Messages

451

Students and Novice Stage Managers / Re: Shadowing: General Q&A

« on: Dec 18, 2009, 05:32 pm »

My friend who is in the cast of Little Mermaid has offered to pass a letter on to her SM for me. What do I say in this letter? I don't want to be too long winded or too short. and writing is not one of my strong points.

Introduce yourself, explain your interest in theater, and why you want to shadow! Quick and painless. EX: "I'm a new stage manager and am very interested in seeing how a Broadway show runs!"

452

The Green Room / Re: "How to get a job as a stage manager"

« on: Dec 17, 2009, 12:28 pm »

"You will need to purchase a first-aid kit when you are hired"...

Really? I mean, I have one in my kit just in case, but I guess I never realized that a first-aid kit was a job requirement...or that I should be bringing my first-aid kit to my job interviews. I knew I was doing something wrong... 

I just imagine showing off the contents of your first-aid kit in an interview- "and HERE is where I put band-aids..." "ah, yes, excellent decision" (scribble scribble)

453

The Green Room / "How to get a job as a stage manager"

« on: Dec 17, 2009, 10:28 am »

My (SM) friend stumbled across this and I wanted to share:

http://www.ehow.com/how_2341622_get-job-as-stage-manager.html

Personally, I got as far as "it'll earn you a lot of cash" before I decided this was probably not a great idea. But thought maybe you'd get a laugh out of it!

454

Employment / Re: Mingling With Other Departments

« on: Dec 14, 2009, 12:46 pm »

I used to do overhire for a sound/lighting installation company. It was a lot of fun and definitely helped me learn a lot for troubleshooting when I'm running a show.

455

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: COMMUNICATION: Describing Audience Reactions in Performance Reports

« on: Dec 14, 2009, 12:45 pm »

I have the same problem often too! If it's apparent, I'll single out a moment or character that was especially popular (ex: "Mostly older audience, really took to Aunt Sally"; "Audience began singing along to 'Why Are All These Heads Off?'") which I've been told is helpful as it lets the director know what's really "working" for the audience.

456

The Green Room / Re: Fearless at DIY

« on: Dec 10, 2009, 04:04 pm »

I'll be the first to admit that while I CAN do basic building, you wouldn't ever hire me to do it. However, I do a lot of my own painting/building in my apartment. Basic installation. Also helps that I have a full set of tools. However, I'm dating a TD- sometimes it's easier to just ask him to do it.

457

Students and Novice Stage Managers / Re: How to back up the career of choice.

« on: Dec 10, 2009, 04:02 pm »

I had the same issue with my parents..."Why don't you go into Math or Science? You were always good at those..."  Try bargaining with your parents on a second major/minor.  Also, don't throw out teaching just yet.  I never thought I would have any interest, but after TAing in college, I am seriously considering it for later in my career.

I'm not sure what second major/minor I would want to work on.

And its not that I'm totally against teaching but right now I don't like little kids, couldn't handle the fragile state of middle-schoolers hitting puberty, and teenage brats with their pointless drama bothers me as well... Plus kids are getting dumber and sluttier. So I'd have to teach at a high school or college level and I'm not sure I'd want to stay in college long enough to get a degree to teach at a college level.

I had the same feeling, but I got a pretty unique opportunity- teaching theater for special-needs adults. It was a state-funded class, because it was proposed as a "life skills" class- learning about personal presentation, speaking in front of a group, being comfortable in a large group, and basic problem-solving. I'm not a teacher, but using theater as a teaching tool was much more up my alley. There IS a difference.

458

Students and Novice Stage Managers / Re: How to back up the career of choice.

« on: Dec 09, 2009, 10:21 pm »

Factwise, I'm going to back up everything MatthewShiner said. But I wanted to say that I had parents that weren't a fan of my going into theater at the beginning, either. However, I'm not a few years out of college and they finally "get it." Here were a few things I did:

Applied EVERYWHERE. Any jobs that could pay that were in theaters. Anywhere. My dream was to move to NYC, but that wasn't really feasible. My first few jobs were not exactly what I wanted to do, but provided a paycheck AND housing. (summer stock! winter stock!) This allowed me to save money, and gave me a place to stay. Went to theater job fairs (Straw Hat, NETC).

I went to a conference recently, and one of the speakers said something I loved. A college student asked him how he'd gotten his dream job (book jacket designer), and the designer said "It wasn't my dream. But I came in with a dream, and then realized that it wasn't really feasible. So instead of abandoning it, I gave my dream a wider scope. And then I learned what I really wanted." I think it's a perfect thing to keep in mind when you're looking for your first job out of school.

459

Employment / Re: shadowing

« on: Dec 08, 2009, 02:43 pm »

This might not be a lot of help, but I worked with a lighting designer who has worked on broadway, and his roommate is a broadway set designer, so they set me up with both of my shadowing gigs. My only advice is to be patient- once I was in touch with the people I needed to talk with, it was literally a month or more before we secured a date.

460

The Green Room / Re: working with a significant other

« on: Dec 07, 2009, 10:15 am »

My wife is a director/choreographer and the hardest thing I've come across is not calling her "honey" when we work together!

I'm Southern and call people dear/darlin on a regular basis...don't think anybody would notice!

461

The Green Room / working with a significant other

« on: Dec 06, 2009, 04:59 pm »

Hey guys! (First post as mod-in-training: scary! )

In a couple months, I'll be doing a show with my significant other. He's a set designer. This will be the second show we've done together (the last show, a year ago, was how we met) but the first where we're dating.

I have generally held a no-dating-theater-folk rule because I like being around people who do different things. However, it has been a bonus. We network together, help each other find jobs, and get free tickets to things . Plus, our jobs are different enough (he's an architect by day) that we're not competing or anything like that. However, I have also dated an actor in a show I was running once and it became, well, boring. I spent my whole day organizing the show, then we rehearsed together, then we'd go home and he'd just want to talk about the show!

Anyway, who is dating another theater person? Have you or do you work together? Any tips for not driving each other crazy (I can only imagine what tech will be like)?

462

The Green Room / Re: Holiday countdown!

« on: Dec 03, 2009, 10:12 am »

8 ½ days till our class of 23 Stage Management and Technical Theatre students sing two carols in the Drama College Carol Concert. There will be hard hats and tinsel involved

HAH! What are you singing?

463

The Green Room / Re: Holiday countdown!

« on: Dec 02, 2009, 10:07 pm »

14 days until Cherry Orchard is cast
21 days until I head home for Xmas
28 days until wonderful New Year's trip (a dining vacation!)
34 days until first day of rehearsal!

464

Employment / Re: What else can you do to get the job?

« on: Nov 30, 2009, 09:20 pm »

Oh my god...I am a schmooze machine.  If there's a show/theater/person I want to work with, I make sure to chat them up, mention that I'm a fan...and I always carry business cards. I've gotten a couple jobs by going to the show, sticking around the congratulate the director, and chatting with them. Often, if that person isn't hiring, they pass my information along to someone who might be.

465

Employment / Re: Where should I put it all???

« on: Nov 30, 2009, 09:08 pm »

Just in terms of format- I used to have "selected educational credits" and "selected professional credits", then "training" which had my college as well as 2 study-abroad programs I did. Then I have a section for "related skills" that lists things like Special Olympics volunteer, animal wrangling, spotlight op, etc.