Messages

241

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: PROPS: Food- Dip substitute?

« on: Jul 06, 2014, 09:16 pm »

We recently had another white dip related thread that may have some ideas: http://smnetwork.org/forum/stage-management-plays-musicals/props-non-dairy-stage-dip/

242

Self-Promotion / Re: Theatres That Have Opened - Easing the Emergency

« on: Jul 02, 2014, 05:13 pm »

Pwe, Yangon, Myanmar. 2014. (Article - Neat Concept.)

243

Self-Promotion / Re: Theatres That Have Opened - Easing the Emergency

« on: Jul 01, 2014, 06:18 pm »

Q44 Theatre Co, Burnley, Victoria, Australia. 2014.

244

Introductions / Re: Lurky McLurkerson

« on: Jun 30, 2014, 08:24 pm »

Ah! One of the McLurkerson kids! I used to play hide and seek with your siblings back in the day. They always won. How's the family?

245

Self-Promotion / Re: Theatres That Have Opened - Easing the Emergency

« on: Jun 29, 2014, 01:59 pm »

Agreed, there is definitely a future. Question - there are a ton of funding campaigns running for new companies - do you want me to highlight some of those here too? Or just the ones that make it to opening?

246

Self-Promotion / Re: Theatres That Have Opened - Easing the Emergency

« on: Jun 25, 2014, 06:44 pm »

A Theatre Near U, San Francisco, CA. (Teens) June 2014.
Studio Theatre, New Port Richey, FL. June 2014.

247

Tools of the Trade / Re: Ergonomics and the Tech Table

« on: Jun 18, 2014, 11:23 pm »

It stands to reason that if the folks down there can reproduce complex choreography on raked stages while singing and (usually) hitting their marks, then an SM can call a show while walking at a consistent pace. 

248

Self-Promotion / Re: Theatres That Have Opened - Easing the Emergency

« on: Jun 18, 2014, 06:30 pm »

Articulate Theatre Co, NYC, 2013
The Bridge, Bridgeport CT, 2014
Bridgeport Theatre Company, Bridgeport CT, 2013
Carmel Theatre Company, Carmel IN, 2013 (Salvaged from defunct Carmel Rep)
Cobalt Opera, Chicago IL. First production 2014
Connecticut Theatre Company, New Britain, CT, 2013 (merger of Bristol Theatre Arts and New Britain Rep)
The Crude Mechanicals, Fayetteville AR, 2014
Double Dog Theatre, Hampton Roads, VA, 2014
Drive Theatre Co, Los Angeles CA, 2012
End of Moving Walkway, London, 2014
The Fern Theatre, Atlanta GA, 2012
Hub Theatre Company, Boston MA, 2013
Interrobang Theatre Company, Baltimore MD, 2013
Lady Parts Theatre Co, Rochester NY, 2013
Outre Theatre Co, Boca Raton, FL, 2012
Pittsfield Shakespeare in the Park, Pittsfield MA, 2014
A Portable Theatre Co, Columbus OH, 2013, AEA
Reduced Height Theatre Company, London, England, 2014 (All actors under 4' tall. Pet project of Warwick Davis)
Rising Sage Theatre, Decatur, GA, 2014
Theatre Harmony Ensemble, Tuscon AZ, 2014
Two Muses Theatre, West Bloomfield MI, 2012
What the Dickens, Bridlington, England, 2013

I should note that this puts us at 42 new companies on this page. Which approximately equals the number of companies we've discussed as "closed" in the other thread since it started in 2009.

If you're a member of any of these companies and have found yourself here from a random search engine trawl, thanks for all your hard work! Keep it up! We need you!

249

Employment / Re: Dear Abby: Problems with an Overloaded, Slacker PM

« on: Jun 18, 2014, 12:30 am »

FADWI has responded:

We had a production meeting yesterday, and most of the designers' questions were answered except for sound. There was still a lot of questions left to be answered, but since some of the questions were answered, a lot of the designers felt that this was a bump in the road. "No need for further action." or "Things are looking up." (I am anticipating the same cycle from the PM once we get closer to tech.)

When I voiced concern over the list of stage management tasks that needed to be completed, I was answered with the same answer I always get: "I will get back to you soon."

The director is at a point where she thinks nothing will change, and although this is her first production with the company, she also thinks that this happens all the time.

Unfortunately, a lot of tasks that need to be completed for stage management are still left undone.

250

The Green Room / Re: Mini Rant---SM T-shirts and products

« on: Jun 17, 2014, 10:13 pm »

Good point. One asks a simple favor while the other requires buying dinner first.

251

The Green Room / Re: Mini Rant---SM T-shirts and products

« on: Jun 17, 2014, 04:11 pm »

The only places I'll wear T-shirts with printing on them is to the gym or doing yardwork. I actually stopped volunteering at a place because they required their volunteers to purchase and wear imprinted gear when working public events. I think it looks sloppy and unprofessional.

252

Employment / Dear Abby: Problems with an Overloaded, Slacker PM

« on: Jun 17, 2014, 03:02 am »

"Dear Abby" posts are from members of the site need advice but want to remain anonymous. They can send their questions via private message to a staff member, who will post the message on their behalf.

===============

Dear Abby,

I'm having trouble with dealing with a production manager.

I am working with a small company who puts a lot of the work on the production manager. The production manager has been working with the company for about 5 years so he is familiar with how they work. This is a project that has been in workshops for a couple of months with a previous stage manager.

My problem is that he tends to leave his duties incomplete. This predates my hiring. For example, not getting budgets to designers, not getting contracts to the designers in time, not informing the director that I had been hired or that we were lacking a member of the creative team until 2 weeks before first rehearsal. There's some animosity towards the PM from the director and the designers, and I can't say I disagree with their feelings. I signed a contract months in advance and kept e-mailing him about needing to get involved early. He introduced me to the director and filled me in on production details 5 days before first rehearsal. I was left scrambling to play catch up and prep.

This company's budget does not allow for a stage management budget, so I cannot make copies of scripts and get supplies. I have to request them if need be. So I would request ahead of time. Nothing I requested from the production manager was prepared for first rehearsal.

Once rehearsals began, the info coming from the rehearsal room didn't match what I'd heard from the PM. I was learning of actor conflicts, unexpected AEA contracts, new dates of rehearsal and tech - not minor things. When I seemed surprised, the response I got was, "Didn't the production manager tell you?"

I have been asking for copies of new scenes and supplies needed for about a week, and nothing on his end has been done. Designers, the Director, and the Actors also have been requesting things that are not getting done. We have voiced these requests in reports, e-mails, phone calls, and production meetings. The production manager will say it will get done in by a certain specified and reasonable date, but does not come through. Rehearsals are suffering because we don't have the tools, people, or information we need. Some of the actors are taking out their frustration on stage management thinking we're to blame.

I brought up the situation with another stage manager who has worked with this company before. She has said that going over his head was not effective as his supervisor's approach is a simple "Do this" without follow up. It doesn't guarantee results and doesn't prevent him from dropping the next ball. The PM has 2 assistants, but they are new and he doesn't delegate anything to them.

What can I do to get the things I need in order to create a more comfortable atmosphere in rehearsal and, at the end, get things done?

Signed,
Frustrated-and-Done-With-It

253

The Green Room / Re: Mini Rant---SM T-shirts and products

« on: Jun 15, 2014, 04:53 pm »

A real SM's mug would be a mini carafe, spill proof and thermally insulated, with a dot of glow tape at the lip and "Stage Manager (who else would have this mug?)" written on it in sharpie.

The thing is, the people who buy these things are as OH said - young kids looking to show crew solidarity and promulgate the onstage/backstage divide that's so common in high school and community theatre. Vendors cater to the marketplace. Pros are more likely to make their own gear or get their branding on something very discreet, like a flashlight or a pen.

254

Introductions / Re: cuing memories

« on: Jun 14, 2014, 03:43 am »

Hello and welcome! Thanks for sharing your tale.

As you progress in your career it will be more dangerous to quote other artists out of context on Twitter like that, so enjoy it while you can! I remember back in the mid 90's my classmates and I would keep a running list of silly quotes like that from our tech professors in college, but we did it in the margins of my notebook. I wonder what I did with those...

255

The Green Room / Re: ARTICLE: The Impending Death (?) of the Paper Play Script

« on: Jun 12, 2014, 06:44 pm »

Show me a digital format that has been proven to be a) lockable b) pervasive and c) around for over 20 years and I'll consider endorsing it for stage management use. Oh, and show me a digital storage media format that can last and remain accessible for 10+ years.

Scripts for SM purposes must be archive-worthy and ensure both venue transferability and an easy learning curve for any old schmoe picking up the prompt book. Not "I'll be able to use this after I read the helpfile and spend an hour figuring out where everything is." Rather, "Oh crap our SM's appendix burst and it's curtain in 15 minutes."

A few years ago I suggested creating a standard archival format for digital prompt books. I stand by that suggestion.