Messages

346

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Runsheets

« on: Mar 27, 2005, 08:40 pm »

hheheheheheh...good solution. I'm sure the IA LOVED that!  

Sometimes they DO...because in all IA contracts I've seen, they get extra money if they're in costume....

Erin

347

SMNetwork Archives / Would someone be willing to help me with my resume?

« on: Mar 24, 2005, 05:22 pm »

I just want to publically thank both Erin and Elizabeth...two great SMs who helped me with my resume and therefore helped me get an Apprentice Stage Manager job that starts in 2 weeks!!!!

YAYYYYYYY!!!!  :lol:

Glad I could help.  Now send the good karma my way!  Hee.

Erin

348

The Green Room / Food

« on: Mar 08, 2005, 05:03 pm »

I'm a huge fan of the Stauffer's animal crackers you can get at Sam's Club and Wal-Mart (and a few other places)...fairly filling and not terribly bad for you, including being low fat.  Am also a fan of a box of Wheat Thins (I prefer reduced fat, but hey) near the table.  The little pre-packages bowls of apple sauce or puddings are handy, too.  If I have a microwave, I do often do pre-made frozen entrees...but sometimes the timing doesn't work out.  I do make sandwiches for work, or salads, and definitely do make large batches of stuff at home and put in tupperware like a previous response...I find if I don't vary it, I get bored and more likely to order out should the opportunity arise.

349

SMNetwork Archives / kit

« on: Mar 01, 2005, 03:00 pm »

I just looked at the kit list on http://www.geocities.com/Broadway/Stage/2203/SMhandbook2.html
Can some one tell me what is a runstop (see Wardrope)

I don't know if this is a name brand, but I would assume it means something to stop runs in pantyhose.  Our dancers swear by clear nail polish.

Erin

350

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Paper Tech

« on: Feb 26, 2005, 02:07 pm »

I think in a dream world, I would love to have all my designers see the show before tech, then sit down and discuss everything as we paper tech the show, give me and my crew 8 hours to dry tech the entire show, and the move into the space and work it all with the actors. That, my friends, is a dream world.

But it's a very NICE dream!

I remember being amazed the first time I found out a designer wouldn't see a runthrough.  Seems lately it's the sound designer.  Sound is often never given the importance it deserves...especially in this day of such amplification.  Entertainment Design just had a great article about someone who had done mixing for bands and did not realize the difference between that and theatrical musicals.  ... but I digress....

Erin

351

SMNetwork Archives / what is the best way to spread the word

« on: Feb 24, 2005, 04:24 pm »

SM_Art posted a view on overtime that I feel I pretty much agree with.  The overtime in the particular case I wrote about was for rehearsal hours outside of the allotted limit, as well as asking me to run tech rehearsals on a daylight day of rest.  And for that tech rehearsal, I only reported the actual hours of the rehearsal with the crew and non-Equity cast, not my set-up time.  

At a different theatre, I always felt a little leery asking about overtime, but ultimately it only occured when either the choreographer wanted to overlap the lunch break, but no actors would hit overtime.  The production manager and I had a great relationship there, and she felt I wasn't abusing the rule at all, just trying to make things work best for the show.

And yes, please remember it IS a small, small, small world.  You'd be amazed who knows who knows who who heard....

Erin

352

SMNetwork Archives / what is the best way to spread the word

« on: Feb 23, 2005, 10:34 pm »

I don't really have an answer, but can sympathize.  I was considered a bitch at one theatre, because when I tried to work with the schedule of hours they gave me, I noted it was overtime.  They still had me work, so I turned in overtime.  "They'd never spent that much money before in their lives."  Well, they'd also had no one note it.  I also had to move my own furniture into an apartment, and was asked for it to be taken out a couple days before I was due to leave...anyway, I did speak with the Equity Business Rep a fair amount.  And I don't ever want to work there again, but also know I never could if I wanted to and that the artistic director speaks badly of me.

That said, the next production manager who hired me even invited me to come a day early just to get away and stay in their housing for free.  And she continued to talk about how that previous place had treated me.  

I'm also going through a current situation where a verbal contract (sorta) wasn't honored....I was expecting to go back to a theatre and was informed with too little notice that they'd found someone else in the meantime.  The people I was currently working with, of course found out how upset I was, and sympathized.  And they all think of the theatre with a bad reputation now.  It's a fine line to have to play, and if it comes up in conversation I try to say I see their side of it, too (I mean I was gone...I proved too well they could do without me...plus new management...) though ultimately I do believe it was a bad business practice...and just hope that ultimately things work out.

353

SMNetwork Archives / The Cardinal Sin

« on: Feb 19, 2005, 03:17 pm »

6) Thou shall not let your script be out of date; woe is the day an actor calls for a line, and you do not have a current copy of the script.

Ah, yes, don't you love those days, though, when you KNOW you've gotten every note, and when you correct the actor they inform you that they "talked to the director/playwright" and the line has been changed?

Matthew, I also liked the "autocorrect" feature that turned your number 8 with a paranthese into a smiley face with shades.  The 2 x 4 did make me smile in that line especially!  Thanks for posting all of these...very fun.

Erin

354

SMNetwork Archives / The Cardinal Sin

« on: Feb 19, 2005, 01:28 am »

I've been trying to think, but being late is the main one I can think of.  That or not showing up at all to a meeting you've arranged for people to be at...

Certainly a lot of things you HOPE not to do are human nature...some of us DO call cues wrong, mishear a note, just can't be there when the actor calls "line"...part of the "joy" of live theatre is that it's not perfect.  Though we try damn hard to appear that way.  (I am, aren't you?)  

Erin

355

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Paper Tech

« on: Feb 18, 2005, 01:08 am »

Guess I just feel like throwing in my two cents, for anyone who's never done either a paper or dry tech....in my experience a paper tech is just talking it through, on paper...with any and all designers and the director and yourself.  Done it sometimes just me and LD, sometimes just me and director...great if you can have more, of course.  And a dry tech can be all technical elements without the actors...or sometimes just scene shifts.  But I've never done a paper tech with anything onstage, just people sitting at a table talking.  Regardless, if you have a chance to do ANY of these things, it of course makes tech with the actors go smoother...

Erin

356

SMNetwork Archives / Coping with the unemployment duldrums...

« on: Feb 02, 2005, 01:12 pm »

So I dont' know about any of you....but I tend to work "so hard" when I actually have a show, that when I don't, I tend to totally veg out and then wonder where the day went.

My current way to cope with this is to type (to a very patient friend who says he actually enjoys them) my own rehearsal or performance report for the day.....the topics include "Entertainment" (what cds, dvds, I've enjoyed etc), and "Accomplished"...for things I've done...I've found that it keeps me more on task, wanting to actually have something to type in the accomplished section, whether it be things like reconciling bank statements, reorganizing a cabinet, or trying new recipes.  Or applying for jobs...right!

I dunno...silly, but kinda fun and I definitely have accomplished more in the last few days that I've started this.  

Erin

357

SMNetwork Archives / New Topic: Taxes for Artists

« on: Jan 28, 2005, 01:01 pm »

Well, so far, I've been doing my own taxes for the last couple years, including 7 or 8 states a year between all the jobs.....I'm actually wondering if and when I'll get audited, but at least I'm keeping damn good records of how I figured it all out.

I'm not going to comment on the "right way" to do the taxes themselves, but as for organizing.........I use Quicken, and create my own categories for things like tickets to shows (research), black clothing (uniform), office supplies, run gear (flashlights, etc).  And in addition to bank accounts and credit cards, I've set up an account I call "Out of Pocket" and that's where I put all those things I paid for in cash.  And every couple ATM withdrawals or so I actually list as a "transfer" from the checking account to the "out of pocket account" to make it all work out even on Quicken.  And I staple all my receipts to 3-ring notebook paper so if I need to look them up I can.  I also have all my credit card statements in the back, with the non-tax related receipts stapled there for my personal use.  I also put a big list in the front of the notebook for major purchases of the year, both theatre-related and not, so I can relatively quickly find things.  

Erin

358

SMNetwork Archives / Last month: Building Networks.

« on: Jan 28, 2005, 12:55 pm »

Okay, yeah, this is "last month's" topic....I'm a little slow....

Anyway, I'm always a big fan of both the "advice interview" and what the SMA calls "Operation Observation".......I'm currently unemployed, but I used last week to observe at 2 other places....I find it useful both to gain knowledge of how others do things (because hey, often we stage managers work alone), as well as build up more contacts.  I sat in on an industrial gig for the first time, and now the partner is looking into small ones to start me on because he was so impressed that I stuck around the whole time "for free" and even pitched in in a pinch during those 3 days.  And I sat in with the PSM on a touring production and just made some general connections with people in the process.

I also have had college students in the past come in and observe me calling from the booth, got to know them, and then offered them an internship later.  I also learn from the interns, of course...

Erin

359

SMNetwork Archives / Would someone be willing to help me with my resume?

« on: Jan 16, 2005, 11:54 pm »

I've already emailed Jessica privately, but for anyone starting a new resume.....there are a ton of ideas out there of how to arrange your resume, whether to put dates or not, listing references or not, etc....

In my opinion, some of the most important things are:
a) make it easy to read, whatever format you choose
b) keep it to one page if at all possible (though I actually put my references on a 2nd page)
c) definitely proof everything for spelling and grammatical errors
d) put some effort into your cover letter to show you've sought information out for the specific job and/or theatre you're applying for.  These days almost every theatre has a website.  Take a moment to poke around it, and pull some of that into your cover letter.  They love the extra effort you've taken if you mention something about their theatre that wasn't just in their ad.
e) I would also recommend saying where you found the ad, so they know which publication, etc that they're getting responses from.

Erin

360

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

« on: Oct 19, 2004, 12:37 pm »

I am on the regional theatre level (most of the time), and at my current job we don't usually have more than 26 sound cues, so we letter them.  And if we need to add a cue, or adjust something during a cue, we start adding decimals to the end, such as Sound A.5.  If there's an out I call, it's always .9 at the end.  That's what this particular sound designer prefers.  

Erin