Messages

76

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: PROFESSIONALISM: Your Show Sucked.

« on: Sep 04, 2010, 09:26 pm »

I would not give a “true diagnosis” of the technical issues unless the SM was a close friend who asked me for that kind of advice.  Cast members being indiscreet in the wings is something I might mention if I knew the SM well enough, since that’s something  they may not physically be able to see, and could easily correct.  You could say “hey, maybe this was a fluke, but from where I was sitting in row D I could see Actress A changing her clothes and chatting with Actor B”.  Your other examples do sound like maintenance issues the SM should probably be aware of already.  If they're just asking "what did you think?" it doesn't seem like they're looking for serious constructive critisism, so I'd do as others have suggested and find something positive about the production to mention.

77

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: Script in process: how much paperwork do you re-do?

« on: Aug 25, 2010, 10:55 pm »

(Part of it was I just needed to do a bit of venting!)

We all need that from time to time!  Dealing with all the trickle-down effect of script changes is one of an SM’s many unsung, pain in the butt, tasks.

Naming the mini-scenes and flagging them with post-its or something in your book may also help you keep up with where you are on the fly. 

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Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: Script in process: how much paperwork do you re-do?

« on: Aug 25, 2010, 07:46 pm »

I’ve done a lot of premiers where the scripts are in progress, and the playwright is in rehearsals a lot of the time.  I tend to base my paperwork more on scenes than page numbers so there is less to rework.  I find scenes are really what we reference as the show gets on it's feet.  As hbelden suggested, seeing if the playwright can stick to a certain pagination would be very helpful (they can change the font size or add a letter to the page number if it won’t fit).  If we are starting with a week or so of table work, often the script gets a little more settled at the end of that week, making it a good time for a round of updates.  Before Tech is another good time to update, and that’s when I would try to touch any documents I’d skipped before.   Everyone involved understands the script is still in flux, so you may find people don’t expect or reference the page numbers as much as they do with older shows.  Another thought is to delegate some page updating of documents to your ASM if you have one so it’s less tedious for you.

I'm going to be a good little SM and re-do it all, but I guess just very frustrated.  I was told that the first version of the script I was given was "close enough" to start paperwork on, and this is the third time, in less than a week, that I'm going to have to ENTIRELY re-do a good bit of pretty meticulous paperwork. 

I understand your frustration, but keep in mind that with new plays, the scripts is as changeable as blocking, and just as necessary to making the show as good as it can be.  I would say you can talk to the playwright, maybe the dramaturg or assistant director if you have them, to communicate changes in the clearest and most efficient way possible.  This can include Cut Lists and a system for printing new pages. 

79

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: HOUSE MANAGEMENT: Do you spill the beans about your famous audience members?

« on: Aug 20, 2010, 09:07 pm »

I would generally not tell the cast.  Some actors get really nervous when VIPs, or eve their own friends or family, are in the house, and I wouldn’t want that to effect the performance negatively.  Although with their friends and family, it’s the true the actor in most cases already knows they are there, so those nerves can’t be prevented. 

The exception to this is that, working in Washington DC, a couple times I’ve gotten word that a VIP is coming and the secret service needs to do a sweep of the building.  In these cases we usually know a day or two before hand, so if the sweep includes backstage I do tell the cast in case anything is disturbed.   The most notable VIP I remember was a  supreme court justice; a fun bit of trivia, but I don’t think she inspired too much nervousness. 

80

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: CAST: Practical jokes on final performance?

« on: Aug 18, 2010, 11:43 am »

  I try not to be such a downer about everything.

Upholding certain standards for what behavior is acceptable does not make you “a downer”.  It just makes you a professional.  If the students you are working with really hope to make a career in theater, you’re not doing them any favors by letting them get away with jokes that affect the performance.  If they continue that behavior in more professional settings, they’ll just appear immature.  One of the joys of working in theater is that it can be a lot of fun, and humor and jokes abound.  But we are also in theater to put on a good show for the audience (not just amuse ourselves), and if joking will interfere with that, it's not appropriate.  If this is something your cast can learn in school, I think they'll be the better for it.     

81

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: TECHNOLOGY: Facebook photos and videos

« on: Aug 12, 2010, 10:07 pm »

If this is a non-AEA setting, I’d try to start a no-photos-during-rehearsal policy.  I don’t think you as an SM can or should  police what people do with photos once they are taken, but address whether cameras and camera phones are being used while you're working.  It is disruptive the process, and distracting if actors are constantly worried about whether they're being photographed.  You can also remind the cast that they should use good judgment and consider the feelings of the people in their photos before making them public. 

Can you clarify what you mean by a web campaign?  If this is something the producer is doing, taking rehearsal shots for publicity, they may not be aware that it is disruptive, or that some people will feel that it is invasive.  Hopefully they will be willing to lay down some ground rules, maybe put something on paper explaining what they want to shot and when.  They can set-up “candid” shots that will look better than just catching people off guard.  It might even be in the producers interest to have something in the actors (and production staff) contracts about photography, I’ve certainly had clauses like that for events I’ve worked on.

82

The Green Room / Re: unusual rehearsal spaces

« on: Aug 12, 2010, 09:50 pm »

I rehearsed a show in an old church gymnasium.  It was on the third floor of the church (no elevator).  It had an elevated track that we weren’t supposed to go up to running around the room about 15 feet off the ground.   It was a huge space, which was great for all of our props, set pieces, costumes, etc, but tended to swallow up sound.  No matter how well the actors were projecting, it was sometimes hard for everyone to hear each other.   

83

The Green Room / Re: SMNetwork's Resident expert in...

« on: Aug 12, 2010, 09:45 pm »

…public radio.  I’ve worked at three public radio stations, mostly engineering but occasionally announcing too.  I know what makes an underwriter different from a commercial, why a radio Traffic Manager has nothing to do with rush hour, and would love to explain to you why your local public radio station is not NPR (it’s an affiliate!), so please remember it's call letters.  But the on-air funddrives or "membership campaigns" are not my department :-)       

84

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

« on: Aug 05, 2010, 07:14 pm »

You could look at report covers with fasteners, or even file folders with fasteners that you can open and close.  Will the actors have music stands for the reading?  Maybe he'd be willing to let each actor figure out what works for them individually; some actors like to just keep their sheets loose on the music stand and hold one at a time (though yes, pages can get lost or out of order this way). 

85

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: SHOWS: What's the most controversial show you've ever worked on?

« on: Jul 21, 2010, 10:51 am »

Antebellum by Robert O’Hara.  This play has it all; transgendered issues, anti-Semitism, racism, homophobia, Nazis, southern belles, full male nudity by two characters, infidelity, classism, financial woes, pretty much something to offend everyone.  The producing theater is known for controversial plays, so usually the audience comes in braced for something shocking, and no one gets bent out of shape by negative comments.  Despite all the “isms” it touched on, the play was a love story at its core, and it was easy to get wrapped up in the characters at times and forget about their unique circumstances.

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The Green Room / Re: Being friends with other stage managers

« on: Jul 19, 2010, 07:00 pm »

There is often a very cold, vicious, -deleted- attitude when there is a whole flock of us together.  I find meeting one on one with another Stage Manager is often better.  But even then, there is a lot of name dropping, project hyping, breast beating going on.

It's just interesting to note - as I now live in a city with a HELL OF A LOT of stage managers.

So are you saying that's your NYC experience, or did you really find that to be the case in DC and other regions you've worked in as well?  I have not encountered that attitude in the SM events I've gone to, and certianly not in the SMs I'd describe as friends.  Sometimes the student/most novice SMs try a little to hard to get an "in" with SMs at bigger theater, but I wouldn't describe the atmosphere as -deleted-.  Hopefully you'll find some SMs to hang out with who are more down to earth!  I feel like SMs are great collaborators, so theoretically it would be easy for us to get along with each other.  But maybe that changes when you're among SMs whose main goal is to make it to "the top?"

(Edited for langauge ~Tempest)

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The Green Room / Re: Being friends with other stage managers

« on: Jul 18, 2010, 10:34 pm »

What I've found interesting, in the past 2 years, is that many of the stage managers I'm friends with in my age range (late 20's - early 30's) are starting to leave the industry ... or at least this specific field.  I have friends working in other industries, friends going to grad school in the arts, etc.  These friends I find myself seeing less and less of as they transition back into more "normal" lifestyles than the theater.

That’s funny, because several  of my SM friends at this point are actually former SMs,  or those who choose to SM only occasionally, or not in theater.  They completely  understand the theater world, but since they’re no longer up to their neck in it themselves, they’ve often offered me useful insights and perspective.   That also takes competition off the table with them, but I’m not really a competitive person to begin with.  I feel satisfied by doing my best work, not by doing work that is the best as compared to someone else’s career.  I like being part of a team in theater, and joke with the other stage mangers I’m close to that we are “Team SM,” so I’m happy when they succeed.  I’m also a big believer in career karma, that if you help someone get a job by putting their name on the table or forwarding a post, it will come back around to help you in the future.  I feel like it’s worked out that way for me a number of times.   I’m more likely to have a touch of career envy for SMs I don’t know personally, or I know them but don’t think they are good stage managers.  Then it sucks to find out they got a job I wanted and seemed equally qualified for.

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Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: Racism in the Rehearsal Room

« on: Jul 02, 2010, 10:23 am »

Of course you need to follow your conscience and speak up (calmly, non-confrontationally, in private) if the director says something that is truly over the line.  But if you’re questioning whether or not it was over the line, I’d give the director the benefit of the doubt here.  I think the comment was in poor taste, but I think defining it as racist is going too far.  The director may have said something out of character because he was trying to make you feel more comfortable or prepared, though clearly this approach backfired.  Calling the director on this remark before rehearsals have even started will probably make him defensive, and add tension to your relationship. 

See how the director behaves in rehearsals, and if you feel uncomfortable with future remarks, you can discreetly check-in with the cast to see how they’re feeling and go from there.  This may not be a totally accurate parallel, but what if the scenario was a male SM & director, and an all female cast, and the comment was “dealing with a female cast can be a bit like Saturday at the Hair Salon.”  Would you feel equally uncomfortable?  Would you shrug it off?  It may be worthwhile to consider what it is about his comment that makes you feel offended.

89

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

« on: Jul 01, 2010, 07:25 pm »

I am not so sure a college degree HELPS you get a job in stage management . . . I think it's the experience.  It may help you get an internship or those first few jobs, but after that - the experience you have in the real world is what is going to get you the job.  Might it be better taking the $100,000 + you were going to spend on the education, and put it in a savings account?  As a rainy day fund?

I think college can help you get a job in stage management, because it provides you with shows to put on your resume for those entry-level positions.  I wouldn’t underestimate the value of having a leg up for those first few jobs, especially as the economy worsens and jobs are scarce.  If you skip college and try to go straight to work, you’re still competing with lots of folks who do have that degree, are equally eager to work, and may be more mature after four years of figuring out who they are after high school. 

 Unless you’re one of the lucky few whose parents have an actual lump sum to give you for college, I don’t think the idea of just putting that into a rainy day fund instead of a college education is realistic. Isn’t that part of the concern about whether college is makes sense or not, that it may saddle 20somethings with loan payments their early jobs won’t cover?  Not going to college may mean you don’t have the debt, but it doesn’t necessarily mean you can just lay hands on that amount of money.  And your lifetime earning potential might be less because you lack that degree.

I think a four-year college education is still a smart move for many people, just as it has been in the past when the economy was different.  I think it makes sense to consider transferring from a community college to save money if you need to.  I think it makes even more sense to look at state schools that are more affordable than fancy BFA schools.  I’m biased, of course, but my relatively cheap SUNY Oswego education has landed me in the same jobs as Yale graduates. 

As others have said, theater may be forgiving of those lacking a degree, but that’s not as true in other fields.  And honestly, I think most SMs will end up in other fields or move on to different aspects of theater eventually.  I wouldn’t want to be unemployed today without a college degree; I think my resume would get passed over in favor of people with a diploma in addition to a similar work history.

90

Stage Management: Other / Re: Blocking Notation for Movement Show in Development

« on: Jun 01, 2010, 03:45 pm »

I would put the detailed notes in some form of "paragraphs" with headings like" walking in wind, mime". 
 

Yes, I find that in movement-heavy shows, we start to give sequences names during rehearsals “let’s take it from River Dance,” or “Everyone in Frog Line-Up” or “Prepare for Giant Mask Entrance”.  You can pick up on these informal names and use them as markers to break up the script, with more detailed blocking below.  You could bold these headings to make them easy to find.  You could also make bold headings related to the time on the music underscore or the sounds in the music itself; even if the moves aren’t based on sound or timing alone, these could still be useful reference points of when to start looking for a cue. 

When I’ve been involved in “non-traditional” productions, it’s not been necessary for me as SM to take train-the-replacement-worthy blocking notes; the shows are so organic that actors know their own moves, or the director/choreographer would adapt it for someone new.  You may want to do your best to take in the whole picture, and in tech you’ll note in detail the actions that have cues attached to them, working backwards to build a script that is callable for you, noting movements that are relevant to or leading up to cues.  If there is a real possibility of a re-mount, you can brainstorm ways to make a formal script, in collaboration with other son the production team,  once the show is set and opened.