Messages

241

The Green Room / Re: Re: SMASH - the TV series

« on: May 19, 2012, 11:28 pm »

Excellent Baz, thanks!

I stand corrected! Six of the twelve books have Kindle editions! Let the downloading begin!

RuthNY -

The Kindle versions from Amazon.com should show up in this link -

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=sr_nr_seeall_2?rh=k%3ANicholas+Bracewell%2Ci%3Adigital-text&keywords=Nicholas+Bracewell&ie=UTF8&qid=1337467184

Regards.

242

The Green Room / Re: Re: SMASH - the TV series

« on: May 19, 2012, 06:21 pm »

Moderator, could you possible make a new thread out of all these Bracewell postings, splitting them off from SMASH?

Baz, could you list which books have Kindle versions? The books I searched for, didn't have Kindle versions. Thanks!

Re: Nicholas Bracewell stories - amazon.com is showing a few Kindle versions, while kobobooks.com is showing a couple For their Reader as well. Nothing in the iBook Store from Apple.

Wow. Something if a digression from SMASH...

EDIT: Your thread, madame. *bows* - PSMK

243

The Green Room / Re: SMASH - the TV series

« on: May 19, 2012, 09:23 am »

Interestingly enough, I had a conversation with Ann on Thursday about just that.  The actors do voice opinions about inaccuracies, but, as in any production, the director wins out. Ann gave the example of the "ten minute call" she gave in the final episode, 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.

It made me think though, that as much as we might sit here, on the outside of it, and pick apart the show for "Fact vs. Fiction," just imagine what the cast is feeling, on the inside! But, it is Fiction, and good for them for having great jobs!

As well as the fact that the actress playing the stage manager, Ann Harada, would be able to offer plenty of observational input if they really wanted to go in a more realistic direction.  She's worked with more than her share of stage managers in her years in the theatre.

EDIT: Removed list of Nicholas Bracewell novels to the new thread.

244

The Green Room / Re: ARTICLE: End of the Non-Paid Internship

« on: May 07, 2012, 08:38 am »

My favorite quote from this article:

As more internships sprouted across the country, Congress passed a number of laws regulating them, including the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1947, which specifically lays out a 6-point test, still in use today, for hiring unpaid interns. Under the Department of Labor’s test, an intern must be paid unless:

1. The internship is similar to training that would be given in an educational environment;
2. The internship is for the benefit of the intern;
3. The intern does not displace regular employees;
4. The employer derives no immediate advantage from the intern;
5. The intern is not entitled to a job at the end of the internship;and
6. The intern understands that he or she is not entitled to wages.

245

The Green Room / Re: ARTICLE: NYT Jobs Few, Grads Flock to Unpaid Internships

« on: May 07, 2012, 08:33 am »

Very interesting quote:

"The Labor Department says that if employers do not want to pay their interns, the internships must resemble vocational education, the interns must work under close supervision, their work cannot be used as a substitute for regular employees and their work cannot be of immediate benefit to the employer. "

246

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

« on: May 05, 2012, 04:34 pm »

I just got through tech on a very very complex show.... <snip>

What's the show, Pat?

247

Employment / Re: time to ask for a raise?

« on: Apr 30, 2012, 11:58 am »

There are organizations that operate like families, and there are organizations that operate like big corporations or machines. In the latter, employees are like cogs in the wheel, necessary for operation of the machine, but that's it. In some organizations, employees are treated like liabilities, not like the assets they really are. It sounds like you've experienced the latter, and now that you know what you get when you work there, either you accept it when you take a job there, or turn down the offers.

Everyone is expendable. We have to be, or theatres couldn't continue to operate, past our association with them. Some organizations just like to call attention to that, more than others. As AEA SMs, we have agreed to work on a contract to contract basis. There is no "tenure" inherent in this system, so why are you expecting it? The organization owes us nothing past our present contract. In fact, the late Artistic Director of a major regional theatre in this country used to say, "Stage Managers are not part of the process." Every organization has their own philosophy and own way of operating, We are not in control of the behavior of others.

If your own ego needs more stroking, beyond the good feeling you get when you do the job well, then don't work there anymore. They are not going to stroke you, THEY are not going to change. Perhaps your own expectations need examining. Either that or you need to find a company that offers what you need.

248

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / SAFETY: Brazilian actor playing Judas accidentally hangs himself

« on: Apr 25, 2012, 09:05 am »

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/brazilian-actor-playing-judas-accidentally-hangs-himself-during-%E2%80%9Cpassion-of-the-christ%E2%80%9D-play.html

Brazilian actor playing Judas accidentally hangs himself during “Passion of the Christ” play
Yahoo! NewsBy Adam Parris-Long | Yahoo! News – Tue, Apr 24, 2012

A Brazilian actor has died after accidentally hanging himself during a theatre production of the “Passion of the Christ”.

Judas Iscariot hangs himself after betraying Jesus in the gospel of Matthew.Tiago Klimeck, 27, was enacting the suicide of Judas during a Good Friday performance in Itarare, southern Brazil.

The audience and his fellow actors didn’t realise anything was wrong for more than four minutes.
Kilmeck died this week after being in a medically induced coma for the last 16 days.

Police are investigating the cause of Tiago Klimeck’s death, with the safety harness being scrutinised at the Criminal Institute of Sorocaba.

Reports suggest that the harness had been lent to the theatre company from a local fire department and Klimeck was not supervised because he had used the equipment before.

Klimeck was said to have got material from his clothes caught on the harness cord when he jumped from a ladder during the scene.

Janaina Carvalho, a member of the theatre group, explained: "I started talking to Tiago and asked him to help us to take the rope.

“When I realised he did not answer, I and other actors call for help.”

Local vendor Luiz Carlos Rosner told Brazilian broadcaster TV Record of the panic after Klimeck was found hanged.

"One of the actors came over to me, desperate, explaining there was someone unconscious hanging from the rope and that he wanted to cut it,” he said. “I was a little worried about giving him a knife in the middle of the crowd”.

Mr Klimeck was buried in Itarare, southern Brazil on Monday.

Edit to subject line-Rebbe

249

The Green Room / Re: SMASH - the TV series

« on: Apr 23, 2012, 10:51 pm »

Smoothie, anyone?
Post Merge: Apr 24, 2012, 11:02 amSMASH Fact or Fiction?  This weeks blog, from Sharon Wheatley:

http://www.sharonwheatley.com/2012/04/24/smash-fact-or-fiction-episode-12-publicity/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=smash-fact-or-fiction-episode-12-publicity

250

The Hardline / Re: On the Clock

« on: Apr 21, 2012, 10:47 pm »

Brilliant, nmno. Thanks for proving me wrong!

Now, has anyone ever used this rule, as written? And in what circumstances?  Who else stayed to work with the tardy actor, and how were they compensated?

And remember that old thread about thinking we know the rule books well? Curses, foiled again!!!

I'd love you to try and find that rule about keeping the actor late without penalty, if you can, as I am doubtful it really exists in writing.

LORT Rule 23 (B) Duties of the Actor - "The Theatre shall have the right to require an Actor who is late for any call to make up the time of that call on overtime hours without compensation; if any other right is thereby invaded, the Theatre will be responsible for the applicable compensation unless the Actor waives said right."

251

The Hardline / Re: On the Clock

« on: Apr 21, 2012, 03:40 pm »

I'd love you to try and find that rule about keeping the actor late without penalty, if you can, as I am doubtful it really exists in writing. (Although, I'd be happy to be proved wrong, of course.) That actor can't be rehearsed without a Stage Manager present, and that would likely require OT for the SM, who, of course, was prompt to the original rehearsal call.

And there are always unforeseen problems in any rehearsal process. That's why the schedule rules are in place. So that the creative team gets their act together, and solves the problems in a way that does not burden the cast with extra hours, unless they are paid for it

snip
And, I remember reading a rule where we were allowed to keep the late actor to, in this case say 6:06 without penalty - I have to find that rule once I get past tech on this show so I can file it appropriately.

It's just that I have been in too many tight rehearsal schedules where there were unforeseen problems that had to be worked around.

252

The Hardline / Re: On the Clock

« on: Apr 21, 2012, 12:29 am »

Help me understand this, Pat. Say your 10am-6pm rehearsal starts 15 minutes late, at 10:15am  because someone is stuck in traffic.  What time is your end of day?

253

The Hardline / On the Clock

« on: Apr 20, 2012, 01:30 pm »

From another thread:

my "rule of thumb" - If cast is late, clock starts when the cast is here. If the director is late, clock starts when the cast is here.

In my understanding, TYA touring is the only AEA contract which officially memorializes the concept of the clock not starting until the last cast member has arrived. If there's another one, please point me to it. An AEA cast that is called at 10am, has the right to that time being their official start of day, regardless of whether cast members are late or not.

254

The Green Room / Re: SM: WORST THINGS

« on: Apr 19, 2012, 08:58 am »

This is a funny thread. I collect everyone's badly punched paper and use it in my book so that it won't be wasted. We kill far too many trees!  My books are a proud conglomeration of many weirdly punched pages! I also print almost everything on the fresh side of used paper, old scripts etc., until the final version.

Worst thing?? Erasure crumbs on my table. That's a horrible work place hazard!!!!

255

Tools of the Trade / WSJ Article

« on: Apr 05, 2012, 10:50 pm »

That other thread is locked so I had to post this in a new one.  Mods or Kay, feel free to move this where ever you think it belongs.

Here's the link to the WSJ article. Please note, there is no mention of any "controversy."

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303302504577325812364620728.html


EDIT: Struck the entire article. The app does not deserve any further press from us. I do not wish to reward bad behavior. - PSMK