Messages

76

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

« on: Feb 26, 2010, 03:01 am »

I'm currently in rehearsals for a play which is going to cause more controversy than any other show I think I've ever worked on.  It's a (wonderful!) New Zealand play called Saving Grace - we open in a fortnight - and the entire theatre is bracing itself for the letters, e-mails and phone calls we're likely to receive.  We're producing it in our second space, which is programmed with more challenging groundbreaking works, and the audiences are aware of that, but I still think we're going to have offended punters. 

Essentially one character believes that he's Jesus Christ reborn (the play is very ambiguous and leaves the audience to make up their own mind about whether he actually is or not!), befriends an eighteen-year-old (mentally unstable and very disturbed) street kid, takes her in, convinces her he's JC (then goes to bed with her!) and persuades her to crucify him, onstage.  I cannot bring myself to watch her nailing him to the cross - and I've been there since day one and know how they've got to where they are and what they've been through to get there - and if I can't watch it, how many of the audience aren't going to be able to watch it?!

So what's the most controversial show you've worked on - and what did the public think?!

Edit added label to subject line-Rebbe

77

Tools of the Trade / Re: Taping a ground plan

« on: Feb 23, 2010, 11:29 pm »

I have a tape measure which has a metal loop at the end - put a drawing pin into the floor in the centre of the circle, hook the loop over it and use the radius of the circle as your measurement on the tape.  I usually mark out points around the circle (unless it's a small circle!) and then go back and join them up.  I did a production of Arsenic and Old Lace where we had spiral staircases on the set so I got very good at marking circles out!

78

Students and Novice Stage Managers / Re: Blocking using a score

« on: Feb 22, 2010, 02:33 pm »

I always call musicals from score I find it far easier to be accurate in calling than with the count system - but then I've read music for as long as I can remember.  However for blocking, I do just use a script with lyrics as otherwise you're turning pages much too often.   This does mean having separate blocking and calling scripts but it works for me!

79

The Green Room / Re: Olympic-sized technical difficulties

« on: Feb 14, 2010, 10:27 pm »

One (student theatre!) show I did we had a revolve mounted off-centre with three walls at 120 degrees built on it - there was a fixed wall running OP-PS so that the revolve walls essentially formed a corner when they were lined up with the fixed wall - gave us 3 different offices which worked really well.  We'd had a nightmare of a load-in - the guy who had designed and built most of the set lost his voice, so was busy writing instructions on pieces of paper for us, and installing the revolve took way, way longer than we had planned so it threw our scheduling.  Anyway, opening night arrived and somebody put a piece of furniture on the revolve in such a way that it couldn't turn 120 degrees clockwise, as it needed to for the next scene change - the desk would have hit the fixed wall.  So, with great presence of mind, the revolve operator said "no problem, we'll just go 240 degrees anti-clockwise and I'll go a bit faster" - it was a manual revolve.  What we hadn't noticed is that a piece of timber had come loose off one of the revolve walls - so when the op revolved it, it caught the fixed wall and pulled the whole thing down on the operator's head....fortunately it was very light and he was unhurt!  We had an unscheduled interval while we frantically pulled out the driver drills and stood the wall back up!

The worst one I've seen was Chitty Chitty Bang Bang on the West End - the car behaved itself (which from what I gather was quite unusual!) but the Childcatcher's cart did not....he rode it on, jumped off, sang a song and leapt back onto the cart, flicking the reins as he sat down....and nothing happened.  I thought "hmmm, that's odd...." as he flicked the reins again.....and nothing happened again.  Then two stagehands appeared and quite calmly grabbed the cart and pulled it off into the PS wing, completely unconcerned by what was going on - made my night!

80

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: PROFESSIONALISM: Have I overstepped the mark?

« on: Jan 28, 2010, 04:31 am »

Thanks for all the opinions - reading back I realized that I had actually left out one fairly important piece of information.  While the current show is a professional show, the audition in question is for an amateur production.  They do sometimes pay their leads, but generally only if they headhunt an actor for a show - if you turn up to audition, you're basically saying that you will do the show without pay.  In a fully professional situation I would have been much, much more hesitant about approaching the MD (who, by the way, I have asked not to forward the message on) as no matter how difficult the actor has been, I wouldn't want to deprive them of paid work.  I should have written this in the first place - apologies for forgetting as I do think it changes the situation.

81

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / PROFESSIONALISM: Have I overstepped the mark?

« on: Jan 27, 2010, 05:45 am »

I'm reaching the end of a 12-week run and have been having issues with one actor who constantly upstages, pulls focus, ad-libs and while his character is an alcoholic, he plays so drunk that you can't understand what he's saying.  I've had words with him, the director has had words with him and it's now at the point where it's going up to the CEO and artistic director (he's through-cast into the next two plays).  The rest of the cast are all incredibly frustrated with him, because it's all about him - no sense of ensemble or company, plus his backstage behaviour is less than satisfactory - we're constantly having to stop him singing along, talking and laughing loudly.  There has also been some other inappropriate behaviour but I can't go into details about that.

He's also auditioning shortly for a production with another company; the musical director is a good friend of mine and so I've e-mailed him to let him know of the issues we've been having because I think that if they're considering casting him, they need to know what he's like.  Of course, now I'm having second thoughts about whether I have overstepped the mark in passing this information on.  It's true that if you asked anyone in the company you'd get exactly the same story, but I'm still having doubts....what do you think?

Edit added label to subject line-Rebbe

82

Tools of the Trade / Re: Running Shoes

« on: Jan 19, 2010, 05:15 am »

If I'm backstage as an ASM or running crew, then my black work boots - I have a pair of Magnum Classics which I absolutely love - they have toecaps which are fibreglass or something - not entirely sure what but it means they're lighter than steel toecaps.  They're super comfortable, leather so they breathe and I can wear them for 16 hours no worries.  Only problem I have is that my current pair, which I bought in the UK, are wearing out and I can't find them here in New Zealand! 

83

The Green Room / Re: 10 things actors can do to get off to a good start with a stage manager

« on: Jan 15, 2010, 06:59 am »

10. The stage manager really does know what they are talking about.  If they ask you to do something, it'll be for a good reason, so please just do it - it's not a starting point for negotiation!

84

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: Anyone else using Google Sites?

« on: Jan 14, 2010, 05:45 am »

I've used Yahoo Calendar for online rehearsal schedules on and off for the last couple of years, and a lot of my actors really love it - mostly for the ability to immediately access the rehearsal schedule from a computer wherever they are.  I might have to look into Google Sites, I think....

85

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: Stage manager calling station

« on: Jan 05, 2010, 06:33 pm »

Chris is right - best to design one for your needs.  The essentials are a sloping lid to put the script on (which ideally lifts so you can store stuff underneath it), decent light so you can read the script, somewhere to put your pencil and maybe somewhere to hang your comms beltpack.  That's basically all that mine consists of - we don't use cue lights, my paging system is built into ring B of the comms, and my two monitors sit on monitor stands above the desk.  However, the prompt desk in another venue I worked at had the comms master station, a 20-light cue light master station, full backstage and FOH paging system and a built-in monitor.  So figure out what you need and build one that suits you!

86

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: REHEARSALS: prompting requests around the world

« on: Dec 31, 2009, 06:40 pm »

I get "Yes" quite frequently - probably more than I get "Line", and I think that's a reasonably common thing through New Zealand theatre.

87

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: How do you do your reports?

« on: Dec 19, 2009, 07:44 am »

I can't call a show without a pencil in my hand anyway, so I always have one when I need it!  I tend to make notes on a piece of paper which I keep stuck to the wall next to me; show times go on there as well.  Our show reports don't get e-mailed - we have a noticeboard that they're pinned to - so at the end of the show all I have to do is transfer notes and times to the show report sheet, fill in the house count which I get from the chief usher and pin the report to the board.  If there's anything serious, I'll usually make a brief non-descriptive note and send an e-mail to those concerned.

88

Employment / Re: Mingling With Other Departments

« on: Dec 14, 2009, 06:40 pm »

I've always been a bit of a jack-of-all-trades - originally I was planning to be a lighting tech but kind of fell into stage management.  I'm lucky enough to have a permanent full-time stage management job, but often within the company, if I'm not busy, I get loaned to the technical department for turnarounds.  I also pick up a bit of extra casual work with a local lighting hire company.

89

The Green Room / Re: Holiday countdown!

« on: Dec 02, 2009, 05:40 pm »

10% of holiday shopping done
Hopefully 4 days until my leading actress is back from illness and the understudies can go back to their regular parts
8 days until my ASMs switch over
15 days until my birthday (turning 30! eeep!)
20 days until the final show before Christmas

90

The Green Room / Re: Best one-liner from a performance report

« on: Nov 17, 2009, 07:24 am »

"Please can we have a new fake breast for Georgia - one of hers burst."  Said actress is playing a showgirl laced rather tightly into a corset and I suspect someone laced her in a bit too tight....