Messages

76

The Green Room / Re: Thread to vent about / Actors behaving badly / As haiku only

« on: Jan 29, 2011, 03:26 pm »

Backstage: Shut your mouth!
The audience can hear you
and not those on stage.

77

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: REHEARSAL: Sign-in Sheet for Rehearsals

« on: Jan 19, 2011, 10:55 pm »

I'll generally have a second attendance sheet on my person so that I can check off people as I see them, then double check the board at first call to see who is actually there.

That's a great idea! I'll have to start doing that! So obvious in retrospect.

78

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: Sign-in Sheet for Rehearsals

« on: Jan 19, 2011, 04:25 pm »

On a larger cast, or with staggered call times, or in a larger space, I found a sign in sheet during rehearsals to be essential. When I did My Fair Lady at a community theater last Spring, after about a week of nagging/reminding/asking pretty much the entire cast would sign in first thing when arriving at the theater for rehearsals. A few of the cast members were confused when the group's next show the stage manger did not do a sign in sheet until Tech Week.

79

The Green Room / Re: Happy New Years!! My Resolution is....

« on: Jan 02, 2011, 08:09 pm »

My goals this year are: Lose weight. Find a paying job.

80

Stage Management: Other / Backstage at the Nutcracker

« on: Dec 17, 2010, 10:14 am »

Here's an interesting article about a backstage cat herder for the Washington Ballet's Nutcracker.

Her job has been compared to herding cats, but for Donna Glover, it’s the mice that are tougher. They’re rambunctious. They step on one another’s tails. They’re at the point in their pre-tweens where everything makes them excitable, no matter how many times a grown-up tells them to calm down and stay in line. Same goes for the rabbits.

Full article at: http://www.tbd.com/blogs/tbd-arts/2010/12/herding-rats-backstage-at-the-nutcracker-5939.html

81

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / PROFESSIONALISM: What to do when you're sick?

« on: Oct 17, 2010, 11:17 pm »

So, in a community theater production a friend of mine is working (Honest, it's not me!) the stage manager called in sick for a performance on Friday night. The light and sound board ops ended up calling their own cues for the show, the two ASMs stayed backstage where they had been working. The show went on.

So, for community theater (everyone is a volunteer), a short run of shows (three weekends, 8 performances total), what should the stage manager do in the event the SM is too sick to be at the show? What else besides the standard "make sure the prompt book is in good shape?" Thanks for any thoughts about this.

82

The Green Room / Re: I can't believe I just had to do that...

« on: Oct 15, 2010, 09:15 am »

As soon as I finished my scene change, I grabbed a feather and some debris (confetti that seemed like a ceiling was cracking) and ran up

You didn't preset the feathers and debris? Why carry it every time?

Kidding aside, it's amazing what we have to come up with sometimes isn't it? Thanks for sharing!

83

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

« on: Oct 10, 2010, 09:38 pm »

I got into stage managing while taking theatre classes at the local community college. The reason I was taking the theatre classes so I could do better at my job of writing theatre reviews for my web site. Over the past five years of writing reviews I've learned: (1) leave immediately after a show so I can't be asked my thoughts right after a show; (2) never talk about the show within earshot of anyone involved with the show, or was in the audience of  the show, since the guy standing right next to you is of course the lead's brother; (3) you really have to know how the person will take your opinions; and (4) it's important to separate your comments of the production from your comments on the script.

"Nice church" is an awesome response.

84

The Green Room / Re: Why is it that...

« on: Sep 01, 2010, 03:04 pm »

(Picturing how evil playwrights sit down writing a play going . . . hmmmm, how can I make the stage manager's life miserable?)

Another good one . . . three act plays where Act 1 - realistic interior.  Act 2 - different realistic interior.  Act 3 - realistic interior, the same as Act 1.  (Playwright's evil laugh)

Cool, a new game for stage managers: Name That Show! My guess for this is: Noises Off.

85

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

« on: Aug 20, 2010, 09:18 am »

It seems with the prevalence of text messaging and other social media combined with cast and crew appearing to live on their cell phones when they're not on stage, the likelihood of a big name's presence remaining a secret is slim. Reviewers on the other hand will probably remain safely anonymous.

86

The Green Room / Re: Funny definitions

« on: Aug 19, 2010, 04:05 pm »

You can use my contributions, but I'm not working for free!

Immunonudity - the ability of a stage manager to walk around backstage and not be interested in ogling the bodies in various stages of undress.

Corollary: Clipboarding - the ability of a stage manager to walk around backstage while holding a clipboard in front of their eyes so they can't see the bodies in various stages of undress; generally at the will of parents who think you're a pervert for being backstage at all while their little darlings are changing their clothes.

87

The Green Room / Re: Funny definitions

« on: Aug 18, 2010, 04:07 pm »

Thank-you-itis: The inflammation of saying thank you to anyone who says anything to you. At the bank, the teller says "here is a deposit slip." And you respond with "thank you, deposit slip." or on the metro "more rain today." "thank you rain."

88

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: Watching 100% of the show.

« on: Jul 31, 2010, 08:31 am »

At the community theater level, I tend to tell the cast late during tech week that once we open I'll be watching different groups each performance. I still miss some sequences entirely during cues, but generally I'll be able to give feedback on how everyone is doing. It's always annoying through after 3 or 4 shows when I finally "see" someone for the first time and they're doing something nutty that wasn't ever rehearsed. That always leads to the "you didn't say I couldn't do that" conversation, where I have to respond with the "if you didn't do it in rehearsal under the guidance of the director, you can't do during the show." It is easier in community theater (usually) when the director is still around for a performance, but almost always the actor has stopped doing the extra bit they added.

89

The Green Room / Re: Why is it that...

« on: Jul 30, 2010, 09:54 am »

Why is it that the director can't watch all of the cast on stage at one time and tell when they are breaking out of character or otherwise doing stuff wrong?

90

Employment / Re: Websites

« on: Jul 16, 2010, 03:32 pm »

You should seriously consider registering your own domain name, and getting rid of the weebly.com from "your" site. What happens if the weebly.com people run out of money and shut the service down? All the contacts you make in the shows you work won't be able to look you up as easily. Less than $100/year for a great networking tool: your own site, not subject to the whim of a third party. Just a suggestion.