Messages

871

The Green Room / Re: Funny definitions

« on: Aug 24, 2010, 03:32 pm »

For the Dr. Who fans:

Reverse Tardis effect: The amazing ability of technicians to cram infinite numbers of props, furniture, set dressing, costumes, actors, orchestra members, etc. into infinitesimal amounts of wingspace.  (or, "It looks bigger on the outside than it is on the inside.")

872

Students and Novice Stage Managers / Student Stage Managers Challenge #11: Equity in Detail

« on: Aug 21, 2010, 01:37 am »

Student SM Challenges present puzzles for our members who are taking classes to become stage managers.  They are open-ended situations with no absolutely correct answers.

As a reminder to our pro SMs out there: The Student Challenges are primarily for students.  While they may be fun to think about, let's leave this to the students and novices for at least the first week! Thanks!

OK, this time around we're going to try something that works for everyone.  However, it will be considerably more challenging for our more experienced SMs by default.  Your mission: find something new that you've never known about an AEA agreement, and share it with us.  There are oodles of different agreements.  AEA has different rules and regs for many different types of performance environments, from individual tours of specific shows to Broadway to dinner theatre.

Pay a visit to the document library on the Actors Equity website and pick an agreement that is of most interest to you.  For the pros, pick an agreement that you've never worked on before.  Use whatever is up there - even if it is in draft form.  Don't rely on what you know from experience - actually read the rule as it currently stands.

You can find the library of agreements here: http://www.actorsequity.org/library/library.asp?cat=3

You don't have to read the whole thing.  Just thumb through until you find something interesting.  Tell us a) which rulebook you're reading, b) the rule you found, and then c) talk to us about it a little bit.  Discuss why you think the particular rule was implemented, or how it might have affect a show you have worked on in the past if the show had been performed under the agreement in question.

Debate away, but to jump into this debate, everyone needs to pick a different rule. 

873

The Green Room / Re: Being friends with other stage managers

« on: Aug 20, 2010, 06:31 pm »

Running into site members is a whole lot of fun for me.  I think it's happened maybe 5-6 times in the past 5 years.  I show about 10-20 apartments each day, and the theatre community here in Chicago is large, so the chances of me getting an SM as a client are quite high.  I set off SMAdar even without all the usual bells & whistles, so I get pegged by other SMs as a kindred pretty readily.  So far nobody has automatically figured out exactly who I am even after I'm "outed" as a former SM, which is something of a relief.

Regardless, I'm glad folks continue to find the site useful as an ersatz social circle!

874

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / HOUSE MANAGEMENT: Do you spill the beans about your famous audience members?

« on: Aug 19, 2010, 11:39 pm »

I was just having a discussion with an actor friend about the first amateur production of "Phantom" in Ohio.  The whole anecdote might be hearsay, but one issue came to the forefront for me.

According to the story, the SM came backstage pre-show to announce that Mr. Webber himself was in the house that night.  Why this had not been announced sooner was not mentioned, nor why it fell to the SM to make this ominous sort of announcement to their cast at that particular time.  My friend said, off the cuff, that the SM had been in the wrong to relay the information to the cast before curtain.  I'm of two minds on the matter, but given the shows I've done and the sorts of folks likely to attend them, I've become sort of blase about the whole "famous people in the house" type of events.

If, at 30 minutes to curtain, you were informed of a famous (and likely career-making) guest in attendance, what would you do? Would you tell your cast? Would you keep it to yourself? On a related note, who would you want to know about if they were in the house?  Who do you think would freak you out the most?

875

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: Recording blocking

« on: Aug 19, 2010, 10:55 pm »

It's absolutely crucial to record blocking.  The beauty of live theatre is in the sheer number of variables that can and do change from show to show and from actor to actor - no two performances will be identical.  Movies can't do that.  TV tries, but cannot capture the urgency of it all going down in the same room with the viewer.  However, variables are pesky and unreliable critters.  The best defense in keeping a beautiful, well-coordinated symphony of performances from descending into utter chaos is the stage manager with their book.

Things do go wrong.  Scripts get lost, people miss rehearsals, and blocking evolves from rehearsal to rehearsal.  Even the most well-organized director is not going to remember every single bit of motion that he's assigned to every single actor in the cast.  The best actors in the world still get a little wobbly with their placement onstage once you take the script out of their hands.  Even if you have a photographic memory for blocking, you are still a variable.  If you and your lead actor were in a horrible accident on the way to rehearsal, perhaps in high school they would postpone the performance.  In professional venues? Fat chance.  They'd find a new stage manager, fly up the understudy and keep right on trucking - if your book is in good enough shape for the new folks to figure out what's going on.

This doesn't even tap into what happens six months down the road when your school decides to remount the show for the all-state festival, or another company wants to restage your version of the show - your book will become the only record of how it was done the first time.  Or what happens when your director doesn't attend performances for weeks on end and it falls to you to make sure the show looks the same - exactly the same - every single time.

So yes, blocking in the prompt book is a must.

As for how? For the stage manager, convenience and tradition always take a backseat to what works best for your show.  While we get finicky on this website about tidy paperwork and trading pointers in prompt book artistry, that's all frosting.  The real cake is keeping the information and details on hand so that the people onstage can keep being productive.  While having a sharp, svelte prompt book will help keep you in a better mental state, all that really matters is if a) you can read it, b) you can use it efficiently and in a helpful manner, and c) if someone else can read it effectively in the event that you are taken out of commission.  Get the function down first before you worry about the form.

There's definitely some conventional shorthand and diagramming that stays similar across all prompt scripts, but as the infinite dialogues about prompt book setup seen across SMNetwork show, no two prompt books will be identical.  If you don't have enough room to write blocking, make more room.  As I'm right-handed, I usually started with the script printed on only one side of the page - usually the left hand side of the binder- with blank space on the right for blocking.  If that isn't enough room, add more pages to the flap on the right and fold them over so that your book still closes flush.  Or, staple extra pages to the top of the right hand side to make a mini notebook for each page of the script.  Make as much room as you need.  The one thing I don't recommend is spacing out the lines of the actual script - you'll want to have your pagination be identical to whatever the actors have, so that if someone says "turn to page X," you wind up in the same place as everyone else.

I've seen prompt scripts for particularly elaborate staging that wind up looking like an origami nightmare of extra, added pages.  I've seen others with handwriting so tiny as to require magnifying glasses. I've seen (and used) the two-script setup that Adam describes above - usually for musicals and/or large casts.  I've even seen condensed, blocking-only scripts for running understudy rehearsals with only the bare minimum of the actual script included, but every single bit of movement.  Given that you're still in school, I think it behooves you to experiment a bit while your mind is still open, before you get bogged down with "this is how your prompt book must be, Amen."  Definitely get the blocking down.  How you do it is up to you.

876

The Green Room / Re: Funny definitions

« on: Aug 19, 2010, 03:22 pm »

I would not object for my contributions.

That being said, if we're doing this, I always wanted to have my own "law."

Kay's Law: The prop that you think is a one-off, disposable item will suddenly become absolutely crucial to every scene at final dress.
Corollary #1: The crucial prop that is built with backbreaking labor, huge budget resources and elaborate design techniques will be cut from the show at final dress.

877

The Green Room / Re: Funny definitions

« on: Aug 18, 2010, 03:54 pm »

Margin of novelty: The amount of time elapsed between the start of preproduction and the permanent installation of sound cues & score into your brain.  The margin of novelty decreases exponentially in ratio to the length of time spent in rehearsal.

Margin of ennui:  The amount of time elapsed between the close of a production and the first time you hear its songs/sound cues thereafter without wincing.  The margin of ennui increases exponentially in ratio to the length of the run.

(sidenote: great topic, TG! This is fun!)

878

The Green Room / Re: Funny definitions

« on: Aug 18, 2010, 02:41 am »

Spike scoliosis: the hunched spinal effect seen in SMs who have recently taped out a set for rehearsal.  (Related to: kit scoliosis) See also...

Spike manicure: the crusty, dry feeling your hands get after being on spike/glow tape duty during tech.  Side effects include...

Technical weeping: sudden burst of tears caused by accidentally rubbing your eyes after giving yourself a spike manicure.

Unrelated:
Black lint bunnies: the lint bunny makes its home in clothes dryers worldwide.  Normally grey, and occasionally blue after a load of jeans, lint bunnies are hardly ever seen in pure black.  This special breed only appears in the dryers of those who work backstage.

Impromptu pinata: an overfull three-hole punch.

Spontaneous vacation: "I think we're going to be doing just music rehearsal all day."

879

The Green Room / Re: Funny definitions

« on: Aug 17, 2010, 04:25 pm »

Interval Vertigo: The brief head rush from running at top speed down a dark spiral staircase for a bathroom break during intermission.

Equity twinge: The internal alarm clock that goes off after 80 minutes of continuous anything.

Reality panic: Euphoric, manic phase spurred by condensing grocery shopping, laundry, and all other domestic chores into Monday.

SMAdar: The ability of one stage manager to identify another stage manager based on behavior alone, outside of the normal environs.

Phantom clutch: Accidentally grabbing at your stomach for your stopwatch when you're not wearing one.

880

Employment / Re: Getting a tour job

« on: Aug 16, 2010, 04:27 pm »

Hi Ryan!

We've spent a lot of time discussing this question in other threads over the past several years.  You may want to start with the following conversations, and then come back if there's additional questions we haven't answered.

http://smnetwork.org/forum/index.php/topic,5372.msg32667.html#msg32667 (How do you get into a national tour?)
http://smnetwork.org/forum/index.php/topic,4426.msg27116.html#msg27116 (How to tour with dance companies)
http://smnetwork.org/forum/index.php/topic,1692.msg9752.html#msg9752 (Political campaigns & touring)
http://smnetwork.org/forum/index.php/topic,1960.msg11662.html#msg11662 (How do you get into touring shows?)
http://smnetwork.org/forum/index.php/topic,1714.msg9981.html#msg9981 (Touring)
http://smnetwork.org/forum/index.php/topic,835.msg4839.html#msg4839 (So... I want to go on tour)

The advanced search feature on this site can be pretty useful if you're just getting started - we have thousands of posts here, so until you've been around for a few months it will be your best friend. 

881

Employment / When is it OK to work for free?

« on: Aug 12, 2010, 11:59 pm »

This is a puzzler that we've touched on obliquely multiple times, but haven't really discussed outright in quite a while.  With the multitude of companies out there that survive on intern labor, and staff with mostly volunteers, it has become increasingly difficult in the modern performing arts business model to earn a living wage.  (At least in the US - not sure about elsewhere.)

There's a predominant idea that a newcomer has to "earn their right to be paid" for their work in the arts due to the sheer number of others who would work for nothing.  But there comes a point where real talent is lost to the industry due to the pay scales involved.  Even the unions have their difficulties commanding what would be an expected rate in other lines of work.

Where do you draw the line? When is it okay for you to take a job that pays little or nothing? Is the "intern your way up" an acceptable business model?  Why is it so prevalent in the performing arts?

882

The Green Room / SMNetwork's Resident expert in...

« on: Aug 12, 2010, 02:11 am »

We all know that we're experts in stage management.  (Well, most of us.)  We can organize things at the drop of a hat (and all the hats that were dropped in the process), we can tape out sets and crank out reams of paperwork.  But there is life outside of the theatre, and we all have expertise in areas that are totally unrelated to the industry.  Or aren't they?

Putting theatre aside, if you could be named as SMNetwork's resident expert in something, what would it be?  For example, I'd be the resident expert in writing parody song lyrics.  It's something I do in my spare time - at times accidentally, and among my circle of friends I've gained a certain notoriety for churning out Weird Al style mockeries of assorted pop music.

So what's your thing?  Other than organizing things/people, what do your friends always wind up consulting with you about?  Would you be the resident poker expert?  Stitch dropper?  Nail polish guru?  Grammar nazi? Now's your chance to establish yourself as our go-to person for all matters relating to YOUR area of mastery!

883

The Green Room / Re: Being friends with other stage managers

« on: Aug 12, 2010, 01:57 am »

This subject has raised a few more questions for me.

First of all, I think if you consider workplace friendships out of the theatre setting, you're not going to find many coworkers who are friends with each other.  In very particular situations, prolonged proximity can force a certain level of intimacy - this is what happens with casts and other teams that are stuck together for a very long time.  Outside of that sort of artificial situation, it doesn't happen nearly as often, and in truth those friendships formed between actors over the course of a show are more fragile than sugar glass.  We may be more aware of how much we're NOT making friends with others when we stand next to our casts of snuggly actors, but one must realize that actor intimacy is an extreme.  In the mundane world, you generally punch in, do your job, and then go home to friends/family who don't work in the same trade.

Secondly, while the comments here have shown that being friends with other SMs can make life more pleasant, is it really a necessity or more of a luxury?  Is it something we should strive for, or just accept as it comes?

Finally, it's certainly a given that nasty gatherings of stage managers help nobody, except maybe alpha dogs in the proverbial pack.  So, knowing this, how can SMs foster a more positive sort of connection with other folks in the trade?  What have been the main factors that make a positive gathering vs a negative one? BayAreaSM is having some luck with 5 employed SMs at the same company, but had a dreadful time several years ago at someone's house.  Is there a comfort zone or safe space required? How do you get the competition to be healthy without turning into a bloody backstabbing mess, when we're talking about theatre here?

884

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / DEAR ABBY: Long runs, short vacations & understudies, oh my!

« on: Aug 07, 2010, 07:43 pm »

The following "Dear Abby" question is posted on behalf of a member who wishes to remain anonymous. 

Dear Abby,

This situation often comes up on a longer running show, and I would be interested to see how other stage managers deal with it.

You are on a show with legit, well paid, and professional understudies, but the contract doesn't allow for an actor to take time off for anything but illness (or vacation pay has not kicked in, of whatever reason). 

An actor wants to take a day off (for whatever reason, audition, shoot a commercial, give the understudy a performance for family in town.)

Do you as a stage manager encourage the cast to come to you and tell you ahead of time that they are "calling in sick"?  Or do you play along and just wait for them to call in?  How much do you encourage them to “cheat the system”?  When do you cry foul?

Would you go ahead and plan a put in rehearsal based on that information?

Would you plan a put in rehearsal if the actor is shooting a TV show on Monday (your day off), and has been asked to keep Tuesday "on hold" just in case she can't be there Tuesday?  Even if, technically, he would have to call in sick to do the Tuesday gig?

How do you walk the fine line between honoring the contract, keeping actors happy, and maintaining the artistic integrity of the show?  Who do you end up finding yourself more beholden to . . . a producer?  The actors?  Or the best interest of the show – since sometimes those things don’t always line up.

Sincerely,
Overworked and Understudied

885

The Green Room / Re: "Seasoned" - yikes

« on: Aug 05, 2010, 02:34 am »

I suppose they could have called you bland, naive, green or unpracticed.  Given the option, I'd prefer to be lightly seasoned.