Messages

31

Students and Novice Stage Managers / Re: Mentorship Program

« on: Nov 15, 2010, 01:44 am »

As someone who is primarily self trained, I would love to be a part of this program as a mentor.  I took a rough path without much guidance and would love to help others so that their road is not so rough. 

32

The Green Room / Rehearsals are Like Relationships

« on: Nov 14, 2010, 10:00 pm »

Last night on twitter some folks and I were making all sorts of comparisons between relationships and rehearsals.

For example:

The Honeymoon: It's the first few days of rehearsal and everything feels fresh and exciting. But who knows - in a few weeks all the things that are currently endearing might be grating on me.

The Sugar Daddy: I've hooked up with shows before that I wasn't interested in at all, simply for the money.

The Affair: You love the show, but aren't telling anyone about it.

What other relationships have you had with a show?

33

The Green Room / Re: Funny definitions

« on: Nov 14, 2010, 02:09 am »

Translation: the act of translating "director-speak" to "designer-talk" to "choreographer-lingo" to "actor babble" and having everyone successfully understand what has been decided upon.

Tingles: The rare moment in a rehearsal hall when the elements are right and magic occurs, causing one to sit up a little bit straighter and open ones eyes & ears a little bit wider.  Occurrences of the tingles decrease in direct correlation to number of years in the business.

34

The Green Room / Re: I can't believe I just had to do that...

« on: Nov 12, 2010, 08:27 pm »

I was originally told that it was too expensive - that they were over budget on the set and couldn't afford a pump.  Somehow that changed when the AD saw me working at it.  The other suggestion was to bail it out with a bucket (which would have taken a substantial amount of time).

35

The Green Room / Re: SM Hobbies

« on: Nov 12, 2010, 09:27 am »

My biggest hobby is baking.  I've developed a bit of a reputation for it - especially for my cupcakes - to the point where I now include "gourmet cupcake baker" on my resume in the skills department.  I get contract offers that are followed by, "So, what kind of cupcakes will you make for opening?"  But baking is, for me, one of those things that requires full concentration on it and an ability to let go of what's been happening all day.  It also is one of the ways in which I am fully creative, and it's something that provides a finished product that I can show people in a short period of time - all things that stage management doesn't really provide.  Don't get me wrong, we are all very creative people and it shows in our scheduling, ability to deal with people, and the beautiful paperwork and books we create,  but sometimes being able to decorate a cookie or a cupcake is just that much more fulfilling!

I also LOVE television.  My other major in college was media studies and I now own more than 100 seasons of television.  The first day off after opening, so long as I have no personal chores that must be accomplished, I stay in my PJs all day and watch disc after disc of a favourite television show.

36

The Green Room / Re: I can't believe I just had to do that...

« on: Nov 12, 2010, 09:18 am »

On a show last spring we had a bathtub on set.  The production manager had a plumber in and we were able to control water flow both from stage and the booth. It was really cool.  A character was killed by being drowned in the pool at the end of the play and the thrashing in the running water never ceased to surprise the patrons.

However, the tub was an antique and did not have a drain.  This meant that at the end of the night I had to grab a hose, run it to a drain in the vomitoriums and run a siphon by sucking on the end of the hose. ICK. 

Thankfully, after seeing me sucking back bathwater one night, arrangements were made for a small pump to be bought so that I wouldn't have to get a mouth ful of dirty water every night.

37

The Green Room / Re: "Multi-tasking" actors and designers

« on: Nov 12, 2010, 09:11 am »

I have designers teching two shows at the same time.  I often lost designers before the last day of tech or after the first day of previews.  Sometimes I would have a design assistant for half of tech, and then the designer for the other half.  The reality is designers have to work on multiple shows to make a living, and sometimes calendar adjusts and put them in hard situations or they book knowing of the overlap - but hopefully notify production managers.

And I think the important thing there is the notification.  Certainly most shows I work on are in this situation.  My current show is a remount and I've been told I may never see the lighting designer, that's its likely I'll just be dealing with his assistant.  And I'm fine with that.

There have been other situations where production overlaps have directly impacted the quality of the work that was being done and people noticed.  I know some brilliant designers who have lost out on multiple jobs because the director of that show had acted in a show that was negatively impacted by the designer's overcommitment. And that's just the reality of the business.  If they are unable to manage their time for the multiple projects, word gets around and they won't continue to be hired, no matter how brilliant they are, but if they are effectively managing their time and able to give all of their shows the necessary pieces there is no reason why designers shouldn't be multi-tasking.

38

College and Graduate Studies / Re: USITT Conference

« on: Nov 07, 2010, 08:57 pm »

I haven't been personally, but what I understand from SM friends who have gone is that the main thing they gained from it was connections to PMs & TDs & designers.  For some of them that has turned into work, but not all of them.  They didn't have any big take away's lecture or display-wise.

39

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: ESCRIPTS Archive June 09-Dec. 10

« on: Nov 06, 2010, 03:17 pm »

Does anyone have an editable copy of Seussical OR a pdf score?  PM me if you do!

40

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: PROMPT SCRIPT: Receiving a Mess

« on: Nov 06, 2010, 02:25 pm »

Thanks guys.

The assumption on their end has been that I would work from the script I've been handed, but telling them I'm re-doing it to help me learn the show will be both accurate and will keep it clearer in my script. 

I've asked the GM for the archival video and am moving forward.

41

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / PROMPT SCRIPT: Receiving a Mess

« on: Nov 06, 2010, 03:57 am »

I am stage managing a production of Seussical and my prep officially starts tomorrow.  This is the second remount of this production, my first with the company, and will be having an entirely new set of leads (Horton, Cat in the Hat, Gertrude & Jojo).  I happened to be in the office today and was handed the prompt book that the former stage manager had "cleaned up" for me.

It is a mess. The blocking is illegible and cues are inconsistently annotated at best.

The former stage manager did both of the previous productions and is still a good friend of the director's.  I don't want to offend anyone my first day on the job, but I am going to need to make substantial changes to the book in order to make it effective for me.  What is protocol here? Do I need to ask someone before I start making substantial changes because the book is the property of the company?  Am I free to ask for a copy of the archival video to make sure I understand the blocking before I start giving it to actors?

Would love some advice on this - it's not something I've run into before.  On the plus side, it makes me feel really good about my books....

42

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: HOUSE MANAGEMENT: Do you spill the beans about your famous audience members?

« on: Nov 02, 2010, 02:01 pm »

While I am happy to relay the house size to my casts (it is information that FOH usually gives me at the half hour), I definitely try to keep any special guests in the audience to myself until after the show. 

I recently had an experience where one actor knew that some director & choreographer friends from out of town (well respected folks) were coming to see our production.  He was very excited about this and went around broadcasting it through the dressing rooms.  While some cast members didn't mind, others were quite upset about having been told those people were in the audience and I can honestly say that some of their performances suffered for the fact - one actress psychosomatically lost her voice.  Following that incident I went around and spoke to everyone about not revealing audience members to the rest of the cast and while it worked for a while, a couple of months later in the run the same actor took it upon himself to tell everyone about another group of audience members.  At that point I sat down with him individually and reminded him that there were members of the cast who did not want to know about these audience members and that for the sake of the show it was best to keep his knowledge to himself.  He was good for the remainder of the run, but I think I was just surprised that he didn't seem to get it prior to our chat, despite the protests of his cast mates.

43

Employment / Re: Websites

« on: Nov 02, 2010, 01:29 am »

I'd say I've taken a bit of a different route than most of the folks here. My website, www.loisbackstage.com, in addition to housing my resume, some testimonials from folks I've worked with, a list of upcoming productions & a photo gallery of previous productions is also the home to my blog.  What do I blog about? Mostly stage management, although I also share recipes sometimes (usually show themed - for example, Guys & Dolls Dulce De Leche Cupcakes).

I started the site knowing that everything I blogged about would be public and that I have to assume any company I work with has read what I've written.  But I have also gotten work because of it.  I blogged last December of my goal to get some equity apprenticeships this year and had companies contact me and offer me opportunities.  Companies that are now employing me as a CAEA member stage manager.  I've also had people come up to me at shows and say, "Hey, I love your website - I really enjoyed your post about SM Kits (or Tips for Show Calling or whatever the case may be).  For that matter, I've had people come up to me at bus stops to say they read my blog.  I've also had professors assign my blog to their students to read because it is the real-life experience of someone making a living as a stage manager.

I know this isn't a road for everyone and it does require some thinking and planning.  For example, any time I post about a specific show or process I get permission from those involved.  At times I even e-mail them a draft and ensure they are comfortable with what I am going to say and make changes as necessary.  I also decided at the beginning that I would never review shows on the site as that could lead to conflicts of interest.

I'd be curious to hear what some of you think about the site and having taken this route and whether or not you have any suggestions of things that should be removed or added.

44

Tools of the Trade / Re: [FAQ] What goes inside a SM Kit?

« on: Nov 01, 2010, 09:59 pm »

About a year ago I wrote a blog post all about my kit and its contents.  You can view the post here: ttp://www.loisbackstage.com/?p=323.  At this point, its contents have evolved a bit - I've moved from a residency position to a freelance position and have started carrying my own tape, more tools, & my hole punch (things that don't actually fit inside the physical kit, but are kept in the rehearsal hall or my onsite office).