Messages

61

College and Graduate Studies / Re: Carnegie Mellon University--PTM program

« on: Oct 14, 2008, 05:33 pm »

I know the PSM there; she's freakin' great.

62

Students and Novice Stage Managers / Re: Tech Rehearsal

« on: Oct 08, 2008, 12:31 am »

There is nothing worse in tech than sitting around waiting for something or someone who doesn't need to be waited for.

Amen.

63

Students and Novice Stage Managers / Re: Tech Rehearsal

« on: Oct 02, 2008, 04:12 pm »

At the LORT level I have never gotten a cue list from a lighting designer (sound designers, yes, lighting designers no.)  I worked with a very famous, tony award lighting designer who would could asking me during tech "When is the next cue?"

Though I haven't worked with a Tony award winning LD, this has been my experience at the LORT and SPT levels, as well. I like the excitement of collaborating with the LD to create the smoothest possible transitions; if there are a lot of sound cues, I would most likely have run them during the rehearsal process so they are already in my book and only need to be tweaked by a few words or so. Dry techs, unless you are cueing sequences independent of actor involvement (how often does this happen?) are not, IMHO, terribly useful. Matthew is right; the actors also have to deal with all of the new elements at once and should be accorded enough time in the process to do so safely.

As long as the flow of the rehearsal is forward moving, productive and safe, and is, as Matthew points out, for the good of the show, then it is a successful and efficient technical rehearsal process.

64

The Hardline / Re: LORT - Rehearsal Questions

« on: Oct 02, 2008, 02:34 am »

50(C)(6)(f) Says REHEARSAL has to be consecutive, but says nothing about the the relationship to rehearsal to performance.

Well, yeah. I always read the rule the same way as your rep...at least a 1.5 or 2 hour meal break must be given, but longer is A.O.K. I've never interpreted the rule to mean a meal break of exactly 1.5 or 2 hours must be given to each actor. Why the heck not? Would you call an actor for a scene he or she isn't in, just to have them around for a particular hourly requirement and a "compact" span of day? That makes no sense. As long as the meal break plus rehearsal doesn't violate span of day or rest period, what is the problem? I'd be making schedules for three hours after rehearsal if that were the reading...

50(E)(4) There shall be no less than 1½ hours and no more than three hours between
curtain down and the rehearsal call.  The rest period may be reduced or extended by a
cast majority vote.

I've always read that this rule refers to the fact that a cast has voted to rehearse on a two-performance day or to a rehearsal held after some sort of matinee performance, does it not? To what else would it refer?

65

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: Gratuitious Paperwork

« on: Sep 08, 2008, 01:47 am »

Yeah, I'd like to see a version of that paperwork, too, Erin, please. I use two documents that serve those purposes. Combining them may be a really great idea.

66

Students and Novice Stage Managers / Re: Slightly Nervous, Advice and Words of Wisdom Please?

« on: Aug 25, 2008, 11:32 pm »

Indeed. I once worked with an SM who was slightly younger than me, but never let me forget that <gender unspecified> was the SM and I was the ASM. Stress the "A." I wholeheartedly concur with previous posters who have stated that 1) experienced ASMs are a blessing and 2) teamwork is the key. I also love learning from those more experienced than me. I always have something to learn. I hope I always get to work with someone from whom I can learn, even if it's what not to do.

67

Students and Novice Stage Managers / Re: Question about entrance and exit flow charts....

« on: Aug 14, 2008, 02:46 pm »

Here are examples of E&E charts, one horizontal and one vertical. I think it's just personal preference as to how the information is formatted; a lot of wardrobe folks like my version of the vertical breakdown because it's easier to manipulate into a document that is better suited to their needs, especially if actors are playing more than one role.

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Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: Gratuitious Paperwork

« on: Aug 14, 2008, 02:35 pm »

I agree with Matthew; I have a core set of documents that are continually updated and modifed to fit the scope of informational needs.  I don't stray much outside of those unless the show demands it.  For example, if there is only one way onto the stage, then I don't really need to make an entrance/exit chart; a French scene breakdown will suffice unless I need to record specific timings for entrances or exits.

Great topic, Ruth.

69

SMNetwork Archives / Re: Aging in stage management (those late 20's)

« on: Jul 12, 2008, 05:42 pm »

All of ljh's points are fantastic ways to approach a stage management career. IMHO, they are also fantastic ways to live your life. So, thought I didn't understand it for a while, I've always thought of my career in the theatre in general, and stage management in specific, as a lifestyle choice: this is how I want to live my life. Once I made that realization, sometime in my late 20s, it helped me through some of the emotional frustration that a passionate young theatre professional may experience and helped to widen the scope of "the big picture" of which we're charged to maintain. We're all a part of the story, and when I finally came to understand how my role changes day to day, even second to second, I discovered that it was the best way I could and continue to support the other actors, all of us conning our little parts (to paraphrase Wordsworth).

70

Uploaded Forms / Re: Music Breakdown

« on: Jun 08, 2008, 10:43 pm »

Erin...thanks for this form. I'm doing a musical this summer and I haven't done a musical in a loooooooooong time. We've got 40 kids to organize and we're working in 4 rooms. I think this form will be a great tool for our team to be able to keep track of everyone.

71

Tools of the Trade / Re: What software do you use?

« on: Jun 08, 2008, 06:25 pm »

Wow, Matthew, the PowerPoint is groovy. How in the world do you have time to create such a document?

Anyway, I have a machine with XP and use the following:

Word
Excel
PowerPoint (Not anywhere near Matthew's detail)
Outlook
Calendar Creator
GoogleTalk
Sonic (CD burning software)
VPN/Citrix (For working from home)
Flash
VectorWorks/CAD (The theatre I'm at, at present, prefers CAD but I prefer VectorWorks)
Photoshop

72

The Green Room / Re: Cooking for Stage Management

« on: May 06, 2008, 08:34 pm »

What proportions are the soy milk/yogurt to get a a single sized smoothie or do you eyeball it?

Marcie...I usually use between 4-5 oz bananas, 2-3 each of strawberries and pineapple and 4-5 of soy milk to 4-5 ounces yogurt. All of this is by weight, so you end up with anything from a 12 to 15 ounce smoothie. It's a big smoothie, but it's good energy and you get alot of your dairy and fruit servings for the day in a healthy, easy to make meal. Using the stick blender means I don't have to wash the blender pitcher.

And another holla out to hard salami and cheese! There aren't many cheese/salami combos I don't like.

73

The Green Room / Re: Cooking for Stage Management

« on: May 06, 2008, 01:29 pm »

I make smoothies at home for breakfast before tech; I use a stick blender to blend chunks of frozen bananas, strawberries and pineapple (or whatever fruit looked good at the store) and I mix that with organic vanilla soy milk and whole milk French vanilla yogurt. A great boost of power and it keeps me going and not feeling overly full. I also love salads during tech, (Love, love, LOVE tabbouleh, too!). I will grill up some chicken breasts and toss those with red and yellow peppers, edamame, spinach, mixed greens, tomatoes and broccoli. Put some bleu cheese crumbles on top and add balsamic vinagrette. Or I go the spinach salad route with red onion, bacon, hardboiled eggs, baby cremini mushrooms and tomatoes. This gets the classsic honey mustard dressing. I'm walking my dog at the dinner breaks so I usually avoid the heavy dinners with the rest of the tech staff. We go out every now and then but it saves money and a little bit of my waistline.

For snacking at the tech table I try to keep it to nuts, fruits and dried fruits, but I don't deny myself the chocolate else I feel like I'm going to go insane. I'm an ice water junkie, too, so I always have a glass of ice water with me. It's a comfort thing as well as a good for hydration.

If I feel gnoshy after I get home from a 10/12, I will often have a few slices of baguette with cheese and hard salami, if I've got it in the house.  I think the French are on to something there...

74

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: Tech Questions

« on: May 05, 2008, 12:20 pm »

I also HATE having to use the god mic to communicate with the cast or the rest of the creative staff  - I like being able to just use my natural voice.  I am also a stage manager who is not afraid to get up onstage and help figure out a problem.  Being in the booth would just take me out of the room - which I think would make it really hard to tech.

Ditto on the god mic thing...unless necessary, I prefer to use my own voice, too. Being able to troubleshoot problems onstage is a boon, and that's really hard to do if you're in the booth. To eliminate the need for the tech staff to set up a tech table just for me, I once tried to run a very short rehearsal on a day before a preview from the booth; though the rehearsal went fine, it was a colossal pain in the butt. I'll never do that again; based on that experience, I can't ever imagine coordinating everything that has to be coordinated during tech, from the booth.

Paul, thanks for the info on opera techs; it's interesting that tech for opera has a progression, instead of trying to figure everything out at once.

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Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: Tech Questions

« on: May 03, 2008, 01:03 pm »

What JHos, Jessie, and nmno said and this:

Also, unless I "can't" go on because of technical malfunctions, cue-to-cue rehearsal, etc., I usually will keep moving forward until the director WANTS to stop. 

This has been the norm with a lot of directors with which I've worked, but I would add designers into the mix, as well. After particularly heavy tech sequences, I turn to the designers at the tech table (in the house, and then I move to the booth for first preview) and ask if they need to see the sequence again. Usually, it's obvious when you need to stop and revisit a sequence, and the director, as JHos has pointed out, is usually adept at knowing this. For example, if the LD or SD needs to see a cue execute or re-write a portion of a cue, then we stop and I will usually make an annoucement if it's going to be a long-ish pause. Something like, "Hold please.The actors should remain in their places until the LD finishes tweaking this cue, then we will [move on] or [take it from...]. Thank you for your patience."