Messages

796

Students and Novice Stage Managers / prompt books

« on: Mar 13, 2006, 06:18 pm »

By law, the prompt book belongs to the company. In many shows, it is in the contract signed when leasing the rights to the show, that the COMPANY may keep ONE copy of the script, in the form of a prompt copy. Most companies will not let the prompt copy go, and will insist on keeping it.

Before I turn my prompt copy back over to the company, I shred all private documents (including medical forms), and if the company provides a photocopier, I will copy the entire thing. If not, I bind them using legal ribbon and keep my folder for another day (A decent sized four ring binder is extreamly hard to find and certainly not cheap)

797

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / The SM times are a-changin'?

« on: Mar 12, 2006, 08:42 pm »

My experiances with university level work as always been in union theatres (union as in student union, not AEA), where all but the venue technician and artistic director are students.

my other experiances in the education industry have been from outside of the organisation, more specifically as either a brought in grader or assistant 'professor'.

Most 'student' theatres I have worked with have an average run length of a week, maybe 2. Maintenance of artistic intention is not overly important then.

The shows I have graded or been AP on, all rehearsals were after hours, during lunch etc and as such, the SM usually colaborated with the 'supervising authority' (ie grader, the professor and assistant professor) and provided one of us could attend, things were rosy.

ps. all three positions reviewed each student, discussed them, graded them, and then the grades were averaged. Supposedly this gave a 'truer' grade

798

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / The SM times are a-changin'?

« on: Mar 12, 2006, 04:38 pm »

I think it must be that these courses are not teaching it, or that many SM's do not realise that this is their job.

During a short run of one or two weeks, I usually dont bother that much with maintaining the artistic integrity of the show, but the longer shows, hell yeah, it is a big part of the role.

IIRC the standard SM contract for equity includes under the role description something about "Maintaining artistic integrity" (my terms, probably not equity's), but since I am an aussy who does not 'do' union shows...

799

SMNetwork Archives / help! advice, listeners, something!

« on: Mar 10, 2006, 05:41 am »

Primary School? it's high school.

I am talking about where she taught before, not where you are now ;-)

and i'm just a student who assistant stage managed my freshman, sophmore and junior year and moved through the ranks until i was a senior. that is how Syd did it. i would get 3 years of shadowing, then take over and train the next junior. i have talked to her. she just sees me as a student who has no freakin' clue what i'm doing becasue i've never worked with her before.  have ADD, and have cronic depression... she doesn't trust me. the only people over her are the administration. did you Stage manage in High School mc? the drama teacher called all the shots... i'm just her guenia pig she's trying out the new year with. i'm just not used to how she does things. sorry. i'm ranting now. it's just that she won't listen. i have talked to her. i did at the beginning of the year. at the start of the school year when she started not to listen to me i did go to the administration and voice my concerns. i did talk to her yesterday. and last week. i'm still the SM because no one else will do it-- and because i love SMing. it's just hard right now with her.

I will respond to this in one block. Never suffered from the ADD on my record, but extreame depression and suicidal were both on my records by age 14, so I know at least some of the stigma attatched. I did stage manage in highschool, but our drama department was small and I was basically the crew+stage manager+whatever. I did my first pro shows at about 16 too.  Now you mention the people above her are administrative - there are a few things that appeal to them (I learnt this during my stint as head of the student rep council) - whilst your complaints on a academic level will certainly work to a certain extent, you have to play on their administrative senses, things like money or the schools reputation - for instance, my school prided themselves on their music program. We had an incompetent director of music for a couple of months. By playing on the schools pride in their music program, we had administration talk to the director, and things improved a bit.

I gather they take a little bit of pride in the program. The other thing that works is to gather up everyone who does not like the methods of the director, and go straight up to the administrators and request a meeting to outline your concerns. The voice of a lone student can be swept under the rug, but have a number of voices chanting the same message at once and even the deaf will hear your arguments.

800

SMNetwork Archives / help! advice, listeners, something!

« on: Mar 10, 2006, 02:33 am »

But HAVE YOU TALKED TO HER!

In Primary School (or whatever it is called over there), things are much different, as you said. You need to sit her down and explain how things work - really, you should have ensured that you did this when she first came on board - I am not saying this is your fault, in fact, she should have approached you from the start. As for her incorrectly assigning duties - EXPLAIN TO HER. In primary school, AD is basically the SM. I know they are completely different in the real world, but there is not much you can do about that is there, because to students, AD sounds like a better title.

801

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Tieing actors up onstage?!

« on: Mar 09, 2006, 06:00 pm »

Generally, this is how I would ask to see it done:

Start with a long piece of rope. Bindee has both hands placed behind the chair back. Binder places the tail end of the rope in bindee's hand, then wraps a few times arround the wrist. Binder continues to create loops arround the chair, moving from the bottom UP - NO CROSSING OVER (Very important). When they reach the top, bring the rope across the chest, and arround to the bindee's hands behind the back where the bindee actually holds the other end. In the event of an emergency, the bindee can drop both ends of the rope, which can then be quickly pulled off by another actor, or worked out of by the bindee.

802

SMNetwork Archives / help! advice, listeners, something!

« on: Mar 09, 2006, 02:59 am »

Talk to her.

Have you had grief counciling? If not, approach the faculty head, or whoever and request it - the new director may need to talk to the councilor too, so that she can be advised as to the best course of action to take. She may have assumed you had all had greif counciling (which is standard operating procedure in my book when dealing with the loss of a cast member or crew member, I have lost 4 people in theatre over the last 5 or so years, 2 were in a car crash together, 1 died of a stroke, the other was HIV positive and was getting too sick to be able to work on the show). The FIRST thing we did was to get a grief councilor and make them available for everyone.

803

SMNetwork Archives / Spike Tape Problems

« on: Mar 08, 2006, 02:52 pm »

Spikes have their purpose - My main spikes are for actors though. Many actors seem to have a strange problem of not being able to find the mark where the lone special (profile lantern) is shining for their 2 minute monologue. A small X and they are in the right place every time. I do a hell of a lot of spiking - most of it is not there when the curtain goes up, but as an LX designer, I know how handy a well spiked set can be for rough focus. It also helps the crew learn positions. Then just before we tech, I rip most of it back up and use it as a medium velocity projectile weapon to use on the director when s/he tries to make comments during tech.

804

SMNetwork Archives / help! advice, listeners, something!

« on: Mar 08, 2006, 05:59 am »

Seems like a mixture of two things - grief and the fact this new director is an idiot.

Is there a solution? First talk to the director - they may be feeling insecure due to the fact they are going to be measured against another director who died, combined with the fact they are new - try being supportive and making a few suggestions. If this is not the case and the director really is a moron, go to the directors superior, and lay down your concerns.

805

SMNetwork Archives / Re: I used to act..now I work

« on: Mar 07, 2006, 08:42 pm »

Let's start from the top.

I consider myself a convert.
After 12 years of acting I am stage manager for David Ives' "Lives of the Saints"

Welcome to real work!!!

Now I know how the play actually gets put on.
Here is what I am dealing with:
A director who micro-manages SO much that he jumps up on stage to direct his actors between ever three or four lines... He goes so far he even tells them what inflections to use when saying words. Works with Shakespere but NOT needed with Ives' "Saints"

As director, that is his right. The simple answer is DEAL WITH IT! On a more indepth note - Have you provided a 'No Change' date to the director? If so, let him do what he wants, and then when the No Change date comes to pass, give him a note pad and tell him that the show really needs complete runthroughs without intervention and that he should take notes which he can give to the actors after you break scene.

A cast that is so double cast within the separate roles that when one is missing me and my crew are tossed into the mix to read for them..btw the director blocks us even though there is no way we'll be doing this role.

Again, just deal with it. Directors are excentric. I think I have mentioned this tale before, anyway - I am male, and I have been forced to appear on stage, AS A FEMALE, for one show because the actress was sick - now that is not in my job description - but I knew the show, and I could be convincing to a certain extent. And it is not unusual to be used in rehearsals as a stand in. The directors blocking of you may be as much for him as for the casts benefit, so he can see the interaction.

A crew that insists on talking to the director for things they should be talking to me about which results in the director chewing me out.

Ummm Crew? or Designers? From what I can see, you are not yet in dress - what the hell are your crew doing there before tech?[/quote]

A light tech that never shows up, and thinks he can figure it out once dress rehersals have started.
A sound tech that is AWOL and the director insists that if this is the case the sfx should be done live... this includes three gun shots, canned laughter and a car chase scene done by a television...

Okay, dealing with these two as one - I have been in both positions frequently. First and foremost - NOT lighting TECH or sound TECH. Lighting DESIGNER, sound DESIGNER... That said - ld's do not need to attend many rehearsals - often one or two just before tech is all they need - and that is just to get some people placement. The majority of the design is done through colaboration with set design (during production meetings).

Sound designers - same thing. I usually attend a few rehearsals, but it is not unusual to design a show sight unseen.

A set designer that will "get around to it" when it comes to building a prop that is crucial to one of the plays (A talking washing machine that has to swallow someone)

A set designer has the job of getting the set ready by tech - they do not have to provide them for rehearsals. That is why you have working props - get the specs for the device and find something to 'Make Do'.

I've developed a serious twitch in my left eye and an obscene hatred for the director who was once a close friend of mine.
I love this job and thank goodness for this site, I was on the verge of a nervous break down and reading through this I know I am not alone in the world. You are all celebrities to me, can I get some advice on how to fix these problems?

Oh yes, and yesterday our clumsy director knocked over and shattered the martini glasses used in one of the plays. When I commented how I was going to go shopping for a replacement he said they weren't important... It is taking all of my patience not to kill him. 8O

Okay - First things first - I dont want to be rude, but step back and look at your problems - they really do not matter. Provided you are confident that the designers will pull through, that you are confident that actors will perform well, grit your teeth and bare it. I think you have fallen into the trap many first time SM's fall into - in that they believe they need to closely oversee everything. During rehearsals, your main focus is actors and director - you meet with the production team etc every so often, but your focus is on the actors and director - hell, until tech, most of your crew will be unknown faces - except for the designers. Then bump-in comes arround and you become all about the crew and designers. It stays like that until dress, where whilst your focus is still primarily crew and designers, you add actors into the mix.

You are largely there to cater to their artistic whims whilst still maintaining show integrity. It is a pain some times, but you just need to let it go.

806

SMNetwork Archives / on the other end of the headset spectrum

« on: Mar 07, 2006, 02:30 pm »

one of the other reasons for not blocking all signals is emergency signals, such as police medical and fire. many doctors will come to a show being on call, and need to get a call for emergency basis only.

I am sorry, but the NO MOBILES policy is BLANKET. NO MOBILES. Standard Operating Procedure is as follows: Doctor is on call - they are to tell the FOH staff upon entering the building. Doctor does one of two things - gives mobile to FOH staff or has emergency calls diverted to the theatre phone. Doctors seating is arranged to be on the isle side and the location noted by the phone. In the event of an emergancy a member of the FOH team retrieves the doctor without interuption to the performance. Most doctors I have seen are fairly good about it, they come up of their own violition and 'register' themselves with FOH.

I don't know if you have ever routinely worked with cans in a location where people are talking on mobile phones, but it is not fun. Especially when you are listening to 4 channels of it with the volume turned up because there is a lot of stage noise.

807

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Dealing with stress

« on: Mar 03, 2006, 06:21 pm »

I am lucky enough to have a small, quiet japanese Zen garden near by, and often take a few hours during a really busy time to just sit there and, well not meditate per say, but just sit down, drink tea and let my mind wander.

Usually stress is caused by the chaotic nature of everything arround you, so it often helps to give yourself some form of ritual activity during the day - for some people this is a sit down breakfast or dinner with the family at a specific time every day, for others this may be having tea at midday, it may be your daily 'beauty routine' or whatever.

A lot of people recommend things like stress balls - whilst I have a few myself, I find they are a quick fix and do not actually releave stress, but rather supress it.

I think the oriental countries like China and Japan have some really good methods for the release of stress. A relgion which centers largely on obtaining spiritual enlightenment through being 'at one' with ones self is reflected in their culture. Unlike religions like catholocism within which your spiritual enlightenment is found through abject devotion to a divine being. No offense to christians as a whole, but I think that the oriental (ie buddhist) method of finding enlightenment by first finding yourself is a far better basis for a religon. (I am not religious, and do  not want to turn this topic into a relgious debate, just stating my observations as one who respects all religions and peoples right to believe in them, yet quietly says "I am fine not believing in any one faith or the occurance of divine beings thank you very much")

808

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Gender and Age Issues

« on: Mar 01, 2006, 04:33 pm »

Wow - you put up with it a hell of a lot longer than I would have. After the second time that he contradicted me, I would have told everyone to 'excuse us for a second' and dragged the prick away and told him that his input is neither constructive, nor appreciated, and that if he knew half as much about the running of the show as you did then he would know that you are perfectly right. I would also tell him that his gender bias is ridiculous and petty, and there is no room for children like him within the workings of the production. So if he does not have anything constructive to say, he can leave now.

That is just me though. I hate the politics in theatre (it totally ruins it for me) and have taken a zero tollerancy to it within my shows.

809

Students and Novice Stage Managers / Frustrated with a Inexperienced SM taking over

« on: Feb 28, 2006, 02:46 am »

I suppose it depends on your loyalty to the show, cast and crew.

The main thing is that the people who are complaining are going to the wrong person. Now if this professor is preasuring people into getting his way, and sacrificing the integrity of the college, if people complain to the faculties supervisor often enough, they will do it - and to many places the integrity of the institution is a big thing.

810

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Need Sound Help!!!!

« on: Feb 25, 2006, 09:51 am »

Scews the massive quote, but this is from the bottom of that page:

Direct connection to mains

This approach has been proposed many times at rec.theatre.stagescraft newsgroups but I strongly suggest not to use it. Mains voltage (120V AC 60Hz) used in USA makes the modern telephones ring, but it is dangerous to make direct connection to mains voltage. And if you don't use any type of current limiting, the telephone will cause dangerous short circuit when it is picked up. The telephone will destroy and put out smoke.

- Telephone would ring, but you could go bang - bad idea.
50/60Hz ring voltage generated from mains voltage

Methods for generating good ring voltage
Ringer module

The easiest way to get real ringing module. Those units are available from some companies which make DC/DC converters for telecommunication industry. Migh not be the easiest component to get.

Self explanitory.

70V line PA amplifier

The output voltage of PA amplifiers designed for driving 70V speaker system speakers have enough output voltage and power for ringing telephones. If you have old this type of amplifier lying somewhere, you can connect the amplifier input to fuction generator and output to telephone through 1 kohm 3W resistor. When you set the function generator to generate sine wave at 20-25 Hz at suitable level for amplifier, you have an adjustable level ring generator. Usually those amplifiers are not good at playing back frequencies below 50 Hz, so you might have to try higher frequencies if that does not work as expected.

Normal audio amplifier and transformer

Very nice variable amplitude ring generator can be built from audio amplifier designed for driwing 4 or 8 ohm speakers and have output power of 3W or more, 10 ohm 10 W resistor, 220V to 12V transformer (few watts), 1000 ohm 3W resistor and function generator.
 
         
The circuit is easy to build. Connect 10 ohm resistor in series with transformer's secondary winding and 1000 ohm resistor in series with primary winding. Connect the primary winding side of the transformer to amplifier's speaker output. Connect the telephone to the secondary side. The resistors are in the circuit to limit the current and to keep the impedance high enough for the amplifier.

When you have done this, connect you function generator to amplifier's input and set it to generate 20-25 Hz sine wave at suitable level for amplifier's input. Turn down the volume of the amplifer. Turn the amplifier on. Turn the volume up until you hear telephone ringing well. You can check the ringing voltage with multimeter if you vat to make it to exactly right level.

Show that to a noise boy, they may be able to hook you up

Modified power inverter circuit

It is possible to make 17 - 25Hz a.c. from d.c. A simple multivibrator will do it. You then need a power transistor or similar to give the high-current output. A suitable circuit can be modified from typical power inverter circuit by changing the timing components to make the frequency to 20-25 Hz range. Then the transformer needs to be selected so that it matches this application (for 12V operation take a mains centre-tapped 60V (30+30V) secondary and 230V primary).

Show this one to someone who is electronically minded, they could make one easily.

Dedicated ringing generator circuit

There have been telephone ringer circuit in major electronics magazines and circuit books. Those circuit are good idea when you want to build the circuit from base components.

There are commercial units specifically made fro ringing telephone. TELE-Q is a device designed for ringing telephone theatre effect. That unit is available from Norcostco for little over 100 US dollars. I have no experience in this product but it has been suggested in many usenet news articles.

Maplin Electronics has a phone ringer electronics kit which can give out UK and USA type ring styles. It has been reported to work uite well with any modern telephone, though it has said to struggle slightly to drive old fashioned bell types which need lots of ring current.

There are also telephone line simulators available from some tecom equipment manufacturers. Those telephone line simulator boxes also usually include the ringer circuit. Two examples are Viking Electronics Line Simulator/Ringdown Circuit and Jech Tech Phone Helper. Usually complete line simulators are more expensive than simple ringer circuit but they have more uses also (you can make two telephones an intercom etc.).

Or, go shopping.