Messages

271

Stage Management: Other / Re: Sming for Dance

« on: Sep 29, 2006, 07:34 pm »

let the students call the show off the TV.

How do you do this?  Give them a copy of the score pages with cues written in? 

I've brought in video or dvd of a show before, and have copied the script pages onto clear overheard projector pages.  Some of my cues are color coded (for q-lites), so those I then take a marker and color in.  All the students can then see at the same time.

Erin

272

Stage Management: Other / Just SMed my first fashion show

« on: Sep 29, 2006, 07:30 pm »

Oh my!

What made this more difficult - other than being my first fashion show - was that it was also the producers' first fashion show.  And since one was the partner of a very good friend of mine (and why I was asked to do it), at least I didn't have as much need to make sure the client got exactly what they wanted....they simply didn't really know, and I was able to have a few "no, you can't have that" or "I need you to make a decision - NOW!" moments, as well as just make some artistic decisions on my own.

It was the first time I have called a show completely off a computer...things were changing so much right up to the last moment, there really was no other way.  I had some rough cues typed into an Excel document before I got to the venue that day, based on a very rough rundown list I'd received (trust me, I'd tried to get more info)...but quite a bit changed throughout the day, even the number of looks the models would be wearing, and what exactly would go on onstage after the fashion show.  I also now know a lot better (and so do the new producers) of what things we need to know better ahead of time.  Our biggest issue during the event (which we tried to fix at rehearsal but didn't really have time) was timing the models both with music and how long it would take to change to the next look.  And though my friend from the very beginning had told me I'd have one person on headset each side of the stage, I still was trying to locate a 2nd person up until about 15 minutes before the rehearsal.  And then they wanted to switch volunteers on me for the actual show, and I put my foot down and said I was keeping the same one.  (It was a benefit fashion show, hence the volunteers.)

One nice thing is that everyone seemed to think I did a good job.  I relied on the "team spirit" thing and when I could without sounding too stupid asked the A/V crew who'd done these kind of things before for help/advice, especially on ways to combine music and voiceover ideas the client had, but really didn't have good ideas of how to make happen.  And I tried to keep the crew as up-to-date as I could.  Both the woman who ran the venue and the A/V staff asked me for my business cards, and this looks like it could add to more freelance in the future.  A few hours craziness, but might be a nice addition to my workload every so often.  Keep me on my toes!  And said friend who got me the job...when I saw him at the afterparty immediately started to get on his knees and said "don't make me grovel!".  Hee. 

I'd shadowed on an industrial before, so at least I had that experience going in...and of course the joy of live theatre where "anything can happen"!  And luckily I've worked on quite a few "big shows"...for this venue I was calling powerpoint, lights, sound (music/voiceover/live mic), strobes, and every single model entrance...

Erin

273

Students and Novice Stage Managers / Re: Book and Tabs

« on: Sep 27, 2006, 11:08 am »

IMHO, it is not terribly important how you organize the information section of your promptbook.  Whatever works for you and lets you access the 411 quickly.  The most important thing is to have scenes in the script itself tabbed.  This is obvious, I know.  But someone has to state the obvious and it might as well be me.

It would not hurt to have little post-its marking french scenes, especially if your director has the schedule broken up by french scenes for rehearsals.

I use the tabs on pages for dividers like props, costumes, etc.  But for scenes in the script, I use Post-It slightly see-thru colored flags.  (See if this link works: http://www.officedepot.com/ddSKU.do?level=SK&id=452367&Ntt=post-it%20flags&uniqueSearchFlag=true&An=text.) If I'm doing a musical I'll put post-its for scenes, say, across the top of the page, and songs on the side of the page (same direction as the tab pages).  Sometimes I vary the color, whatever pleases me the day I'm setting up the script.  Sometimes I alternate colors (Christmas shows I tend to alternate red and green, sometimes it's yellow for scene numbers, red for song titles).  But the post-it flags are adhesive and removable (I put them on the BACK of said script page so when you pull for them you don't pull it off - and actually, it's the back of the PREVIOUS page of the script, so when you pull the tab you get the right page.) and aren't taking up extra space or blank pages as the tab pages in the middle of  a script.

Oh, and use a fine-tipped Sharpie to write on the Post-It Flags.

Hope this makes sense.

Erin

274

Students and Novice Stage Managers / Re: Giving line notes - a real novice question

« on: Aug 08, 2006, 12:00 pm »

I was doing a production of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead and the two leads were just getting pages of line notes and they were so frustrated (and this was with, oh, 20 to 25 line notes per page)...yet they actually were really improving.  So for morale, I started putting a foil star sticker at the bottom of the page of line notes for every time they'd corrected a line they'd previously missed (I didn't write which lines, but at least they could see they were improving).  Didn't take me that much more time and was rather fun.

Erin

275

Employment / Re: So...I want to go on tour

« on: Jul 24, 2006, 05:58 pm »

The shortest that i have been in a city with Cirque was 6 weeks.

Note that there is at least one Cirque show that does very short stays.  A friend of mine tours as a stage mgr with Delirium which for example will only perform in Denver for 4 shows, August 30-Sept. 2nd.

Erin

276

Students and Novice Stage Managers / Re: Actor's Packets

« on: Jul 17, 2006, 11:49 pm »

10)   Contact Card – for your wallet
11)   Contact Magnet – for your fridge

Ooh, I like the contact magnet idea.  It'd have to be a one-sided thing of course (I hate when I have to have my wallet cards be doublesided because of too much info).

Of course, warn people to NOT put the magnet in their wallet.  I kid you not.  I make business card magnets for opening nights sometimes, and have learned to hand them over with a disclaimer after I had one lovely gentleman ruin his debit card with it....

Erin

277

Employment / Re: What questions should I ask in an interview?

« on: Jul 11, 2006, 07:41 pm »

I think you've got a great list of questions going.

One I've learned to ask is "What is the parking situation?"  If you have to shell out 4 to 8 bucks a day to park there (or more), versus a huge free parking lot or assigned employee parking pass, that's a big difference in your budget.  If you have mass transit available, this is of course less of an issue.

You may also want to ask if the work computers are MAC or PC...though the use of a flash drive certainly makes this less of an issue. 

If you don't already know, ask about the theatre conditions....proscenium house?  fly space? trap room?  And if you already know, say something like "I was looking at your website, am I correct that you have a proscenium theatre?"....etc.

Erin

278

Students and Novice Stage Managers / Re: Line Notes (for going "off book")

« on: Jul 07, 2006, 02:33 pm »

I am always against wasting time writing down the wrong thing the actor said - unless for some reason the actor does not believe he is saying the wrong line. 

I have similar feelings - If I say it correctly it MIGHT get in their head...and I try to refrain from saying the "wrong" one so that perhaps that DOESN'T stick in their head as much.  If they absolutely ask "what did I say?" I may tell them, but generally I only try to say the correct line. 

As for actual line notes, I have a set version of squiggles that mean different things in my script...parantheses around words they dropped, circle around those they paraphrased, a small circle between text whereever they added words, wide circles around each chunk with a line connecting if they transposed something (said the wrong part first, and then the first one second) and a big "L" in my script if they called for line (similarly a J for jumped).  All of this is so that I don't have to write out the line notes immediately and can get to them later...or if an assistant has time, they can learn my code quickly and use it themselves to write the line notes.  If you have the luxury of a "spare" person during a run through, you can even hand them each sheet as you finish a script page and they can nearly have line notes finished by the time the run is over.

Erin

279

The Hardline / HAVE I EVER READ THE RULE BOOK?

« on: Jun 06, 2006, 12:52 pm »

I just found a new rule in the SPT rulebook - the SM isn't allowed to either lock or unlock the building. It wasn't there in the last version of the rulebook.

Actually, it was in the SPT 2002 rulebook (valid thru 2007), at 54.J.9.e.  I know because I was THRILLED to see it my first SPT contract.  For that particular company, it was officially the non-Equity ASM's job to lock up.  I now look in any contract to see if it's listed, and while I will lock up, I make sure the company knows I don't HAVE to, and I request as much as possible for other areas to shut down themselves if they leave first (i.e., all the lights in the admin section if I don't need them, etc).

Erin

280

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Creating a call script

« on: May 29, 2006, 07:14 pm »

Anyone out there do this with musicals, or better yet, an opera or balllet score?

Well, not quite the same, but I was working on a repertory of ballets recently, and the other stage manager would type out his cues ahead of time, with colored ink in Excel...i.e., fly cues had a red "background"or maybe technically "shading" in the cell, light cues yellow, etc....then he hand cut out all the cues and taped them the appropriate places in the score.  Was very different looking, and the cues popped out, but I'm not sure how handy that was.  I chose to use colored post-it flags myself on that one - since his was a remount  (mine wasn't) he knew better what the cues might be, though a new lighting designer so he still had to move many of them.  I guess it was a little cleaner than mine at first glance, especially during tech when things go fast and furious....Let me make it clear, the whole score was not in his computer, just the cues, which he then cut out.

Erin

281

SMNetwork Archives / Emergency Forms

« on: May 26, 2006, 10:06 pm »

and in the event of injury, do expressly wave all clams against INSERT SM'S NAME HERE.
-snip-
(There are major spelling probs. in the above)

Aw, come on, everyone, wave a clam!  They don't get much excitement in those little shells!  :lol:

Erin

282

SMNetwork Archives / No, really they said this..

« on: May 26, 2006, 08:23 pm »

I'm curious, what show was it? Because I have noticed that I have heard that particular complaint more often on new musicals (we deal predominantly in musicals) and not things that people have seen a lot.

It was The Ladies of the Camellias, so though while not a musical, it was definitely one people did not know.  And like I said, there were thick accents.  The actors/direction did have them use the entire space fairly well, but yes, I'm sure adjusting to the theatre-in-the-round ... or NOT adjusting to it was much of the culprit.  I'm a huge fan of not using mics when not needed in a show...and I didn't particularly feel this show needed them.

Erin

283

Tools of the Trade / Condom reference??

« on: May 25, 2006, 12:32 pm »

Why is it important to cover the mic with them? How does it damage the mic pack?

Go back and read the beginning of this thread.  Sweat and water on mic packs equals bad.

One example from earlier in the thread.

Being a former sound guy at my high school, i know first hand what can happen without them. Sweat got into a mic and not only did it short out but continued to cause wireless feedback that we had to reset the system because of, what a nightmare.

Erin

284

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Hispanic Theatre and Stage Managers

« on: May 24, 2006, 01:27 am »

Provided you can learn the sounds and blocking involved in the cues, you should be fine.

Actually, I think they're most concerned with the Q&A sections they do with students afterwards and things like that.  I did go observe the show once to get to know it, and was asked something in Spanish by an audience member.  I had to admit that I was "the one who didn't know Spanish."

Erin

285

SMNetwork Archives / No, really they said this..

« on: May 22, 2006, 10:27 pm »

I was recently in a theatre-in-the-round type situation, furthest seat probably 8 or 9 rows away...and at intermission I heard a woman complaining to her friend "I wish they were wearing those mics" and pointed from her ear to her mouth (as in a face mic, not a lapel)....

During the second act I only noticed 2 times I think that the vocal quality was low....I think the woman was actually having more trouble getting past the thick accents of the characters.  

Now, I have argued with actors before who didn't care if an audience complained they were too quiet - the actor was saying we needed to train people to LISTEN and to work for it.  I disagree, you need to be able to hear.  But I COULD hear during this particular play.  I felt the woman was out of line.  I didn't say anything to her, but felt disenheartened...

Erin