Messages

76

Employment / Re: Overhire?

« on: Nov 18, 2008, 11:24 am »

Should I bring my own wrench?

Yes, absolutely!

77

Employment / Re: Resume question--current show

« on: Nov 12, 2008, 10:05 pm »

I don't put current or upcoming productions on my resume until they've been put to bed...gives me something to talk about in my cover letter.

78

The Hardline / Re: The Ever Scrutinized Straight Six

« on: Oct 20, 2008, 10:08 am »

[I would love it if Production Managers or Administrations knew the AEA rules but I've yet to work at a theatre where the PM knew as much about the Rules as I did.  Be it LORT, SPT, Off-Broadway, or whatever, I've always had to explain rules to companies.  Rules that I thought were pretty standard.  Then again, I don't always know all of the rules either and anyone that's capable of memorizing the AEA Rulebooks completely must have a photographic memory.  I applaud such people.  But in the end, I think PMs, Directors, and Producers rely on the Stage Manager for rule explanations and interpretations 9 times out of 10.

In my vision of a perfect world, all Production Managers would have been Equity Stage Managers.

I'm not really sure what qualifies someone to be a production manager if they don't have stage management experience.

On the last commercial show I production managed, I easily knew the Off Broadway rules, as well as their implications and limits, much better than the PSM (and wouldn't have it any other way

For the record, I'm pretty much against straight sixes.  I find there is a much more productive rehearsal when the actors have a chance to recharge their energy and I have a chance to "advance" the rehearsal room.

(On most of the freelance stagehand/tech gigs I work, most of us charge a meal penalty if we work more than the first 5 hours without a meal break.)

P.S. Sit on one of the comittees working on porposals for negotiations and you will find yourself inadvertetnly memorizing much more of the rule-book than you would think.

79

Students and Novice Stage Managers / Re: Tech Rehearsal

« on: Oct 07, 2008, 01:01 pm »

I'm with Matt also.  There are lots of good reasons to avoid a Q-2-Q -- I beleive The Backstage Guide Management (Kelly) has a good and compelling discussion of this.

Even if I thought tech was not primarily for crew (I don't), I hope I wouldn't make that opinion known to actors who will be spending 10 out 12 hours rehearsing!

80

Students and Novice Stage Managers / Re: Script requests: Bye Bye Birdie Script!!!!!!!!!!! HELP!

« on: Oct 01, 2008, 09:33 am »

I just got a callback for the role of Conrad in the new National Tour of Bye Bye Birdie. I've never seen the show. Can you help with how I should read for the character?

Thanks alot!

Yes.

Think Elvis Presley (with maybe a touch of exagarated self absorbtion.)

81

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: Question For NY SM's

« on: Aug 26, 2008, 09:03 am »

Hey folks. So I'm coming to NY to do a show (with producers and a director who take themselves very seriously, as they should) which I'm really excited about.  Here's my major question-what's your general opinion on what you should wear in rehearsal?  I've been in very casual settings up to this point in my career (academia, fairly casual theatres in the Midwest) and am wondering if I should plan on dressing up more than I have in the past as these guys seem to mean business.  Just curious what "the standard" is.  Thanks for any and all opinions!

Is this a Showcase or a contract?

82

Students and Novice Stage Managers / Re: Question about entrance and exit flow charts....

« on: Aug 14, 2008, 01:49 pm »

However, I wanted to point out for those of us who have not yet created our own systems that one standard in reading charts is that time flows from left to right.

Flowcharts in general (developed for industrial engineering and used a great deal in software development) have the standard that time flows from top to bottom.

So do production/rehearsal schedules -- and even more closely aligned to the purpose of the charts above as I understand them -- so does the Production Analysis chart advocated in Kelly's Backstage Guide to Stage Management.

83

Employment / Re: I've offered the job but no response?

« on: Aug 13, 2008, 07:00 pm »

I think many of us have accepted a job via email -- however, email frequently does not reach it's intended destination.  If I wanted to make sure that someone has heard my offer, I would use the phone.

I agree with Matthew that 24 hours between making a offer and not hearing back should suffice -- I just don't think that sending an email offers any guarantee that your intended recipient will see it.

84

Employment / Re: I've offered the job but no response?

« on: Aug 13, 2008, 01:15 pm »

Person A has not responded to either of my emails since sending her resume.

Email should not surplant phone contact -- if you want to make an offer, I think you should do so by phone.

However, I think you're better off with a union ASM, even for a Showcase, and especially if it's Showcase with commercial aspirations.

85

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: Tips for Packing?

« on: Jul 16, 2008, 12:11 pm »

If you're doing a lot of one offs and two-nighters and such:  I like to have a biggish rucksack, bigger than a standard napsack for books, dedicated to  more than a day's worth of clothing and toiletries, seperate from my suitcases.  This saves me the hassle of having to check a full suitcase in and out every night and makes it easier in general for me to organize my personals.   (And can also be useful for day-off excursions.)

86

The Hardline / Re: Ensemble Studio Theatre in NYC

« on: Jul 15, 2008, 12:36 pm »

I believe that some of their productions are also produced under Showcase Code.

When I was on contract with them for one of their one act Marathons, it was Off Broadway LOA (not mini-contract).  As far as I can tell, their situation changes from year to year, possibly production to production.

87

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: THE PILLOWMAN- Some special effects help?

« on: Jul 09, 2008, 01:02 pm »

Please excuse my inexperience, but there is something about “fire” and “theater” that just doesn’t seem to mix.  I personally don’t think an open fire in any building can be considered safe (even kitchens can have problems).

There is a long history of controlled fires in theaters -- fortuneately these are not,  in modern times, dependent on your personal feelings but on local fire codes and standards.  (The original Broadway production of "Pippin", for example, depended on a live fire FX for the finale.  In my personal experience, we used real flames to light our fake joints and real lit candles to help set the tone in one section for the commercial Off Broadway production of "Summer '69".  One of my jobs was to precoat the candle wicks each night with lighter fluid in order to ensure that the candles would light with a minimun of fuss by the actors.)

To categorically deny the possibility of open flames in a theater is to turn one's back on several hundred -- if not thousand -- years of theatrical tradition and practise. 

88

Tools of the Trade / Re: The Blackberry

« on: Jun 27, 2008, 01:23 pm »

Also, sort of along this same vein, I've noticed that since I've been in NY, many of my actors and designers will now text instead of call to relay information, and I love this! It's so much easier to get a text that says "Trains running slow, I'm 3 blocks away" then have to run out of rehearsal to pick up the phone. Even my directors will text! It's really great.

I'd prefer to get a text than a call -- but neither are as good as actors and designers making sure they leave for rehearsal with plenty of time for potential lateness.  Tardiness in New York has increased exponentially with the increased easiness of alerting others that one is running late.

(This might also be partially due to the increased migration of actors, desigers, and other artists off the isle of Manhattan into Queens and Brooklyn, both located on Long Island -- but as someone who generally commutes from further east, my sympathy is limited.)

I would never run out of rehearsal to take a call from an actor or talent running late -- unless in the very rare case that it is impossible to do any work in this person's absence. 

I haven't yet been in the situation as a Stage Manager where I would find it particularly useful to the rehearsal process to be to able to retreive emails during the span of day that includes rehearsal hours.  (I rely on email much more extensively when I'm production managing.)   I could see it being very useful in event stage management, particulary corporate meetings.

In general, I see email as an distraction from the immediate needs of the reherasal room while rehearsal is in progress -- and I'd rather use my lunch to either eat and clear my head, or reorganize/clean up, or reset, or shop for rehearsal props or anything thing else that I think might improve the immediate lives of those in the room.

89

Employment / Re: Needing advice taking a job or not

« on: May 27, 2008, 05:44 pm »

Caveat: I have no NYC experience.  There may be good NYC reasons to go against the advice I offer.

Good advice follows -- no NYC reasons I know of not to take the gig and many for.

90

Employment / Re: AEA...to be or not to be?

« on: May 16, 2008, 01:28 pm »

In my opinion, one should not turn down a job that comes with the enticement of getting your Equity card.  Joining Equity is a positive step in creating a professional stage management career and resume.