Messages

316

College and Graduate Studies / Re: Is undergrad too early?

« on: Nov 18, 2008, 12:23 pm »

I don't think it's too early, and the concept that you're limiting and pigeonholing yourself is ridiculous.  No one would think to tell someone majoring in Business or Poli Sci something like that.  But, if you want to look at thinsg that way, everyone who chooses any major is limiting themselves.

I majored in Technical Theatre and Design with a minor in technical drafting.  I've since worked in places from scene shops to a custom's broker's office, to a renaissance festival, and everything in between.  And I know I've learned more practical, translatable skills than most of my non-theatre classmates ever did. 

Major in anything you want, and then take every opportunity to learn how to do something, whether or not it's related to your chosen major.  I am a big fan of having as many options as possible, and the more you know, the more "tools" you have in your personal tool box.  You never know when basket weaving  will come in handy, so if the opportunity presents itself, learn it!

317

The Hardline / Re: Actor Notes - After opening

« on: Nov 10, 2008, 03:16 pm »

I pay special attention to one actor each performance, and keep track of their performance.  Then, if any correction notes are needed, I'll e-mail them that night, and confirm, verbally, before the next show.  Next show, I'll watch someone else, and so on, until I get through the whole cast, then repeat.  My actors get notes about once a week, and often as not, I'll notice some wonderful, tiny bit of business, or they'll do a particular scene excellently, and I'll note that, as well as any corrections.
Of course, if someone besides my focus does something big enough to capture my notice, they'll get a note on that, no matter whose "night" it is.
I'm also a fan of giving praise in show reports.  I've never met an actor who minded getting the public note, "Act I, scene iii was wonderfully emotionally charged tonight; good job," or something like.

318

Tools of the Trade / Re: Road Cases for a kit?

« on: Nov 10, 2008, 03:05 pm »

I use a fishing tackle box, and can fit an astounding amount in there, including a first aid kit.  I love it.  My other concession to practicality is a Leatherman on my belt, and a led white/red light flashlight in my pocket.  With these supplies, I manage most emergencies handily.
Admitedly, the tacklebox is a bit bulky and heavy, and would be REALLY awkward if I had to ride a subway with it every day, for example.  But, I usually just stash it someplace out of the way and leave it in the theatre for the duration.
My advice would be, if it's possible in your situation, to let various departments (scenic, costumes, props, etc.) provide tools and supplies that are their responsibility, and focus on bringing the things you need that might not necesasrily be lying around but can be handy in an emergency.
I own my own drill and love my drill, but I'd never consider brining it to the theatre if I was stage managing.

319

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: I am out of solutions

« on: Nov 07, 2008, 11:52 pm »

If anyone was wanting an update, tonight's show went reasonably well.  The actor in question went back to his doctor over the "weekend" and was on new happy pills.
We had one urup-y moment on his first solo line, which another actor picked up and covered completely smoothly.  He struggled with the choruses of the first few numbers, but didn't miss another solo line, and everything was fine from there on out.
I do have a major tension head/back/neck ache from willing, "Not tonight, not tonight, not tonight, not tonight!" all show, as hard as I could.  Three more shows.  I'll take this level of performance, seeing what the alternative has been!

320

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: I am out of solutions

« on: Nov 05, 2008, 01:48 pm »

Thanks for the advice, folks.  In an effort to keep him from getting anxious about being anxious I've kept things on sort of a down-low, only putting in rehearsal reports what absolutley needs to be there without going into unnecessary detail.
I'll see how he does with tomorrow's show, and then I may need to have a chat with the producer.  Like I said before, I'm at my wits end, and any time I approach him about the issue he absolutely freaks out, which is not helping his performance any.
This is the said actor's second "shift" doing the role.  We discovered this problem the last time he performed for a week, and when he went back to New York for a month, he did talk with his doctor (don't know if it was a medical doctor, psychatrist, psychologist or what).  He had already been on medication and the dosage was adjusted.  But now he's back through the end of the run and the adjustment hasn't helped.
We do have garbage cans just off stage, but hiding them onstage is not an option; it's a VERY open set.
His dressing room-mate is a very close friend, and is doing a lot to help keep him calm and anxiety free.
I am going to see if he's willing to try the gum option, and talk to him about going back to the doctor or therapist.
And I am keeping an eye out for the rest of the cast and crew.

321

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / PEOPLE: I am out of solutions (actor with anxiety)

« on: Nov 03, 2008, 12:01 pm »

Okay, guys, I've got a...unique problem that I'm at my wits end over.
I have an actor, well, acutally the understudy, in my current show who has an anxiety disorder and has either thrown up or visibly almost thrown up and had to stop singing every performance he's been in.  One night, he actually threw up on stage during the opening number.  
He's on medication for his anxiety, and his dosage has been adjusted, but this hasn't helped.  
I've fed him Tumms, I've fed him mint, I've fed him Pepto.  I've tried pumping him up, I've tried threatening, we've tried prayer, and we've tried new age calming techniques.  We've run a number or two before opening house, and we've let him wander out in street clothes before the performance and "get to know" the audience.  Nothing seems to work, and I'm getting really weary of worrying when it's going to happen every night.
We keep the mop and some rags ready backstage and I keep in continual contact with my crew and let them know what's going on on stage.  We're as prepared as we can be, but we never know when it's going to happen and disrupt the show.  My other actors are anxious all the time, wondering when it's going to happen and how they're going to cover.
He's scheduled to be in about eight more performances, and there's no way to get the original actor back in, as he's rehearsing for another show during these performances.
Anyone got any suggestions I haven't tried, yet?

322

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: Hell Week...?

« on: Oct 22, 2008, 11:17 am »

While it's not a term I would use before hand in refering to tech week, I have been known to say, after, "Well, that was a week of hell.  I need whiskey and cheesecake."
But only when it really WAS a week of hell and deserved it.  Usually it was only the usual level of pain, frustration and annoyance, and I'm just glad to get some sleep.

Frankly, I usually just focus on one day or tech week at a time and don't refer to it as an entity in its own right, at any point.

323

Tools of the Trade / Re: Things that went wrong with your technical equipment?

« on: Oct 13, 2008, 12:05 pm »

This past weekend, QLab quit on me in the middle of a musical number.  And it handles EVERYTHING.  Music, lights (with remote midi cuing) and two projection screens one of which is vital to the show.  This had never happened before!
I got a pop-up window: QLab had encountered an unexpected error, would you lieke to re-try?  YES, I'd like to RETRY!  But when it came back up, the interface looked and acted strange, and the video cues wouldn't run on the remote screens, only my desktop.  By this point, our lone keyboardist (we're running mainly tracks) started pounding out an approximation of the number, the guys sang their hearts out, and I advanced the lights manually while restarting the mac.  I had everything back up and running by the end of the number.
New plans formed from this little hiccup in the marvels of modern technology:

1) There is now a spare mic backstage and a cuelist/emergency script for my stage crew guy to announce what should be on the screen as "Audio Interface Mode."
2) A new Qlab list that consists of show tracks only.  I should be able to get it up and running in about 15 seconds, and the music will play in that strange, malfunctioning mode, even if the video is fubared.  Then I can restart the mac during the next scene, and hopefully be back on track.

No one knows what caused this or if it will happen again, which is causing me a great deal of anxiety, but I've planned for possible recurrences as best I can.

324

Employment / Re: Websites

« on: Oct 10, 2008, 02:41 pm »

After seeing everyone's very nice websites, I decided that I needed to update mine.  Had to learn some new CSS and HTML in the process.  But, I'm rather pleased with the result: www.jessicafugelsang.com

325

Tools of the Trade / Re: Stage Management Software

« on: Oct 08, 2008, 12:06 pm »

I wouldn't use it, or even really consider it.  I've got my paperwork the way I like it, and it's easy enough for me to do. 
Actually, I think using an automated form of software would make me a worse stage manager.  Doing things by hand, myself, like making a cast/scene breakdown gets the information into my head much better than using one someone else has worked up.  I'm more likely to be able to answer a given question off the top of my head, instead of scrambling for my notebook, which leave me time and energy for other things.
Honestly, I can't think of anything I'd want to be automated enough to pay for...
...except perhaps a program that will automatically shut down all advanced electronics in the dressing rooms at five minute call    I swear, my current cast and their iPhones are drving me batty!

326

Students and Novice Stage Managers / Re: Tech Rehearsal

« on: Sep 28, 2008, 12:30 pm »

I don't have a set way I run my techs.  I let the demands of each particular show dictate how things go. 
My current show is a musical (with tracks, not live band, thankfully!) with a LOT of light cues, a lot of projections, and couple of special effects.  Because I had been working with the tracks CD for weeks, I already knew the placements for almost all of the sound cues, the special effects were in the script, the projections almost all went with sound and light cues.  I had a meeting with the lighting designer a few days before tech to tenatively pre-place light cues.  It was about a three hour meeting, but we couldn't have accomplished tech in the time given, without it!
On tech days, we did a start/stop with actors marking most of the time to conserve their voices.  Any of the designers, director, producer or tech team could call a Hold.  Any time a cue needed to be fixed, added, moved, etc, we'd stop and do it, or, if it was going to be a lengthy fix, we'd stop, make notes on what needed to happen, and fix it during the actor's dinner break.  We'd usually run a number all the way through, let the actors take a break and fix internal cues before moving on.  Those placement meetings helped a lot to move things along, as we only RARELY had to stop and fix my timing.
After we start-stopped the whole show, got most of the fixes implemented, we did a run, taking technical notes to fix after the run and the actors had gone home.
Do note: We had two days of 10 of 12 scheduled, 12-12, Saturday and Sunday.  I was there 10 a.m. Saturday, left 3:30 a.m. Sunday.  I was back 9:30 a.m. Sunday and left 3 a.m. Monday morning.  I was definitely suffering from exhaustion by the time I got home 4 a.m. on Monday, but it was worth it; all the hard work had been done, and I was very secure in the tech aspects of the show.

327

SMNetwork Archives / Re: I could have kissed them!

« on: Sep 14, 2008, 10:19 pm »

Tonight, during a radio interview, instead of it all being, "Me me me me me!" my actors thanked all the production team by name, including myself and my ASM.  Love my BOYZ!

328

Employment / Re: Team Dynamics

« on: Sep 05, 2008, 01:12 pm »

Are you good at your job?  This is not mean as an insulting question, but as a moment for you to mentally go, "Hell, yeah, I'm good at my job!"

Then like DeeCap said, just rise to the top.  I know how difficult it can be when you're getting no respect and no trust, but I think we've all had to muscle through those situations, at least a couple of times.  I don't think anything I can say will make it easier except perhaps good luck, I understand how you feel, and "never let an @$$**** rent space in your head."

Do your job to the absolute best of your ability.  I mean, go out of your way.  Make sure there's nothing for them to "double check."  If you see a conversation you think might be job related, ask one of the participants after its over if anything important was said that you need to know.  Be proactive, but I'd wait to confront someone with, "What did I do to piss you off?" until you've got something more concrete to reference to them than instinct, like Dee's being called stupid.

If things are as unbalanced as you suspect they are, someone will eventually notice, and you want to be the one giving off an impression of complete professionalism.

329

SMNetwork Archives / I could have kissed them!

« on: Sep 04, 2008, 12:57 pm »

Along the lines of the "I was THISCLOSE to killing an actor" thread, but completely opposite, I wanted to start a thread where you could sing the praises of those who have made your lives a little easier.  Not as entertaining perhaps, as the other, but more heartwarming.
My recent examples:

I could have kissed my actor when, immediately after I announced a reminder not to leave your trash around the theatre, he stayed a few minutes after, of his own volition, to clean up the garbage his cast-mates had, again, left behind.

I could have kissed my TD when he took a minute out of his own hectic life in tech week to specifically ask me if there was anything I needed to make my life easier.

I could have kissed my lead, an actor who has some MAJOR work from all over the country on his resume, when he told me I was the best stage manager he ever worked with and thanked me for doing my job, even though I had just scolded the entire cast.


So, what has everyone else got?  I'm heading into tech week, and need a little hope!

330

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: Get it out of my head!

« on: Aug 19, 2008, 09:06 pm »

www.gaiam.com sells something called the Sleepsonic pillow.  It is a regular pillow with tiny speakers built in that plugs into a headset jack.  It is kind of pricy (I just looked it up and it is on sale for about $75), but would give you the ability to listen to music without disturbing your husband.

<snip>

Now that is a brilliant idea, and perhaps worth the investment, as my ear-buds are not surviving the whole being slept on thing.