Messages

361

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Never happened to me before...

« on: Sep 10, 2004, 11:18 pm »

You do realize, that you're keeping a large number of stage managers sitting and waiting on the end of your story.  I'm sure that I'm not the only one with numerous sharp pointy things in my kit prepared to throw in your direction . . .

-Centaura


P.S.  My main cop stories are either the time that a kid was arrested in the audience during a performance, or the time I was running around in the tour truck at the Mall of America on that Halloween when there was that internet threat that a 'major mall in america' was going to be 'hit'.  Two of us actually almost got arrested that night.

362

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Thanks for the words of wisdom/empathy

« on: Sep 01, 2004, 10:40 am »

Thanks for the words of wisdom and empathy.  Its going to be an interesting 9 months.  I'm just wincing at the memories of previous tours, one where I had to actually fire an actor, and another where we had to sit down with two of them and say 'you both better shape up and deal with each other, or you're both gone' which was a TREMENDOUS shock to one of them who didn't understand that egging the other into bad action was just as bad as the bad action.  I'm approaching year 8 on tour, and I'm waiting for my honorary pshycology degree to arrive.  Its amazing how adult human beings can utterly loose all rational thought just by the fact that they're not at home.

-Centaura

363

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / PEOPLE: Actor hatred on tour

« on: Aug 31, 2004, 03:21 pm »

Howdy all,

Was looking for some advice on a situation that I know is going to come up on my next tour.  I have a group of actors who all know each other and have a lot of history with each other going out on a non-union national tour for the first time.  This in itself is a new situation for me, I've never had more than two actors know each other prior to going out on tour.  Anyway, two of the actors already hate each other - from previous shows that they've done.  Going into the dressing rooms and hearing them talk, I'm hearing things that I don't normally hear until a good 5 or 6 months into a tour.  Now, my dilema is this - I've never had to deal with this at the begining of a tour.  The Artistic Director, in his happy land, is all excited that he has all locals going out this year who all know and like each other.  My boss at the theatre has told me to 'just smile and nod' when they come to me and complain.

I know what to do when it starts to interfere with the show, which I have zero tolerance for, but I was curious if anyone had any advice on how to stop / slow it from getting to that extreme in the first place?  They've figured out that I'm not taking sides, but that hasn't stopped the one girl from hinting that if the guy can't do the show her way then 'there's the door'.

I'm just used to being at the point on tour of saying 'I know you don't like so and so, but you only have to deal with it for the short time left'.  Now I'm in the situation of 'I know you hate so and so, but you agreed to do this knowing their on tour with you'.  Anyone have any adivce on this one?  I know I'll get no support from my home office while I'm gone.

-Centaura

364

SMNetwork Archives / Close call

« on: Aug 28, 2004, 10:29 pm »

My favorite close call to almost being onstage was on tour in Michigan once, where I got woken up at 1am with a violently ill actor, who was so sick she couldn't even sit up in bed.  So, being the kind and generous person that I am, I actually waited until 5am to call my boss and wake him up to discuss solutions for our 10:00am school show that day.  He told me that I was going on for her.  So, I'm a techie, I don't travel with nice clothes, and the character was a russian immigrant girl from the turn of the century.  So, at 5:30am I was at Mejers, the local equivalent of a Walmart, and the only thing even open at 5:30 in the morning, trying to find SOMETHING to wear that was vaguely female/historical.  By the time I got back from shopping, it was time to wake up the cast and get them prepped for the day's fiasco.  To make a long story short, once we started brainstorming, we worked out how to re-write the script without the female romantic lead, in about an hour without any rehearsal, and I was able to later in the day thankfully return everything that I had bought, unworn!  I was never happier in my life!

-Centaura

365

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / realted prompt book question

« on: Aug 27, 2004, 06:53 pm »

Greetings,

I had a related question to the prompt book question in this thread.  For my few years (10) working as a SM, I have always taken for granted the fact that the theatre kept the stage manager's prompt book at the end of a run.  I have also always taken for granted the fact that actors are ignorant of this basic fact of SM life.  I am currently working for a theatre that not only do they not want to keep the prompt book, they are trying to convince me that I'm crazy thinking that that is the standard.  They are a small company suddenly grown big who still think small - they do not really understand what a SM does or how to use one.

So, as I have not worked for a great many different theatres, I was curious.  Is it the standard that prompt books are the theatre's property at the end of a run?  Or are they correct in saying that I'm crazy?

-Centaura

366

SMNetwork Archives / free verses fee?

« on: Aug 27, 2004, 04:57 pm »

Greetings,

I've been reading the post on free verses fee education, and I'll through 2 cents into the pot.  While student loan payments tend to be fairly affordable once you leave university, the job pay rates that have been quoted are not always entry level wages.  Most companies want to see that  you've ASMed once or twice before they'll consider you seriously for a SM position.

I've been 'out' for almost ten years, and none of the jobs that I have gotten have cared much where I went, nor even asked many questions about what I did in university.  And, as I always tell my new actors on tour, you get out of it what you put into it.  

Would splitting up your years in school make sense?  Start at free, get your gen eds out of the way, then transfer to pay for your last year or two?

-Centaura