Messages

46

The Green Room / Re: Oh earthquakes, how I loathe thee...

« on: Aug 24, 2011, 04:47 pm »

I always check the lights I'm sitting under for safety chains. And have moved to a different seat several times.

So, what goes into an earthquake plan? Aren't most injuries from earthquakes when people rush out of the building and get hit by bricks and debris falling from the building? But the audience can't all fit into the few doorways of a theatre. Should the audience duck and cover in place? I assume you'd close the grand drape to prevent set pieces and props from falling out into the audience. Does anyone have any sample announcements that we could see?

47

Students and Novice Stage Managers / Re: Business Cards For Students

« on: Aug 15, 2011, 10:52 pm »

Don't use Vistaprint, unless you like getting junk mail and telemarketing out the wazoo despite their "privacy policy."

I received much better quality cards at a slightly higher price at the local print shop.

48

Students and Novice Stage Managers / Re: Business Cards For Students

« on: Aug 14, 2011, 08:45 am »

Besides contact details, I also have my photo on my cards. I think it helps when I am meeting a lot of people, and hopefully later people will be able to put the card with the conversation we had while exchanging cards.

49

Tools of the Trade / Re: Music/Singers picked up in headset mic

« on: Jul 26, 2011, 01:21 pm »

Nope, push-to-talk. It's getting slowly to be less of a problem as everyone learns the show. But if something unexpected happens, it will be tricky/fun to deal with.

50

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: Calling cues for the spotlight operator

« on: Jul 24, 2011, 09:57 am »

What does the phrase "split loops" mean?

I'm the only person calling the show. It's a very weird community theatre group. The sound board guy refuses to take cues. He does his own thing, he works the show and provides equipment for free, so that won't change. Historically, they've never had anyone call the show before, each spot op and light board op takes their own cues. The light designer wants the light board op to have his own list of cues as well. I think she's coming around on that though. The spot ops are high school students, and are very easily distracted. I like the idea of giving the spot ops a standby and warn reminder if they can handle a cue summary sheet.

Is a cue summary sheet something I generate, or the light designer generates, or each op generates?

51

Tools of the Trade / Music/Singers picked up in headset mic

« on: Jul 24, 2011, 12:58 am »

I'm having a problem in my current show. The Motorola radios we are using work great when there is no music happening. but once the orchestra kicks in and the singers are going, the headsets are impossible to use. I think the mics are picking up the extra noise in the room. Any ideas on what we could do to avoid that problem would be appreciated.

52

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / ELECTRICS: Calling cues for the spotlight operator

« on: Jul 24, 2011, 12:27 am »

I'd love to hear some tips for calling cues for spotlights. I've only ever had to call spotlight cues a couple times before, but now I'm calling a show with three spotlights. Any advice or things to avoid would be helpful.

The light designer is thinking she should give the spotlight ops a cue list and let them do their own cues. Good or bad idea?

Edit to subject line-Rebbe

53

The Green Room / Re: My booth feels like a spaceship

« on: Jul 24, 2011, 12:18 am »

I SMed a show in a space (no pun intended) like that last year. The worst thing was to get from the booth to the stage I had one path I could take: right through the "dressing room" So I then got into trouble by a few parents because I could see females under the age of 18 changing their clothes when I left the booth after a show. Sigh. But it did feel weird being so far removed from the stage, and calling the show by watching a small TV monitor instead of the stage itself.

54

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: Efficient Fight Call

« on: Jul 24, 2011, 12:14 am »

Is this the same production that was in the Capital Fringe last summer? I reviewed that show, it was very well done. http://www.showbizradio.net/2010/07/13/review-cf-romeo-juliet/

55

The Green Room / Re: Need some inspiration

« on: Jul 13, 2011, 11:29 pm »

Last year I took a ten-year-old boy to see a community theater production of Mulan, Jr. The cast was all kids and teenagers. The theater was a tiny high school stage, with no wing space, all entrances were through the house, or behind the cyc as a crossover, and the theater was sold out. I had never seen Mulan, so he told me all about the movie on the way there. During the show, I was able to see the Magic happening in his eyes as he was transported to Mulan's world. He totally saw the actor playing Mushu as a dragon. It was very exciting to see the Magic that theatre can be. I think I had gotten a bit jaded from working on and seeing so many shows. I have no idea what dramas happened in that production's rehearsal process, or during tech week. I'm sure there were mistakes and problems along the way. But it was Magic.

Hopefully you can take a small step away from the very real headaches you are experiencing and find the Magic that is part of your production. Break a leg!

56

The Green Room / Re: Reading Plays

« on: Jun 30, 2011, 11:06 am »

Definitely check used bookstores and garage sales for plays as well. But the library is your friend. And the interlibrary loan is really your friend!

57

The Green Room / Re: gaining new perspective

« on: Jun 28, 2011, 05:37 pm »

I've done a few different jobs over the past couple years. I never want to be the props person again, that job is Hard - many kudos to propsmasters. Being the electrician/light board op was useful, and I learned a few new skills. Sound designer and sound board op was fine, rather simple, kinda boring. I have no desire to do costumes. I'm now an assistant tech director (overseeing lights and sound, and calling the show). Just last night I got to help for a very tiny bit with the set build, and remembered quickly I don't like doing that. Since my schedule doesn't allow me to stage manage very much any more, I've tried to be involved with about one show per year. But I really miss stage management. Maybe next summer I can fit it back into my schedule.

58

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: RUNNING: Maintaining the Show

« on: Jun 21, 2011, 07:23 am »

One thing I've found useful in shows where there aren't a ton of cues is to mark the time stamp on the corner of the page as I follow the cast along. After a few performances you'll get a sense of how the show is doing, and even of which pages may be causing delays or problems. Yes, applause and laughter changes the times significantly, but that's ok.

59

Employment / Re: Altered Terms...

« on: Jun 13, 2011, 07:24 pm »

Do you have a written contract of any sort regarding the housing? Perhaps something called a "lease?" You might check with your city/state's office of housing to find out what rights you have as a renter regarding eviction, which is what your situation sounds like to me. IANAL. Most people when evicted have 30 or 60 days, it can't be turned around in less than a week without cause (non-payment of rent, illegal activity, etc). Good luck.

60

Tools of the Trade / Re: Firebox for Finale of Pippin

« on: Jun 11, 2011, 12:01 pm »

I SMed Pippin a couple years ago. For the firebox we had a very creative volunteer build a box about three feet square, 8 feet tall. A plastic Halloween skeleton was hanging from the top center, behind a piece of black fabric, also hanging from a small piece of wood. The wood, fabric and skeleton could all be rotated quickly, probably a lever on the side of the box. There were light ropes inside the box, and on top was a small tube. The tube was filled with flour? Talcum? something powdery. The other end of the tube was hooked to an air compressor and charged up before the show. The leading player could then hit the power button for the lights and the air compressor, which resulted in a bright-ish flash of light with a nice mushroom cloud of smoke. Another assistant at the same time would pull the lever, so it looked pretty much like a flash of flame, a fireball and poof a skeleton appeared. I wish I had photos or a video to share. All in all, it worked pretty well, except the time I accidentally triggered the mushroom cloud about 15 minutes before the show started.