Messages

16

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: communicating who is called for a rehearsal

« on: Aug 12, 2011, 09:44 am »

So I had my first major snafu because of this miscommunication re: the schedule.  The actor playing Big Jule had contacted me wanting to know when his first rehearsal was.  I told him he was called on Tuesday at 7:00 pm because we were learning the music for Sit Down, and it was an "all call" on the schedule put together by the director (and the director has told me repeatedly that "everyone" is in Sit Down except for Nathan and Adelaide).  So the actor playing Big Jule shows up, and we are doing the music for Sit Down in the lobby while the director blocks Nathan/Adelaide scenes onstage.  I am in the house taking blocking notes when the actor playing Big Jule comes in from the lobby and sits down in the house.  I go over to him and he says "I don't sing so I don't need to be here because they're just learning the music."  In an effort to not waste any more of his time, I go interrupt the director from his blocking rehearsal to clarify whether or not Big Jule is in Sit Down.  The director tells me that the actor is in the number, but confirms that "he does not sing" and therefore should not have been called.

I go back over to the actor and explain this to him.  He then requests that I go over the schedule with him and confirm his next rehearsal date.  We go back out into the lobby because my master schedule is out there, and I try to go over the schedule with him.  He takes an attitude with me, and then we are ejected from the lobby because we are talking and the music director says we are distracting her from music rehearsal.  To cut a long story short, the actor talks down to me condescendingly and basically says I don't know what I'm doing or what I'm talking about, and I need to check with the director again before I give him another rehearsal call and then he walks out of the building.

Ugh.   This is exactly what I was trying to avoid.  I explained it to the director after rehearsal, and he took full responsibility for not communicating to me that while Big Jule is in the number, he in fact does not sing and should never be called for a music rehearsal (even when the schedule says "all call").  The director emailed the actor the following day, apologized to him, explained that it was his fault for not telling me, and then extolled my virtues for a bit.  Which I do appreciate.  It was just frustrating to try once again to avoid something like this and have it bite me in the rear.  I have a hard enough time asserting my position (especially as I read as much younger than I am - I am in my 30's but often people think I am in college so 18-21 range, do not come off as "mean", and am not very physically imposing); I just really hate it when actors talk down to me and are condescending because I am "young" and "clueless".
Post Merge: Aug 12, 2011, 10:00 amI would also like to point out re: the whole "reading young" thing that I often come to rehearsal dressed in my business casual clothing from my day job as I don't always have the time to change.  So I am wearing nice business dresses, or black slacks with blouses, business-y jewelry, heeled sandals, etc.  I have struggled with this issue a lot as a SM (and at my day job too!) of just being disregarded due to being "younger" and consciously try to dress myself in an "older" manner.  Sometimes I think my hair is too long and should be cut and maybe that would help me project "older" but I also think that long hair looks better on my frame.  I know this is a tanget, it's just something I've struggled with both as an SM and in my regular life and it's frustrating to once again have it all thrown in my face and an actor talk down to me because of perceived inexperience (which I often equate with reading young). 

17

The Green Room / Re: You know you're in tech when....

« on: Aug 08, 2011, 11:39 am »

You take off work from your day job and your boss asks "where are you going on vacation?" and you reply "Nevernever Land".

18

The Green Room / Re: What Kind of SM are you?

« on: Aug 08, 2011, 11:33 am »

Since I'm primarily involved in community theatre, I am not really used to the whole "producer" dynamic.  I have several directors who almost always request me for their shows.  It's rare that I SM a show for a director I've never worked with before - I'm not doing it at all this year and so far have no plans to do it next year (though I am currently only booked through February of 2012).

I have had actors make numerous comments to me whenever I go see a show I am not involved with that they wish I was SM for the show.  I once had a parent who was a spot op for the first time with me see me in the audience prior to a show and come down out of the spot tower to tell me personally that she had no idea how good I was until she worked with a different SM and that she hoped I'd be doing her next show. 

So that makes me an actor's SM?  Or a director's SM?  I have no idea. 

19

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: communicating who is called for a rehearsal

« on: Aug 05, 2011, 09:09 am »

I'm pretty sure he's aware that it's an issue, but he is thinking it is more an issue of actors being lazy and not reading the schedule at all and therefore just asking us when they are called.  We may have some actors like that, but the majority are having problems actually understanding the schedule.

I did send out the first week's schedule to everyone but sent it to him for proofreading first - which was a good idea, as he already had several (minor) changes to the schedule.  And he also sent me a "who's in what scene" breakdown, which is invaluable (again, not something I could have created myself from the script as he always adds little things here and there).  I also forwarded that to the cast and directed them to refer to the breakdown if they're unsure if they are in a certain scene or not.  And then after they've looked at the schedule and the breakdown they can call me if they still have questions.

The overall thing I've noticed when working with this particular director is that he spends so much time doing prep work for a show (literally months of work) that by the time we start rehearsal he knows the entire thing cold and sometimes has a disconnect that the rest of us haven't spent the last several months living with the script and so are not automatically on the same wavelength that he is.  I already feel a lot more organized and on top of things at this point than I did this time last year with Oliver though, so I think we are making progress.

Planning on double-checking rehearsal calls with him weekly and sending out weekly schedule emails to the cast.... yep, feeling much better about this show.   

Thanks everyone!

20

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: communicating who is called for a rehearsal

« on: Aug 03, 2011, 12:00 pm »

Thanks everyone for the replies.  Unfortunately, taking control of scheduling is not an option at this point.  Like I said, this director is highly organized and really prefers that he controls all of that.  He does send info to me and then I forward to the cast, so at least to the cast's perception it's coming from me.  But he creates it all.  I learned the hard way with Oliver last year when I started putting prop notes into rehearsal reports (ex: we will need a ladder for Who Will Buy) and he let me know that he had already created the props list for the entire show and sent it to the props crew already (and this was during the first week of rehearsal). 

I think what we will do is I will send out each week's schedule in advance to the cast via email and expand on his abbreviations to make it clearer for everyone who is called when/where.  Meeting up with him to go over the schedule is not really an option this point as I am still in rehearsal for another show and we start rehearsal for Guys and Dolls this Sunday.  I will probably send the expanded weekly schedule to him first for proofreading to make sure I've interpreted abbreviations correctly and then forward to the cast.

I am going to request a detailed scene/song breakdown - he's sent me a few documents that sort of answer this description but none of them are detailed enough for my purposes.  I haven't done G&D before and he is also known for adding little "bits" here and there (he did send out a huge long lyric reassignment that I need to incorporate into my script because our Nathan is singing and he likes to feature actors with solo lines that were originally chorus, etc) so going through the script to get lists of people in scenes won't really help me either. 

Thanks everyone! 

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Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / COMMUNICATION: Communicating Who is Called for a Rehearsal

« on: Aug 02, 2011, 03:56 pm »

Hi everyone -

I am getting ready to start rehearsal as a stage manager for a community theatre production of Guys and Dolls.  Cast is around 40 people, with teenagers up through seniors.  I am working with a director I have worked with before, who is very great but also pretty controlling.  In some ways this is great, as he makes my life easy because he's already created the rehearsal schedule, the contact list, scene lists, transitions, etc etc etc and we haven't even started rehearsal yet.  He can produce more paperwork in a bat of an eye than I can rationally explain. 

Anyway, I've done shows with him before and we always run into this problem when we start rehearsal where no one knows whether or not they are called for rehearsal.  The schedules he makes are very compact with lots of abbreviations, which may or may not be consistent.  For example, the day we are doing the Crapshooters Ballet it says "Gamblers Exc S/J/N" which means Gamblers excluding Sky, Big Jule, and Nathan.  So of course the actor playing Big Jule emails me and says "am I called that day?" because it's not clear to him.  And on the night we are learning music for Oldest Established it says "Gamblers Exc Sk/Ju" which also means Gamblers excluding Sky and Big Jule, but it's not consistent with the other abbreviation. 

Issuing a new expanded rehearsal schedule is not really an option, nor is editing the existing one and re-sending it out again as he always does them in PDFs.  So, I guess what I am looking for is if anyone can suggest a way to minimize this thing I always go through where I am bombarded by emails/phone calls from actors wanting me to interpret the schedule for them.  Often I end up having to ask the director anyway what his abbreviations mean, which takes up time and also makes me look dumb and/or not informed/in the loop. 

Should I make like a key and send it out?  Or a list of songs/scenes and who is in what song/scene?  So they could just look at what song we are doing and then look at the list and realize they are not in that song?  Part of this is just training people to read the schedule; a lot of times they are lazy (sorry, but it's true) and just want me to email them a list of dates they are called, which obivously is prohibitive with a cast of 40 people.  But I've run into this problem before with this director (with Oliver it was a nightmare, there were so many kids and all of them were "orphans" and "pickpockets" except the ones that were "little orphans" and oh they all have different costumes for Who Will Buy and ARGH) and I'd just like to head it off as much as possible.

Thanks,

Beth

Edit to subject line-Rebbe

22

Employment / Re: To tattoo or not to tattoo

« on: Jul 25, 2011, 10:21 am »

My two cents - my day job employer is a privately owned family business that prides itself on its conservative image.  I have one tattoo that is easily covered by regular clothing.  I actually paid for it with the money I got from my first paid SM gig - I wanted that money and that feeling of getting paid to SM to be with me for the rest of my life.   

My employer has a policy very similar to Disney where tattoos cannot be visible at all, men can have no visible piercings, and women are only allowed one earring per ear and no other piercings.  And my department is not a front-line area with direct interaction with customers and we still have the same policy as customer facing areas.  However, my boss has multiple tattoos (she is in her 50's) and several of them are on her ankles.  She either wears band-aids, boots that cover them, or in the summer she wears a lot of dresses with leggings underneath.  I have been getting away with two earrings per ear for a few years now.  And my black toenail polish is also against policy, but it matches my black sandals and no one has commented on it.  I'd never put black polish on my fingernails, though.

So I guess in the long run, your mileage may vary. 

23

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: Calling cues for the spotlight operator

« on: Jul 25, 2011, 09:38 am »

I've only done two shows with spots - Beauty and the Beast, where we only had spots for Be Our Guest (the sound board op doubled as the spot op) and Oliver, where we had two spot ops with multiple cues throughout the show.  I called spot cues both times.  For B&B since it was very simple I'd just say "spot up on Lumiere - go" etc. 

For Oliver, we had a lot of spot cues.  Each op had their own cue sheet that they had worked out with the LD during tech with the info about color, size, etc.  In performance I simply called "spot(s) up - go" etc and they would know which one of them it was, who they were lighting, what color, etc.  There were a few that were tricky and so sometimes I'd remind them about those ("spot up for Fagin on the bridge - go") but for the most part they handled it themselves.  This was a community theatre show and both of my spot ops were mothers of children in the show - one was the mom of a teenager, the other was a mom of one of our youngest cast members (like 6 or 7 years old).  Neither one of them had ever done a spot before, so I have to hand it to our LD for giving them such good notes and preparing them well.

I can see how you could get to the point where calling all spot cues could be problematic, especially if you were having to remind the op every time about who they were lighting, which op, etc.  But I've had a great experience with them having their own sheets and following their notes so all I have to call is "spots up - go".

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Stage Management: Other / Re: How did you get started SM'ing Dance?

« on: Jul 11, 2011, 09:53 am »

I only ever SM'd a dance show once, it was a local children's Irish dance school.  I had volunteered with the same overarching company on a few children's musicals but this was the first time they called me up and requested me for a dance show. 

I had called shows before in the space they were using to perform, but the head of the dance company wanted me to be backstage for the performance.  I ended up having my light board op actually take the cues and I did little except keep order in the wings because a) I have never called a show from the wings before and b) I had never called a dance show before and the two combined made me uncomfortable enough to have the board op run the show themselves.  It also didn't help that I had been to very few rehearsals and the dancers had not rehearsed in costume and honestly all the music sounded the same to me.  I made a few stabs at a calling script (like bex said above, it was mainly like "girls in big circle" or "solo girl with red skirt") but ultimately when we got into the space and they told me I had to be backstage, I had the board op run it.  I just felt like I couldn't see enough from the wings (no monitor) and I was on shaky ground anyway with being unfamiliar with the show, my cues, and the music all sounding the same.

They never asked me back and I haven't had the chance to SM dance again.  I'd love to try but not sure how to get back into it.

25

Employment / Re: Necessary in a resume?

« on: Jul 05, 2011, 09:14 am »

My practice has been to keep two separate resumes - one for my theatre work, which is mainly SMing, and the other one for "real" jobs like my day job, the jobs I held in college, etc.  I do not put SMing on my "real" job resume or vice versa, and I put my college education on both (I also majored in English which is good for "real" jobs in addition to my theatre degree).  A lot of the time I have had prospective "real" employers have issue with all the theatre I do, so I usually just leave it out.  And I don't think a theatre would be interested in most of the day jobs I have had - which like most everyone, includes stints in retail and food service. 

I used to put my one LD credit on my theatre resume, but have been leaving it off as it seems to contribute to the people thinking that stage management = lighting design.  I usually also tailor my resume to the job that I am applying for, so if I am applying to direct a show I would call out coursework I had in college like acting, directing, etc. 

26

Employment / Re: Resident SM?

« on: Jul 05, 2011, 09:04 am »

Oh, if someone came to me and said "we want you as our resident SM" I would definitely go "great! let's talk about my contract" instead of just blindly saying yes.  Even though I would want to.    

But honestly that is not a very likely thing to happen in my current location, and I am kind of unable to move at the moment.  So I just continue to work my day job and do as many shows as I can on the side and honestly be grateful that I can do what I love (SMing) and get paid for it.  Even though I don't make anything approaching a living wage, hence the day job.  I like to think that someday I will find somewhere up here (Western NC, but more broadly in the Appalachian mountains) that would hire me as a resident SM, but again I am just not in a position to move right now.  So I continue to sharpen my skillset, learn from others, and solidify my own financial position so that when the opportunity comes I can go for it.

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Employment / Re: Resident SM?

« on: Jul 04, 2011, 09:50 am »

Being a resident SM is my dream job, hands down.  But I know I will probably have to move to make that happen, so I have tried to offer my services as a resident SM at several places in town but no one was interested.  Mainly because of the economy and the fact that most theatres in this area simply don't have resident stage managers or PSMs.  The theatre staff consists of the board and the managing director, and then sometimes with the addition of a full-time box office staff and/or a full time TD.  But no one else is "resident" or full-time, they are all contracted in on a per-show basis.

Someday......

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The Green Room / Re: "I can't do that on stage."

« on: Jul 04, 2011, 09:41 am »

This has never actually happened to me, but I dread the day that it does.  I cannot imagine how anyone would be able to thread a needle onstage.  I am not an actor, but it makes me nervous just thinking about it.  If I ever do a show where this is required, I will definitely try to figure out a way to pre-thread the needle.  It just seems like it would be incredibly awkward and there is a potential for a huge long silence while the actor tries to repeatedly thread the needle... yeah. 

29

The Green Room / Re: gaining new perspective

« on: Jun 28, 2011, 09:44 am »

A couple of years ago, I did audition for a musical.  I wanted a chorus role; I have musical training and I can hold a tune, I just don't have a particularly strong voice.  Needless to say, my audition was a disaster (I had not auditioned in over ten years).  As I was walking out, the SM asked me if I would be interested in ASMing if I wasn't cast.  Well, of course I wasn't cast, so I ASM'd the show and that was one of the most painful experiences of my life, for a variety of reasons.  I learned that I never want to ASM at that particular theatre again.  So now, even though there have been shows I would have been interested in auditioning for as a chorus role, if they throw me the SM bone first I always take it, because I would rather SM the show than audition, not be cast, and end up as ASM. 

30

The Green Room / gaining new perspective

« on: Jun 27, 2011, 09:52 am »

So this summer I am actually volunteering as an assistant director with the local company that does Shakespeare in the park.  I have pretty much stopped SMing for them as they do not pay SMs (but they do pay the director and the designers).  But I had a free month this summer in July, and so I am working in my volunteer gig as an AD on a Shakespeare production inbetween my SM shows (last show closed June 19th, next one begins rehearsal August 8th). 

We haven't even started rehearsal yet, but it has been really interesting so far seeing things from a different perspective.  I have really enjoyed getting emails from the SM and seeing how they are handling things, dissemination of information, finding rehearsal locations, etc.  I think because I have no formal training as an SM (again, I do have a degree in theatre but there were no SM classes at my university) and sort of just jumped into it without really ASMing at all, my perspective can be a little limited.  My methods are the things I have worked out that work best for me, but I have so little exposure to other methods that I find it really interesting to see what other people do and how they handle things.  One of the reasons why I joined this board was to get more exposure to other SMs and how they do things!

So.... what is your favorite way of gaining some new perspective?