Messages

646

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: Harmful line-throughs?

« on: Jun 18, 2011, 02:42 am »

I presume you don't do a nightly show report, which is why the director didn't know - or that you haven't reported it. That's always smart, if it looks like a pattern

FYI altho many actors learn their lines with blocking and beats attached, it's actually good practice to learn lines without anything other than words, so they can live fully in the moment and allow them to flow based on the interaction/life force from their scene partners - that is, the other folks in the scene. However, ad libbing is a whole other thing. So doing an Italian run for cue pick-up or to clean lines is good, if they are accurately doing the script. If not, perhaps they need to do it on their feet or do it with intention alongside cue pickup.

647

Tools of the Trade / Re: Covering Tattoos

« on: Jun 14, 2011, 01:18 pm »

I have an email out to our "Stella" who had some very, um, noticeable tatts that got covered up when we did Streetcar. She used some kind of big bandaid/latex cover, then put her make-up over it. And this is a 45 seat house with audience on top of us plus working in the house - if I can find out specifically what she used, will relay. Otherwise, the concept is the same - flesh-colored latex/flat bandaid and then skin make-up over.

648

The Green Room / Re: LINKS: Simple desktops

« on: Jun 14, 2011, 12:06 pm »

fun - headphones too! thanks for sharing this!

649

Tools of the Trade / Re: Firebox for Finale of Pippin

« on: Jun 11, 2011, 12:09 pm »

not sure where you are, but any time you use pyro, I am a big fan of consulting experts. Start w the magic community (really!) since they are used to making things look like more than they are without actually harming anyone. Does anyone makes fireworks in your town? - and check with your chemistry department (but the profs, since the students might not pay attention to the safety factors). If you have a concert venue, they can point you - lots of pyro (or suggestions thereof) at concerts these days.

650

The Green Room / Re: Fun article - historians discover possible inspiration for Shakespeare's Ophelia

« on: Jun 09, 2011, 03:10 am »

thanks for this fascinating link!

651

The Green Room / Re: Future

« on: Jun 08, 2011, 12:28 pm »

Apologies, I am "avoiding" a meeting by reading this so can't look it up right now, but there is at least one comprehensive thread discussing being a liberal arts or other-than-theater major vs focusing on tech theater. May I suggest you do a quick search and you might be able to get to a lot of already-extant info

652

The Green Room / Re: show us your booth!

« on: Jun 06, 2011, 01:56 pm »

balletpsm - next time you head to ontario for figure skating, holler, I'll be your asm!

653

Tools of the Trade / Re: Cleaning out an Office - what to do with all that STUFF?!

« on: Jun 04, 2011, 04:07 pm »

I use brads and the sharpy the name of the script along the side = no expense, no muss no fuss

654

Tools of the Trade / Re: Cleaning out an Office - what to do with all that STUFF?!

« on: Jun 02, 2011, 12:35 pm »

I admit that I am a packrat - but that comes from doing too many tiny low-budget shows where rehearsal props or other incidentals are presumed to be my bailiwick whether I am acting, directing or stage managing. While I have learned to say no (or rather, "I don't own that") for a lot of things, I still find instances where, at least for rehearsal, I have something that can stand in for an item. Yeah, I need to get over that, and the compromise for me is that I bring in something I don't mind losing (or won't break) or that, in no way, can be what is needed for the show - they are gonna have to find the real prop on their own.

As someone who works a lot on the road or at places without an office or central space, I keep any unused office supplies. And of course binders are re-used. But I like keeping scripts. Whether it references how something was solved, or I do a show more than once, or an actor friend is abt doing that show, or even just because I have always had a library of scripts (as well as other theater and non-theater related books) and this is a great way to add to that, I save all my scripts. One of these days I may change, but for now, I love seeing the stacks of different shows and rereading plays just for the love of it.

[on edit] I shd prob clarify - I keep ONLY the script, and it goes in my script library. The light/set/sound/costume plots, the WWW etc all go into recycling. I keep one hard copy of the final contact (computers have been known to crash, I have frequently been in a position to recommend folks I've worked w to other shows) but that's in a separate file with only contact sheets.

655

The Green Room / Re: Suffering from what I call "theatredox"

« on: May 31, 2011, 02:25 pm »

I always reserve that Sunday nite after the last show to eat ice cream or watch TV or some such....

656

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: Re: ESCRIPTS: Post your requests for electronic scripts here!

« on: May 31, 2011, 12:11 pm »

me too for Private Lives - if anyone has it! thanks

657

The Green Room / Re: Who are we, anyway...?

« on: May 29, 2011, 02:58 am »

I have, actually, been a part of the "figuring things out" discussion on many shows, and have brainstormed my way thru wacky and non-wacky solutions - for example with young directors/students/PWD issues/film folks dabbling in theater. And unless you want to go into management (which may or may not fall into arts admin) I do not want to be considered in that category. I think we are artists, even if the general perception of what we do is not what people traditionally picture as creativity.

But the bottom line is this: If TCG considers us individual artists, then the related grants should concur. Period.

658

Students and Novice Stage Managers / Re: Student SM Challenge #14: Escape Plan

« on: May 28, 2011, 01:12 am »

(Not to encourage cheating but...)

Interestingly, a few years ago the Western Region SMs put together a basic one-sheet on dealing with natural disasters - in particular earthquakes - that have been added to the AEA SM packet and are avail on the website.

659

The Green Room / Re: Who are we, anyway...?

« on: May 25, 2011, 07:23 pm »

beautifully said - (other than, we take some risks too...and I am grateful for my artistic side when it comes to certain types of problem solving)

The one correction is that my concern is not w TCG, which includes all those grey-area worker bees as fellow artists, but w the folks who assign grant money and funding related to events like the TCG conference (where there are panels and events that clearly include our skill set) and who classify us as admin -

660

The Green Room / Re: Who are we, anyway...?

« on: May 25, 2011, 06:49 pm »

This is where we disagree -

I put it to you that any time a stage manager invokes sheer creativity to solve mid-show problems, they're covering up for incompetence.

the rest of it - I am not saying we have the corner on the market, just that we are also creative being (being a great facilitator is being creative too...as is being a conductor in music, for example) and that our job includes both creative and technical aspects - and you'd be surprised how many folks in all jobs don't have what you say most common secretaries have. When those of us with that ability find work that allows us to express all those pieces of us, whether in theater or in the "real world", we are extremely lucky, and the people who hire us are lucky to have us.

I do consider myself an artist, and also a technician. When I was an actor (back in prehistoric days) and even today as a director, the same applies - there are technical as well as creative aspects to my work no matter what I do. Which is where this all started. If the grant folks disagree when the TCG considers me an individual artist, and if they think I am an admin even tho (as we know) we are not administrators despite aspects of that in our work, then we have some education to do.