Messages

796

Employment / Re: From the other side of the resume (low key rant - personal advice)

« on: Dec 15, 2007, 10:43 am »

Also, as you gain more experience I'd recommend moving your education further down the page.  For an entry level position like an internship you're probably best to leave it there, but as you gain more "real world" experience that should take precedence over your education - in my opinion at least.

797

Students and Novice Stage Managers / Re: Injured during tech?

« on: Dec 12, 2007, 01:15 pm »

I'm pretty appalled at reading how some of these injuries are occuring.  Some of this is the kind of neglagence that should be getting people fired.

I would imagine the majority of these "war stories" are hyperbole of the actual circumstances for better bragging rights and are not necessarily cases of gross negligence.

798

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: Budget?!

« on: Dec 09, 2007, 09:42 pm »

Well as I said, good and cheap, but it won't be fast.  You've got time, keep planning and work far ahead and you should be good.  I'd encourage you to really meet with all involved and determine where the money is best suited.  Currently you've got about 17% of your budgeted allocated for "misc".  Plan wisely and get that down to 5%, you'll several hundred more to put where it's needed.

799

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: Budget?!

« on: Dec 09, 2007, 12:40 pm »

There's really no "right" amount that is the magic number for any show.  Obviously we'd all love to have deep pockets that don't run dry, but one of the magical elements of theatre is that you can do it with $0. 

In your case specifically it's tough to tell with the information you provided.  Is this a 2,500 seat house or a 100 seat blackbox?  Another big factor is time - how long until you open?  There is a golden triangle of producing a show.  There's good, fast, and cheap.  Any show can be two of three, but can never be all three.  The reason I ask about timeframe, now, is because if you've got six months - then you have a good chance to work a lot out, your show could be good and cheap, but it won't be fast.  If you don't have a lot of time it can be good and fast, but it won't be cheap.  And if you need it to be fast and cheap... well, sorry to be the bearer of bad news...

800

Tools of the Trade / Re: What Type Of Drill Is Best?

« on: Dec 03, 2007, 12:01 am »

Also, I agree that a corded drill is important

There are some tasks that are darn near impossible to do with a cordless drill.
There is just something comforting about having a 15 amp high RPM corded power drill in the shop, should the need arise.

Ah, but for a typical Stage Manager's needs -- shouldn't cordless be the emergency fix but someone else running the shop tools be the norm?

For typical SM needs yes of course a cordless will be the desirable tool in most cases; this thread, however, was asking about set construction 

801

The Hardline / Re: AEA supporting IATSE?

« on: Nov 29, 2007, 01:19 am »

Looks like they've worked it out, good news.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/SHOWBIZ/11/28/broadway.strike/index.html

802

Tools of the Trade / Re: What Type Of Drill Is Best?

« on: Nov 28, 2007, 07:07 pm »

If you're going to be doing a lot of actual drilling for long periods of time (as opposed to using it as a screw gun) you may want to look into buying an actual corded drill.  Drilling through wood or steel really eats batteries if you're using cordless drill, while with a corded drill you don't have to worry about the batteries running out.

803

The Hardline / Re: AEA as PA

« on: Nov 24, 2007, 05:05 pm »

This could also be someone who took their equity card too early and is having trouble finding work.

804

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: Onstage Hangings

« on: Nov 20, 2007, 10:45 pm »

Well, if you can't afford a rigging company to hang an actor and don't want to use a dummy that's obvious to the audience, you may want to get creative with lighting or scenic effects. 

805

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: Onstage Hangings

« on: Nov 20, 2007, 10:34 pm »

If you are going to hang an actor you must hire a professional rigging company.  You will need military grade cable and rated equipment that most theatres do not have in stock, nor do they have the personnel qualified to implement.

Hire a professional rigging company, end of story.

806

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: Wireless mic issues - and advice?

« on: Nov 13, 2007, 08:14 pm »

Frequency issues were my original inclination, however if you read carefully the problem is consistent to one performer, regardless of which beltpack that performer has.  This tells me it's not a frequency issue (unless they're changing the frequencies on the beltpacks as they swap them out to keep the same frequency for each performer).

807

Employment / Re: From the other side of the resume (low key rant - personal advice)

« on: Nov 13, 2007, 03:55 pm »

In the Related Experience category, what is the industry standard for saying "reads music"? I am very new to stage management and am putting my resume together for the first time. Thanks!

"Reads music" is perfectly acceptable in my opinion.  The only thing I'd be careful about is making sure you can completely read it, notes, time, etc...  Me for instance, I can't read it completely, but I can follow a tempo, so I have "Can follow music" on my resume.

808

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: Wireless mic issues - and advice?

« on: Nov 13, 2007, 12:56 pm »

Pick up some condoms (unlubricated), this will probably be more effective than saran wrap if condensation is the problem.

809

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: Wireless mic issues - and advice?

« on: Nov 13, 2007, 12:43 pm »

My problem - one of the mics keeps cutting out. I have tried multiple things.

Question - is it the same beltpack that keeps cutting out?  Or is it the same performer even when beltpacks and mics are swapped?

The second would be a lot more puzzling!

810

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: Reports during technicals

« on: Nov 12, 2007, 11:37 pm »

Now, doing a short report that states this was our hours, this is what happened, this is what we covered, and then listing anything special that may have happened - with the note that tech notes were given directly may not be such a bad idea, but I am not sure I would do my full production report style.  (Nor have I ever had a production manager ask,need,  or expect a report during tech.)

This is more to what I was referring.  I suppose an injury is not a terribly effective example, as that would obviously be documented in more than just a rehearsal report (I hope).