Messages

61

Tools of the Trade / Re: Non-binders for actors for a reading

« on: Aug 05, 2010, 06:53 pm »

Poetry and Prose competitors tend to use memo binders since they are small enough to hold easily in one hand, allowing for easy handling and maximum movement. It is a standard printer and copier size so that will minimize turn over time. If you are using a copy machine there should be a resizing option where you change from 8 1/2 x 11 to 8 1/2 x 5 1/2.

http://www.staples.com/Avery-Memo-Size-Round-Ring-Binder/product_175521?cmArea=SC1:CG2:DP4636:CL165060

62

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: CALLING: Watching 100% of the show.

« on: Aug 05, 2010, 05:07 am »

With my current show Into The Woods, which is very cue heavy. Blame it on the lighting and sound designer (Pointing to myself!) there are just sequences where I can't watch. So when an actor after the performance says "Did you see that?", I have to tell them no.

Lol, First Midnight by any chance? When I did Into the Woods last summer our ASM literally gave us the heads up right before that sequence that we shouldn't even attempt to speak until it was over. Her spot cues alone were overwhelming, let alone mic, scenic shifts, etc.

63

Tools of the Trade / Re: OneNote

« on: Jul 28, 2010, 01:42 pm »

OneNote works really great if you are the type of person who likes to keep a second binder with all the production paperwork. I used to have a tablet, but I found that function to be non-functional. The writing feature wasn't as sensitive as it needed to be so I gave up on that aspect of OneNote, but organizationally it worked well.

I set up the tabs as I do for any production notebook with all the departments having a tab plus a tab for schedules, contact sheets, check lists, etc. Then I just transfered a copy of all paperwork into the "binder" for easy reference. It was actually very useful in that regards, but it is very simple and wouldn't have been useful for much else.

That being said, that was with the 2005 version on my old tablet PC. Now I have a Mac without OneNote and have not missed it yet. Maybe if they had a nice version for the iPad I would reconsider trying to use it again and fine tune its uses.

64

Employment / Re: CAREER GROWTH: Taking control of your career

« on: Jul 06, 2010, 03:11 pm »

All this talk of forests makes me want to go hiking...

If there is one thing I am rapidly learning in my early career is that nothing can be planned and the only way to success is to take opportunities as they knock and don't take for granted what is happening this very moment.

Case in point, when I was younger and worked a non-theatre job in L.A. for a couple of weeks I came away saying "I will never live in L.A." Fast forward six years and where am I going to grad school? Orange County. Where am I working this summer? Santa Barbara. I'm circling in on L.A. and have learned my lesson about deciding life choices before I see my opportunities.

65

The Green Room / Re: COLLEGE GENERAL DISCUSSION: Is the traditional four year college worth it now?

« on: Jun 25, 2010, 10:08 pm »

If you are totally focusing on the financial aspect of college (as many unfortunately have to do nowadays) then sure going to a two year college is a good option. I actually did start at a cheaper college before heading to my alma mater and it worked out for me, but when I transferred it was a difficult transition. When you are labelled the transfer student it means you have to start your degree program practically from scratch (some things will transfer, but often times the degree specific courses have to be repeated so you are on the new program's track) plus you are taking these basic classes with younger students (if you took two years elsewhere that means taking freshman courses when you are a junior, which is a big maturity difference) and I found that I never quite "belonged" to any one class since I was split between upper level classes and lower level classes with students of different age groups.

If you do go that route it is crucial to plan all four of your years, at least to a basic level. For instance, you don't really save yourself any money if you take a bunch of general educations required for universities in your own state only to find out that the state next door has different requirements. If nothing else it would be smart to choose the top two or three school you plan to transfer to and find out what their gen eds are and make sure your community credits will transfer. With the right plan it could be very beneficial otherwise you could end up spending more to make up classes your didn't know you needed (after wasting money on credits you didn't need at all).

And add to ddsherrer's comment, I found that learning in an academic environment as opposed to on-the-job training has allowed me to be more well rounded since I was required to do more in other areas. Of all the theatre degrees I think it is of great importance for a stage manager to learn every department and how to function with any task and not every future employer is going to be happy that you have yet to learn how to focus a fresnel.

66

The Green Room / Re: Summer projects

« on: Jun 25, 2010, 11:55 am »

BLee - are you doing the Ojai summer theater? I LOVE that place - clean air, nice folks, great atmosphere - have a blast! and congrats!

No, but last I heard they were looking for an equity ASM. Since I'm not equity and not ready to get my card I didn't go for it. Plus I was already up for this job near Santa Barbara at the Academy of the West festival. I'm working on the opera, Don Giovanni.

67

The Green Room / Re: Summer projects

« on: Jun 24, 2010, 05:02 pm »

I'm all excited about my current gig. I saw the job posting here in the forums two Wednesdays ago and got the job that Saturday leaving me less than one week to quick my temporary job (I was working at a cafe), pack my stuff and move near Santa Barbara, CA. Today is my first day so I'm running a copy machine to the ground, catching up on venue information and schedule, and setting up shop for the next six weeks.

Then after all of that I have to move again down to Irvine, CA for grad school. My summer has gone from a boring 40 hour a week cafe job to being the ASM at Music Academy of the West. Woohoo!

68

The Green Room / Re: Finish this sentence: "If all the world's a stage..."

« on: May 10, 2010, 05:44 pm »

Slight deviation:

"All the world's a stage, with a lot of bad actors hogging the spotlight!"

69

Tools of the Trade / Re: File Totes

« on: May 06, 2010, 04:16 pm »

I use a little file carrier for extra forms, photocopies etc. I got a very cute one as a gift from http://www.knockknock.biz/ that says "I'M LIVING THE DREAM" on one side and "I'M DYING ON THE INSIDE" on the other.

(Actually, I love a lot of the Knock Knock office supplies- my other favorite being the binder clips with Important, Urgent, Trivial, Can Wait on them.)

I <3 Knock Knock! They have these post it notes that I would love so much if they weren't so expensive for so few. In fact, I would love to own the whole line except for the cost issue.

70

Tools of the Trade / Re: File Totes

« on: May 05, 2010, 04:07 pm »

This is actually a topic I've been thinking about in my own world recently. I've been researching good home office desks for small spaces and needed to solve the file system issue without getting a huge file cabinet that would be hard to move. Right now I have a small plastic file crate with loose file folders. It works ok, but not great. The desk I'm leaning towards right now doesn't have a built in file cabinet and the cabinet cube it does have apparently doesn't fit normal file crates.

Anyways, back to the subject at hand, I like that tote idea for organizing shows. I've seen something like that at my current day job at a bookstore. We use it for messages to employees and also as a checkout system when an employee wants to check out a book. I've heard of other stage managers using it to send home memos and printed schedules to members of a large cast and crew (including line notes).

Personally, I've been looking at some of the thinner accordion file folders that lay flatter and are the size of a standard notebook. I recall seeing one a long while back that was three whole punched on the bottom and had a flap top so that it fit flat inside a large notebook. Might have been too thin to hold everything for a production, but I bet it would hold a weeks worth of reports, schedules and other updates that need to be addressed before being retired the the big book.


http://www.amazon.com/Punched-Expanding-Assorted-CRD14800-Category/dp/B001A3O412/ref=sr_1_116?ie=UTF8&s=office-products&qid=1273090565&sr=1-116

71

The Green Room / Re: Food in the Green Room and Smoking in costume?

« on: May 05, 2010, 03:57 pm »

I'd bet that the costumers concern is less about the idea of food in the green room, but more with having food left in the green room. I remember a time when crew members would bring food to the green room to chow down before their call. Although most of the time they finished eating and cleaned up after themselves we did have a couple of incidences.  One particular time some soup that was left on the green room table. It was a styrofoam cup with a cheap plastic lid and the responsible party ran off to the dressing room when an early actress asked for assistance. Well, the lid wasn't on the best and sure enough someone else entered the green room and threw their bag on the table. The soup went flying and left a huge mess (luckily it landed on a floor mat that was easily removed and cleaned). Had anyone is costume happen to be sitting in the green room or passing through at that unlucky moment it could have been a horrible situation.

Accidents happen and I can understand wanting to minimize the risk by removing food from any location where costumes will be frequently present. As for smoking that smell is very difficult to remove and there are people who are easily bothered by the burned chemicals, including audience members who may be sitting close enough to the stage to catch an unpleasant whiff. Perhaps the costumer herself is bothered by the smell of cigarettes.

72

The Green Room / Re: Should SMNetwork ban all classroom assignments?

« on: May 03, 2010, 06:22 pm »

Is it possible to have trial memberships for all new members (not just students)? I know that you can not send PMs until you have posted on the boards, but can we extend that type of regulation to be more restrictive? What if a new member was not allowed to start a new thread until they have posted responses to a certain number of other posts and/or you have to be an active member for a month before being able to start a thread? Or what if someone was assigned to each new member (or one person was the new member liaison of sorts) to guide them in proper use of the boards?

With those types of restrictions it would take time before a student would even be able to start a homework assignment and might push them to either find the information in a more creative manner (like using the search feature) or prevent them from bothering if they are too lazy to meet prior conditions.

73

Tools of the Trade / Re: Kit: Box vs. Bag

« on: Mar 30, 2010, 07:47 pm »

If you want a great investment, I find scrapbooking storage bags to be incredibly organized and useful. My aunt (who loves scrapbooking) gave me a black bag that has wheels and an extendable handle, like a carry on suitcase. The walls and stiff and it has tons of compartments for keeping things organized.

For instance, one side contains a full first aid kit, extra bandaids, cough drops, hand santizer, etc. The other side has hand lotion, lint roller, lighter, breath mints and other travel sized daily use items. Then inside I have one package for office supplies, one for costume fixes, a lighting wrench, two whole rows of easy access pencils, pens, and sharpies, and everything else I have ever needed mid-production. Plus there is room for all my huge notebooks and legal pads.

No joke, this is the best kit I've seen or worked with and others I have worked with and used my bag have agreed.

I'm still trying to find my version in an online store to show, but here are some links to other bags similar to mine:
http://www.overstock.com/Crafts-Sewing/Advantus-Tote-Ally-Cool-Black-Roller-Bag/4072950/product.html
http://www.createforless.com/Crop+In+Style+Tote+NaNavigator+Black/pid69597.aspx
http://www.cheapjoes.com/art-supplies/7701_generations-create-a-bag-crop-station.asp

74

The Green Room / Show post-poned due to quitting actor

« on: Mar 25, 2010, 08:49 pm »

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/26/theater/26mullally.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

Did you read this NYTimes article? Megan Mullally quit the revival of "Lips Together, Teeth Apart" around two weeks before previews began because she felt her co-star, Patton Oswalt (a broadway newbie I believe), was not doing a good enough job. While I commend her for being discreet (initially) by voicing her concerns in private as opposed to telling Oswalt what she though, I think quitting the show is much worse press (especially since this is the second time she quit just prior to previews) than having lackluster reviews due to a co-stars weak performance.

I was happy to see a dignified and professional comment from the stage manager for the production. Although it does show just how careful we have to be when we speak to anyone outside of those present in rehearsals. Knowing as much intimate details as SMs tend to know, we could easily speak out inappropriately without initially knowing about it.

I'm curious what everyone else thought about this situation and to see if anyone else has had to deal with a similar situation (and did you end up delaying the production)? And do you think Mullally has done enough damage to her broadway reputation to leave her with more butter commercials and less offers for leading roles?

75

College and Graduate Studies / Re: MFA at same school as BA?

« on: Feb 21, 2010, 09:10 pm »

I suppose the ultimate question here is if you feel there is 3 years more worth of valuable information that you have not yet already heard from the faculty at Wayne State. Variety in education is important so ultimately you must decide if you will in fact improve your skills working with the same people or if you will learn more by experiencing alternative viewpoints at a different university.

You also need to look at your other options. Do you have other prospects worth looking at or is Wayne State your only opportunity, plus is it important for you to go to grad school this next year or do you feel you would do better at a year long internship or other gig.

This is a hard decision. Grad schools are hard to get into, but it is very important to look at what you need most to create the career you want.