Messages

781

Employment / Re: Civilian Jobs?

« on: May 09, 2011, 11:09 pm »

Matthew's offhand comment piqued my curiosity so I did some quick poking into the member database.

Of the first 30 people who registered for SMNetwork who have not been purged, only 11 of them have logged in within the past year.  Now, we cannot gauge a stage management career by a visit to SMNet, but it makes a decent benchmark as to career longevity - especially when you consider that about 2/5 of all accounts ever created were deleted in one of the two inactive account purges.

Now, that being said, I heard an anecdote when I was in college that IBM had a hiring policy of deliberately targeting stage managers for middle management in the late 80's.  (I cannot verify this, but it makes a nice story.)

I have a short attention span when it comes to work projects - I think the main reason I enjoyed SM when I was still active was because of the sheer diversity of the job.  I can certainly remain focused on a task that interests me, but I have no need for closure or brand fidelity so I'm generally committed to about 5-6 projects at once, any one of which would suffice as a career for most folks, and none of which will keep me on board for more than half a decade.

Out of curiosity a few months back I made a list of all of the various stuff I've done 8 hours a day for love or money going back to 5th grade when I first had to file income tax.  I've had varying levels of success at each, but they all tend to use segments of my skill set.  Stage management was one of the few that used something close to 90% of my applied experience, although my current adventures in real estate come close and over time I'm sure real estate will exceed stage management in terms of random stuff I'll be able to say I did and got paid for. 

In the interest of answering the original question, here's the list:
 

• Greeting card designer
• Hospital volunteer
• Nursery school teacher
• Health insurance documentation author
• Theatre company owner
• Accompanist
• Flute teacher
• Piano teacher
• Sheet music shop clerk
• Stage director
• Stage manager
• Scenery carpenter
• Theatre electrician
• Costume draper
• Production manager
• Police dispatcher
• Bus driver
• Lyricist
• Executive Recruiter
• Strategic business consultant
• Office manager
• Dot-com accounts receivable clerk
• Restaurant accounts payable clerk/graphic designer
• Web designer
• Software instructor
• Leasing agent
• Systems manager
• Caterer
• Realtor
• Database engineer

Hopefully this will give you some examples to work from.  Oh, and for the record, I have a double BA in theatre & French but can't really say that I've needed proof of a degree in anything to do anything.

782

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: PROPS: Edible dessert

« on: May 08, 2011, 01:27 pm »

I think that really depends on your venue. I did food prop prep as part of my ASM track many times - the supplies were generally from the props budget but I would have to do the prep. I've done fake banquets, picnics, seders. I've also done laundry alone for a musical cast of 25 on a 6 week run.

If you're working in a union house it's likely that it isn't your job. If you're working non-union with no crew and no hourly? Then you're making dinner.

783

Employment / Re: Websites

« on: May 03, 2011, 10:39 pm »

Basic recs for Becca: (pretty!)

1. Lighten the background.  I can see a tiny color difference in your pinks and it currently just looks mismatched.  It's going to be very difficult to match your image background and the rest of the background perfectly, so try emphasizing the difference instead.
2. Get rid of the Vistaprint logo if you can.  (You may not be able to if they're giving you free hosting/free domain - in that case, get a new host. Please.)
3. When I click on "Resume" I want to see a resume on the screen.  You can provide the link to the PDF, but please at least give me some tabular highlights.

Basic recs for Cherie: (I like the split!)
1. on About in Firefox 4 the lower RH photo is obscuring the top row of text beneath.  Also, the links in that lighter RH area are the same color as the BG when unfollowed, making them illegible (and possibly putting you at risk for SEO damage - Google doesn't like invisible links.)
2. Optimize your bg images please.  Particularly PhotoGray_bg_c-1.jpg. It's loading slowly and making it look like it's being squeezed out of a toothpaste tube, particularly on the Portfolio page.  The latter page loads slowly as it is due to the massive javascript in the rollovers, so let's get the backdrop "flown in" more smoothly.
3. Out of curiosity, why are you redirecting your top level index to the cbt subdirectory? This can cause damage to your SEO if you're not cautious about how you do it.  (And yes, I know SMNetwork redirects to the forum subdirectory, but that's because there will eventually be something at the higher level.)

Cherie, there's a Firefox plugin called Firebug out there.  There's also (believe it or not) a plugin for Firebug called Page Speed, made by Google, which will give you pointers on how to speed up loading.  Some of it is really geek-speak but it was a godsend when I was trying desperately to put SMNetwork on a diet a few months ago.  Your site is petite and should be a rapid-loading little coupe. I know it's image heavy but I would expect the lag to come from the slideshows - not the background images and chrome.

784

The Green Room / Re: theater as religion

« on: Apr 29, 2011, 09:36 pm »

Oh my, this resonates but in very wrong ways.  I spent much of college focusing on the connections between mythology, ritual, archetype and performance. While I find their argument that theatre could substitute for religion to be intriguing, I think their approach in the article is too simplistic.  (Warning: I have a liberal arts degree and I occasionally whip it out.)

For one, while they did briefly mention the Greeks, they totally missed the most obvious historical and non-western connections between theatre and religion.  After all, theatre as we know it evolved directly from religious practices.  There is a direct evolutionary path from shamanistic ritual to classical Greek theatre.  They don't touch on mystery plays and the medieval morality plays.  They don't address the mask and puppetry traditions in areas such as Bali and the Pacific Northwest that are simultaneously performative and spiritual.  They completely gloss over the evolution of dance and the importance of it in multiple religious traditions.  (Of course, dance - I'm thinking particularly of capoeira here but there are others - also evolved from non-religious sources but so did theatre.)  Personally I would even argue that modern civil war reenactment is not so far off from ancestor worship.

I think that any situation where a large group of people behold a single source of information is bound by a common thread to all of its sibling events, but that does not mean that any one can substitute for the other effectively.  The three factors that strike me as variable are the malleability of the information, the location of the audience and the level of interactivity (for you semioticians out there, that is, the treatment of the liminal space/fourth wall).

Live theatre reinterprets its information differently at every iteration.  Much of theatre, excluding improv, demands a silent audience in a single location. It is rarely participatory.  Live sporting events and concerts provide a similar randomness of the information, as does "reality" TV, although the former requires a united audience in a single location while the latter disperses the audience globally.  Movies and television provide a solitary and unyielding interpretation with absolutely no unity of space for the audience - yet I would argue that the event continues long after the transfer of information has ended, through discussion about it between viewers from different locales.

Western religious ritual relies heavily on the perpetual reiteration of the same material.  It demands interaction but with varying levels of fourth-wall puncture.  At the High Catholic level there is connection between the congregation and the priest only at communion, but if you go beyond that into the gospel traditions or the more vigorous protestant religions the services are more of an improvised dialogue.  The perverse beast known as televangelism demonstrates that western religion does not mandate a common location. I have not attended services for any of the other "big five" religions - I've attended a seder and have heard tell of a Hindu wedding but I don't know enough about any of them to say if they uphold my thoughts here or skewer them utterly.

However, I think that each of these forms of ritual/performance could be considered necessary to a thriving culture.  But you will not necessarily see a Nascar fan enjoying the opera and you won't necessarily see an improv fan enjoying a baptism.  The consistent popularity of all of these types of spectator rituals indicates that each combination of information, location and interaction sates a different need.  Some might be able to conflate them and achieve satisfaction through substitution, and some might find their particular itch is better-scratched by theatre than religion, but in a blind taste test 9 out of 10 people will be able to pick out one from the other.

785

Stage Management: Other / Re: Transferring into Opera

« on: Apr 15, 2011, 12:36 am »

By request from moderator BayAreaSM, I'm bringing this back from the Archives for some new discussion.  It was first brought up five years ago, and addressed again very briefly at the end of last year, but I don't think we've fully covered it yet.

786

Tools of the Trade / Re: Drinkable Prop That Looks Like Oil?

« on: Apr 14, 2011, 02:49 am »

Autocrat coffee syrup. It's water and sugar strained through coffee grounds. About the same consistency as chocolate syrup but not so sweet. Available on Amazon and elsewhere in gallon jugs. (It's used to make coffee milk, among other things, mostly popular in Rhode Island.)

787

Employment / Re: To Break or Not to Break

« on: Apr 09, 2011, 11:25 pm »

I turned down an offer from Cirque du Soleil in order to stay out my contracts. 

Don't kill me.

In the pre-SMnet era, I was working on a very small show here in Chicago. We were in the middle of the run. This was around 1999, and I was the ASM/SBO. I had additionally just taken an offer to sign on permanently at a day job that had previously been a temp assignment.

Given that I was 22, had been in Chicago for little over a year, and had very few networking opportunities available to me, I was quite pleased that I'd managed to build up my calendar in the city and was booked on 3 productions through June of 2000.

With 3 weeks left in the run, it was only natural that Cirque would call on a Tuesday saying they wanted me for a floor manager position in Orlando by Friday.  I had sent in an app about five months prior on the premise of "hey, I speak French and can do tech, why not?"  In this case it was not only "do I break the contract" but "do I break my life" to go join the circus. Besides, I loved Chicago already. So I turned down Cirque in exchange for finishing up a tiny little show for a company that no longer exists.

Watching this thread over the past few days has made me wonder what would have happened if I'd said "what the heck" and upped and moved down to Orlando that week. At that point we were two years away from the creation of SMNet, which evolved out of my own needs as a freelancer in Chicago.  I'm sure something like this would have sprouted up eventually in someone else's hands, but I have no clue how it would have evolved.  It's one of those time machine moments that you see in sci fi movies, where someone drops a candy wrapper and 200 years later everyone has beaks.

Good topic as usual, Matthew!

788

Uploaded Forms / Electrics Inventory Chart

« on: Apr 05, 2011, 08:28 pm »

Submitted by an anonymous contributor.  Sometimes a SM works in a situation where the lighting designer doesn't come in until a week before the show opens, and the technicians don't come in until the night before tech to hang the show.  In such situations, it behooves the SM to know what the physical lighting situation really is well before they arrive.  If the venue rented your production company 100 instruments but only 75 are in working order, you may have severe lighting problems that can't be fixed in the few days that the lighting designer and technicians have to open the show.  So the SM inventories the lights, lets the producer know what the problems are, then hands the schedule over to the lighting designer and technicians when they arrive.

The MS version is Word with an Excel chart inside.  PDF version included as well.

789

Students and Novice Stage Managers / Re: Student SM Challenge #12+1: The old switcheroo

« on: Apr 01, 2011, 09:52 am »

Yes, the faculty director is present but focusing his efforts in trying to get Ben unsuspended.

790

Students and Novice Stage Managers / Student SM Challenge #12+1: The old switcheroo

« on: Apr 01, 2011, 12:53 am »

At the inspiration of mod squad member Maribeth, I'm reaching back into the vaults of my own high school years for this new Student Challenge.

As always, student challenges are meant for those who are newer to the industry.  Experienced members, please remember that we're talking about school and amateur environments here and yield to the new kids.

So here's the scenario.  It is November.  You are in high school.  You have been in rehearsals for the fall play since September and just opened your show this week.  It has four performances this weekend and four the following weekend.  It is Friday, you opened last night.  This afternoon there was a pep rally for the football game, also scheduled to occur this weekend.  Your lead actor (we'll call him Benjamin) chooses this particular time to walk out into the middle of the gym floor, sit down and start chanting against the current war in Syrilibganistania.  He is, of course, hauled off and suspended immediately. He is not going on tonight and chances are very good that he will not be going on again until next weekend.

While the rest of the school freaks out collectively over the antics of Benjamin, you've got bigger fish to fry. You've got a show tonight, tomorrow and Sunday - minus one lead actor. Fortunately, someone knows a guy who knows a guy who's got some time on his hands and did a show once at the local JCC.  Your challenge - get him trained up and get the show up without Ben.  Tonight.  It's 2pm. Curtain is at 8pm.  Your crew is... less than focused, but present and aware of the situation. Please, student stage managers, tell us how you'd solve this predicament!

791

Employment / Re: Taxes for independent contractors...

« on: Mar 27, 2011, 12:57 am »

As an IC you'll want to deduct as much as possible from your gross - you'll really want to seek the advice of a pro as the legal deductions change from year to year.  If your accountant has a preferred software program, use that.  Otherwise, just use Excel and track anything and everything throughout the year that could be deductible.

792

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / PERFORMANCE: "Dear Abby" - Shows without swings

« on: Mar 26, 2011, 11:08 am »

The following question has been submitted to me by a member who wishes to remain anonymous. I am posting on her behalf.  Please respond as you would normally.  The original poster may reply by filtering the replies through me.

I am currently working on a musical with a cast of 21 at an Equity   theatre.  The run was scheduled for 4 weeks, plus a possible 2 weeks of   extension, which means we were under the number of weeks that AEA   requires the producer to hire understudies.  The producer made the   decision not to hire understudies or swings due to budget constraints.    During the rehearsal process, it became clear that the show would most   likely have to be cancelled should an actor have to call out.  The   producers chose to hire understudies for the 3 principal roles and   covers for the specialty bits using Non-AEA actors from within the   company (blessed by AEA), which means I would be down one performer   should someone call out.  The director and choreographer were aware of   this (though not necessarily happy with) this solution. 

Flash   forward to Thursday of this week.  We had a student matinee   performance.  I had an actor out, which was planned, and another actor   whose car broke down, which was, of course, unplanned.  With an   emergency cast meeting, we were able to work out covering both tracks   and started about 10 minutes late.  Then an actor was injured during the   show in an accident completely unrelated to the fact that we were   missing two people, so we had to stop the show.   I was already down two   actors and I convinced management that continuing the show would be   unsafe, so the show was cancelled.  Management offered the schools of   variety of options to compensate for the cancelled show, including the   possibility of adding a student matinee to next week’s schedule since it   was currently only being sold as a five show week and not an eight show   week. 

Sales was supposed to wait to add the performance until   after a poll was taken of the actors’ availability.  However, they added   it anyway.  The poll of the actors’ availability reflected that there   would be two actors unavailable.  One of the actors has a specialty   bit.  The other actor covers that specialty.  Management called to   consult me.  Their initial reaction was to hire an actor from outside of   the company for that one performance to cover both women.  Based on the   short time frame and the physicality of the show, I did not think that   this option would be something that we could accomplish or something   that would be safe for the actors.  It was then decided that another   actor from within the company would be chosen to perform the specialty,   my dance captain and I would create a track that covered both missing   women and we would hold a put-in rehearsal to implement these changes. 

My   dance captain and I spoke with the choreographer and director to ensure   that the choices we were making fit within the artistic framework that   they had created as much as we could when missing 2 of the 6 women in   the show.  They were livid.  They spoke with the producer and brought up   a number of valid points as to why this is a bad idea.  However, the   producer is moving forward with the student matinee.  The 19 actors who   are available for the performance have all signed riders agreeing to the   student matinee and we have scheduled the put-in.  With these   parameters, I can deliver a show that is as safe as possible, but it is   not the show that the artistic team created though I’m trying hard for   it to be close.

What would you have done differently in this   situation?  How do you make the choice between when your loyalties lie   with the producer, the director, or the cast? 

As a side-note, the producer has acknowledged that they should hire swings on future large-scale musicals.

793

Employment / Re: Taxes for independent contractors...

« on: Mar 25, 2011, 01:37 pm »

FWIW, I have been an IC for the past decade. The way I handle it is somewhat convoluted but works for me. As always, compare this advice with what you get from an accountant (and in this case, an attorney) before choosing how you want to proceed.

Originally I paid my taxes annually.  This had several drawbacks, though.
1. the $3000-4000 bill in April, which is usually my slowest season.
2. After deducting everything possible to lower my tax bill, my annual income levels according to my tax returns were too low to be considered for other things that require tax records - like getting a mortgage/car loan.
3. Very very difficult to remember to save money aside for taxes.

I tried very hard to pay quarterly. I always forgot.  Even when I put it on my calendar.

So.  Last year I incorporated myself as an S-Corp, with myself as the sole employee. All paychecks that I receive for IC stuff now go to my company.  I then pay myself a monthly salary using a payroll service. (I use paychex).  I pay $39 per month for the service, in exchange for which they direct deposit my "paycheck" into my personal bank account, pay my payroll taxes & income withholding, unemployment taxes, Medicare and Social Security.

Bennies for me:
1. Employers are generally happy to write a check to a company (as a vendor) instead of to an individual as they don't have to report it as 1099 wages.
2. I only pay myself monthly what I need for my personal bills.  This meant that I had $7000 to spare in my business account at the end of last year.  I had to pay corporate income tax on it but did NOT have to pay personal income tax, SUTA/FUTA/Medicare/SSI on it.  I saved a few hundred bucks this way.
3. I get a single W2 - from myself - instead of a gaboodle of 1099s.

Annoyances:
1. Incorporating and setting up the separate bank accounts is tricky.
2. Can't just transfer funds from my business account to the personal account to "escape" taxes - it actually complicates matters.
3. I have to budget for myself monthly, as if I don't pay myself enough I'm up a creek.
4. I have to pay SUTA/FUTA (unemployment tax) which I normally wouldn't have to do if filing as an individual.
5. I have to file both personal and corporate income tax returns.
6. Even though I'm incorporated, in my state (IL) I'm not eligible for corporate health insurance plans since it's a one-employee company.

Bear in mind that I only did this because at the time my income was going up to levels where taxes were getting to be onerously high.  I've chosen to diversify my business this year and my income will take a major hit for it, so the whole rig is almost excessive this year, but I'm still quite grateful that I did it.

794

Homework Help / Re: Deadline February 1, 2011: Stage Mangement

« on: Mar 22, 2011, 10:12 pm »

Thanks for reporting back! Looks like it's time to lock this one.

795

The Green Room / Re: Too big for our breeches: Server update and poll

« on: Mar 21, 2011, 07:10 pm »

You're very welcome!  And Thank you to everyone.  I cannot say it enough.

We're 24 hours away from the close of the poll, so I wanted to give everyone a brief status update.

Despite the votes in favor of Google ads, the underground donation movement wound up winning.

At this point 29 very generous stage managers have donated.  We have raised the entire $450 needed for the next 12 months... and $422 of what we'll need for the following year!

I am completely and totally floored by all of this.  Seriously.  You guys are the best membergroup an admin could hope for.

At this point we are completely moved over to the new server.  I'm noticing that it's markedly faster, and have therefore gone ahead and reactivated most of the stuff that I'd suspended last week, like calendar and chat.  If you guys notice any weird behavior let me know.  A few folks in far reaching corners of the world might not be seeing the new site just yet, it can take up to 72 hours for domain moves to take effect globally.  Once we're past that point I'll go ahead and terminate the old hosting plan - with relish.

As I mentioned earlier, I will also be implementing a "Preview of coming attractions" feature that donors will be able to use to promote their shows and charities of choice.  Donors have received PMs explaining how it will work.