Messages

316

SMNetwork Archives / New scholarship offered for Stage Managers' Association

« on: Feb 10, 2006, 02:50 pm »

Are you a 19-26 year old who has thought of joining the SMA but hadn't quite done it?  Well, there's a new scholarship that might be just for you!

The KC Mehl Memorial Scholarship Fund has been established in memory of Stage Manager KC Mehl who died on March 19, 2005 at the age of 21.  Before her death, KC had begun a promising career as a Stage Manager in Philadelphia’s theatrical community. She had fostered mentor relationships with several experienced Stage Managers in order to learn the delicate art of Stage Management.  Although she was not yet an official member of the Stage Managers’ Association, she was active with Philadelphia’s SMA events and showed a commitment to the ideals of the SMA. This Scholarship is meant to encourage such attributes in others.

This fund would provide a one-time gift to young Stage Managers to cover the fee of a one year Associate Membership in the SMA. Any person who demonstrates an intent to pursue a career as a professional Stage Manager is eligible for Associate Membership. An Associate Member may attend all meetings and gatherings, and serve on committees, but has no voting privileges.  
 
Stage Managers who are 19 – 22 years of age should send their Stage Management resume, one letter of recommendation from a professional Stage Manager and a letter of commitment to a career in Stage Management to Sandra Giasulla at kcmehl19@stagemanagers.org
Documents should be sent in a format that is PC compatible.
Please put [SMA] KC Scholarship Fund in the subject line.  
Application deadline for 2006 is Wednesday March 8, 2006 at 11:59pm (Eastern)
 
Stage Managers who are 23 – 26 years of age should send their Stage Management resume, one letter of recommendation from a current Member of SMA and a letter of commitment to a career in Stage Management to Elana Wolff at kcmehl23@stagemanagers.org
Documents should be sent in a format that is PC compatible.
Please put [SMA] KC Scholarship Fund in the subject line.  
Application deadline for 2006 is Wednesday March 8, 2006 at 11:59pm (Eastern)

There will be three Scholarship Recipients each year: one from the Eastern Region, one from the Central Region and one from the Western Region of the United States.
2006 Scholarship Recipients will be named in March 2006.


The Application process for 2007 will be in November 2006 and Recipients will be named in January 2007.

317

Tools of the Trade / What goes inside a SM Kit?

« on: Feb 10, 2006, 02:43 pm »

Matthew, your answer TOTALLY cracks me up.  And yet seems to be coming true regarding myself.

And I agree with the other comments I've seen so far...first off, do a search within this website, we've discussed this MANY times.  And second, it truly is what you think you need.

I now travel around a lot and like Matthew have many things provided for me.  I know of certain harder-to-find office supplies that it's usually easier for me to get myself than try to explain to a runner, so I bring those.  I have a "run-belt" that was created for me by a prop guy in Milwaukee that I wear with my Leatherman, flashlights, pocket of sharpies, scissors, etc...and then my personal things, like a rubber chicken lollipop-holder than I bet you not many other people think is an essential thing to have.  And then my plethora of light-up toys and Christmas toys (I'm usually on tour during Christmas).  And most everything else is provided by the theatre.

Back in college, though, I was QUEEN of the stage management kit...well, a running competition between me and my fellow stage management roommate.  Between the two of us we had 3 large kits, and when working together as ASMs would cart them around on a foldable set of wheels and got very good at lifting them together into the trunk of my car.  

Make your own decisions.  Make them wisely as well as spur-of-the moment.  And then constantly change your mind over the next 5, 10, 30 years of your career!  And definitely think MacGuyver(sp?)-like in your thinking....what few strange items could I use that can always fix THAT?

Erin

318

SMNetwork Archives / Denver-bound

« on: Feb 01, 2006, 12:56 am »

Hey all!

I'm moving in a few weeks to Denver for personal reasons..and I freelance anyway, so seems like a better place than based out of Nashville for now.  (Very much a music town, Nashville, not so much theatre that can sustain a living.)  Anyone there in Denver, or passing through, let me know!  After I'm settled in a bit, I figure I'll search around the local colleges and theatres and drum up a Drink Night or two.

Erin

319

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Question for all the SMs out there

« on: Jan 25, 2006, 05:40 pm »

I agree with the "is it really affecting the show" aspect.  I have worked on shows with literally 35 minutes between cues.  When it's finally time for the standby, I often say, "Okay, wake up everyone"...and then continue the standby.  That said, the SAME show was one where we had to stop the show twice during the run.  One time because the light board totally dumped in the middle of the performance.  I had a technician onstage at the time playing a character, he said he looked up to the booth and saw the crossword puzzle go flying out of the light board ops hand behind him as he saw my own hand reaching for the page monitor (to turn it off to prevent feedback as I spoke into the God mic).  The board op was still "aware" of what was going on with the show, even while doing the crossword (and though not technically a union house, it was the next closest thing).  Other people, however, I'd not trust.  And if there's one person in particular who's totally enthralled (i.e., this summer when my college student board op was reading the latest Harry Potter), I made sure she put the book down while we were in actual cues.  It depends on the level of the people you're working with and how much it really affects the show.

Erin

320

SMNetwork Archives / Current holiday show

« on: Dec 05, 2005, 09:59 pm »

Without actually naming the show I work on - though let's just say it's got a lot of dancing and three very important words: "Live Nativity Onstage".  Yup, 3 camels, 5 sheep, and a donkey.  There's a reason it's the last scene of the show....

Well, you never know quite what animals will decide to do....for several years it appeared that at least once a run a sheep would get loose.  One of the funniest moments I've ever had was back when we only had walkie-talkies (not wireless headsets yet), you heard broadcasted in the quiet section of the show, "A sheep got loose and is headed toward [shopping complex across the street]....repeat...a sheep is on the LAM!"  And sometimes the animal handlers would give out awards...one year I got "Honorary Animal Handler" for all my help... and another I got the "Best Sheep Wrestler" award for tackling a different runaway sheep.  

But most of the time, the camels are adorable.  Inquisitive and herd animals, which can be serious problems onstage especially when cast and crew have forgotten how to act around the animals, but mostly adorable.

Totally different - I've done 3 different productions of A CHRISTMAS CAROL and am sure I'll do more eventually.  When I was 8 years old and IN it, my parents bought me the annotated version and I had cast members autograph it near either their section of the book or near one of the many illustrations.  It's great now to have 3 different cast-worths of names signed...and since most productions include slightly different scenes, it's fun to re-read and remember which productions did which sections onstage.

Erin

321

SMNetwork Archives / Ballet ASM question

« on: Nov 01, 2005, 01:42 pm »

In the dance world in general, be prepared with a lot more first aid needs...and if you can get sports safety training (i.e., Red Cross), it's even better.  Dealing with everything from foot blisters to turned ankles are common occurances.  Luckily, most also already know how to deal with these themselves or to help the new people out.

Erin

322

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / It's Half-Hour: Do you know where your SM is?

« on: Oct 24, 2005, 11:01 am »

I like the option of calling the 15 minutes in person or over a paging system (with call stations located BOTH backstage and in the booth for a choice).  Sometimes it's hard to call in person when dressing rooms are so spread out...so by the time you get to the last room several minutes have passed.  But I do prefer to be "around" backstage to find out how things are progressing, i.e., this person's zipper broke, this prop fell apart, and of course so-and-so just showed up FINALLY.  Yes, assistants can do this sort of thing too - if you have one - and I prefer a radio system of some sort with front of house.

Erin

323

SMNetwork Archives / A question of loyalty

« on: Oct 24, 2005, 10:58 am »

This piggybacks with another discussion on a different thread, about EMC points.  I know that EMC points are only possible on some contracts where an ASM is also employed under Equity contract.  However, at this point, I would like it listed in the contracts that the Stage Manager must have AN assistant, whether it be production assistant/intern or an Equity assistant.  This IS listed in the SPT contract, but in a LORT contract the Stage Manager is not required to have ANY kind of assistant in a LORT C contract unless there is a Chorus for a musical.  So, other than the fact that I had a production manager who understood and provided one, when I did Inherit the Wind with 40 people in the cast I was not required to have an assistant of any kind.  Sure it would be great to have an Equity ASM, but at that point ANY body to help is better than none.  And quite more sane.

Erin

324

The Hardline / Speaking of Costumes...

« on: Oct 09, 2005, 07:23 pm »

Totally different, but I actually did have to wear a gorilla mask as a non-Equity ASM before.  We were doing the 2 person show Solitary Confinement which basically has one guy on stage playing his own double and the only other person onstage's face is always covered...either by a suit of armor or a gorilla mask.  Well the change was so quick for both of them at the point where the burglar/killer is supposed to be coming in through a dumbwaiter, trying to cut through the cords tying the handles together, that I had to start the cutting of the rope from "inside" the dumbwaiter.  But sometimes the doors weren't tied shut that well, so I started having to wear a gorilla mask TOO, with a headset over it...the thought was that IF the audience saw anything they'd see the gorilla, and not even notice the black headset too.....

Erin

325

SMNetwork Archives / Interesting (and unusual items) - what have you accrued?

« on: Oct 08, 2005, 07:13 pm »

Ah, even though it's technically LumiPad (one word), a search goes through better on Froogle (the products part of Google) if you separate into two words.  ToysRUs has them through Amazon for $15...hmm....may have to pick up another!!  Hee.
OR...the 14" version for $35 has an a/c adaptor.  Hmmmmmm...

Erin

326

SMNetwork Archives / Interesting (and unusual items) - what have you accrued?

« on: Oct 08, 2005, 06:50 pm »

Erin, where would one find one of those Lumipads?

I got mine as a gift for Christmas of 2003, but at the time they were available at Brookstone.  About a year ago I saw them at Dry Ice - the shop with psychedelic colors and lots of feathers in the malls.  At the time they were going for around $40.

Online I haven't had too much luck... this one http://www.ecrater.com/product.php?pid=26487 is $98!!!  This place http://www.loftykids.com/ST1113.html has it for $45, so closer.

I will say that if you get one, be sure to take the batteries out when storing.  The button invariably gets turned on and you'll have to replace them if not.  The screen also has choices to flash your message either the whole thing at once, or in 3 sections in various combos.  

It's an expensive toy, but SO much fun.  I do a show that usually runs over 60 performances and the cast and crew want to be entertained backstage.  This thing even has a mini-easel stand behind, so I can write a message, prop it on a set piece backstage, and leave it "on" with my message during a scene shift/mass exodus/crossover, etc.  (Out of sightlines of course).  I also have used it to get the attention of the person in the booth next to me (through a glass window).  You can't have your mic on though, when it's on, as it does emit a very fine high-pitched noise, which carries quite well in a headset system.  

Erin

327

The Hardline / A Straight Seven

« on: Oct 08, 2005, 10:15 am »

My take on it is that just like you overlap actors so some take breaks while others work, that's what you were trying to do here.  The THEATRE didn't ask BOTH of you to absent yourselves from rehearsal, you would've been taking turns....and isn't that part of why you have an ASM on contract, so that someone can leave the room at times?  The contract states "The Stage Manager OR Assistant Stage Manager must be present,"  it doesn't say both at once.

It would be one thing if (like has happened to me before) the PRODUCERS ask you to leave rehearsal so you don't go into overtime and are left with no one in the rehearsal hall watching things - which I think is totally wrong.  Maybe next time you just schedule a break for each of you..even so much as to put it on the schedule in case some actor/Equity Deputy should start to get involved.  

That said, yes, it is hard to pull yourself away from a rehearsal if you're going to "miss something" and I can see the dilemma.  But sometimes you're due a break, and if someone else is in the room to keep you informed, well, it's easier to take a break.

Of course, this is all pending what the Equity rep tells you.

Erin

328

SMNetwork Archives / Interesting (and unusual items) - what have you accrued?

« on: Oct 07, 2005, 10:22 pm »

I have a piece of wood, too, but it's very different from jenk's...I have a stairway bannister top pyramid with glow tape on it from the very first show I was an assistant stage manager for...and I put the glow tape on it.

I also have amassed quite a collection of light up toys, especially flashing Christmas trees.  They're great to guide people in fullbody bear costumes offstage.  And my favorite light-up gift is a Lumipad...kind of a write-on/wipe-off board meets Lite Brite.  Wherever you write (which you can erase) shows up in neon.  

Erin

329

The Green Room / Food

« on: Oct 07, 2005, 04:59 pm »

It all depends on the specific people involved, but generally speaking I have found out that any food on my table in the rehearsal hall becomes fair game if it's more than enough for one person (i.e., a box of triscuits or animal crackers, not just one sandwich).  When in doubt and you want it for yourself, don't display it.  I actually had one director who would constantly eye my table and I'd say, "It's paper.  You can't eat THAT" for specific items he'd strangely start eyeing that were near where food HAD been at one point.

During tech, any food on the tech table is considered fair game for ALL designers/director/SMs/Etc front of house.  Actors rarely even see it.  If I don't want people to eat, I'll close the box or whatever, and place next to me in the seat or under the table.  That said, I usually find something like the large containers of Walmart/Sam's Club animal crackers that are cheap and relatively enjoyed by everyone that I will place to stave off everyone's nibblies.

Erin

330

Tools of the Trade / Creating a prompt book in word...using comments for cues

« on: Oct 05, 2005, 12:46 am »

So Matthew,

I imagine that by now you've gotten pretty quick at doing all this and have done it for several shows, but do you ever work with a printed version of it before it's finalized, or is it on your computer until the show is set?  Are you working straight into the computer during tech as the cues change, or off a hard copy and do the changes later?  The file you sent me said "Calling Script", so what about your blocking script?  Start with the same words but handwrite in blocking or do you do that in Word too?

Inquiring minds want to know

Erin