Messages

226

Employment / Re: Job Reference

« on: Mar 22, 2007, 08:17 am »

Consider how much time has passed between the time that you worked with her and now.  A person can grow and change a lot by having just one or two more shows under his/her belt.  Start by telling the GM, "I worked with Jane on X production about Y months where she was my ASM.  When I worked with her I noticed <insert good qualities here.>  However, there are a couple of areas she needs work on, such as listening and focusing when asked to do a task and writing things down.  I think that working with your company would be a good experience for her and help her grow as a stage manager."  

Be honest.  If you give her a glowing recommendation and it's not the truth, that could come back to reflect poorly on you and hurt your chances of working with the company/the GM if you were ever interested in an opportunity that arose in the future.  And the GM will probably have a set of questions to ask you, so you most likely won't be expected to just talk and say everything you know about your assistant.  

On a side note, assuming that we are referring to the same thing when you say "focus check," I, as a stage manager, have never done a focus check.  That has always been performed by the ALD, ME, or light board op, depending on what crew I have working on my show.  

227

Students and Novice Stage Managers / Re: Difference between Assistant Director and SM?

« on: Mar 18, 2007, 12:20 am »

I think that you will find this thread helpful. 

228

Students and Novice Stage Managers / Re: School or work?

« on: Feb 28, 2007, 08:59 am »

Since you already have the AA and AS, depending on where you plan on getting your BFA, you should be able to have some of your previous course work count toward your degree, thus decreasing the amount of time you would be spending in school.  You can also try to work your schedule so that you can do professional work on the side (i.e. evenings and weekends, or even in the summers).  You might even be able to work out a way to get credit for it.  That way you'll be getting your degree but still keeping a foot in the professional world.  The tricky thing about that is neglecting either your studies or the show, which could ultimately lead to more trouble than good. 

Take a stroll through the boards and you may discover a few other topics related to this subject.  You may find this one on SM college degrees helpful.  Best of luck to you as you make your decision!

229

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: Taking over a show

« on: Feb 25, 2007, 07:23 am »

You may be interested in reading this this topic about handing over a show.  It has some tips for the SM who is handing off the show, which you may find applicable. 

230

SMNetwork Archives / Re: Astrology for Stage Managers

« on: Feb 12, 2007, 10:03 am »

The Libra description is pretty much me to a T.  Thanks for posting!!

231

The Hardline / Scheduling Actor Haircuts

« on: Feb 08, 2007, 08:47 am »

In your experience, do haircuts fall under the category of costume fittings when scheduling them for actors?  I fit in a couple of actors during the rehearsal day, so no problem there on the actors' hours for the week.  However I still have a couple of actors that I need to schedule haircuts for, and it would be much easier if I could schedule them outside of rehearsal.  I am curious as to whether that is considered to be part of the 60 minutes of fittings outside of rehearsal that they are allowed each week.  This is the first time I'm running into this because on my past shows the haircuts have either fit into rehearsal or the actor voluntary elected to go get their haircut on their own because they didn't want to use the theatre's stylist (theatre still covered the cost of the haircut, though). 

I am currently working under an AEA COST Tier 1 contract. 

Any insight is appreciated.  (and as always, I know that I can contact my rep for the most definitive answer). 

232

Stage Management: Other / Re: Cruise Ship Stage Managing

« on: Feb 02, 2007, 01:49 am »

There is another thread on the boards discussing cruise ships.  Click here to check it out. 

233

College and Graduate Studies / Re: College Stage Management Guide

« on: Feb 01, 2007, 08:55 am »

As my honors thesis project for undergrad, I wrote an SM handbook for my university's theatre department.  I'd say it's about a 50/50 split between basic stage management info for students who are completely new to stage management and specific information relating to the stage management policies within the department.   Due to department politics, it was never put into practice (though I hear that a student found it in the library and it's become an underground manifesto for the SMs who are trying to change current department policies). 

smccain: I would be more than happy to email you a copy.  Send me a PM with your email address if you are interested. 

234

Students and Novice Stage Managers / Re: help with "real" stage management

« on: Jan 22, 2007, 08:58 am »

I second that :
Get the Thomas Kelley book .

Just for the record, the book being referenced is The Backstage Guide to Stage Management by Thomas Kelly.  And I'll third the motion; it is an excellent resource for stage managers.  Also, it is far less expensive than Lawrence Stern's Stage Management and just as informative, in my opinion. 

235

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: Response to "calling a show by feel" from "things you would never hear..."

« on: Jan 21, 2007, 03:02 pm »

Aside the fact that actors supposedly don't "get a vote" on how a show is called, do other SMs prefer that actors (and others) go through their ASM with issues like this?

Anytime that an actor has a note involving another actor or the way that the show is called, I ask that they speak with me directly as opposed to giving my ASM a note to give to me.  They can give my ASM a note asking me to come see them after the show, but I think in instances like this things get lost in translation when the ASM is acting as a middleman.  I'm more than happy for them to give my ASMs technical notes regarding props, wardrobe, and set issues that are affecting them (i.e. a button came off of my coat; there is a nail sticking up, can you put another piece of glow tape by the couch), but acting and cueing issues should come to me.  Just like you, I'm available before the show, at intermisison, and after the show if they need to talk.

And moving back to the original topic...
I definitely call my shows by feel.  During tech and the first week, my eyes are glued to the page when I'm cueing a sequence, but once I become familiar with the calls, I hone the exact call of it based on the emotion and action onstage during the specific performance while still staying true to the original intent of the director and designers. 

236

Tools of the Trade / Re: Creating a prompt book in word...using comments for cues

« on: Jan 17, 2007, 10:11 pm »

I prefer using callout boxes to the comments feature of Word.  They're very easy to edit, and I can position the cue exactly where I want it on my script.  I use text boxes for standbys and for comments (i.e. when John Xes left). 

When working on my last show which was a musical, I integrated the score into the script by scanning in sections of the score as a .pdf file (the theatre I work for has this awesome copy machine that you can just feed a document through and it will convert it to .pdf and email it to you) and then copying the sections of the score into Word using the snapshot tool in Adobe.  The callout boxes can then be placed on the score (as can the text boxes when necessary).  I was quite happy with the way my script turned out for that show. 

237

The Hardline / Re: more-than-minimum vs. tech bump

« on: Jan 16, 2007, 07:09 pm »

and "contractual salary" refers to the higher salary one has negotiated for, not the minimum salary specified by the contract, right?

It depends on the specific wording in the contract.  Some specifically state "contractual salary," which would be the salary that you are being paid for the production, whereas some state "current AEA minimum salary."  Contacting your AEA rep regarding this issue will be your best bet. 

238

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: marijuana and theatre (I dont know where to put this)

« on: Jan 13, 2007, 07:51 pm »

Showing up to work under the influence at the theatre that I work at is grounds for immediate dismissal.  If I were to suspect that someone is high and have reason to believe that the person will be unable to perform his/her crew duties for the performance, I am to call the production manager, who will come in to handle the situation and arrange for someone else (usually an intern) to come in and run crew for the performance.  I have never (knock on wood) been in this situation, but this is the understood game plan. 

239

The Hardline / Re: "You're the One that I want" reality show

« on: Jan 12, 2007, 02:21 pm »

According to this article on playbill.com, it appears that the producers were required to hold EPAs that were not videotaped in addition to the open casting calls that were held in NYC, Chicago, and at "Rydell High."  Anyone called back from the EPA or the open casting call has to be willing to participate in the show.  Based on this, I gather that there are a first set of auditions that will not be aired, but the actual actors who make it on the show as finalists and the ones who ultimately win will be legitimately chosen by the viewing public.

Personally, I can't bring myself to watch the show.  It just doesn't seem quite right to me.  Though it seems to be selling well--they've already done 1.3 million in advance ticket sales.   

240

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: Who runs your production meetings?

« on: Jan 06, 2007, 12:14 am »

In college, I used to run the production meetings.  However, since working professionally as an SM, I have not had to run a production meeting.  The production manager or another agent of the producer creates the agenda and runs the meeting. 

Just curious, does the theatre not have a PM?  Does the AEA contract you are working under mention anything regarding production meetings?