Messages

331

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / approach with confidence

« on: Aug 12, 2005, 01:35 pm »

I've not had the privilege of working with Anne Bogart, but I did see her at a master class, and I've worked with other people who have branched out from the SITI company.  They're all idealists in the best sense of the world.

I have worked with several directors that I had been warned about beforehand; the producer who hired me said "He's a real bear" or I hear from a friend that "she's impossible to work with."

In all these cases, my personal experience with these directors was that they expected excellence; they got their reputation by impatience with mediocrity.  When I did my job to the best of my ability, and responded to their requests in a timely manner, we got along famously.  I also made an effort to cover the director's back with the other areas; if the director wasn't happy with props, I'd spend extra time the next day building my relationship with the propsmaster and articulating in an actionable and respectful way the notes that needed to be done; notes that some directors lack the tact to communicate.  When I saw a problem on the horizon, I'd try to give a heads-up to the department it concerned so that they didn't feel broadsided by a director blow-up.  When the director started second-guessing a design choice that would have meant a huge re-design at the eleventh hour, I was part of a group that re-affirmed the original design choice, because it was frickin' awesome, not because changing it would have meant a lot of work.

I worked hard at understanding what the director wanted, even when their way of working was alien to me.  I went through the thought process of an asst. director - even though I never did anything that an AD would do, it helped me to foresee what problems would arise.  My motto is always "Give them what they need AS WELL AS what they ask for."

I was scared, sure - but I never let it show.  Directors and actors maybe aren't prevented from bringing their emotional baggage to rehearsal, but the SM has to be even-tempered, especially if they're being attacked or are under pressure.

I prepared as much as I could.  For one of these shows, I even took my prompt book home and practiced a tough cueing sequence BEFORE we went into tech.  I've never done that before, or since.  But it saved my bacon during that tech...

So, to sum up, Scary Directors - respond with preparation, relationship-building, confidence, and above all, calmness.

332

Students and Novice Stage Managers / General Management Books

« on: Jul 16, 2005, 11:51 am »

I've also been interested in this topic for a long time, and other than a few articles (Ben Cameron's essay in American Theatre Feb 2003 being the top-notch holy grail of what I'm looking for here) I haven't known where to look among the millions of books out there.

Having said that, I think every stage manager should read "Critical Chain" by Eliyahu M. Goldratt.  It explains a strong project management theory in an engaging fictional novel.  It gives you the tools to understand how we get shows done on time, and how a network of people create something out of nothing.  Since I read Stern's book on my first show, nothing else has helped me as much as reading Goldratt's.  

But I bet there's something else out there that would more closely align with what you're looking for, Matt.  "Getting To Yes" has been on my bookshelf for a couple of years now, and I'm going to get to read it soon - no, really...

"Becoming a Manager: Mastering a New Identity" by Linda A. Hill is a doctoral research on first-year managers and the common skills and problems that they have; I'd put that on a must-read list for first-time stage managers, especially if they have a ton of tech and ASM experience.

333

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / PROPS: Outdoor Shakespeare

« on: Jul 07, 2005, 03:39 am »

We're doing Two Gentlemen, and in the second scene Julia gets a letter which she tears up, throws on the ground, then regrets and has a whole monologue dealing with the pieces of paper on the ground.  "Wind, blow not a word away" is a line that sticks in my head as we are performing outdoors in an often windy space.  At tonight's dress, sure enough, the heavyweight cardstock we had picked for the letter flew away almost as soon as it had left her hands, making her monologue fairly pointless.

We tried soaking the letter to give it more weight; we tried adding dabs of hot glue to each going-to-be-torn piece; I'm not finding a lot of success.  I know somebody out there has faced this problem before; was there a good prop solution that didn't leave the actress in an awkward position?

Thanks,

334

The Hardline / candid rehearsal snapshots?

« on: Jun 23, 2005, 01:06 pm »

I'm working in an LOA company off the LORT contract, and I'm not sure how to approach this topic.

We have more non-AEA actors than AEA actors, but of course, we have to work under AEA rules.  A couple of the non-AEA actors have brought cameras to rehearsal and are taking "souvenir" shots.  One guy only did it one day, but the other guy has brought his camera to a couple of rehearsals.  Neither of them used flashes, and neither of the cameras beeped, and as far as I can tell, neither were a distraction to anybody working (except me, of course).

It seems wrong to me, but I don't know exactly why.  It just seems unprofessional.  My plan is that the next time a camera shows up in rehearsal, I'll take the guy aside and say something like, "I'd really rather not have you taking photos in rehearsal any more.  How do you feel about that?"

If we were working in costume, or under lights, or doing run-throughs, I'd  put my foot down about it.  And if the producer were coming around with a camera all the time, I'd remind her of the 24-hour notice; but it doesn't seem to me that the intent of the AEA rules was to keep memories out of the scrapbooks of people who probably won't be making a professional career out of acting and just want to remember the summer they did Shakespeare.

Advice?

335

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / more tips

« on: May 06, 2005, 10:48 am »

Page Numbering is the most difficult thing to understand if you're the one controlling the distribution of script changes.  Like Erin said, if you've added text so that it doesn't fit on the page anymore, don't change the margins, let the bottom of the page flow over to a page with the same number and a letter.  If you add an entire scene between pages 30 and 31, for example, number the new pages 30A, 30B, 30C.  I also put the date of the new page right next to the page number.

IF YOU CUT PAGES: Say the playwright decides that a four-page scene , pp. 21, 22, 23, and 24 in your script, is slowing the pace of the show, and deletes it.  Don't just pull the four pages out of the master script.  Go back and change p. 20 to "Page 20-24" with the date of the cut.

I try to think of page numbers as not representing the physical paper in your hand, they represent the information between and including the first line and the last line.  So 30A, 30B, 30C are not individual pages, they're extensions of page 30.

Avoid the temptation to repaginate and "clean" the script.  If that work happens at any point before opening, you defeat your purpose and confusion and chaos reign throughout the company.  I speak from (horrible, embarassing) experience.

I could probably think of more to say, but I'm out of time right now.  Hope this helps.

336

SMNetwork Archives / Stay well

« on: Apr 29, 2005, 10:20 pm »

Take a look at your process as a stage manager - if you "always" get sick during tech week, that says to me that you're trying to do more than is good for your body. Look at how you tend to structure your work, and cut back on the non-essentials.

We all need ways to get through what we have to get through - and there are some good ideas here - but if your *standard* is to be sick and medicate yourself for every tech - CHANGE YOUR WORK HABITS!  Or else what are you going to do on the really tough shows when the medication just isn't enough?

And start exercising regularly - once a week at least.

337

The Hardline / New LORT contract

« on: Apr 15, 2005, 03:03 pm »

So until the new contract is approved, we're all working under the old contract?

338

The Hardline / New LORT contract

« on: Apr 15, 2005, 01:27 pm »

I'll be working this summer on an LOA referenced to LORT-D.

With the new LORT contract, are there any changes to the Rehearsal section that would affect scheduling?

The press release from AEA doesn't mention anything about changes like that, so I guess I can plan that there aren't any, but I figured someone on here - Vernon? - would know for sure.

Thanks,

339

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / what about in the commercial environment?

« on: Mar 11, 2005, 07:54 pm »

I agree with holding off on updating the archive version of the run book until Opening Night, especially in a LORT environment (i.e., limited run, consistent backstage staff).  I wonder how this would transfer to Broadway, though (never having worked on a commerical or open-ended run myself) as I suspect that you'd have to have a lot more uniformity on something the size of Lion King or Phantom.  Would a show like that demand more control and therefore more updating?

I tend to believe that the person doing the work should describe how the work is to be done.  When I hand out cue sheets, it's really just the name of the cue (however I or the designer have decided to call it) and a description of what the effect is.  Then, I want to get copies of the finished run sheets from each techie and (if I'm not totally burned out by then) making publishable archive "clean" transcripts of those sheets.  I've also been working without benefit of an ASM for the last year, so the time burden is something I'm very aware of.

340

SMNetwork Archives / background?

« on: Jan 31, 2005, 07:46 pm »

very promising; who developed it - OSF Ashland? is it for real?  is our private information really private?

How stable is it?  How reliable is it?  How long has it been around?  How long is it GOING to be around?  Is there an automatic backup of all data, and a 2nd server ready to go online if the first one fails?

If I was putting my entire season on this (and I might; the small company I work for could really get use out of this software) I'd want to know that it would be functioning for the whole season.  I'd hate to have to scramble to switch operations in the midst of tech, for example.

very paranoid about anonymous web software/viruses/etc...

-Heath

341

SMNetwork Archives / iCal

« on: Jan 18, 2005, 12:38 pm »

Looks like we should start a Macs vs. PC slugfest in some other thread...

I like iCal on the computer, and I'm interested in being able to make the calendar available over the internet, BUT I hate its printing capabilities.  HATE HATE HATE!  It doesn't show the end times, and if there's too much information for its little box, it just lops off and doesn't print the info.  So you get a date with text like "12:00 Pr 1:00 4:30 Meal 7:15 ..." and who would possibly find that useful?

342

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / chime

« on: Jan 18, 2005, 12:34 pm »

I have a really pleasant chime that I bought from a new-agey store in Oregon; it's called "moderation" or something like that.  It's just one pleasant note that lasts for about half a minute.  I only use it when the ratio of Actors to Stage manager is more than twenty to one; I strike the chime, then announce that the break is over.  I agree, you don't want to let actors know when you're treating them like school children, but I haven't seen anything but smiles when this chime rings out!

343

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: re:Lights? Electrics? Elex? What do you say?

« on: Nov 27, 2004, 08:39 pm »

Ok I'm an electrian and I also run a board now and then. In my opinion it is easier to say "lights...38...go" or "sound...2...go" but if you make all the ques go in order instead of having a seperate number list for lights, sound, and pipes it is less complicated.

It'll only work to number all the cues sequentially if you know ahead of time what all the cues are going to be, and if only a couple of people are designing all the various elements.

But in a show where you have different people designing lights, sound, scene changes, automation, etc., plus a director and choreographer putting in their ideas, AND you're creating it all in tech, there's just no way a SM could expect to call a show "Cue 1 GO, Cue 2 GO, Cue 3 Go, Cue 4 Go..." I think you just have to deal with the other departments and have them tell you what your cue numbers are going to be.

344

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Standbys vs. warning

« on: Nov 12, 2004, 06:01 pm »

For the last couple of years, I've been working with board ops that don't have a lot of experience (acting students, interns, etc.).  So, I've been calling warnings but not standbys.  About 30 seconds before a cue sequence, I warn everything that happens in that sequence (I've been defining a sequence as a group of cues that happen within 30 seconds of each other - I haven't been calling very difficult shows).

I like it because it gets the operator's attention on the show instead of on their book or script or text-messaging or DVD or whatever, and it lets them know how far they have to go before they go back to their pastime.  I do try to warn in clumps as opposed to chron sequence (I know some SMs don't like this), for example:

Warn SQs 160 thru 225
Warn LX 26 thru 32
Warn Trap Down
Warn Rain on & off
Warn Spot 1 on E at rain grate

If the Spot in the above example has to wait a minute before their cue, I may take a second to say "Standby Spot" immediately before the cue but otherwise, the ops just hear this gruop of warnings and then their cues.  If the cues come faster than I can speak, I'll omit the cue number from the call but check the cue numbers at the end of the sequence:

Sound Cue 160 and Elex 26... Go.  
Sound Cue 180 Elex 27 and Trap Down... Go.
Rain... Go.
Standby Spot.
Spot... Go.
Elex 30... Go.
Sound Cue 200... Go.  Sound... Go.  Sound... Go.  Lights and Sound... Go.
Sound, that should have been Cue 225 and Elex, we should be in Cue 32.

(So far, this is my favorite cue sequence of all time, if you include the Wall Falling cue that happened a minute before the warnings)

345

The Hardline / unemployment

« on: Oct 06, 2004, 09:56 pm »

Okay -

Unemployment insurance.  Often there's a month, maybe two, in between the end of one contract and the start of the next.  We all pay in to it when we work - at the end of the contract, can we collect?

How does this work for theatre artists?  Is it common to collect unemployment?  How long can you collect?  How do you go about getting the money?

Never thought about this before.