Messages

151

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: PROPS: Prop Recipe Exchange

« on: Feb 28, 2012, 09:54 pm »

In my experience caramel coloring has been pretty flavor-free.  For a production of A Raisin in the Sun a few years back I made coffee out of decaf tea and a very tiny amount of caramel coloring that did not seem to impact the taste of the tea at all.  However, I do know that caramel coloring can be derived from many different sources, so it could vary based on what sort of carbohydrate is used as the base for the caramelization process from which it gets its name.

152

Self-Promotion / Re: Julius Caesar & The Comedy of Errors National Tour

« on: Feb 11, 2012, 11:56 pm »

Yay for touring life!

I'm out with Theatreworks again.  We had 3 weeks out in January, and were local this past week.  Now I'm typing this from a hotel in Toledo and will not be seeing the city again until May 22.  But, before then, I'll be spending April working my way along the west coast  (though I've got to get through February and part of March in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan, and some other very cold states before we head down to Texas and then across the southwest to California)

153

Students and Novice Stage Managers / Re: Dear Abby: What classes would you look for in a BFA stage management program?

« on: Jan 23, 2012, 08:13 pm »

IF a foreign language requirement is included I would recommend making it Italian.  In the opera world, which is probably one of the places a US based stage manager will most likely run into those who don't speak English, the default language tends to be Italian.  I have done shows where the mezzo was Russian and the tenor Japanese, and they were both able to speak with the German conductor, and each other, in Italian (the mezzo's English was decent, but the tenor's English was extremely broken and probably would have been difficult for a non-English speaker to follow).

154

The Green Room / Re: Picture Wars!

« on: Jan 23, 2012, 04:26 pm »

155

The Green Room / Re: Picture Wars!

« on: Jan 20, 2012, 10:50 pm »

Glitter: no matter how many times you spray or sweep, it's always there

156

The Green Room / Re: Picture Wars!

« on: Jan 20, 2012, 03:01 pm »

Too bad that your painters forgot to warn you they were touching up the deck and you should mask your spike marks and glow tape.

157

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

« on: Jan 13, 2012, 08:18 pm »

New York City Opera announced a lockout earlier this week.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/09/arts/music/new-york-city-opera-declares-rehearsal-lockout.html

Crain's is reporting that talks between management and the unions are resuming, but, as pretty much every article on this has pointed out, if no resolution is reached in time and they have to cancel even one of their productions it could be the final blow to the company.

http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20120113/ARTS/120119934/1072

158

Tools of the Trade / Re: Favorite Bag

« on: Jan 12, 2012, 03:42 pm »

Do you happen to remember what size your Timbuk2 bag is?  I've been interested in purchasing one, but have grown weary of purchasing bags online as I seem to underestimate the size and how much they can hold, even with the dimensions given on the website.

159

The Green Room / Re: Picture Wars!

« on: Jan 08, 2012, 07:46 pm »

160

The Green Room / Re: Picture Wars!

« on: Jan 02, 2012, 09:13 pm »

But he never beat the inevitable march of time

161

The Green Room / Re: Picture Wars!

« on: Jan 01, 2012, 09:17 pm »

162

Tools of the Trade / Re: Stage Write - an iPad app for idiots, by idiots

« on: Dec 28, 2011, 02:44 am »

It definitely looks useful for potential long term documentation/archival preparation. Provided it is a reasonable price I may check it out for this spring (six months on the road with Theatreworks, I'm going to have nothing but time on my hands).

163

Students and Novice Stage Managers / Re: Summer Internship for 2012

« on: Dec 19, 2011, 12:39 am »

In the Cleveland area I would recommend looking at Cain Park or Porthouse.

With Cain Park in addition to theatre you can also get a glimpse into running a concert venue/road house, as well as Arts Fest. The current general manager is a former stage manager for David Copperfield so you can definitely get some stories and lessons from her experience with him.

Porthouse does three shows a summer and is a branch of Kent State's theatre department. They operate under the URTA contract, so it will be a mix of Equity actors and students, and you will be working under an Equity SM.

I've done two separate seasons at both theatres (99 as an intern and 03 as an assistant production manager/events SM for Cain Park; 04 and 05 as an Equity SM at Porthouse) and had some great times with both companies.

164

Tools of the Trade / Re: Backstage Calling Station/Console

« on: Dec 06, 2011, 10:51 pm »

If your theatre has a cue light system don't forget to find a way to integrate your control system for that into your station/console.

165

Students and Novice Stage Managers / Re: I have found myself SMing

« on: Nov 29, 2011, 10:12 am »

Good luck! If you have any specific questions about taping, post them. The best advice I can think of is to look at the groundplan ahead of time, and make sure that you fully understand it, so that you don't get to the rehearsal room to tape, and realize that you still have questions for the TD about the set.

Side note, gotta love when you are renting a set and nobody knows for sure what something means on a ground plan, or how it will look in real life. Many years ago I did a production of Magic Flute, using the old Sendak set, originally built by Houston Grand but owned by Florida Grand at the time (and sadly I've heard through the rumor mill that it has since been trashed completely, hope that isn't true). Anyway, we were the first company to have rented it in quite some time and nobody on their staff had been around the last time it was used, so there were a lot of questions that didn't get answered until it arrived and was loaded in.