Messages

16

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: Re: ESCRIPTS: Post your requests for electronic scripts here!

« on: Mar 07, 2011, 11:29 pm »

My Summer season has kind of been announced. The only one I know for sure is The Odd Couple if any one has it e-mail me at magill.joel@gmail.com

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The Green Room / Re: This one goes to Eleven!

« on: Jan 23, 2011, 09:28 pm »

OK wow trying to think back 11 years was a little difficult but this is what I remember

In 2000 I was in the 8th grade and was pretending to learn how to tap in Crazy for You. This was back in the day when I thought that being a performer was the cooler thing to do. It was also the year that i discovered the my technical side.  the stage crew would stay after school to build and paint sets, and then rehearsal would start at like 6.  well one day I decided to just stay after school and see what they were working on and got handed an paint brush and told to get to work. and from that day on I was hooked. it took two more years for me to finally get off stage and solely work back stage but I haven't looked back since (except when I had to act in my college classes)     

And of course Happy Birthday SMNetwork

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Stage Management: Other / Re: Backstage at the Nutcracker

« on: Dec 18, 2010, 12:29 am »

WOW I just want to let all of you who only have had a few children in a show know how lucky you really are.  all of the 3 show i have done this fall are all children heavy Annie, A Christmas Story and yes The Nutcracker.  each show progressively acquired more children. Annie had 9 with the understudies, ACS with 12 and Nutcracker is some where around 25. I can't wait until Nutcracker closes this Sunday because I will get a little bit of a break from all the rambunctious kids. And no I didn't have a child Wrangler for any of these shows.  When I did King and I last year I had a wrangler and it was amazing she brought coloring books and activities for them to do.
although some times even with full adult cast I sometimes feel like I need a wrangler for them too.

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Students and Novice Stage Managers / Re: Student SM Challenge #12: Twelve Drummers Drumming...

« on: Dec 16, 2010, 10:36 am »

if you are accumulating  all of the presents there are a total of 364 presents if you only count them as what they are in the song. ( 184 of them are birds)  but since for the prop department you would have to count all the accessories ie. pipes, drums, drum sticks, eggs, ect. it could get a bit over whelming.

ok my mind is going to explode with all the math that is going on so I am tagging out of this.
But for you enjoyment the Mockettes and the 12 gays of Christmas
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSedhEoutP0

It makes me laugh every time I watch it

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The Green Room / Re: Best mentions of a stage manager in the press

« on: Nov 30, 2010, 01:02 am »

The stage manager for Spider Man: Turn Off the Dark is getting some nice write-ups.

The intermission began at 8:19 p.m.; it was still under way 34 minutes later when some in the audience began to clap in unison, as they passed their two-hour mark inside the theater. Mr. White, the production stage manager, then said over the microphone, “I know, guys, I know, I beg your patience,” and the clapping stopped.


Someone buy that man a drink.

I just saw the 60 minutes segment on Spider man from Sunday night and even though I feel like I am having a horrible Tech right now I know that he is have a worse time with all that I have heard that has been going wrong.  from now on if I think I am having a bad day I will think of the poor person calling that crazy show 

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The Green Room / Re: Best mentions of a stage manager in the press

« on: Nov 28, 2010, 11:14 pm »

"Assistant stage manager Debra Sherrer brings the simple piece of furniture into the center of Studio 4 in Point Park University's spacious new dance complex. It immediately becomes a magnet for the cast members, whether relaxing, checking notes or simply chatting -- a clear-cut case of life imitating art."

AKA-I moved a bench...

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09344/1019744-325.stm

OH how I love the Post Gazette some times... Are you still in the Pgh area?

22

The Green Room / Re: What was the last nice thing someone did for you?

« on: Nov 28, 2010, 10:56 pm »

Every transition is a tough sequence; we have so many things moving and flying.  I think I have more rail cues in this show than any of my previous shows combined.  We were working out curtain call and had to reset for all of the quick changes in the moment I was referring to. 

The other nice thing that happened on this show was that my director told me how beautifully I called the show.  It's nice when a stage manager's artistic contribution is acknowledged. 

HA HA HA!! I know your pain. other than the Main Drape cues each shift had no less than 4 items flying in a sequence, not to mention the wagons or furniture.

On our second weekend of shows the director comes back During NYC to do the " Hey keep it quiet down there" line at the end and gave me a pat on the back and said that the show was running really smooth that night.  Its the little things like that make you feel like the hellish tech week you had a week before was all worth it.

Ps. Enjoy the second act especially the second half when everything happens in the Mansion. Its a nice break!

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The Green Room / Re: What was the last nice thing someone did for you?

« on: Nov 23, 2010, 10:59 pm »

I am currently working at a Performing arts high school we just closed Annie (so dramachic5191 I know exactly what you are going through!) and have had a few really nice comments said to me and gestures done.

1. our Daddy Warbucks' parents own a winery so as a gift from them the staff got bottles of wine.
2 one of my orpahns was the daughter of  two of my professors from college. and even though they knew I worked there. but could not believe how Professional it  was and how tight the show was.  and continually told me how impressed they were every time they saw me after the show (which was every night)
3 One of the other Orphans' parents works at the school and has seen shows there before but she couldn't believe how tight and precise everything was. (also told me every night)
4  had one of the other cast members father come up to me and tell me what a good job I did and knows how hard my job is because he used SM back when he was in college

It is always nice to see that there are many people that you may not directly work on a show with you that still appreciate what you do 

2. My director turned to me in tech rehearsal when I made a mistake in a cue sequence and we had to go back and a few of the actors complained while we reset and said, "You get rehearsal time too." It might possibly be the nicest thing a director has said to me :-)

so nice when they do that even tough you get less rehearsal time for those kinds of things that the cast does.  Where was the tough sequence? Mine were out of Easy Street and Easy street reprise

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Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: ESCRIPTS Archive June 09-Dec. 10

« on: Nov 22, 2010, 01:00 pm »

I am looking for a copy of Anything Goes. trying to get a jump on things since the production doesn't start until late March. email me at magill.joel@gmail.com Thanks

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Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: Sweeney Todd's bloody razor.. Ideas on How??

« on: Nov 10, 2010, 10:21 am »

Sorry ScooterSM I haven't been on in a while (and this might be too late for you) because I have been in Annie HELL!
 But I am not sure if there is a major company that makes it. I have alway seen it called 2 part magic blood.

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Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: Sweeney Todd's bloody razor.. Ideas on How??

« on: Oct 20, 2010, 12:10 am »

There are a lot of different blood products out there.
 for one show I worked on an actor had to accidentally cut her arm with a sword. for this effect we use a gel type blood that was placed on the sword prior to her entrance and for a scene that was at least 10 minutes before she had to cut her self with out her exiting aging before the effect then when the sword was swiped across the skin it transfered the blood.

the other idea would be to use a 2 part blood effect part one is a powder and can be directly applied to the skin. part two is a liquid and once the liquid comes in contact with the powder blood appears.  so as Sweeney is shaving he could have a container that he "rinses" off his blade in which contains the liquid part and swipe there's some blood

If the director wants more blood the actor getting his throat cut could also have a blood capsule and bite on it just as Sweeney slices him and gargle out more blood.  if the actor is just coming on to get his throat slit and then is dead (meaning enters, doesn't speak, sits in chair, gets throat slit and thats it)  you could do the throat slit and the actor could load up a mouth full of editable blood,(which the best is simply thawed frozen juice concentrate enhanced to a blood color with food dye) Slit throat and spew blood.

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College and Graduate Studies / Re: BA vs BS

« on: Aug 18, 2010, 01:58 pm »

In your credit hours, you technically took productions as labs. IE A mainstage show was 4 credits towards your 18-credit semester or what have you. Because it was working "in field" and not an actual class, they were lab hours. A certain number of lab hours makes the degree a BS and not a BA. Not sure if I'm explaining this well. In terms of specialization, it'd fall between a BA and a BFA.

This is very interesting. Had I gone to this school I would have had enough credits for any degree I wanted. We were required 4 production credits for the and degree each production we worked was one credit, but you couldn't have more than 4 production credits. Not that I worked on just four shows because of this I worked many shows with out any credit at all.

Both the BFA and MFA are considered terminal degrees . . .

I looked it up and true both are considered terminal.

So here is my question then
What is the difference between a BFA in Stage Management and a MFA in Stage Management? 

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College and Graduate Studies / Re: BA vs BS

« on: Aug 17, 2010, 09:43 pm »

My degree is a BA (Bachelor of Arts) in Theatre with a concentration in Design and Technology
the under standing that I have with the BS, BA, BFA debate is this

A BS  is a Bachelor of Sciences Degree which is any of your sciences: Bio., Chem., Physical, and  things like Teaching and Business

A BA is a Bachelor of Arts  which covers Art, Dance, Languages,  History, and Theatre.  IF you get a BA in Theater for example you are going to take your Gen Ed Classes and your theatre classes but they would be a bunch of different ones like; Basic acting , directing , stage management, scenic design, costume design, etc. 

A BFA is a Bachelor of Fine Arts so it is usually the same as a BA only with a more specialized tract.  For instance a BFA in Stage Management would require you to take more SM classes instead of other classes in a BA that make the degree more rounded. so you'd have you basic acting, directing, and design classes as well as SM I, SM II, SM II, etc.
 My degree required a 3 year proficiency in a foreign language where as the BFA didn't require that so that you could take more classes in your discipline.

However the BFA is not a terminal degree, currently the MFA is because it is the Master of Fine Arts which is believed that you have studied with a master in that field.  You need and MFA to teach at most colleges.  Some universities are starting to have a DFA which is the Doctorate of Fine Arts, Which would be terminal.  I highly doubt that there will ever be a DFA in Stage Management but I could be wrong.


I totally get missliz's explanation of the "lab time " for the BS degree.  What I don't understand is that how the theatre degree is a BS (Where did you go missliz?). I mean we totally put in more "Lab Time" than a lot of people and we definitely can bs  . But Theatre is an Art not a Science.  But that is just my feeling.
hope this helps

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Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: ESCRIPTS Archive June 09-Dec. 10

« on: Aug 11, 2010, 06:52 pm »

I was wondering if any one had Annie and 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. Annie is in Late Oct early Nov and Bee isn't until Feb. any help would be great!  magill.joel@gmail.com