Messages

241

Tools of the Trade / Re: Laptop Recommendations ?

« on: Jan 06, 2010, 04:37 pm »

My husband and I both own Toshiba Satellites.  I've got no complaints, other than it runs a little hot and VERY occasionally shuts down if I'm taxing the processor in an environment over 90 degrees.  I live in Georgia; it happens occasionally.  I'd love for the battery to last longer, but I don't think I'm going to find ANY laptop that will run for seven hours, the way I use it, without needing to be charged.
One thing I really love the wide-screen format.  It makes working with spreadsheets a whole lot easier; I've got more real estate before I have to start side-scrolling.
Before this, I owned a Dell, and it gave me quite a bit of trouble.  Hard drive, CD drive, and motherboard all died at one point or another.
Have you got a friend/family member who's good with computers?  Until I really got a handle on what I needed/wanted in a computer, I always took someone with me to look and buy, and found their on the spot advice invaluable!

242

Students and Novice Stage Managers / Re: Interview questions

« on: Jan 06, 2010, 12:35 pm »

It sort of depends on the post.  In a recent interview, which was for a position a little different than my usual gig, I asked if I was expected to keep "normal" office hours in addition to performance/prep time, and for the interviewer to describe a typical day for the position.  What type of crew/how experienced is also a question I always make sure to ask.  I've been surprised by eager but untrained volunteers before!

243

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: REHEARSALS: prompting requests around the world

« on: Jan 02, 2010, 01:21 pm »

I've got one actor who will just yell, "Jess?!" (abbreviation of my name) in an aggrieved tone of voice.  Really threw me for a loop the first time, and I wondered what I had done to piss him off!
But, I've worked with him for three years, now, and it's old hat, at this point.  I'm now well aware that it's short for, "Jessica, I'm an idiot, what the heck is my line!?"

244

The Green Room / Re: An eye for details?

« on: Dec 30, 2009, 11:01 am »

I'll admit, I missed the bear.  The second one, though... I couldn't put my finger exactly on what was going on, but I knew things were not the same!

245

The Green Room / Re: SM gifts!

« on: Dec 26, 2009, 01:18 pm »

The star on the booth idea is terribly cute!  Points for your little sister! 
Since I'm doing a show until January 3rd, I won't be doing family Christmas until January 10th.  My crazy dad did send me two Snuggies, though.  My booth is cold, and if one of them were the dark blue I'd consider taking it in.  But, they're zebra and leopard print.  Will not work.  :-D

246

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / COMMUNICATION: How do you do your reports?

« on: Dec 18, 2009, 02:01 pm »

With the discussion about audience reactions in reports on another thread, I've found myself intereted in how, exactly, other stage managers manage their performance reports.

Since I'm calling spot cues and running lights, sound, and SFX myself (Goddess bless QLab!) I keep the GO button pushed back on the table, far enough for a notebook in front of it.  I turn script pages with my left hand and use my right for GO button and to scribble notes as the show progresses.  I compile them into my computer form, later.  House opening, house count and start and stop times go in the "header" space of the notebook paper, as well as possibilities for my, now infamous, Quote of the Night (something overheard during the course of the evening tht is very funny when taken out of context).

I'll take notes, usually a few words to jog my memory on the left side of the page, and keep a running tab of bits that get big audience reactions on the right side of the page.

My handwriting, however, is atrocious, and sometimes I don't have time to finish thoughts, or even words.  Every once in a while, I'll look at a scribble and think, "What does 'lick Com' mean!?"  (For the curious, I eventually translated that back to English in the form of, "This audience must be full of geeks; they adored the Commodore 64 joke.")  Because of this, on shows where it's not mile-a-minute cues, I'll keep my computer running and type straight into the report, to be cleaned up later.  If I've got the time to turn to the computer, typing is faster and clearer than my handwriting!

At the end of the night, I send out the report as an attachement to an e-mail.  I always send my e-mails with the show name in all caps in the subject field, followed by what the e-mail is about, and then the night's quote.  The body of the e-mail is the next call time.  A recent example is:

SANTALAND DIARIES: Performance report 12/16  "Smell my hand!  Really, smell it!"
All,
Next call is tomorrow, Thursday, 12/17.  All crew @ 6:30, all cast @ 7:30.  Reminder, there will be archival filming tomorrow.

And then the report is attached, and I have it printed and all the call board before everyon'e call times the next day.

I'd love to hear how other SMs do it, especially on fast-and-furious cue shows, to see if there's some idea I can "borrow" to make my reports better.

247

The Green Room / Tax time deductions

« on: Dec 18, 2009, 01:42 pm »

So, what do you claim on your taxes, for what reasons and with what documentation? 

Thanks to a SERIOUS fubar on the part of my husband, I ended up paying $1000 in our back taxes, late, in July last year.  Since that little episode, I'm filing my own taxes and leaving him in charge of his, but I've never taken anything besides the standard deduction.

248

The Green Room / Re: "How to get a job as a stage manager"

« on: Dec 18, 2009, 01:39 pm »

Oh, wow.  Just wow.  I think my brain is twitching.

Who wrote that?  And did they get paid, lucratively?

249

The Green Room / Re: Fearless at DIY

« on: Dec 11, 2009, 05:46 pm »

Total renovation on the bedroom: new carpets, crown molding on a sloped ceiling (my brain still hasn't recovered from the math!), new baseboards, paint job, including a metallic silver filagree stencil job on one wall, new curtains, painted ceiling fan, the works.
Repairing the roof after a windstorm.
Also, and it shouldn't have been as big a job as it was, replacing the faucet in the master shower.

I, too, am unafraid to try things around my house.  In the end, most of it is just mechanical systems and carpentry!

250

The Green Room / Re: Holiday countdown!

« on: Dec 03, 2009, 12:20 pm »

<snip>
19 days til I travel to spend Christmas with my family
19 ¼ days til I get a really stinking cold 

Oh, isn't that ALWAYS the way!

251

The Green Room / Holiday countdown!

« on: Dec 02, 2009, 01:43 pm »

No matter what your religion, or your take on the Winter Holidays, most of us have things we count down come December, whether it's shopping days, shows, or days until our next day off.  So, what do your count-downs look like?

40 days before I get to go have a nice long weekend visit with my parents
33 days until current show closes with 29 performances on 27 days.
20 days until a quiet Yule dinner with my husband.
13 days until I get to hear Neil Gaiman speak (about as non-Christmasy as you can get, but hey, I'm looking forward to it!)
6 out of 11 holiday gifts purchased.
5 days until my next day off.
And 4 days until that blasted 11:30 pm performance that's going to kill us all!

Plenty to look forward to in there!

252

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / PEOPLE: Who is organizing your promotional appearances?

« on: Nov 28, 2009, 02:59 pm »

My Christmas show has a couple of promotional appearances, set up by the Marketing/PR person.  However, the flow of information is not copious.  Neither I, nor the actors received any information, other than the dates of said appearances in our contracts, and the info for the last one came only 24 hours before it, via e-mail.  I have two company members who cannot check their e-mail on a regular basis.  I ended up "actor wrangling" for an event I had, literally NO IDEA about.  Luckily, it turned out okay.
We've got two more of these events, and I've started being proactive about requesting the information, about a week ahead of time.
I'm not, sure, however, that this is my job.  My contract says nothing about my attendance/working promotional events, and the first one was on the dinner break of Tech, when I could really have used the time to work in the theatre.
Can anyone who's worked big shows where you had promotional events, appearances at charity dinners, etc. weigh in on this?  I have no problem seeking out the info for my actors, or toting/organizing/wrangling, because my cast is awesome and I want to make their lives as easy as possible.  But I can't help feeling that I shouldn't have to ASK for this information.  It should be coming to me as it becomes available, if it's even my job to distribute it.  I'm feeling that the PR/Marketing Director and perhaps the Producer should be a little more active in this process.  But the place I'm working now has always been a bit chaotic and I'm okay with that.  I'm just wondering how other theatres handle these events.

Added label to subject line-Rebbe

253

Tools of the Trade / Re: Cue lights and monitors- very small budget

« on: Nov 28, 2009, 02:42 pm »

Cue lights can be rigged very simply by someone with basic knowledge of wiring.  You need a light socket everywhere you need a cue light, a labeled switch in the booth for each light, enough wiring to connect the two, and, of course, a power source (probably an outlet).  One of my cue light switches, right now, is a power strip with an on-off switch that the light is plugged into.
There is an added benefit of cue lights: if you're not using them in a particular production, that power/control can be routed to something else.  This show, my "cue light" switches turn the TwinSpin on and off and run the power for the motor of the dsico ball!

254

Tools of the Trade / Re: Random, household things, you use/keep on stage.

« on: Nov 28, 2009, 02:36 pm »

I'm the only person I know who keeps a large, clean, black t-shirt on hand.  I've found that, if there's a costume catastrophe, it can be used in just about any contemporary play as a substitute.  Also, just this last week, there was a promotional event (in the middle of tech!) that the Apprentice Crew didn't know they were to be in until the last minute.  One of them was wearing all black, coincidentally, but the other was wearing an shirt inappropriate for the event, but just fine for rehearsal.
"Here, will this fit you?" I said as I pulled out the black shirt.
"Yup." 
Sure, he was still wearing red running pants, but it's a Christmas show, and with the black shirt, it worked.

255

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: Help, I'm being sabotaged!

« on: Nov 20, 2009, 02:44 pm »

So, this is sort of an old topic, now, but I thought you guys might like an update.
I've been CCing the producer on all my e-mail correspondences with my trouble staff member, and finally got all the information I needed...from the producer.  So not her job.
Then I started getting e-mails from this woman, demanding that I change nomenclature in my e-mails, reports and paperwork.  I mean, we're talking stuff as petty as, "Please don't ever refer to the theatre as the Name of Theatre.  It's just Name of Theatre."  Or, "Change your "Front of House" category in your rehearsal reports to Admin."  I'm dealing with a show with 50 quick changes, delicate timing on light and sound cues and an occasionally temperamental actor (though I love him, so it's ok), and she's worried about three letter words?
But this week, I finally put my foot down.  Tuesday, three of the five people involved in the show, including my two Apprentice/Crew, were late, and only one called.  I put in my rehearsal report a reminder to call me if you're running late, with my phone number and instructions for them to program it into their phones.
Wednesday, I got an e-mail from Trouble Lady, who is head of the Apprentice Company, telling me that SHE knew that the crew would be late all this week due to other jobs, and they didn't need to call me.  They’d get there as soon as they could.
Astonished, I e-mailed her back, just before rehearsal (CCing the Producer) responding that yes, they do need to call, as a great deal of the work this week is teaching the backstage track.  If they're going to be five minutes late, we can wait.  If they're going to be 45, we can do something else constructive with that time.  Either way, I need to know.  I told her that I appreciate that she's the head of the Apprentice company and is trying to protect their interests, but they're also my crew, and need to follow the same rules and procedures as anyone else involved in the production.
During rehearsal I got a call from her, telling me that she got my e-mail and I needed to call her back on my next break and we needed to have a conversation.  I didn't really want to go tattling to the director and producer, but now she was crossing the line, and I had a quick conference with my director, who kindly offered to call her back and have the conversation for me.  I told him no, I need to defend my own authority.
When I did call her back, she didn't answer.
Next day, I got an e-mail from the Producer I'd been CCing.  She totally agreed with me, that I need to manage my staff as I see fit, and to let her know if I have any more issues.
Trouble Lady barely spoke to me when I went to the office yesterday to print a report.
I'm hoping that putting my foot down, and being unafraid, nay eager, to have that conversation with her will make her realize that I'm through being trifled with and I will not have my authority in the rehearsal hall usurped.  Though, from reports from other people in the theatre lead me to suspect that she's just going to be sneakier in her attempts to undermine me.  I'm not the first to have power struggle issues with her, apparently.
But now, I've gone from faintly annoyed and disgusted by childish behavior to quite angry.  Since I'm in communication with EVERYONE on a daily basis, I don't think there's much her backstabbing can accomplish.  And I'll be on the lookout. 
Geeze, as if theatre wasn't hard enough!