Messages

76

The Green Room / Re: Tragedies and other space invaders

« on: Aug 11, 2014, 08:59 pm »

The first professional show I SM'ed was a production of Ain't Misbehavin', and we were in rehearsal when Michael Jackson passed away. I got a text from the music director from across the room, which alerted me, and I knew that when we got to a break and the cast checked their phones, we'd just be in the weeds.
Honestly, I just let the break extend to about 15, and then sort of gently reined it back in. They were actually more focused afterwards, as I recall.

77

Students and Novice Stage Managers / Re: Rehearsals: Giving line notes - a real novice question

« on: Jul 30, 2014, 06:44 pm »

I am worry about putting this all on to a computer - and here's my on my well worn soap box - a computer, by nature, and how we interact with it - is a multi-task machine - and putting someone with an open computer, you really have to fight staying focused on the task at hand (prompting / being on book / line notes). 

I don't typically type my line notes as we go through the run- I either do it while the director is giving notes post-run, or while I eat dinner, etc. I can't type AND be on book at the same time, much as I would like to. I've only once been in a process with the luxury of having one person taking the line notes while I typed them in real time, and then I got applause for handing the actors typed line notes within 3 minutes of the end of the run.
I prefer to type them because I type infinitely faster than I write by hand, which gives me the ability to be more specific/include more information in less space than handwritten notes would. I've tried printing blank line note forms and then filling in by hand, but I found that it was more time consuming and seemed to waste a lot of paper. It was also easier for a cast of 3 than a cast of 12- my table was consumed with piles of line notes for each actor.
I've never tried highlighting the lines in the script and then copy/pasting, but I might try that...

78

Students and Novice Stage Managers / Re: Rehearsals: Giving line notes - a real novice question

« on: Jul 29, 2014, 03:16 pm »

If you type up line notes then distribute them to the actors- do you email all the line notes on a single document to the cast, or do you email each actor individually with only their own notes?

I have an excel file that I use for line notes- the 1st column is the actor's name, then page #, "Error," then the line itself.

I type the lines in order as I go through the script, then sort by actor's name to group all of the notes for each actor in their own section. Then I hide the notes for all the actors but one, and either pdf it or copy/paste into the body of an email to the specific actor.
I start a new sheet of the document for each day's rehearsal that I'm giving line notes for, that way it's easy to go back over the previous rehearsals and see what they have been consistently missing.

79

Employment / Re: resume format

« on: Jul 10, 2014, 05:26 pm »

Well, that's exactly what I'm afraid of- I'm still working for the same couple of AEA theaters that I've done several shows with in the past, but now I'm working for them as an AEA ASM instead of a non-AEA ASM. I want to make sure that there's an easy way to tell that I've sort of moved up one rung of the ladder with the same company.

80

Employment / Re: resume format

« on: Jul 09, 2014, 12:47 pm »

Quick question as I prepare for the process of turning AEA and sending out new resumes to let all the companies I've worked for know that I've turned-

What does the hive mind think is the best way to differentiate between being on an AEA contract and being on a non-AEA contract on your resume? Particularly because I have done several shows with the same AEA company as a non-AEA ASM, and will now be working for them as an AEA ASM. I'm thinking an * with a note at the bottom "* denotes productions under an AEA contract" or something similar. Is that confusing?

81

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: RUNNING: Cueing people not on headsets

« on: Jun 18, 2014, 07:16 pm »

I ALWAYS have a "cue" column on my run sheet, even if everyone on the crew has a headset. It says what Maribeth & Matthew said in the above comments, but for every. single. thing. on the run sheet.
The SM does not and can not cue every single thing that happens backstage- that's part of being a good ASM. Sometimes the SM is cuing things but can't say "Sound, Lights, Projections, Rail, and Actors GO" fast enough, so even though you have a headset you might take a cue off a cue light. And because of that, if you get hit by a bus, whoever takes your place needs to know when everything happens, including the things that the audience never sees.
 
If you can only cross from SR to SL when the rear projectors aren't on, you have to specify that in your run sheet.
If you need to track a prop to it's next entrance, but can't strike it from the stage because of sight lines and have to wait until a character closes the door halfway through the scene, you need to note that on your run sheet.
If you need to preset a piece of furniture onto a wagon for it to come out in the next scene change, but the scene onstage is really quiet and you need to wait until the overture starts to cover the sound, you need to note that on your run sheet.


How I would phrase my made-up run sheet based on the examples above:

                      TASK                                                      CUE
Cue JOHN NT @ SR door (verbal "GO")                           SM "GO"
Cross over to SL                                                          Sarah "I love you"
Page SL curtain for SARAH XT                                       DS cue light
Reset CHAIR to blue spike in USL alcove                        John closes USL door

82

Students and Novice Stage Managers / Re: When to take HS off your resume

« on: Jun 16, 2014, 04:41 pm »

My college shows came off my resume about a year and a half after graduation, but I will occasionally still list some shows from college, depending on the job- I did a bunch of musicals then, but haven't done very many professionally, so if I'm applying for a musical I might add a few of them back in.

83

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: REHEARSALS: Fight Notation

« on: Jun 04, 2014, 05:18 pm »

Reviving this thread because I will be starting rehearsals soon for a show with A WHOLE LOT of stage combat- some with swords, some with other weapons, some hand-to-hand, and not all of the actors will be playing humans, which adds a whole nother level of difficulty...

I've never worked on a  show with fights that involved more than 3 characters, or where the fights were more than a few "moves" long. I'm incredibly lucky because we're doing 4 days of "fight camp" (open to the public for a tuition fee, the cast of the show will be attending for free) with the choreographer to give the actors a crash course in non-traditional stage combat. I'll be attending the fight camp as well, to work on notation and what to look for in terms of safety and maintenance.

My question for the SM hive mind is: anybody have tips on blocking notation in a melee situation? Like, 6 or 8 actors all fighting each other at the same time?

In college I was taught to notate a 2-character fight in a sort of 2-column chart, with one column standing for each actor, but that sort of goes out the window when you've got 2 actors jointly playing 2 heads of a dragon, fighting 3 other characters who are also simultaneously fighting somebody else.

Thanks!

84

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: POLICIES: Actors TOO Early for Call?

« on: May 23, 2014, 04:54 pm »

My only issue with actors arriving SUPER early is when they want things from me- if they want to come in and warm up or sit in the green room on their laptop, whatever, that's fine. I begin to get annoyed when actors show up an hour before their call time (which would be my call time as the ASM) and get mad that there's no coffee made yet (well of course there's not, it's the first thing I do when I arrive for my call and we walked through the door together, and it takes 10 minutes to brew...). The difference between "Is the coffee done brewing?" and "WHY ISN'T THERE COFFEE YET?!" is huge. I know how long it takes me to do my job for your official call time, and due to my day job and commuting time and lack of overtime pay, I cannot arrive 3 hours before the show.

85

The Green Room / Re: useful websites for life

« on: May 06, 2014, 07:49 pm »

So I know that in these digital times, everyone has a smartphone in their pocket and wifi access all over everywhere. But if you ever need to go old-school, here's a tip:
Auburn University (my alma mater, full disclosure) has something called the Foy Help Line, and you don't have to be an Auburn student to use it. You can call them, 24/7, from anywhere in the world, and they will answer any question you ask them. At this point it's basically just people Googling things for you, but it started back in the 70's with phone books and Encyclopedia Brittanicas. They'll give you directions, look up a phone number, or tell you who won the 1983 World Series. They've been featured on Oprah and The Today Show as one of the "5 numbers you HAVE to have in your cell phone."
The number is 334-844-4244. Use it wisely, friends!

86

The Green Room / Re: Was I out of Line?

« on: Apr 24, 2014, 09:04 pm »

Anytime, especially as a younger stage manager, you can make less about person versus person and make it PEOPLE versus the PROBLEM - you will come out better.

Defensiveness is a constant battle I fight in my stage management (and everyday life). I think this is really helpful, Matthew- not person vs person but people vs problem. I will have to remember that. Thanks!

87

Tools of the Trade / Re: Who builds your Qlab file, and how?

« on: Apr 07, 2014, 11:01 pm »

I have never built the QLab file completely myself. I am not a sound designer and would not feel comfortable building the cues myself in terms of times and levels.

However, in the theater where I worked where I ran lights, sound, & projections out of QLab, the sound designer (house designer/tech) would build the file and then turn it over to me to label, group, color-code, rename, etc as I saw fit so that my cue list resembled what Tempest described in the original post.

88

Students and Novice Stage Managers / Re: Learning how to read music

« on: Mar 25, 2014, 03:53 pm »

I learned how to read music by taking piano lessons as a kid, and I think piano is probably the easiest instrument to start with if you want to go that route.
I would suggest, though, going to a music store and seeing if they have any beginning piano or music theory books- like "music theory for dummies" or some other kind of self-teaching beginner's guide to music theory. The people at the music store would probably have some good suggestions, as well.
Maybe it's just the way my brain works, but I find music theory sort of soothingly logical. Everything has a meaning, everything has a purpose, and it's all very consistent. I'm a terrible musician but by golly I know my music theory.

89

Tools of the Trade / Re: SM App Price

« on: Mar 23, 2014, 12:56 pm »

The amount I would be willing to pay for something is directly correlated to how much the app does. If it's a one-function thing, I would say less than $7. If it were some kind of magical database-creating, form-auto-filling, time calculating, digital-blocking-script-creating wonder-app (that was also incredibly customizable and easy to use HAHAHA) I would pay a lot more.

90

The Green Room / "I am somehow responsible for arranging the donkeys."

« on: Mar 19, 2014, 01:35 pm »

http://www.newyorker.com/talk/2014/03/10/140310ta_talk_parker?mobify=0

Has anybody else seen this article in the New Yorker? How hilarious!