Messages

61

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: PROP FOOD: Ketchup that isn't ketchup

« on: Mar 25, 2013, 06:21 am »

Not to ask a stupid question...

But has the actor/actress TRIED pancakes with ketchup on them?  It might taste okay.  I think pancakes with a bit of cheese in them would be nice(ish) with ketchup (or better yet chili sauce -- but now I'm getting sidetracked)

62

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: Commercial Mobile Alert System

« on: Mar 21, 2013, 09:04 pm »

Have you tried manually turning your volume all the way down?  That works for the alarm on iPhone as well.

63

The Green Room / Re: The Onion: Find The Thing You're Most Passionate About, Then Do It On Nights And

« on: Mar 21, 2013, 09:03 pm »

Matthew soap box complete.

Jessie soap box "go."

Seems like every time this comes up on the forum, Matthew says "don't be a stage manager just because you love doing it." And I agree with him.

However, loving something is the PERFECT reason to TRY to do it as a career.  So what if you spend 5, 10, 15 years struggling to the job you love and then change your mind.  Potentially changing careers is NOT a reason not to try.

Staging managing has allowed me to travel across my own country, to Europe and now to Asia.  I've done many kinds of shows and met many kinds of people.  I have been poor- yes, really really poor working on Showcase Code shows in NYC.

Even if I never SM again, I won't regret that time.

My mom worked as an OB nurse for 30+ years, then she decided she didn't want to be in patient care anymore and got a job as a shift director (pretty much the hospital stage manager).

A friend from high school had a job as an engineer and designed submarines for the Navy.  After 10+ she's got bored, got her MBA and a masters in Environmental Studies and is now doing awesome stuff to clean up our water.

Need  I keep going?  We all know many people that aren't doing the exact job they thought they wanted at age 19.

Just like potentially get a divorce years down the road is not a reason to not get married, potentially changing careers is not a reason to not try. (much along the lines of what dallas is saying)

64

College and Graduate Studies / Re: Is college a necessity?

« on: Mar 21, 2013, 11:41 am »

Going to college/ university is also a good way to make connections.  Several of my professors worked for various summer stock companies and were able to facilitate internships for students.

65

Tools of the Trade / Re: Email Best Practices for Teams

« on: Mar 20, 2013, 11:40 am »

I love it when MS Outlook changes people's emoticons to "J"

I was once in a long chain of emails about having the floor of my office cleaned and doing repairs with a contractor.  I was so confused as to why so many of the people had "J" scattered throughout their emails. 

Lesson learned- don't put silly smiley faces in business emails! J

66

Tools of the Trade / Re: Email Best Practices for Teams

« on: Mar 20, 2013, 10:30 am »

My biggest pet peeve is people that use SMS talk in email.  "u" "r" "wif"

AAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!  Am I the last person on the planet to still use complete sentences?

67

Tools of the Trade / Re: Call Script Word Processor Mac App

« on: Mar 19, 2013, 10:02 pm »

Hmmmm.....to be honest, I'm not hugely knowledgeable about the PSM role in the US, other than it seems to be both the SM and DSM combined (or, conversely, the SM and DSM is the PSM role split in two - however you want to look at it!)

The only thing that is popping into my head that is different is that we don't use Warnings in addition to Standbys when calling.

One other thing that's occured to me - the ability to add timings in the margin would be useful (mine are usually on the spine edge of the cues section, in a small circle - but I guess that's a personal preference.)

C

Another UK/USA difference is that the DSM (or calling SM) uses the tannoy (paging system) to call artists to their places for each entrance, not just at the top of each act.  Kind of like we do for opera.

68

Employment / Re: Resumes - one page and beyond

« on: Mar 19, 2013, 06:23 am »

My only caution for resumes that are over 2 pages long even for seasoned professionals, is that I would get bored and probably not read the whole thing.  2 pages of your BEST stuff should be enough to get the point across and short enough to guarantee that your potential employer reads the whole thing.

Here in Singapore it seems customary to list EVERY single job with bullet points of duties and I honestly think that the best/most important items get lost in the clutter.

As I tell my students- consider your audience- what do you want this person to see and how to see it?  Do they need to be floored by your sheer volume of work? Do they need to notice the awesomeness of individual productions?  You decide and send them the right one.

69

Tools of the Trade / Re: Slapstick scenes involving water gags on stage

« on: Mar 13, 2013, 10:53 pm »

If I remember correctly, The Cripple of Inishmaan has a food fight scene involving eggs (only eggs?).

Yes, it does.  But it's pretty simple.  Slippy Helen breaks several eggs over the head of her brother.  When I did the show, we changed intermission to be right after the egg scene and mopped up immediately.  This was very important because we were working on a raked stage.

70

Tools of the Trade / Re: Slapstick scenes involving water gags on stage

« on: Mar 13, 2013, 10:59 am »

If you can change the surface of your floor, get a surface that has good texture for traction.

71

The Green Room / Re: Sleeping in your theatre

« on: Mar 11, 2013, 11:40 am »

In the [clean] towel hamper.

A few years ago, I wrote a blog post about the opening of The House of Dancing Water and all the places we took naps.
http://jessieisskoopy.wordpress.com/2010/09/24/what-we-all-do-at-work/

72

The Green Room / Re: Weird Dreams

« on: Mar 04, 2013, 09:14 pm »

I had an awesome weird dream the other night.

I was offered a full-time resident SM job at a theatre company and they wanted to pay me a hug amount of money.  In my dream they made my salary offer via SMS and I remember the joy at seeing all those zeros!

We can dream, right?

73

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: JOB DESCRIPTION: SM Role in the automated future

« on: Feb 28, 2013, 10:01 am »

As with any shows I've SM'ed as well as with any professional stage managers I've worked with, they wouldn't dare let the lighting guy call his own show. The SM is the most familiar with the show, and that is why the director entrusts them to maintain his/her artistic integrity.

A major exception to this is cirque-style shows when the SM must concentrate on calling complex automation sequences with lifts, scenery and flying performers.  In times like this, the light operator DOES take his/her own cues.

74

The Green Room / Re: Weird Dreams

« on: Feb 25, 2013, 08:59 pm »

My most common SM nightmare is to suddenly realize right before a show starts that there is a giant hole in the stage floor.  The details vary (venue, show, nature of hole) but its always a giant dangerous hole that nobody noticed (or told me about) until the last minute.

75

Self-Promotion / Re: Off to China

« on: Feb 24, 2013, 08:59 pm »

Congrats!  Make sure you eat at La Mexicana in Old Taipa.  It has the best guacamole in Asia! Remember to bring shoes that are water-friendly (for backstage AND for outdoors.)