Messages

256

The Hardline / Re: SETA and Tier contracts meeting

« on: Aug 06, 2010, 05:16 pm »

Just got home from the meeting, attended at the NY office.  There was a lot of good information presented, and I think some good clarification for some members on several points, including the way tours qualify for the various tiers now presented in the Production contract and the SETA contract.

If anybody has any questions about what was discussed just let me know.  I'll try to post a fuller synthesis of the notes I took later, once I've eaten and gone through to make sure all my scribbles and jottings make sense to myself 

257

Employment / Re: Local and not so local job resource websites

« on: Aug 05, 2010, 08:42 pm »

For those on Facebook:

Stage Management Jobs in Opera

I can't seem to get a hyperlink to work to the group itself, but I'm sure it will pop up in a search.  The group is run by Beth Krynicki, Laura Lee Everett, and Brett Finley, all three of whom seem to constantly be the go-to people for getting job postings disseminated amongst those SMs who are interested in opera.

258

The Green Room / Re: "Seasoned" - yikes

« on: Aug 05, 2010, 08:35 pm »

I'm liking the positive aspects that are coming to light in this thread 

259

The Green Room / Re: What did you learn today?

« on: Jul 18, 2010, 01:10 am »

Today I got a letter addressed sent to me at the theatre (addressed to the Stage Manager) with a very polite letter requesting a copy of our Playbill signed by the cast.  This was the first time that I've gotten this kind of letter, though I know it is fairly common place for bigger productions, and I learned that it feels good to know that I'm going to be making some fan's day when they receive a playbill in the mail in the near future.

This letter, by the way, came from somewhere in Alberta, so it's also cool to know that my show has fans from that far away (though I'm guessing this person is primarily a fan of one of my cast, who happens to be a Tony winner from a certain musical that opened in 1996 and ran for quite a few years.  We had a few audience members at our first preview last week who came from Tennessee and planned their NY trip specifically for our show and the chance to see him, so that was really cool seeing their reaction when he came out to meet them after the show).

260

The Green Room / Re: What did you learn today?

« on: Jul 17, 2010, 12:36 am »

Blockheads is the standard get together place for me and a good friend of mine who's one of the swings in Billy Elliot.  You can't beat the prices on their frozen margaritas.  However, now that we've learned about this 11:00 closing we won't be able to hit it up as often since her show doesn't come down until 11:00.

And even though it's just past midnight, I have already learned something for today.  The Duane Reade in my neighborhood is now a 24 hour store 

261

The Green Room / Re: What did you learn today?

« on: Jul 16, 2010, 08:39 pm »

$1.00 slice of pizza is an amazing thing.

Sometimes.  Other times you taste it and learn there is a reason for it being $1.00 

And on my end last night I learned that Blockheads at New World Plaza closes at 11:00 on weekdays 

Today I learned that the crepe place that opened in my neighborhood out here in Woodside is pretty delicious (I got a savory crepe with mozzarella and basil oil, and am contemplating going back for a banana & Nutella one for dessert)

262

The Hardline / Re: SM Subcommittee forming

« on: Jul 15, 2010, 06:20 pm »

I just did the event here in NY back at the end of May.  It really is quick and informal.  We had three minutes with the representatives from each company that was there, which was usually enough for introductions, a quick glance at your resume to see if there were any connections and a brief "here's what I'm doing now" from you and a "here's what we do" from them, a handshake and then on to the next table.

I think it's a great thing, definitely a step above just the cold sending of resumes, because, for at least a few brief moments, you know for sure that your resume was actually looked at by somebody of some importance in the hiring process, and there is a bit more confidence that it will actually go into a file where it might be pulled in the future when they are doing their hiring.

263

Tools of the Trade / Re: PROPS: irish car bombs

« on: Jul 09, 2010, 02:05 am »

Building off of the root beer idea.  Maybe just tinted water for the whiskey and condensed milk, thinned out a bit and tinted for the Jameson?  In my mind that would give you something similar to what you end up with when you make a root beer float and the ice cream melts into the root beer.  In theory that sounds good enough, but who knows what it might end up being.

264

The Green Room / Re: Are there any AEA SM moms?

« on: Jul 07, 2010, 11:14 pm »

I know that one of the former PSMs for the Broadway production of Cats had her daughter while working on the show, and continued on with the show for several years afterwards, as well as continuing to work as a stage manager on a good number of Broadway shows after leaving Cats.  So while I don't know how she did it, it definitely can be done.

265

Tools of the Trade / Re: Paperless World

« on: Jul 03, 2010, 04:11 pm »

Eliminating a physical callboard is a bad idea, especially when you have out of town actors, directors, or designers.  Believe it or not, there are still some people who don't travel with a laptop, and even some who don't use a computer at all. 

Let's say you do eliminate the callboard and go entirely virtual?  How do you ensure that all information is seen by the cast?  With a physical callboard that they have to walk past when entering the theatre and/or rehearsal space yes they may still not catch something, but then the fault is entirely on them.  With a virtual callboard the excuses that take the blame off of them easily add up.  And without the physical callboard where do you post any last minute notices?  You can't expect an actor, or anybody for that matter, to be logging into a website every ten minutes to see what has been posted.

266

The Green Room / Re: COLLEGE GENERAL DISCUSSION: Is the traditional four year college worth it now?

« on: Jun 27, 2010, 12:56 pm »

Obviously it's a very individual question with no universal answer.  The thing that must be taken into consideration though is as a recent high school graduate is the resume strong enough to compete with a recent college graduate.  It's a catch-22.  Economically we are in a tougher time, so that means it may make sense to avoid college and the associated debt that can result, but it also means that jobs are scarcer and the competition is going to be much, much heavier.

You also have to factor in that with more and more people entering the industry each year with some sort of degree it's going to become more and more the standard to start looking for and expecting people to have that degree, especially if you ever want to move into more of an administrative or teaching position.

267

The Green Room / Re: Tony Awards

« on: Jun 14, 2010, 01:29 am »

Having just worked the CFDA Fashion Awards earlier this week I have a new appreciation for what goes in to getting these types of shows off the ground, and it certainly isn't easy.  You have some presenters who never rehearse, others who change things up until the last minute, want to stay in their seats as long as possible, want to be backstage long before they are needed, and who will inevitably change their mind at the last second as to what they actually want.

268

Students and Novice Stage Managers / Re: Saving Old Scripts

« on: Jun 13, 2010, 12:56 pm »

I also used to hang on to prompt books for some time.  I then reached the point where, as others have stated, the producers/theatre started keeping the book in their archives.  Storage space also became an issue, with moving around for a bit, and then settling in NY, I just didn't have the space and energy to keep track of all those binders, and my parents didn't really like having boxes of useless scripts in their basement either.  In the past six years, basically since becoming Equity, I have only saved one script (besides the grad school shows, since I knew they would want to see those for portfolio reviews, after which they too got recycled).  That was for the show I did for the Fringe last year, because the producers asked me to hang on to it as they were actively pursuing another run for the show (which will actually be happening soon, rehearsals start on the 21st).

269

The Green Room / Re: Vacation Suggestions

« on: Jun 10, 2010, 01:31 pm »

Most of the time I use vacations to visit friends, so I'm somewhat outside the tourist scope of things, but some of my favorite cities to visit friends in include Memphis, Kansas City, and St. Louis.  All three of those have some great dining and fun attractions, though their summer weather can be unbearable, especially if you are not a fan of humidity.

270

The Green Room / Re: The Stage Manager's Nightmare

« on: May 26, 2010, 05:49 pm »

Mine are usually of the "such and such is missing, you have to go on" variety.

Though just recently I just left a production early.  The night before what would have been the next day of work if I was still on the contract I fell asleep early and woke up panicked at 10:00 pm thinking that I had not set the call time for the next day.  It took me a few minutes to even figure out where I was (I had left home that morning to visit a friend to recoup and de-stress from the tour), let alone that I wasn't about to have 13 angry actors hounding me about the next morning's call time.  I think that waking panic was far worse than any nightmare.