676
The Green Room / Re: Introducing the Unicorn Rainbow Sparkly Theatre Company!
« on: May 21, 2012, 11:40 pm »
Q2 Go at 8pm every night because the house KNOWS we always start on time.
News:
14 Jan 2021: Happy 21st birthday, SMNetwork! I replaced the old broken mobile theme. -K
Show Posts
This section allows you to view all posts made by this member. Note that you can only see posts made in areas you currently have access to.
677
The Green Room / Introducing the Unicorn Rainbow Sparkly Theatre Company!
« on: May 21, 2012, 10:17 pm »
I'm starting an imaginary theatre company. We will do everything the right way. We will have rules in place to prevent everything that has ever annoyed a stage manager.
I know that....
1. All actors must have finished at least high school and be old enough to vote in order to be cast in a show at the Unicorn Rainbow Sparkly Theatre Company.
2. All actors must have already slept with each other and gotten over it.
3. We will have a panel of doctors on staff so that nobody ever has to miss rehearsal for a doctor appointment.
4. We will do shows year round. Every production will have at least 2 stage managers.
5. The rehearsal room will be exactly the same size as the stage.
But there must be something that I'm forgetting. Help me write the rulebook?
I know that....
1. All actors must have finished at least high school and be old enough to vote in order to be cast in a show at the Unicorn Rainbow Sparkly Theatre Company.
2. All actors must have already slept with each other and gotten over it.
3. We will have a panel of doctors on staff so that nobody ever has to miss rehearsal for a doctor appointment.
4. We will do shows year round. Every production will have at least 2 stage managers.
5. The rehearsal room will be exactly the same size as the stage.
But there must be something that I'm forgetting. Help me write the rulebook?
678
The Green Room / Re: "Nicholas Bracewell" Series of Novels
« on: May 21, 2012, 09:33 pm »SMNetwork Book Club?
9 "likes" says that this is a good idea. You kids have fun!
679
The Green Room / Re: Hell in a Handbag (A Game for Stage Managers)
« on: May 20, 2012, 12:04 am »
MERGE:
So if the ensemble is all holding candles while dancing and wearing bodypaint we'll need to make sure the bodypaint isn't a) flammable, b) slippery, c) transferrable to the candle props.
Can we use real flame here? How many fire extinguishers do we need? When is the last time those extinguishers backstage were charged? If not real flame, then battery powered? Fresh batteries every night for how many ensemble?
Regarding the allergic reactions, do we need to keep a steroid pen backstage? Who had the reaction, and did it require hospitalization or medical attention? What paints are you using? Did anything get mixed with the paint like glitter? Do we need to paint faces or just limbs/torso?
NEW NOTE:
Can we please get a rehearsal clipboard and some pencils for Stephanie? She's added some business in II,2. Stage management can no longer supply any more pencils for the cause.
So if the ensemble is all holding candles while dancing and wearing bodypaint we'll need to make sure the bodypaint isn't a) flammable, b) slippery, c) transferrable to the candle props.
Can we use real flame here? How many fire extinguishers do we need? When is the last time those extinguishers backstage were charged? If not real flame, then battery powered? Fresh batteries every night for how many ensemble?
Regarding the allergic reactions, do we need to keep a steroid pen backstage? Who had the reaction, and did it require hospitalization or medical attention? What paints are you using? Did anything get mixed with the paint like glitter? Do we need to paint faces or just limbs/torso?
NEW NOTE:
Can we please get a rehearsal clipboard and some pencils for Stephanie? She's added some business in II,2. Stage management can no longer supply any more pencils for the cause.
680
The Green Room / Re: What do we do?
« on: May 15, 2012, 12:51 am »PSMKay, perhaps you can help? -under "how to explain what we do"
The other one has been deleted due to old age and inactivity. Must mean it's time to cover this topic again.
681
The Green Room / Re: Need help making a playlist
« on: May 15, 2012, 12:44 am »
Given the uniqueness of the song title I think it's one of the songs from Weebl's stuff. There's a video or two for the song. Unfortunately I am unable to forget most songs once I've heard them. If you're going to throw that in you should probably do Kenya as well. Or Badgers, but that's so old school.
WARNING: These will get stuck in your head. Click on links at your own risk.
WARNING: These will get stuck in your head. Click on links at your own risk.
682
Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: PRODUCING: Recourse when actor leaves show?
« on: May 12, 2012, 10:59 pm »
Hi Jason. I found your company's website and some of the promotional press for your show. I won't link to it, but I needed some background.
I do not recommend doing anything further with legal departments, lawsuits or lawyers.
If a building burns down and the inhabitants lose all of their stuff, there's a lot of folks who will help them out with donations, but the landlord will shake their head and say "Tsk, too bad they didn't have insurance." Your understudies are your insurance. By not having them you were not looking out for the best interests of your own business, and you risked a lot by making certain people essentially irreplaceable. Stage managers spend their lives planning for worst case scenarios like this, and you'll see in many discussions here how we've devised clever workarounds when no understudies are available. Mostly though, it comes down to us shaking our heads and saying about the company, "Tsk, too bad they don't have insurance." Any judge will most likely say the same thing.
If you can prove that the actor who quit is saying false things about the company you might have a defamation suit on your hands, and if the actor walked on the contract you might have a breach of contract situation, but I think the better route here is as Mike suggested. Theatre people talk. You have the publicity campaign working in your favor, while you have their attention make sure that they know why you're dark tonight - without embellishment - and use that to garner sympathy in the community.
I do not recommend doing anything further with legal departments, lawsuits or lawyers.
If a building burns down and the inhabitants lose all of their stuff, there's a lot of folks who will help them out with donations, but the landlord will shake their head and say "Tsk, too bad they didn't have insurance." Your understudies are your insurance. By not having them you were not looking out for the best interests of your own business, and you risked a lot by making certain people essentially irreplaceable. Stage managers spend their lives planning for worst case scenarios like this, and you'll see in many discussions here how we've devised clever workarounds when no understudies are available. Mostly though, it comes down to us shaking our heads and saying about the company, "Tsk, too bad they don't have insurance." Any judge will most likely say the same thing.
If you can prove that the actor who quit is saying false things about the company you might have a defamation suit on your hands, and if the actor walked on the contract you might have a breach of contract situation, but I think the better route here is as Mike suggested. Theatre people talk. You have the publicity campaign working in your favor, while you have their attention make sure that they know why you're dark tonight - without embellishment - and use that to garner sympathy in the community.
683
The Green Room / Re: ARTICLE: NYT Jobs Few, Grads Flock to Unpaid Internships
« on: May 06, 2012, 09:25 pm »
(Obligatory feature plug: If you're wrapping up a spring internship, this is a great time to add it to the SMNetwork Internship review database. Help the next round of interns to make the right choice!)
EFMcMullen addresses several of the dilemmas I had to face while designing the scoring algo for the review system. Do I hold paid internships to a different standard? How do you gauge the amount a person learns? How do you compensate for the skill and initiative of the interns themselves? Do you hold an IA house up to the same ruler as a brand new storefront 99-seat theatre?
EFMcMullen addresses several of the dilemmas I had to face while designing the scoring algo for the review system. Do I hold paid internships to a different standard? How do you gauge the amount a person learns? How do you compensate for the skill and initiative of the interns themselves? Do you hold an IA house up to the same ruler as a brand new storefront 99-seat theatre?
684
The Green Room / Re: SMNetwork Presents: The Internship Survey!
« on: Apr 28, 2012, 07:03 pm »
Fixed. Thanks, Penguin!
685
Tools of the Trade / Re: Looking for testers for a new iPhone SM app
« on: Apr 28, 2012, 04:27 pm »
I will learn Java and port it myself if I must to prevent this from being a fruit-only application.
686
The Green Room / Favorite Smoothie Recipes
« on: Apr 24, 2012, 07:15 pm »
Since it's now apparently part of the job for us to make smoothies (per "Smash") does anyone have any pointers or recipes they'd like to share with the rest of the class?
I'm only sort of kidding here.
I'm only sort of kidding here.
687
The Hardline / Re: On the Clock
« on: Apr 21, 2012, 10:00 pm »
(Obligatory disclaimer: we are not union reps. All discussion in this thread is based on our experience but not necessarily still valid or accurate for your union situation, especially if you are reading this many years in the future. Ask your union rep about this situation if you are in doubt. And now, back to the discussion!)
688
The Green Room / Re: SM: WORST THINGS
« on: Apr 19, 2012, 10:35 pm »
Or the internal dilemma when everyone in the cast has the same area code... except for ONE person.
Or that feeling much akin to "did I leave the iron on?" of "did I proofread that?"
You can fit all but 2 steps worth of a set into the rehearsal room tapeout... so you tape them onto the wall.
Watching a wash instrument drop focus by about a foot, 20 minutes into Act II.
Or that feeling much akin to "did I leave the iron on?" of "did I proofread that?"
You can fit all but 2 steps worth of a set into the rehearsal room tapeout... so you tape them onto the wall.
Watching a wash instrument drop focus by about a foot, 20 minutes into Act II.
689
The Green Room / Re: SM: WORST THINGS
« on: Apr 19, 2012, 06:56 pm »
Personally I went missing at age 8 in the Art Institute of Chicago and was found later in front of the Seurat naming the various figures to random passersby.
But to get back to the subject, can we talk a little about adhesive labels that don't fit on their divider tabs... or wind up off-center with a little corner flapping in the breeze?
But to get back to the subject, can we talk a little about adhesive labels that don't fit on their divider tabs... or wind up off-center with a little corner flapping in the breeze?
690
The Green Room / Re: SM: WORST THINGS
« on: Apr 18, 2012, 02:32 pm »
Jeez, Matthew, post a warning before you include stuff like that. Think of the children! It starts with misaligned D-rings, next we'll be dealing with improperly-sized prop table sections, residual bits of old spike tape on the linesets and mechanical pencils without erasers.
*shudder*
*shudder*