Messages

211

The Green Room / Re: Hell in a Handbag (A Game for Stage Managers)

« on: May 28, 2012, 03:39 pm »

Is Stephen a smoker? If not, does he have an allergic reaction to cigarette smoke? Do the other actors in the scene have any allergic reactions to smoke? Is anyone asthmatic?

Will the cigarette be lit? If it is lit, will Stephen actually inhale the cigarette? Is there a preferred brand of cigarette or should we use a theatrical brand of herbal cigarettes? How many cigarettes will be smoked during pages 46-48? Will the cigarette be lit with a match or a lighter?  Do we have enough budget for multiple packs of cigarettes, matches and/or lighters? If it is a match, where will the extinguished match go after it's use? Are we allowed to have open flame onstage? Has the fire marshall been scheduled for a walk through? Has publicity been notified so that a notice can be posted in the lobby with regards to smoking onstage? Has Stephen's costume been flame proofed? Does anyone else light his cigarette? If so, has their costume been flame proofed as well? What side of the stage requires the butt can? Will the cigarette be put out onstage? If so, how will it be extinguished (stepped on, ashtray, ash can, water cup)?

If it is not lit, can we use a fake cigarette? If smoke is required to be seen, do you want to use an electric cigarette? Do we have a budget for electric or fake cigarettes, in case they are damaged during the run and more than one is needed? Will he need to pull out the cigarette(s) onstage? What brand is referenced in the script? Does it need to come out of a cigarette box or a case? If a case is wanted, is there a preference of case color/material?

NEW NOTE: For the massive farmer's market food fight in Act 2, some of the food will be consumed onstage.

212

Students and Novice Stage Managers / Re: Blocking notation for choreography: how should I do it?

« on: May 27, 2012, 10:43 pm »

Hi Lauren,

I highly recommend using the search box. It's in the upper right corner. Type into the box
dance notation
then in the box next to it, select
"Entire Forum"
and then hit Search.

I just did that and got tons of hits from the site.

Best of luck!

213

Stage Management: Other / Re: first time SMing ballet

« on: May 25, 2012, 02:18 pm »

This is what I do when I'm in your situation:

1. Watch the DVD once to get the feel of the piece.

2. Watch the DVD again and write down all of the choreography in short phrases, like broken sentences.

3. Time stamp each line to the best of my ability.

4. Go into rehearsal and adjust my script to match what this company is doing.


So my script will start to look like this (based on the video):

10:54 Pink Girl Ent UR, x to DL

11:15 Red Man Ent UL, barrel turn around stage,

11:25 Red Man meet Pink Girl DL

11:45 Red Man lift Pink girl CS

Depending if they use their own sets/costumes or a rental from the DVD cast, the costume colors may not be the same, and in most cases, for a man's variation, his entrance may change. Most dancers have a side they perform better on, so you might find by watching your rehearsal that now the Red Man enters from UR, and instead of a barrel turn, does a series of tours (jumping in the air while turning a completely around) to meet the Pink Girl DL. Then you may find a lot of the choreography matches the video, while other small parts change.

There are 2 main versions of that ballet, and it's helpful to know if your company will be dancing the version in the video (with small adjustments as the director warned you) or if it's someone else's interpretation of one of those. A lot of companies will base their own piece on the Petipa, so while many sections will remain the same, they may be put in a different order, or some sections may be replaced with another version's section altogether (this is very common).

It is worthwhile to watch the video and take your notes, as you don't know how much differs, and you do have the opportunity to rewind and catch things you missed. Should you get lost, you always have your time stamps to help you find out where you should be. (This is also based on idea that the rehearsal you're watching hasn't slowed down or sped up the music in relation to the video.)

The other thing I do, when no video is available, is to sit in rehearsal and write down everything as it happens, doing my best to keep my line breaks and catch time stamps. In this case, it is helpful to know everyone's name or have them in costume so that you can refer to them by costume color/character. I'll admit, doing it this way is harder, so I suggest writing your script based off the video, then updating it as you watch the rehearsal.

If a musical cue is ever needed, and a score is not provided, I find it helpful to do this:

15:45                Blue Girl Ent SL1 - Start Counting
15:58  LX 45      1-2-3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8   2-2-3, 4, 5, 6, GO!

To me, that means that the first 3 counts are close together, while the 45678 are a bit longer. Then the phrase repeats with the 223, then the long 456, then I call GO on where 7 would be. (I've found this is the way most choreographers count as well - not in measures, but in phrases. While that above may look like 2 measures, it's most likely 6+ measures. Then you're at least counting the way the choreographer does and it's easier to communicate.) Time stamping is also helpful, though I wouldn't use it to call the cue necessarily, in case you're working with a live orchestra, or you're working with a CD that will require you to stop between tracks for applause and restart the CD when the applause begins to die down (which will throw off all of your time stamps completely).

If you want, I'd be happy to email you a copy of one of my scripts, if you want to see the layout. PM me if you're interested.

Best of luck! It's not as scary as it sounds. Just a little overwhelming when you start, but you'll get the hang of it quickly.

214

The Green Room / Re: eReaders!

« on: May 23, 2012, 12:17 pm »

Head over to this thread:

http://smnetwork.org/forum/the-green-room/re-smash-the-tv-series/msg42764/#msg42764

We're creating a SMNet "book club" - perhaps you'd be interested in joining us for an e-read?

215

Stage Management: Other / Re: first time SMing ballet

« on: May 23, 2012, 11:47 am »

As Dallas said, using the search option is helpful. And here is a thread that should offer you some good tips:

http://smnetwork.org/forum/stage-management-other/how-to-call-a-dance-show-when-your-unsure/

Most times in situations like these you aren't given a score. It's best to write down the choreography as you would blocking, and create yourself a script from that. You don't need to know terminology, though it would make things a bit easier to communicate with the director/choreographer. If you are given a score, that's great - but be aware that most choreographers don't count by the measure, they count by the phrase. We were doing Swan Lake and I wanted the choreographer to tell me how he wanted the destruction of Von Rothbart's castle to time out. We played the CD and I followed the score, but he kept counting the phrases. What would be 8 measures to me was a count of 1 to 12 for him. It made it difficult to communicate until I just learned to count music his way.

216

The Green Room / Re: Introducing the Unicorn Rainbow Sparkly Theatre Company!

« on: May 22, 2012, 01:18 am »

Child and animal wranglers will be aplenty, on time, courteous and very attentive to the backstage monitor to get all children and animals to the stage ontime for all entrances.

217

The Green Room / Re: "Nicholas Bracewell" Series of Novels

« on: May 22, 2012, 01:16 am »

Alright - does anyone else want to download the book and join our little book club? Perhaps we can start discussing the book on Sunday, June 3rd?

218

The Green Room / Re: SMASH - the TV series

« on: May 21, 2012, 08:04 pm »

Sidebar...

and said she did mention to the powers that be that there was no "ten minute call"," just "half hour, fifteen, five, and places," but the director wanted what the director wanted.

I feel we've had this discussion elsewhere. Maybe it's per area/region, but I've always had a 10 minute call. 30-15-10-5-places. But I digress.

...Back on Topic

219

The Green Room / Re: "Nicholas Bracewell" Series of Novels

« on: May 21, 2012, 02:27 pm »

I've started on The Queen's Head. Here we go!

220

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: Stage Management Manual - What to Include

« on: May 17, 2012, 04:27 pm »

Hi Lauren,

I highly recommend using the search box in the upper right corner of your screen. Instead of "manual" type in "handbook" - there are ton of topics that cover the very question you're asking. Read through those and if you still don't find what you're looking for, please don't hesitate to ask!

Best of luck!

221

The Green Room / Re: Dropquest II

« on: May 16, 2012, 09:16 pm »

How fun! Thanks for posting, missliz!

222

The Green Room / Re: What do we do?

« on: May 14, 2012, 01:46 am »

I've found the easiest thing to explain is what I consider the smallest part of the job - calling the show. It's something that most people can somewhat understand. I don't try to explain rehearsals, scheduling, people managing, meetings, etc. But if you just say "Have you been to a show before? When the curtain rises, the music starts, the light shifts and the set moves, that's me telling everyone what to do and when to do it." Most people can grasp that. Getting into the meat of the job can be difficult to explain to a "civilian" - and I generally don't try to do that unless someone is genuinely interested, and we have some time.

223

The Green Room / Re: SMASH - the TV series

« on: May 08, 2012, 10:53 pm »

Just tossing my 2 cents in here as well - I always call Ballet from backstage. I've only called from out front once and I absolutely hated it. (I had to call from the front as there was no room for my console due to the number of wagon set pieces.) When I go work in "regular" theater and call from the back of the house (or in the middle of the balcony in one really weird theater) I feel totally detached from the actors. As long as I have my stage monitor, maestro monitor and cue lights, I'm a happy camper backstage.

224

The Green Room / Re: What was the last nice thing someone did for you?

« on: Apr 22, 2012, 10:50 pm »

On our most recent rep performance, the stager of a particular ballet told me that I called her piece beautifully. Then another stager from the same rep, who staged a different ballet, said the same thing about the other piece. Then, when introduced to a former dancer turned Scenic Designer at an after party, he complimented my calling on that same particular ballet.

For some reason, having 3 somewhat unrelated people, all of whom were former ballet dancers, compliment me for my calling of one particular ballet (of which the lighting is uber specific) meant more to me than the "you hit another one out of the park" line I always get from my TD/LD (which always seems so insincere) at the end of every run. 

225

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: PROPS : Biscuits

« on: Apr 19, 2012, 11:00 pm »

Since this is set in the south, and with the descriptor "cold", it definitely leads me to believe they are referring to cold American biscuits, which are in the upper right photo on your Wikipedia link.

Biscuits became popular in the south during plantation times and were a sign of wealth, as southerners were making biscuits before Baking Powder was invented (the Royal Baking Powder company was formed in 1866), and it took quite a bit of labor (and time) to beat enough air into the dough.