Messages

46

Students and Novice Stage Managers / Re: Dear Abby: Torn between two majors

« on: Apr 23, 2009, 11:19 am »

My first question is who is paying the bill - if they are, then you might offer a suggestion of a computer major with a theatre minor - the importance of a theatre degree is the hands-on part of working actual shows, and as long as you're willing to work the shows then the fact that your piece of paper says 'minor' shouldn't interfere with your employment options after college - you can show that you were working on the shows and being involved.  This would work as a compromise for your parents - they are seeing you get the 'real' degree, and you can say that at theatre minor is to help with your creative thinking processes.

Now, if you're paying for your schooling and not your parents - then its up to you.  Your parents can not dictate what you're going to pay for, any more than they can dictate what you do with your life.  Now, that's not meant to be as negative as it probably sounds, but so many parents want to force their kids into certain paths, and won't see what their kids are really skilled at and let them be what they are actually talented at.  My mother forbad me from getting a degree in theatre, since she said that I would not leave college with marketable job skills.  Well, I got a degree in theatre, and have worked in theatre for 13 years now (since graduating).  My mother now sees the opportunities that theatre has given me and thinks I've grown wonderfully as a person because of my choices. 

-Centaura

47

Students and Novice Stage Managers / Re: Explaining Yourself

« on: Apr 23, 2009, 11:09 am »

I agree with the posters who say that its not worth it to me to try to explain the gory details of what I do to someone who doesn't know anything about technical theatre.  Folks who really want to know will ask detailed questions, others are just being politely curious and I prefer to keep answers short and sweet (several good ones have already been suggested) so as not to be long-winded on a topic that might not be of interest to my 'audience'.  How much you're bothered by the general public not knowing/understanding what you do is another facet to put into your thoughts about stage managing as a career.

-Centaura

48

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: Long Run Conundrum

« on: Apr 14, 2009, 12:24 pm »

I've done years of 9 to 10 month long tours, but in those situations there was always an end point on the horizon, so no matter how bad the cast got I knew that it was only limited.  If you feel that you've had it with the current situation, that nothing you've tried has been able to alter your environment to something that you can deal with, then I'd say its time to move on to another show.  Not stopping when you know you should can is worse than leaving.  I had a sound tech on tour once - she didn't want to give up, quitting meant failure to her.  She got repeatedly very sick - to the point where I had to do her job as well as take care of her being sick (multiple emergency room visits, etc).  I had nothing personally against her, but she needed to go home where she could recover, and let me get a replacement so that I didn't have triple my normal workload.  If you don't think you have enough patience with your current situation that you might loose it, its better to leave when you're ahead and still have a good reputation.

-Centaura

49

Tools of the Trade / Re: Oops! I didn't mean to send that.

« on: Apr 11, 2009, 11:06 pm »

One of the things that I use to keep emails going the right direction is the 'nickname' feature that my email programs all have.  I usually put someone's last name in - since last names are typically more distinct that first names (Okay, so I know like 15 Davids).  That way when I type in the name, I'm certain that its going to the right person.  As well, mistakes do happen.  But taking responsibility for the mistake and handling it gracefully go a long way towards improving your reputation.  Own up to it immediately, send an apology as soon as you discover the mistake - don't wait for a response from the other person before you act (unless you don't realize what you've done, then respond as soon as you learn).  If you can find some way to add humor into your apology, that always helps.

-Centaura

50

The Hardline / Re: Musician's Union and Stage Managers

« on: Apr 07, 2009, 04:51 pm »

If you're asking if SMs are covered by the musicians union - I don't think so.  Our local symphony is union, but I don't deal directly with them.  I deal with the symphony operations manager who is the union contact for them - but what he has to deal with is different than say what I deal with with the local IA.  What rules are you looking for specifically?  Have you checked with the specific local's contract?  That's going to be your best bet.  Find out who the contact is for your local chapter and ask them your questions, you'll get more specific answers.

-Centaura

51

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: Lobby Signage

« on: Apr 03, 2009, 02:01 pm »

I agree with geoffsm - I too was an amusement park rider operator and there is no way that you can force the general public to read a sign, or follow what the sign says.  And no way to get the public to care about their own health let alone etiquette.  I had pregnant women scream at me for stopping them from getting on a ride that would seriously harm their unborn babies.  Cute graphics and light humor are useful - but the only folks who will be reading your signs are the folks who would behave anyway.  Preshow speeches are the only way to really get the message out to everyone, though folks will always assume that what you're asking is only for everyone else; their reason to text, talk, etc. is good enough to bend the rules for.  Though the person who said that having a sign to point to when you've locked someone out is helpful, though the person is still not going to accept that.

-Centaura

52

Students and Novice Stage Managers / Re: Working with animals?

« on: Mar 24, 2009, 12:38 pm »

I've worked with dogs, rats and pigeons onstage, and you definitely need to have a "meet the animal" meeting with the performers, including full instructions on how to behave around the animal, what the animal can do, how to deal with the animal if it misbehaves, and what can be done to attract the animal.  Let the animal smell the whole cast, and be slowly introduced to everyone.  If it responds to certain treats, have folks stationed on either side of the stage with said treats in case of distraction.  Pigeons will go to the brightest light when in a dark environment, so that's how we cued it to land in a specific spot.  Is there something like that that will attract the monkey if it gets off leash?

I'm hoping that the person working with the monkey will have it leashed, and you should have someone assigned backstage to be its handler - even if its not the actual handler.  I can't believe that the handler is being that non-chalant about leaving their animal with a theatrical troupe.  Has the monkey ever been onstage before?  With lights, sounds, and live audiences making noises?  I would have one, preferably two, folks who's job backstage is solely the monkey.

-Centaura

53

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: How to explain what we do...

« on: Mar 12, 2009, 09:26 pm »

I had to do a brief intro of myself and what I do at one of our theatre board meetings - the Executive Director pretty much just wanted a few minutes of entertainment to liven the meeting up and me being the newbie, as well as an ex-roadie, got to be it.  I just did a few sentences describing what I did, accompanied by a couple of stories of unusual situations that I've had to handle that crop up in theatres.  I'm not sure what Matt's presentation held - but humor, plus an amusing short story or two, is probably your best bet.

My presentation was interesting - I am an ex-roadie, but I do not at all look like what you'd assume a roadie to look like, so there was a lot of reaction to that.  It just goes to show that if you grab their attention with something interesting - its becomes less about what you're doing, but more about you're an interesting person doing it.

-Centaura

54

Employment / Re: Blacklist of companies for SMs?

« on: Jan 31, 2009, 08:44 pm »

I totally agree with Matt.  As well, each person's experience is different.  I worked for a small company that was fine, for what it was.  But, I ran into a lot of folks who hated it - though in reality what they hated was being on tour - the company itself wasn't the real issue.  I'd hate to see a company get a bad rep, or have a bad report when it was a personal problem, and not a work environment problem.

-Centaura

55

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: Dry Ice

« on: Jan 24, 2009, 08:18 pm »

Yes, be aware of how quickly dry ice will evaporate without proper storage!  I've had some tours come through that need dry ice, and if they're here for more than a day I have to order twice the amount of dry ice that they need because half of it will be gone for the second day - that's with it just stored in coolers.  Even on a one-off, I'll still order more than the need, to cover for evaporation while waiting.  I have a show next month that wants 80lbs - I'll be ordering 100lbs because it will be delivered in the afternoon and I don't have anyplace to store it but sitting outside.

So, you'll need to figure out how much you need, how you're going to store it, or how you're going to get a fresh supply every day.  In some bigger towns there are sometimes gas stations or some other such that you can go and buy your day's needs from, but in smaller towns you'll have to have it delivered - but they can tell you how fast its going to evaporate so you can figure out your needs in advance.

-Centaura

56

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: The unwilling crew

« on: Jan 24, 2009, 08:11 pm »

And find out if there are any existing protocols for what to do when an apprentice isn't fulfilling their duties.  In my college, the show run crews were Theatre 101 students earning class credit.  To make a long story short, I ended up 'firing' one of the students one show because he just would not do what needed to be done - or doing other stupid things, like taking cues on his own instead of waiting for a "go", which was dangerous with our complicated set movements.  I had to talk with the class professor and give the guy several warnings, but in the end he wouldn't change his behavior, so he had to go.  If you know in advance what repercussions you can use, once you're past the being polite stage you know what's next.

Before it gets to that extreme, I do also like the "teach the newbie what I actually do" approach.  I know on tour, with new actors, they always thought that I was anti-social, until I explained to them the work that I was doing for the tour.  Sometimes they'd be interested, so I'd take them along on tour errands, once I even had one hang out with me while I was getting a truck PM.  They learned a lot more about what it took to keep a tour running, and they were easier to deal with when I had to get work done.

-Centaura

57

The Hardline / Re: IATSE house

« on: Jan 21, 2009, 04:37 pm »

I mention the building contact since that is one of my jobs in my theatre, and it would be inappropriate for others to contact the local BA without my being involved in some way - even if its just an FYI from above.

-Centaura

My experience has been that if you are not the building/venue IA steward, the promoter must go directly to the local BA who will in turn notify the building management.

It depends on the contracts/precedent/working arrangement that are set up locally. There are many a venue that operates like you describe, but that's why its important to find how how the communication goes at the venue that you're dealing with.  At my venue, I am not IA, but the promoters who use my building tell me what their crew needs are and I contact the union BA to place all show calls.  There is no direct contact between the promoter and the BA.  This is just how its set up locally due to the local history between the venue and the IA, etc.  In theory, folks could go straight to the BA locally, but I would be involved shortly afterwards if that were the case.

-Centaura

58

Stage Management: Other / Re: How to break into Music?

« on: Jan 10, 2009, 08:30 pm »

Yeah, I've got so much that I need to talk with the tours about, the subject of what they get paid never comes up.  Not that I'm the type that would ask that kind of question, anyway.  When I was on tour, with small theatrical things, I was up to $800 per week, plus perdiem, before taxes, but again that was small scale shows.

To break into music - which I believe was the original question on the thread, the best way is to get in with a production company that supplies lighting or sound to gigs.  Once you've proved yourself on local gigs, you'll get tapped to take the company's equipment out with a show.  But, you need to be up to date on either your lighting or sound equipment - and especially with all the new LED technology in lighting that's an ever changing environment.

From there, most production managers are hired because they're known road crew guys that folks will trust being in charge of a tour, and folks know they have road experience.  It would be nigh on impossible to get anyone to trust you to be a tour PM if you've never toured, or only done one or two tours before.  Touring takes a certain personality type, and most folks don't know if they're suited for touring until they've been out on the road once.  There is a big difference between wanting to tour and having a touring personality - touring will weed out those not suited to it very quickly.

-Centaura

59

Stage Management: Other / Re: How to break into Music?

« on: Jan 10, 2009, 01:41 pm »

Exactly - the tours that come to my venue vary with whether they're touring with their own equipment (one or two trucks), or whether they are renting equipment from a local production company.  There is one person on the tour who is either the tour manager or the production manager who is the person in charge of the tour crew if they have their own equipment, or who will give instructions to the crew that came with the rental equipment, as well as the local hands.  The best theatre equivalent for the title of this person is 'Technical Director' since they are dealing solely with the technical issues of where is the truss going here, what are the rigging points, etc.  The lighting and sound persons run their own shows, and there are rarely any scene changes (other than say taking the opening act's gear offstage - but that will coincide with intermission so doesn't have any timing issues).  The lighting person will give the spot ops their instructions - but often its just "Shine light on person A every time they're onstage" - there are few 'cues'.

So, with the lack of cues, the lack of actors, and the lack of scenery, the concert environment lacks the need for a dedicated SM.

-Centaura

60

The Hardline / Re: IATSE house

« on: Jan 08, 2009, 05:52 pm »

A lot depends on the local IA's contract with the building/house where the production happens.  I know from dealing with the IA contract in my theatre that we have several provisions that "differ from the norm" for IA contracts around the nation.  I recommend getting a copy of the specific IA contract that would cover the performance, and then talk with the person who deals with the IA in your theatre and ask them if the question has come up before - which might be the case if this director has worked there before.  Your building IA contact will then ask the local IA BA if it hasn't come up before.

I mention the building contact since that is one of my jobs in my theatre, and it would be inappropriate for others to contact the local BA without my being involved in some way - even if its just an FYI from above.

-Centaura