to add words to what I had said. But basically I told the AD, please come to a rehearsal and if you do not have any concerns then I don't either. But that has only happened once.

I try very hard not to give my opinion about the show I am working on. They are not paying me for my opinion in that area. They are paying me to do a million other things, but not that. A few directors whom I have worked with extensively I am more comfortable doing so, but at the end of the day, it doesn't matter what YOUR opinion is about a scene. Sometimes I will say something pretty close to that to the director if I am uncomfortable or sometimes I will say "Oh, i don't know if I am the best person to ask, because I am caught up in the technical side of it right now." that usually works. And quite honestly when you are taking down blocking, you aren't really watching the scene, or even calling a show. You can't REALLY sit back and watch because you have to be aware of the cues.

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Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: Daily rehearsal report notes

« on: Dec 05, 2008, 03:56 pm »

I am a little confused I think.

Did you initially send the RR to everyone and then sent out a second email to the designers? Or did you only send the actual RR to the directors?

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Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: Creating a Calling Script

« on: Dec 05, 2008, 03:13 pm »

Yeah, i stopped using stickers for that very reason. Instead I just write everything in and once the show is up i will go back over in black ink. For whatever reason, i associate very well with shapes, so I will have my SB's in a square, and so on. I don't know why that is, but I see the shape and my brain clicks. it's basically figuring out what works best for you but at the same time making sure someone else could pick it up at a moments notice.

29

Employment / Re: Choosing a Show to SM

« on: Dec 05, 2008, 08:50 am »

For a little while, it came down to I needed a job and that was that. But then after a couple of gigs where I wasn't very happy, I decided I needed to be more selective. It was hard to be selective, I'm not gonna lie, only because there is always that fear in the back of your head that you will never get hired again and you will have to live in a van down by the river and eat government cheese - wait, i do that already. But anyway, the long and short of it is, because I waited to find a job that i was really happy with and didn't just take a job because it paid me, i am very happy now. I ended up being unemployed for about 2 months. I chose to look at it as vacation time - because really, when do we get a vacation unless we aren't working?

30

SMNetwork Archives / Re: I could have kissed them!

« on: Dec 04, 2008, 03:16 pm »

It was summer stock, and tech. I was ASMing and we were doing Can Can, a horrible musical with a horrible plot and a few good songs. There were large pieces of scenery that had to be moved during tech, and as it was tech, it meant moving it onstage and back off, and then back on stage again. These pieces required at least 3 people to move them safely onto stage. Well, I had been an idiot and had not eaten enough before we'd started. I have hypoglycemia and man did it kick in fast and furious about half way through that tech. I became very bitchy (not my proudest moments) and tried to focus on getting to the dinner break. As we were moving huge pieces of scenery, there wasn't much conserving of energy going on. After dinner I apologized to everyone backstage and a few actors asked what had been wrong, so I briefly explained the situation and we went back to work.

Next day I walk in, and there on my small table, are some granola bars, bananas, and some water. I almost started crying.