Messages

151

Employment / Re: Resumes - one page and beyond

« on: Mar 19, 2013, 06:54 am »

I haven't kept my resume to just one page in years for that reason: I email it much more often than I mail it, and it's viewed even more online. Why not have it all up there and let the reader pick and choose what to read?

152

The Green Room / Re: Weird Dreams

« on: Feb 25, 2013, 06:41 pm »

I talk in my sleep when things get intense at work and it tends to spike during tech, so I make sure my husband tells me when I do it so I know when I'm particularly stressed. I've sat straight up in bed, eyes wide open, shaking my husband awake, telling him to move the table closer to the chair (so it's not in the way for a scene change); he knows now to just say "okay" and I'll go back to sleep. I've spent all night going through LX1 through LX10 over and over. I've woken myself up yelling, "The 13th?! No one tells me anything!" and having no idea why.

Sometimes I wonder why I can't be normal and have Hugh Jackman visit me in my sleep 

153

Introductions / Re: Hello! Hello!

« on: Feb 24, 2013, 07:02 pm »

Welcome Veronica!

154

Self-Promotion / Re: Off to China

« on: Feb 22, 2013, 11:48 pm »

Thank goodness for spousal video chat...break a leg on the new adventure!

155

The Green Room / Re: "I quit!"

« on: Feb 21, 2013, 04:35 pm »

The only thing I've ever regretted is not getting out of that toxic environment before things got that bad.

This might be the worst story I've heard all week.

Stage Managers quit - it's a fact of life.

Due to the nature of the typical personalities that tend to gravitate towards stage management, I find that quitting jobs isn't discussed without some trepidation, whereas if someone was in the same toxic environment in the corporate world, they may have quit sooner and been proud of it. I think it's our nature to stick it out for as long as possible because of the small world we work in.

156

The Green Room / Re: "I quit!"

« on: Feb 20, 2013, 11:11 pm »

I used to practice saying it in the shower.

Something else for me to steal, thank you Matthew! Think I'll use it on the treadmill, too.

157

The Green Room / "I quit!"

« on: Feb 20, 2013, 06:42 pm »

We've all thought it, we've all come to that point where we were thisclose to saying it...but out of curiosity, who has actually done it? What were the circumstances? What was the proverbial final straw?

I've never quit a show persay - I've had to back out before rehearsals started but found them a replacement, and I've had another job come up during the last week of performances but agreed to share my stipend for another replacement...but I've never been to the point where it was so intolerable that I couldn't take it anymore.

158

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

« on: Feb 14, 2013, 10:30 pm »

Actor's Theatre in Arizona - closing for the rest of the season; hoping to restart next season . . .


http://www.azcentral.com/thingstodo/arts/articles/20130211actors-theatre-leaves-herberger-phoenix.html

Wow, starting from scratch without on-site shops, a performing arts center venue, or new venue? Is losing their Equity status a possibility? I'll admit I don't know how that works...could they stay Actor's Theatre sans an Equity contract?

159

The Green Room / Re: Steering your career . . .

« on: Feb 14, 2013, 10:18 pm »

I'm sure anyone in any career can ask the same questions. I believe you do have a say. Does that mean you always get what you want or what you put 'out there?' No. But I do believe in that putting it 'out there' or whatever you care to call it can create opportunities. There's something to be said about saying what you want or writing it down - it makes you focus, it steers you to a clear yes or no, it points out chances more clearly.

A couple years ago I felt my resume was lacking in musical experience, so I said that I wanted to work more musicals; I didn't say it to anyone in particular that could help me, but I did say it and think it. Due to circumstances beyond my control, I've managed to work all mainstage musicals this year - five in a row - when under normal circumstances the assignments are more varied. I got what I asked for, but I'm ready to ask for the next thing  .

From mumbo jumbo to practicalities - you seem to know where you want to go next and who to reach out to for what you want. I suppose the next step is deciding how much to devote to what you want versus still maintaining what you already know. It sounds like you're taking the needed steps to shake things up. But it does sound like you need to enjoy yourself more - maybe not look so far ahead that you can't enjoy the trip you're on? Dare I say enjoy some lack of control?

I know a few people would hear that you're dissatisfied with your work and think, "If's HE'S not content with HIS career...!"

160

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: RUNNING: Prop/costume responsibility

« on: Feb 12, 2013, 06:47 am »

What really hit me, and why I brought it forward for discussion here, was the way that no one came forward to claim responsibility for their part in the situation.

It's EXTREMELY difficult for to be the SM without an ASM running the deck - how can you be eyes everywhere at every time.

Yes, I agree! And we made it so far without a snafu...I had high hopes

You can never expect an actor to check their props . . . it takes a very special actor to walk through and do a double check.  But the reality is the prop person should set it, check, and stage management should do the double check. 

My deck chief was very quick to place blame on the actors by saying 'this cast never checks their props.' My response was that, while that would certainly be nice and beneficial to have a cast of 20 do things like check their props, be off-book on time, always sign-in, etc., the simple fact is that most of them think those are extras, not givens. OUR job, however, is to check their props, remind them the off-book date, get on them for signing in, etc.

161

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: Prop/costume responsibility

« on: Feb 11, 2013, 03:56 pm »

To throw a wrench into the discussion - or not - there is no ASM. About half the crew are full-time freelance professionals, while the other half are not. We are not a teaching facility, persay, though situations like these tend to provide lessons all their own. While a system was in place and had worked through up until the 2nd to last performance, obviously something went wrong this one time.

I was not interested in playing the blame game and I agree that fault for failing to have a back-up plan for missing props/costumes falls squarely on my shoulders. However, I was appalled by the fact that the items in question exchanged so many hands without alarms going off, or if they did that shoulders were shrugged and the items passed along as-is. I think we've all had moments in our careers where we got too comfortable with our tracks and looked over *that one thing* that we were sure we covered - in this case she swears she did the preset, even though it was clear she didn't. Did she have a preset list? Yes. Did she use it? No, she got comfortable with the routine, and her co-workers, as back-up check system, failed too.

What really hit me, and why I brought it forward for discussion here, was the way that no one came forward to claim responsibility for their part in the situation. Not fault, but responsibility. I was waiting for that one person out of our student-run crew (college, mostly) to come forward as a shining example, and it didn't happen. That's the kind of thing I keep a mental checklist of - who takes the most care of their reputation. I want to rehire people that own up quickly and move past it, not someone who says, "I swear I did the preset, maybe someone took them off the hangers."

162

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / RUNNING: Prop/costume responsibility

« on: Feb 09, 2013, 11:17 pm »

This happened tonight, and I thought it would make a good point of discussion since it was a lively topic of debate for me and my crew:

We had a two show day today, and between shows one of the costume crew forgot an important preset: hang 3 clothes on wooden hangers, plus an onstage change dress, also on a hanger. These clothes on hangers touch 2 actors hands and 3 crew members hands (not in that order) before making it onstage.
Tonight however, those clothes weren't on their hangers and the dress was still in the dressing room. A crew member handed off the clothes without hangers, warned the actress she hands them off to, and the actress covered by laying them on the bed. When someone offstage realized the onstage change dress wasn't there, they went to the dressing room, grabbed it, and the actress onstage took it from them - unfortunately with the dress still on the plastic hanger. The actress covered by taking the dress off the plastic hanger and covered it up under the bedsheets.

So, who was at fault? The crew? The actors for not checking their props? Or a combination of the two?

Edit to add topic tag. - Maribeth

163

The Green Room / Re: The things we give up for theatre

« on: Feb 05, 2013, 06:52 pm »

I've given up family vacations, get-togethers with friends, teacher conferences, my son's school performance, countless date nights with my husband...I had to miss my favorite uncle's funeral in California because my back-up was out-of-town that week and there was no one to cover, so I didn't even bring it up.
But I've received job satisfaction that I couldn't ever get anywhere else, knowing that I'm not only doing what I love, but I make a living doing it. Not too many people can say that.
Is it worth it? That answer changes.

164

The Green Room / Re: FACEWASH - clean up your facebook profile.

« on: Feb 01, 2013, 06:41 am »

Not bad but not fool-proof: it flagged my post about the Vagina Monologues (for obvious reason) and a page I liked about 'kinky' curly hair...not THAT kind of kinky.

Here's my question: if you're pretty diligent about keeping your wall set to Friends only and take a look at your profile periodically to see what it looks like in the Public setting, what employer is going to see it?

165

The Green Room / Re: Weirdest Item In Your Kit

« on: Jan 28, 2013, 07:52 pm »

I keep an old-fashioned tally clicker in my kit. A thousand and one (perhaps up to 9999?) uses, yet nobody seems to carry them any more.

Now I'm curious. What do you use it for?

Aside from the thousands of times I've had to idly count things (the clicker is especially useful when you might get interrupted, need to move around the room, etc. because it keeps you from losing count), I've found it useful as a stress-ball analogue for nerves. (If you can stand the clickclickclickclickclickclickclickclickclickclickclickclickclickclickclick...)

I tend to use the large binder clip as a stress-ball....I'll flip the arms back and forth in one hand while calling a show in the other. Strange way to concentrate.