Messages

781

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: Autism-friendly performances

« on: Apr 14, 2012, 01:16 am »

I saw something online today that reminded me about this posting- it's about AMC Theatres doing autism-friendly performances. If you're still looking into this, you might look for a local chapter of the Autism Society.

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Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: Teaching someone to call the show

« on: Apr 03, 2012, 02:12 am »

I've subbed/taken over a number of shows I had no previous involvement with, and worked on 2 shows as an ASM that I ended up calling. I haven't trained someone to take over for me since college, so my experience is mostly from the the "trainee" side of things.

For theatre, my experience has been similar to the others who have responded- usually observing 1-2 times and then calling 1-2 times while the SM observes and gives notes. For dance, the company I worked with taped every performance. They would send me a DVD of the most recent performance and calling script, and then I would observe a rehearsal or two to see what changes were being made to the performance, and we'd have a few hours of tech to implement changes/re-cue the show.

The advantage of being the ASM on a show that you end up calling is that you already know the rhythm of the show, how each moment flows. You may not have seen the show from the FOH since you moved to the theatre, but you at least have a good sense of what to expect. You also will have a better sense of when something is wrong- if a key prop is not set, etc etc. (Once, I took over a show, and during the first performance that I called, there was a "brown-out" and the sound system shut down, killing the booth monitors. I couldn't hear anything happening onstage for a few minutes while the sound system was reset- and without knowing the show, I couldn't tell exactly where the actors were in the script. Luckily we were in a section without many cues, and the system restarted fairly quickly.)

I find that that first show when you're calling it being observed is the most informative, as there are things that you thought were clear while observing are less clear when you're the one calling it. 

Agreed! I've come to really enjoying taking over calling shows- which is fortunate because that's my summer gig this year!

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The Green Room / April Fools!

« on: Apr 01, 2012, 06:42 pm »

One of my actors got me at lunch today. She said, "Hey, I just wanted to check and make sure that everything's got taken care of for that Sunday performance I can't be at. It was in my contract so I'm sure it's all taken care of- just wanted to make sure you have it on the calendar and that plans are being made."

..........

She said that I got very still- I can't even remember what I said to her, but she definitely had me going for a minute!

784

Employment / Re: 'If this, then that'

« on: Apr 01, 2012, 06:22 pm »

Interesting- thanks for sharing! Not sure how many jobs I will find this way unless other "channels" are added, but the other automated tasks could be fun/useful.

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Students and Novice Stage Managers / Re: Suggestions on theatrical resumes

« on: Mar 30, 2012, 10:32 am »

Hi Amy,
Congrats on your upcoming graduation! There's a thread stickied at the top of the "Employment" board that has a long conversation about theatrical resumes- it has some posts about customizing your resume for the kind of positions you are applying for (stage management, props, etc).

It may also be useful to nose around the "Resume Browser", where other members have uploaded their resumes, and see what others have done in terms of formatting.

Welcome to the boards!

Maribeth

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The Green Room / Re: ARTICLE: Technology in Theater (projections)

« on: Mar 29, 2012, 07:37 pm »

Mac, thanks for the info. Someone showed me this clip a while ago and I've been curious about how much flexibility there is in such an intricately timed show.

The biggest problem with interacting with projection is the fact that live theatre can start to be a lot less "live" due to the rigid nature of projections. It is something that Cirque du Soliel and a number of other innovative companies are really keen on experimenting with using various sensors and motion capture systems to make projection dynamic.

A projection designer I worked with recently wanted to experiment with this- he wanted to try using the same technology that the Xbox Kinect uses to interact with projections.

787

The Green Room / Re: ARTICLE: Technology in Theater (projections)

« on: Mar 27, 2012, 11:47 am »

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qExGC7Lpc7g

Here's a clip of a production that uses projections and video to interact with the actors and create a 3D effect. I think the effect is pretty astonishing- I can only imagine the planning and prep that went into creating it!

788

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: Packing for a Summerstock

« on: Mar 26, 2012, 07:42 pm »

Here's the thread about packing for a tour- there are some great ideas for packing in general that might be helpful in your situation: http://smnetwork.org/forum/stage-management-plays-musicals/tours-tips-for-packing/

To avoid lugging a lot of books around, I think an iPad, Kindle, or other e-reader is a great idea. Or, if there is a public library system nearby, I usually get a library card once I'm there.

Will you have access to a kitchen? If so I would make a list of basic kitchen items to take, including a chef's knife, saucepan, and frying pan. Even if there isn't a kitchen, bringing some cups, plates, and silverware might be a good idea.

I spent a few months out of town twice last year- the first time I didn't bring very much, and the second time I brought a TV, my Nintendo Wii, my houseplants, and a bunch of other things to make the stay more "home-y". The downside to bringing more stuff was (of course) that you have to pack it all up when you leave. If you don't have a lot of downtime, it's definitely not worth it to pack the "extras". But, it's nice to have something to do with time off- read, knit, go running. Pack what you need to do something for yourself every once in a while.

An umbrella.

I second Loebtmc's "shoes" suggestion.

An alarm clock.

789

Employment / Re: Health insurance

« on: Mar 25, 2012, 03:36 pm »

I'd be interested to know about anyone else's experience with doing both theatre and opera, and how they manage their health insurance. For me it's one of the big disadvantages of not working exclusively in one field or another- I'd like to hear other people's perspectives on this.

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Employment / Re: Health insurance

« on: Mar 23, 2012, 01:19 pm »

I've edited the poll to include the option of purchasing insurance directly from an insurance company. Interesting to know that a bunch of SMs use that option!
Post Merge: Mar 23, 2012, 06:34 pmI get my insurance through AEA- when I have the health weeks. There have been times when I haven't had the weeks, usually because I have done more opera than theatre during a particular season and have gone without insurance, which I hate.

I also use AGMA's Plan B- for those who aren't familiar, it is essentially a personal medical savings account, which the company contributes a certain amount of money into per performance. You can get reimbursed from the account for medical expenses that aren't covered by insurance.

791

Employment / Health insurance

« on: Mar 23, 2012, 12:20 am »

Just out of curiosity, I was wondering how everyone here gets their health insurance. As a freelancing SM, health insurance and health weeks are fairly often on my mind- health weeks become a big factor for me when considering jobs. How big a factor is health insurance for you? Does you maintain another job so that you can get health insurance from them?

792

The Green Room / Re: "You get paid to do that?" - What's your oddest story?

« on: Mar 21, 2012, 09:01 pm »

For a recent show, we had to (literally) make porn. There was an amateur porn scene (which thankfully was not very graphic) written into the script, to be projected on the set. So we set aside a few hours to do the shoot, with the props department dressing the set, and the makeup person doing touch-ups between shots. I ended up holding up script pages as "cue cards" for one of the actors during the filming, and I had a moment of thinking "I can't believe that this is my job."

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Employment / Re: Career Goals

« on: Mar 21, 2012, 12:12 pm »

I do have a 5 year plan. It's broken down into shorter term goals (3-6 months, 6-12, 1 year, 5 years, long-term). The act of breaking down my long-term goals and putting them to paper forces me to think more clearly and specifically about how to achieve them. It makes them manageable for me.

The things on my "5 year plan" that really have helped steer me in the direction I want to go are these:
Skills to develop
What I care about in a work environment
Personal Goals

The "skills to develop" section helps me to be honest with myself about what I need to work on. Having these things written down forces me to be honest with myself about what kind of things I need to improve.

"What I care about in a work environment" is a list of values that I have and that I want the companies I work for to share. It helps me determine what kinds of jobs I should take- if a company doesn't share those values (like the need for a liveable wage) then I probably don't want to work for them.

In the "Personal Goals", I try and make sure that the things that are important to me outside of work are being taken into consideration.  (For instance, planning to take a vacation). It's the hardest part for me- to make sure that I'm looking out for myself as a person and working toward what I want out of life, not hyper-focusing on my career.

I think the act of writing these goals down forces me to think about them honestly. It can be a big factor in deciding whether or not to pursue a certain position ("Does this job help me advance towards where I want to go?"), or go in another direction.

I don't revisit the plan frequently, but every few months I'll re-evaluate, and see if my goals are being met, or if I've lost focus. Sometimes I've decided that what I've written no longer applies. But in writing this post, I've been looking at an old 5 year plan, and I can say that it helped me a great deal in deciding what path I want my career to go, and how to get there.

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Employment / Re: Choices to make: what would you do?

« on: Mar 21, 2012, 12:27 am »

I don't think that anyone is going to be able to tell you what the best option is for you, specifically. But, here's one way of comparing what these experiences might do for you.

I would make a list of what experiences are important to me at this point in my career. Are you interested in new plays? Is your short-term goal to work at the local big house? Or are you more interested in making contacts in a new market? What experiences do you feel like you are currently lacking? Have you always wanted to work with a particular director? I think you are already asking yourself a lot of these questions- you mentioned that you would like experience with a union crew, for instance. If possible, make this list of what you want out of a job without thinking about either of these jobs in particular.

Then, make a list of the benefits and negatives of each job, and compare them to your list of "wants". Making the decision might not be as simple as picking the option with the most "pros" or the least "cons", but laying the jobs out next to your long-term wants might help you make a decision.

Again, it looks like you've done some of this- I think at this point you need to weigh things for yourself and figure out which job best suits your long-term wants and needs.

The letting go without burning bridges should not be difficult. whichever you reject you just have to thank them politely and sincerely for the opportunity, explain you had a difficult choice but have accepted a different offer this time, and ask them to think of you on another occasion. While they may be disappointed they will understand. These things happen every day of the week. Then stay in occasional touch. Of these things are networks built. Just make a timely decision and dont keep them hanging on past their deadline.

Agreed. Politely declining an offer should not burn any bridges- it's just part of the business.

Good luck!

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Self-Promotion / Re: Teddy

« on: Mar 20, 2012, 11:38 pm »

Break a leg!