Messages

46

Tools of the Trade / Re: Cleaning out an Office - what to do with all that STUFF?!

« on: Jun 03, 2011, 10:22 am »

I have kept pretty much every single show book and at some point I have to figure out what to do with them, because at this point they are taking up an entire bookcase.  I have only ever been able to part with the ones from shows that I really disliked (and over the last 10 years, there have really only been two or three of those).  Everything else is on the shelf.  I always clip newspaper articles and include those in my book along with a copy of the program.  It's nice but I live in a 600 sq foot condo and already have a chronic book problem (my living room is dominated by a bookcase that is six feet tall and ten feet wide).  I know I should just start shredding but it's hard to part with them!

47

Employment / Re: lighting design?

« on: Jun 03, 2011, 10:06 am »

I have pretty much stopped stage managing for one theatre in town because they do not pay stage managers and I am at the point where everyone else pays me to stage manage.  It is very hard to agree to a three month committment for free (two months of rehearsal plus a four week run) when I know that I could have a paid gig instead *and* while I would be working for free, the director and designers would be getting paid.  I am filling in with them this summer for a month in an assistant director capacity, but that's pretty much because I have a free month and am hoping to get my foot in the door as a director so I could keep working with them and get paid to do so. 

I did overhire work once for the big house in town that just does touring shows, and was never called again because while I worked the in, I wasn't available to do the out (like an 11 pm call) because I had to work the next morning at 8 am for my day job.  I know I am in a terrible location for wanting to do theatre full-time, and I guess it's just a constant struggle for me between needing a day job to pay the bills and wanting to do theatre (and there is a lot of great theatre here, it's just that none of it pays well enough to make a living).  How do you balance that, aside from just moving to NY or Chicago or somewhere that you can make a living as a SM and nothing else?  I was thinking I could just broaden my skillset but I see everyone's point about "once an LD, always an LD" for a particular theatre.  I dream of the day when a local theatre wants to hire me as a resident SM, but I'm not sure realistically that could ever happen.... sigh.

48

Employment / Re: lighting design?

« on: Jun 02, 2011, 11:14 am »

I find more often that I'm asked to be the propmistress/proptart.

THIS.  I have learned the hard way to double-check my contract before signing and make sure props are not in it, and in cases where there has been no contract (i.e. I'm not getting paid to SM) I make sure they are aware that props are not in my job description.  If they do not have a props crew, or running crew is minimal, I am happy to preset and/or strike props before and after a show.  But I have also had way too many SM gigs turn into "oh, and can you do props too?" meaning finding/making all props, which I do not have time to do with a full time day job plus stage management.  But that's a case of where I am signed on to be the SM and they try to make props fall within my job description.  The LD thing is more like I am talking to a prospective employer and present myself as a SM and somehow they assume that means I can also do lighting design and then they want to hire me as an LD instead of a SM.

Of the three LDs who operate in my region, one has a day job at a coffee shop and also acts and directs in addition to lighting design, the second has a day job teaching theatre at the local college, and the third... I don't know what he does for a living, but I doubt it's solely design.  So basically no one in my geographical area that I know of is solely supporting themself as a lighting designer.  I am just thinking if I pick up more skills in this area it could help with the people who keep equating stage manager with lighting designer and then possibly help me land SM gigs with them in the future once they work with me as a designer.  Or something.

49

Employment / Re: lighting design?

« on: Jun 01, 2011, 02:50 pm »

I have run light boards on many occasions, both ones that are programmed and also one with just faders to push up and down (that was the show where I was the only person in the booth and ran the light board and then also sound and video from a laptop).  I know how to skip to a certain cue and also back up a cue, and turn the board off and on.  Where I start to get on shaky ground is the whole hang/focus/program the board part. 

Lighting design was offered as a course in my theatre program in college, but I didn't take it because they had drafting as a prereq and a) I hate math and b) I was double-majoring and not taking summer school, so everything had to count for credit and the drafting class wouldn't have counted for anything, I just had to take it before I could take lighting design.  So I didn't.

I did do a lighting design for a production of The Glass Menagerie when I was working outdoor theatre summer stock in 2004 or thereabouts.  We had our own black box and the cast and crew of the outdoor drama did their own shows throughout the summer, just for us.  I had heavy assistance from another technician who actually knew lighting design (he helped me hang, focus, program etc).  So I know the bones of the process but really would be lost without help.

I just think that in my region, LDs are more consistently paid vs. stage managers (I have pretty much stopped SMing for one theatre because they do not pay stage managers while they do pay directors, designers, etc), and the time committment is way shorter and therefore equals more work (assuming anyone would want to hire me).  I think I will think on this some more and then see if any of my LD friends would let me assist on their next project....

50

Employment / lighting design?

« on: May 31, 2011, 11:43 am »

If this post needs to be moved, please do so, I wasn't exactly sure where to put it...

So in my quest to support myself full-time doing theatre (or at least derive a greater part of my income from theatre vs. my day job) I was emailing back and forth with a gentlemen in the next town over about his theatre project that he hopes to get off the ground this winter.  I have actually never met this person, but he was a connection from a few years ago and he emailed me on the off chance I'd be interested in his new project.  I am, and we started talking schedules, time committment, etc...

And then he says most of the work they could give me would be in lighting design.  And I had to reply back and say "um, sorry, I'm not an LD, I'm a stage manager."  I honestly don't know why he thought I did lighting?  But this is something I've run into before.  Sometimes I feel like I say "stage manager" to prospective employers and they hear "lighting designer" and then we waste a lot of time going back and forth until I realize the misconception and spell it out for them in black and white - I am not a lighting designer.  And interest drops off, and I don't hear from them again.  I think in my region stage managers are largely seen as a luxury, especially for smaller start-up theatres and theatre groups, but everyone needs a lighting designer.

So.... anyone ever worn the LD hat?  Is it worth my while to try and learn lighting design just to get more work, even when what I'd rather be doing is calling the show?  There are basically two or three LDs in my geographical area and I know all of them fairly well (one of them also directs and I have stage managed for him several times).  It should be pretty easy to ask one of them if I could assist with a hang/focus/etc and see if I can get some training that way.  But even if I "apprenticed" on a few shows I'm still not sure at what point I'd be comfortable being hired as a lighting designer. 

Thoughts/comments/advice?   

51

The Green Room / Re: Who are we, anyway...?

« on: May 17, 2011, 10:12 am »

I had a similar issue when I went to the IOD (Institute of Outdoor Drama) Auditions back in 2003.  I submitted an application as a stage manager, which was allowed.  They required all applicants to have a headshot, which was the one time I have ever submitted a SM job app with a photo.  And then when I actually went to the auditions, I signed up for tech interviews with several companies, only to be told when I went to the interview that the timeslot was for actors only (I actually had one company get us up and start improv before I could explain I was a stage manager) or that they were not hiring any stage managers for that season and that I should just leave. 

The entire experience left me feeling like no one knew what to do with me or how to deal with a stage manager/technical applicant. I understand that these types of group auditions for multiple companies are geared towards actors and dancers, but it was a very frustrating experience.  I've only ever gone to one other event like this (a similar group audition event in Asheville) and had the exact same experience where everyone was confused by me being a stage manager.  Is there some alternative for us that I just don't know about?

52

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: CALLING: Stop The Show!

« on: May 12, 2011, 12:46 pm »

I have never completely stopped a show and cancelled the performance, but came pretty close twice...

The first time I was doing a sketch comedy show in a black box that sat 40 people.  It was during the summer and we had the A/C off because it was EXTREMELY loud.  The booth was just behind the last row of seats (I could literally reach out and touch the audience members sitting directly in front of me) and it was just me and my light board op (I was running sound and not really "calling" the show due to the proximity of the audience). 

Well, it got really hot in the theatre and about five minutes after we started the show, a patron had a seizure.  I leapt out of the booth to the entrance to the theatre (about ten feet from me) and hit the house lights.  One of the actors was a former staff member at this particular theatre, and before I had the time to do anything else she had flown past me to the box office and called 911.  Once I confirmed EMS was on their way, I went backstage and turned the A/C on.  I don't think we ever made an announcement as everyone in the house obviously knew what had happened, and after EMS arrived and were seeing to the patron outside (he ended up being okay), we restarted the show.

The other time we almost stopped the show was a community theatre production of Beauty and the Beast.  We had a main drape and then also a black curtain on a traveller a little further upstage, and then the actual set was upstage of the black traveller.  Well, we were doing a scene change behind the traveller and when I called the cue to open the traveller, it was stuck and wouldn't open.  I told my ASMs to have the actors come onstage (it was Lumiere and Cogsworth) and do their scene downstage of the traveller.  In the meantime, our TD climbed into the ceiling (this is a proscenium house with no fly space) to fix the traveller, which had jumped its track. 

So things are progressing, Cogsworth and Lumiere are doing their scene in front of the closed curtain, when suddenly the director gets on my SL ASM's headset and tells me to stop the show.  (Yes, the show was open, but I have found in community theatre the directors tend to continue to come to every performance and continue to direct, give notes, etc, though I generally dissuade them from making major changes after a show has opened.)  I know they are making progress on the traveller, but we were rapidly approaching the point where the actors had to be on the set for the scene to continue.  The director then tells my light board op to close the main drape, which he starts to do.  The main drape is starting to close (verrrry sloooooow main drape on an automated chain), I am reaching for the house lights having resigned myself to stopping the show though it wasn't my decision, and suddenly the traveller snaps open.  I tell my light board op to reverse the main drape, and we continue the show.

I like to think we could have gotten through it fine, but I was kind of thrown when suddenly the director is on headset telling my board op to close the curtain...  That production of Beauty and the Beast is definitely the show that gave me the most technical difficulties - it's also the only show where I had an actor just completely miss an entrance.  The memory of Belle wandering around onstage going "Papa? Papa?" like a million times while I had ASMs running around backstage trying to track him down is still pretty high on my list.

53

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: PEOPLE: How to keep kids *quietly* busy at rehearsal?

« on: May 12, 2011, 09:44 am »

I have used two methods with some success, depending on the situation...

If the noisy kids in question are actually *in* the show, and it's a large show (cast of 30+) there is no room for them in our dressing rooms or the green room.  We typically assign a mom to keep the kids in the black box theatre downstairs and then one of my ASMs coordinates bringing them upstairs in time for their scene.  The moms keep the kids entertained with movies, coloring books, etc.  Of course, this only usually works with the younger children, up to about age 12.  The teenagers typically hang out in the green room and dressing rooms with the adults.  No one is allowed in the wings until just prior to their entrance as our stage is very wide and people in the wings can very easily be seen from the house.

I also have stage managed several shows where an adult in the show is a single parent with kid(s) and will occasionally bring the kid(s) to rehearsal.  For community theatre where the actor is not getting paid, I can understand this as it can be a hardship for the single parent actor to pay a babysitter every single night they are called for rehearsal.  My only real rule regarding this is that *I* am not the babysitter and the parent/actor must ensure the kid is quiet and does not disrupt rehearsal.  Usually in this case they bring homework, a gameboy, or recently even an iPad to watch movies on.  This usually works out fine - where we start to have issues is when multiple parents in the show bring multiple children to rehearsal and then it is really hard to prevent the kids from just sitting and talking the entire time we are rehearsing.  Again, something they can watch/do quietly (gameboy, movie, etc) is key.