Messages

151

Students and Novice Stage Managers / Re: Humor: Stage Managing the World

« on: Nov 07, 2009, 09:58 pm »

The mnemonic my dad and my sister used to teach me how to merge smoothly was SMOG (lights, mirror, over-the-shoulder, go)... that and my dad remarking, "it's all a series of picking up cues" (without realizing the significance of that phrase) sort of got me thinking through my driving as just a complicated sequence of calling to yourself and then executing cues...

I've been learning to drive as well and the part that always stressed me out was several quick turns in a row (blinker on, blinker off, new blinker on, all of this while staying in your lane) untill I began calling it in my head, putting my lights on at standby and turning on go. I've never had a problem since.

152

The Green Room / Re: Best one-liner from a performance report

« on: Nov 03, 2009, 11:48 pm »

I just ran across a note in my script:

"WTF is life?"

I assume I wrote it at some point, but really don't know why.

153

Tools of the Trade / Re: Google Wave - SMNetwork Sandbox

« on: Oct 14, 2009, 11:18 pm »

I'm in! It's something I've been wondring about for a while.




****
Got an invite already, thank you!
****

154

The Green Room / Re: audience callbacks- the ones you want, the ones you don't

« on: Sep 20, 2009, 01:20 pm »

On a children's theatre show I worked last year, the director would occasionally bring her children to rehersals and performances. During one of our shows in an extremely intimate space the actors were encouraging an audiance to stand up and learn the secret ninja move. One of the director's children stood up, announced "I ALREADY KNOW THE MOVE, IT'S LAME!" and walked out of the theatre.

155

Tools of the Trade / Re: Stage Manager Books/Manuals

« on: Aug 09, 2009, 08:21 pm »

I just finished reading Tom Kelly's Book and I went to the Drama Book Shop on 40th a couple of days ago and wouldn't it be just my luck that he just published the 3rd addition.

I saw a copy of the third edition at one of the big-box bookstores near me. I don't know how they got their hands on it, but they had to create a "Technical Production" section to house it; there were a total of two books on that shelf.

156

The Hardline / Re: TYA Questions to Ask

« on: Aug 04, 2009, 09:05 pm »

Congratulations!
I sounds like you'll be having fun...good luck!

Lucia

157

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: TECH: Overheated actor

« on: Aug 04, 2009, 09:00 pm »

Placing ice--or even running cold water--over a person's wrists is definately one of the most practical ways of circulating cold throughout their whole body. Aside from that, make sure to keep them very hydrated with plenty of water and ice cubes. I've also seen cooling packs you can buy that are surrounded by cloth and made to tie around the back of your neck; I've never used one of them though, so I don't know how well they work.

158

Stage Management: Other / Re: 15 vs 30 second timings

« on: Aug 04, 2009, 08:52 pm »

Kay, I'll have to try that on my next show. I've heard people talk about it as a way of making sure actors don't switch up the direction, like you mentioned, and since it's in sections it would be fairly easy to tell where the problem was.

159

The Green Room / Re: Stage managing your life

« on: Aug 02, 2009, 07:22 pm »

One of my favorite things as a SM is the paperwork, knowing I've done that well gives me the most satisfied feeling. Likewise, I'm always very concerned about keeping the paper from my day to day life in order. When I finnish a course in school I take all the notes I  want to keep and sort them into subjects and put them all in safely labeled duotangs. Even though most of them go in boxes never to be looked at again, I feel secure in the knowledge that I would be able to whip it all out in an instant. I'm a bit of a packrat.

160

Stage Management: Other / Re: 15 vs 30 second timings

« on: Aug 02, 2009, 06:22 pm »

Fantastic, thanks alot. I can see how they would come in handy, it's a shame there's nothing that accurate for straight theatre.

161

Stage Management: Other / Re: 15 vs 30 second timings

« on: Jul 27, 2009, 06:43 pm »

Judging from what has been said above, it seems these are used to mark blocking...are there any other uses?

162

Students and Novice Stage Managers / Re: Point Park: I guess putting it on SMNet makes it real...

« on: Jul 24, 2009, 07:10 pm »

Congrats!

163

The Green Room / Re: Where and when are you at your best?

« on: Jul 08, 2009, 12:36 am »

I am always at my best when fixing the unfixable at the very last minute; it often leads me to be more creative than I would be in a normal paced environment. Recently I had to fix an actress's sagging hoopskirt with duct tape and a coat hanger as she was standing in the wings about to go on. I am the quintessential "emergency person", I always act best under stress.

If I can be constantly looking for somebody or thinking three pages ahead while I call cues it's a much better experience for me.

I agree completely! When things are dragging on and there is little for me to do I get extremely frustrated.

164

College and Graduate Studies / Re: i need free books about Stage Management

« on: Jun 13, 2009, 10:20 pm »

I've attached a message I ent to someone else recently on the boards. Obviously, not all the information will apply to you but check out the links at the bottom if you haven't come across them already. I found them both really helpful when I first started.

Good luck,
Lucia

I started a while ago too and I pretty much learned how to stage manage just from reading everything I possibly could.

First off, read as many of the back-logged posts in theis forum as you can, you pick up so much information they're really helpful.
There are some really good books out there too if you can get your hands on them. My favorite is The Backstage Guide to Stage Management by Thomas A. Kelly.
There are also lots of online resources that you can get to with just a basic internet search, I've listed a couple that I found helpful below.

Most importantly, talk to people at your school to find out how it works in that specific environment. As the others have mentioned, every theatre is different. The director would definately be a good place to start (what does she expect of you, etc) but TALK TO OTHERS WHO HAVE STAGE MANAGED AT YOUR SCHOOL. That is where you'll get the most valuable info for your situation.

Have fun and good luck!
Keep us posted!

SMs Do Make Coffee
http://www.geocities.com/dollariquestnet/SMhandbook.html (online)
http://lukedemoss.com/cadownload/ (downloadable--it's the 20th link down)

Stage Management Without Tears
http://www.theatreontario.org/content/publications.htm (again, it's about halfway down)

165

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: How to make someone's pants fall down on cue?

« on: May 24, 2009, 07:54 pm »

I've never done the play so I don't know if this is practical, but you could tie a string to his pants and run it up through his shirt sleeves and loop it around one of his fingers. Then he could simply slip the sting off on cue.

Let us know what you end up doing.