Messages

166

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: Dressing For The Part?

« on: Jun 01, 2007, 11:57 am »

it freakin' boggles my mind that they think this is "professional looking."

What they're not understanding is the difference between peer acceptance and work acceptance.  They're dressing to be approved by their peers, but they don't realize that the impression that they leave behind in a work situation is 'Gee, nice thong - I never want to see that again' verses 'Gee, what a very thorough ASM - I'd like to work with them again'.  Ask them, and they'll tell you that their clothing shouldn't matter, but at the end of the day, it does.  Its stopping them from making a good impression.

-Centaura

167

Stage Management: Other / Re: Advice for stage managing a concert?

« on: May 29, 2007, 08:43 am »

Is is going to be a multipe band event, or a single band?  There's usually not much do for SMing a concert, in fact almost every band that comes into my roadhouse doesn't tour with a SM.  We do have a local union guy who SMs the local symphony, but that's basically a case of telling the person who does the introduction when its time to start.

I would imagine your efforts are going to be directed to cueing up folks, whether it be speakers or the next band in line.  Unless they've talked about light cues that you'd be calling?  My gut says that the lighting folks will be running their own show, other than possibly getting a cue from you for starting.  Is there a way to email the friend to at least get a list of questions to her attention?

-Centaura

168

Students and Novice Stage Managers / Re: To enter theatre or not to enter theatre

« on: May 25, 2007, 10:54 am »

I had a conversation with a random person on a plane once.  He was talking about how he had gotten into a very high-paying computer career, that he had a really nice house and lots of extra money, and he hated it.  He was not doing something that he loved to do, and was going to quite his job and try to do something fun.  I told him that I was only in first class by accident, that I didn't make a lot of money, but I got up every day and went to a job that I could enjoy.  Before you think of theatre as a career - you need to sit and think about how important money is to your life.  Working in theatre is about loving your job, not about dollars gravitating to your checking account.

Now, I can't say that there isn't a future in it - I have a full-time, year-round theatre job, with health insurance and a retirement plan.  That's after ten fairly lean years of working up to this point.  I don't regret any of it - theatre has expanded my horizons far beyond what a cubicle job could ever had done.

-Centaura

169

Students and Novice Stage Managers / Re: Is this normal?

« on: May 25, 2007, 10:44 am »

Some of the things you're talking about would be different if you were in an environment where folks were all getting paid, or better yet, where it was their full time job.  If it was the TDs full time job to make sure that the stage was ready by a certain date - there had better be a reaaaaally good reason why its not done.  So, yes, part of your stress (with the flexible due-dates and questionable quality of things) is due to the nature of it being a mostly volunteer production.  Some of the other issues, picky director, things changing without you being told, wrapping your mind around the 9 actor scene change - those types of things come with the job description.  Have fun!

-Centaura

170

Stage Management: Other / Re: Award Show

« on: Apr 21, 2007, 05:41 pm »

I would say concentrate your pipe and drape into making a backdrop for the place that the awards will be handed out at, and if there's any left over using it to hide the back of any bleacher that might be seen by entering audience.  The other thing that I would do is to figure out how much, if any, control you can get of the lighting.  Being able to dim down or turn off the lighting over the audience will do a lot towards creating a performance space feel.

-Centaura

171

Students and Novice Stage Managers / Re: Injured during tech?

« on: Apr 19, 2007, 09:30 am »

I've gotten food poisoning on tour when I was the only one who could direct putting the set together.  I lucked out that we had the day off the day that I couldn't stand up or stay conscious for more than 30 minutes, but even that was fun.  I had to instruct the actors what to fetch for me.  We had a show the next day, and while I still couldn't stand up for long periods, I sat in a chair and directed load-in and out.  It was hard not unpacking the truck myself, but it was possible as long as I could still talk.  I'm impressed that I only passed out during the show once.  It was two days later before I was able to eat something again. 

There is an adrenaline push that gets you through the show, which is can be good, or bad.  I knew that I wasn't doing permanent harm to myself pushing myself for the show, but as in the previous example, there are times when folks do push themselves to permanent harm.  I don't know what the deal is with theatre that it gets to people like that.  I will say use your first injury during a show to stop and think about what you're doing, and how you're doing it.  Use it as a learning example.  Can jobs be swapped around to accomadate someone who can't walk?  Who's doing what, when, and where, and what can change.  While its sometimes common to think 'no one else can do that', you'd be surprised what can happen in a pinch if need be. 

-Centaura

172

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: Traditions in the Theatre

« on: Apr 10, 2007, 04:42 pm »

No whistling came from the days before modern rigging and fly systems.  'Hemp Houses' are what they're called now, but in olden days its just how things were flown.  There would be guys pulling the ropes to fly the scenery, without the benefit of counterweights.  Well, the best guys whow knew knots, ropes, and weren't afraid of climbing to any height were sailors.  Sailors communicated via whistles on their ships, and brought that tradition into working in theatres as their cue system.  If you whistled in a theatre, and a sailor up in the gallery thought it was a cue, you could have a piece of scenery, or something else, drop on you.

-Centaura

173

The Hardline / Re: "Unprofessional"

« on: Apr 07, 2007, 03:10 pm »

I think its often used too much, at least around me.  I see it turned into a catch-phrase for any behavior that someone finds fault with, whether that behavior is truly out of bounds or not.  I'm ambivalent about it, there are times when its the proper terminology.

-Centaura

174

Stage Management: Other / Re: School productions.

« on: Apr 07, 2007, 02:58 pm »

Always good to hear that things went smoothly!

-Centaura

175

Employment / Re: Have any of you worked on broadway?

« on: Mar 31, 2007, 10:47 am »

so I could do that and get the degree that I would like, and still have some experience for broadway. So I'am really confused right now. Do any of you have any good advice?

Hmmm... I'm getting mixed messages from your post.  Which is understandable, seeing that you're confused about the subject.  But what I'm hearing is that there is something that you like to do, more than theatre, that you want to get a degree in.  To me, it seems to be a contradiction to work towards in a degree in subject A, and then say that you want to work in subject B after college.  Not that being a well-rounded person is bad, or having interests outside of theatre is bad.

My understanding of getting into the tight knit theatre world of Broadway means goign to NYC and working as exsclusively in theatre as you can.  I know that others have 'day jobs' that help them pay the bills until they are working enough to have theatre cover their bills, but their day jobs are not career-track type jobs.  I believe that it would be difficult to work in a career-track job, and try to work part-time in the broadway scene.

Thankfully, you're young yet, so you have time to think things through, and follow were life takes you.  Go with the degree that you're interested in - it will make college a much better experience to study what has your attention.  And then see where you're at afterwards.

What is the other subject that you want to get your degree in?

-Centaura

176

Stage Management: Other / Re: Stage Managing onboard a cruise ship.

« on: Mar 28, 2007, 08:21 am »

Thanks for your information!  There are a lot of young folks out there that are always curious about life on board cruise ships.  How are yours as far as dress codes, restriction from guest interactions, and "Other Duties"?

-Centaura

177

SMNetwork Archives / Re: Stress and Eating Right

« on: Mar 23, 2007, 10:27 pm »

When I was in college, I lived in the dorm and ate in the cafeteria.  I was ragged endlessly by my friends, to whom 'freedom' was more important than convenience.  But I didn't have to worry about transportation, was able to eat a whole lot healthier on cafe food than I would have been able to afford to buy for myself, and was able to pay for it all with student loans -which left me more time for shows and studying.  Yes, there are a lot of bad choices in cafe food, but there were also fruits and vegetables and other healthy choices.  Had I been trying to eat off of the money I had, I would have been eating ramen noodles and not much else.  Fruits and vegetables as much as you can, sandwiches as Mac mentioned, the less processed the food has been, generally the better it is for you.  And don't knock oatmeal!  Instant oatmeal has been a life-saving emergency meal for me on numerous occasions.

-Centaura

178

SMNetwork Archives / Re: I HAVE to share this

« on: Mar 23, 2007, 10:10 pm »

That's a great mental image!

Yeah, I remember doing a children's theatre tour that played at a High School in Los Angeles.  Well, a lot of the schools out there have open parts of the school - this one had a huge outdoor courtyard, surrounded by the classrooms, that served as both hallways and lunchroom.  I had to drive the truck through hundreds of milling students to get to the 'loading dock'.  During the morning it was fun, as the students had no interest in getting out of my way, so I had to -literally- gently shove them aside with the front bumper of my 13 ton vehicle.  It was school time performance, and we got done during the High School's lunch break.  That was even more fun, as they had set up the lunch tables right next to the truck and had lined up the trash cans under the truck.  I had students perched all over it, and it took twice as long to navigate out than it had to come in - because of the density of the student crowd.  In hindsight I would have loved to see an arial view of a 26' truck in a sea of students, but at the time I was petrified as they wouldn't get out of the way, and I was sure that I was going to run over at least one of them.

-Centaura

179

Stage Management: Other / Re: Just did my first wedding...

« on: Mar 21, 2007, 05:29 pm »

That's okay, I had to iron the bride's dress for three hours because it had gotten wrinkled in transit to the town the wedding was happening in, and there wasn't enough time to get it to a drycleaners for prep.  That was one thick satin skirt!  Full!  Thankfully I'm a low-maintenance type of gal, so I was able to get ready in mere minutes (try doing that in a room full of frantically primping women - was nearly killed on the spot).

Other than dress patrol, I ended up coordinating the transportation to the reception from the chapel, which no one had thought about, I ended up driving one of the bridal party's car with the bride's mother in it, because no one had thought of how either that car or the mother was getting to the reception.  So that is a question for you - who's driving who, where and when?

And is there anyone in town who can prep a bridal dress in case of an emergency?

-Centaura

180

Stage Management: Other / Re: Just did my first wedding...

« on: Mar 20, 2007, 12:58 pm »

I ended up stage managing a wedding unofficially - and by accident.  I was attending a friend's wedding as a last-minute guest (I was originally not going to be able to attend, but then a week of tour got canceled).  So, I was not an official member of the bridal party, but ended up being in the right place at the right time to deal with all the things that folks had forgotten to plan for.  Like how to get a mother to the reception, and who was going to gather personal items out of the dressing rooms, etc.

Is not something that I'd like to get into more - too many 'bridezilla' stories out there for me to want to try it.

-Centaura