Messages

76

The Green Room / Re: Steering your career . . .

« on: Feb 15, 2013, 06:47 am »

I think part of the control over your path depends on your finances.  Can you afford to say no to the jobs that bore you and wait for a better opportunity to come along?

If you are considering making a major shift- either geographic, genre or job -- you might need to accept lesser paying jobs to open up new paths.

If you can afford to make less (or no money in the case of longer gaps between jobs), you can take control.  Find opportunities to research your new path, network and/or take classes that can help you.  Apply for every job that is along the lines of what you want.

And, of course, tell people what you want.  You never know which of your friends or co-workers has a connection in your chosen city, genre or job.

If you can't afford to not work, then you can be stuck for a while.

77

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: TECH: Thoughts on paper tech

« on: Feb 14, 2013, 02:58 am »

I find a paper tech can be supremely useful for events.  When doing events with various special guest performers and/or speakers, one rarely gets to do a full tech-run or dress-run with all players and all elements in order.

Talking through the show with the director and designers can be invaluable for calling and running transitions and each act during an event.

As for paper tech on a show, I find that it normally happens by department rather than a formal full-team paper tech.  And as I now work primarily on circus-style shows with huge amounts of automation-- a paper tech for automated scenery and lifts is necessary given programming time. 

78

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: RUNNING: Prop/costume responsibility

« on: Feb 11, 2013, 11:58 pm »

You can never expect an actor to check their props . . . it takes a very special actor to walk through and do a double check.  But the reality is the prop person should set it, check, and stage management should do the double check.

As much as we want to believe that our casts will always check their important props, they won't always do it.  Even if they normally do check, there will always be the day that they don't.  I've even had MAGICIANS not check their own preset.

79

Students and Novice Stage Managers / Re: Stage Manager Pay

« on: Feb 05, 2013, 09:39 pm »

Stage Manager salaries can range from 99 dollars for a whole run of a show to 3000 a week.  Obviously the highest paying jobs are nearly impossible to get and extremely rare.

Only you can decide if its worth the time and effort. 

What about stage management do you like?  Do you need to do it full-time?  Are you willing to be unemployed or take another kind of job to make ends meet between gigs?

80

The Green Room / Re: The things we give up for theatre

« on: Feb 03, 2013, 08:22 pm »

I missed the Northeast Blackout of 2003 because I was on tour in Ireland.  My friends said that stores were giving out free ice cream in NYC!

81

The Green Room / Re: FACEWASH - clean up your facebook profile.

« on: Feb 01, 2013, 08:39 am »

Not bad but not fool-proof: it flagged my post about the Vagina Monologues (for obvious reason) and a page I liked about 'kinky' curly hair...not THAT kind of kinky.

Here's my question: if you're pretty diligent about keeping your wall set to Friends only and take a look at your profile periodically to see what it looks like in the Public setting, what employer is going to see it?

Given the size of this industry-- you might be "friends" with a potential employer or potential co-worker or potential boss...

82

Stage Management: Other / Re: Fitting Marley to different stages on tour

« on: Jan 22, 2013, 11:59 am »

I have in dire circumstances had to fold excess marley underneath and tape it all down.  It presents a tripping hazard is not good for the floor.  Sometimes, there is no choice.  You can also overlap pieces if necessary to avoid shrinking your size too much.  4 and 1/2 pieces is often better than 4.

The thinner your floor the easier both of these options are.

Be sure to point out any hazards (folding, overlap) to your dancers.

83

The Green Room / Re: Weirdest Item In Your Kit

« on: Jan 18, 2013, 09:45 pm »

An oral syringe (pet size).

I have it from a time that I needed to give my cat medicine.  I kept it afterwards for my kit and it has been used in several plays when actors need to shoot up.

It's fatter than a normal medical syringe so it reads well onstage and is not so fat that it looks fake.  It also has no needle, so it is totally safe.

Not in my kit but in my office- a jar of black paint labeled "Magic Disappearing Paint"

84

Stage Management: Other / Re: Dance First Aid

« on: Jan 12, 2013, 09:29 am »

If your company can afford it, buy Elastoplast.  It's kind of like a mix between an ace bandage and tape.  Dancers use it all the time!

85

Stage Management: Other / Re: Special Skill: Basic Rigging and Automation

« on: Jan 03, 2013, 09:31 am »

I have listed Automation Programming [basic] on my resume under Special Skills because I have programmed flying automated scenery (6 axes).

Additionally, in my cover letter I go into detail about the work I have done as a stage manager for shows with automated scenery, lifts, and flying/ acrobatic aerial aspects. (about 100 axes)

I love automation when it works well.  It can do things that people simply cannot.  However, when it doesn't work right, fixes are slower and way less organic.

86

December Madness I: 2012 / Re: December Madness Finals: Paper vs Laptop

« on: Dec 30, 2012, 10:55 pm »

So we've agreed that we're voting for either laptop-but-just-laptop or paper-but-just-paper?

In other words, a choice between doorstops and origami.

Can I have cell phone back?

I often make origami flowers with used post-it notes from rehearsal.  It's relaxing and it is guaranteed to make someone smile.

87

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: Stair unit transitions

« on: Dec 28, 2012, 10:57 pm »

Yes, I mean cheat sheet rather than how to spike.
There are some positions that repeat more than once, I'd say about 1/4. The rest are original, especially in Act 1.
At some points, because the moves are close together, the actors stay with the units rather than leave the stage.
There are walls that fly and track on, but there are far fewer of those cues.
There are no doors, just doorways.

I'm looking for a way for an actor to turn one page at a time without having to use both hands, without having to sort through several pages to find the correct one, and somehow for those pages to stay put together after they've been referenced. I was thinking pages in page protectors and 'velcro' without the velcro, since that would take two hands and be noisy).

Yeah, that's why I suggest the "reverse" calendar orientation.  You could do this with your page protectors and perhaps small binder clips at the top.

Staple the edge of the page protector to the wall (landscape orientation) with the first image/cheat sheet in the outer most page protector and the last one closest to the wall.  The actors see the first page, do the change and then flip that page down revealing the next change.

Gravity will keep the old pages out of the way. 

88

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: Stair unit transitions

« on: Dec 28, 2012, 06:52 am »

I think what you mean is a "cheat sheet" for the cast so they know where to move it to next, not so much a "how to spike."  Am I right? 

(Though the above mentioned spike methods are good)

Could you hide your scene change charts inside the door somehow?

Brainstorming here, can you write something in glow paint?  It could be visible in dark or dim light and disappear in stage light?  "After scene 3- move USR and rotate clockwise- purple spike mark"

If you go with the book-style idea (which could work) try a calendar format rather than book- it might stay put better.  Start with "december" for first shift, then pull down page to see next shift-- by the end of the play you are at "january."  You understand? Not using actual months-- just trying to explain how I would have it work.

89

Employment / Re: Pictures

« on: Dec 25, 2012, 01:16 pm »

Yes, jcarey, and I am EXTREMELY SENSITIVE ABOUT IT.

Won't you guide my sleigh tonight...

90

December Madness I: 2012 / Re: Community, Round 7: Gaff Tape vs Paper

« on: Dec 24, 2012, 04:55 am »

adding to the list...

rolling papers...

as props, of course