Messages

91

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: The Pillowman

« on: Oct 20, 2007, 08:31 am »

I saw "Pillowman" at a nearby university last season; it was a fantastic play and a wonderful production -- but also gave me nightmares for a few days!

I like the idea of incorporating film into it!

92

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: Giving actor notes and "Maintaining the performance as directed."

« on: Oct 19, 2007, 08:59 am »

This thread reminds me of a rather well known Marx Brothers anecdote:

I don't remember what show it was, but after opening night the playwrights who worked with the brothers (Kaufman was one) left to go on to other work.  One of the writers came back a few weeks later to see the show, and the next called his fellow writer and said, "Have you seen our show recently?"  The other writer replied that no, he hadn't.  The first writer remarked, "It's not the show we wrote anymore."

Of course, that's the Marx brothers, and I guess they could kind of do whatever they wanted.... =)

93

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: Tech or Church?

« on: Oct 17, 2007, 09:10 am »

I am in accord with prior posters...with less than 24 hours notice on the change, you can't require the designer to be there at the start.  If this were a previously posted schedule it would be a different story, but as that is not the case, the SD was justified in his statement.

Balancing your work in theatre and your spirituality is the same as any other balancing act in the life of a theatre professional.  This is one of the things I love about catholicism...there are a million different mass times, any church you go to will (basically) be the same, and it's only an hour!  (I swear I don't mean that to sound as shallow as it does...)  But seriously, it's nice.  So even if you have an 8 am load in on sunday, you can go to mass on saturday afternoon or evening or even find a 6:00 am mass sunday morning.

94

Tools of the Trade / Re: Line Note- POST ITS!

« on: Oct 09, 2007, 06:30 am »

Can you post a link to where you purchase these from?

95

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: Twas Brillig...

« on: Oct 08, 2007, 06:59 am »

Well...are we voting on the time that we are devoting solely to the rehearsal report?  I do mine on my computer over the course of rehearsals -- so really, about 3 hours.  To actually finish it up and send it out is the 5-15 range.....

can we clarify the poll to reflect that, depending on what you're actually interested in knowing?

and purely out of curiosity, why did you choose to title this poll as you did?

96

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: Organizing your forms for a show...

« on: Oct 08, 2007, 06:54 am »

There's a thread on tools of the trade that goes into great depth about electronic prompt books.  Check it out here:

http://smnetwork.org/forum/index.php/topic,712.0.html.

97

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: Does anyone have a template for wallet cards?

« on: Oct 05, 2007, 09:27 am »

I put all stage management's cell phone #s (provided they've given their okay) the theatre's box office number and main line, and emergency line if they have one, also I'll put the directors cell phone # if they want it on there.

98

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: Calling a warning for a cue

« on: Oct 03, 2007, 11:02 am »

I have one warning during Nutcracker that is called specifically like this:  "Randy, this is your long warning on clock and cannon pyro." 

It's not so necessary now, but was created several years ago when our pyro technician (also our head carpenter) was lolligagging in the production office and totally missed his pyro cues.  So now there is a warning specifically with his name on it in the Nutcracker Bible.  It's awesome. the first time I called the show and came across that I called with an upwards intonation in my voice -- like, "do I really need to say this?" But I do!  Now its just kept in there purely for fun.  =)

In general I only call warnings on rail and deck Qs (since I don't give verbal standby's or gos; it always goes off of a light) and I'll give sound/lx warnings if we've had a long break between Qs. 

99

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: LX 56 was late- PSM Error

« on: Oct 03, 2007, 10:57 am »

I've only recently started doing this, because inevitably the night I screw something up is the night when the designer or director shows up, so I've just started doing it.

Here was something I put in a recent report:
"Light Q 125 was late; the stage manager was distracted by the fact that she didn’t call a projection Q – somehow when re-doing some of the Qs in the prompt book she had left the projection up Q out of her new post-it note.  Thankfully both projection and light Q were not ones that left any actors or darkness or that needed to be up for the monologue to make sense.  Everything in the prompt book has been fixed now to avoid this problem in the future."


A little too much information?  Probably, but it gives me some satisfaction in explaining everything like that so directors/designers can't flip out *quite* as much!

100

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: Effective communication as it relates to today's technology

« on: Oct 02, 2007, 08:15 am »

Per a suggestion on this site, I made a yahoo group for a show last season -- it fizzled out before rehearsals even started.  I was so gung-ho about it, and had it all together and was really excited about it, and then I just....never updated it.  I keep thinking I should try something similar again but I never do.  Email and paper seem to work for me...information coming TO somebody is different than them having to seek it out (or me having to update it!).

Good luck with your new system!  you'll have to let us all know how it works.

101

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / CALLING: The Most Qs Ever

« on: Sep 25, 2007, 12:51 am »

you can tell your story in one or two of four ways:

1) What is the most cues you've ever had to call in a show, total? (If you know it!)
2) What show had the most different KINDS of Qs?  (e.g., lights, audio, projection, rail, deck, actors, video, etc....)
3) What is the most Qs you've had in the shortest number of pages?  
4) What show have you done where Q-to-page #s has been REALLY high, and how high?

Example: The show I'm teching right now is only 61 pages long.

In the first 2.5 pages, I have 22 lighting qs, 1 audio Q (and then the designer mixes the rest), 1 sub up and out Q, 10 video up/out qs, 25 projection up/out Qs, 1 actor q (to send seven actors out on stage)..It's CRAZY.  This is quite possibly the highest q to page ratio show I've ever called. (note, I am counting a Q where I call multiple projectors up and out at the same time as multiple Qs, so even though one q is "p 3/4/5 out go" i am counting that as three separate Qs.  Three separate people are executing those Qs).

I'm going to count up the total number of cues so that I can answer the first question!

So I guess I've answered #s 3 and 4.  What's your favorite Q story?

102

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: Word Use

« on: Sep 14, 2007, 02:12 pm »

I definitely claim ownership over my casts and crews. 

At the ballet I refer to "my dancers," and "my boys" (for my production staff....they're all men.  TD, Carp, Head Elec, Head Audio...all guys.  So they're my boys).  As tempest gypsy sayid -- i am responsible for them, I take care of them, I make sure that they have everything they need.  I control where they need to be when. In a sense, yes, they are mine.

The production is mine becase I am responsible for it -- I make sure it is where it needs to be when, that it happens as it's supposed to.  It's "my" show -- but I don't claim SOLE ownership on it - it's everybody else's show too.  They can call it "mine" as well.

As for "my" set...hmm....I wouldn't claim ownership over this since I had no part in building it and so wouldn't refer to it as my.  It's "the."  The set designer and TD can say "my" set.  The lighting designer can say "my" lights, and the props mistress can say "my" chair...since they personally are responsible for those individual components.

Since I am the stage manager and am responsible for the cohesive whole...."my" production.  But not singly "my" set.  I can see why the producer would have taken offense to this, but it sounds like it could have been approached in a more diplomatic sense. 

As other people have suggested, don't let it build.  Let it go, and move on.  When I face stress like this I usually lay on my back with my legs up against a wall (my fave yoga pose) and listen to The Beatles "Let it Be."  =)

103

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: Is there a right and worng way to call cues????

« on: Sep 14, 2007, 02:03 pm »

I also always try to call all departments in the same order for standby's in the same order.  For example, I always call lights, spots, audio, deck, rail

EX:  Standby LX 15, spot 1 to pick up the boy entering SL, Sound Q C, on deck for the transition, and rail Q 25.

Then the GOs just happen in whatever order they have to happen -- so even if the GOs might be in a different order, the standbys are always the same so that people aren't confused and they know when to listen for their kind of standbys.

104

Students and Novice Stage Managers / Re: Stage Management: A Nutshell in 3 minutes.

« on: Sep 06, 2007, 07:10 am »

Everything for everybody in less than an hour and under budget. 

Sorry.  Okay, don't say that...I just say that because this is how my job has felt for the past two weeks and when I saw your post, I couldn't resist.  =)

Are you a veteran SM there?  Why don't you start with a fun story from your experience? 

105

Tools of the Trade / Re: SM Computer

« on: Sep 04, 2007, 07:11 am »

I generally do my rehearsal reports on my computer, during rehearsal...saves me SO much time at night after rehearsal -- I can just look over them to make sure everything is correct and then mail them off, rather than having to spend 30 minutes to an hour trying to decipher the notes on my legal pad to email them out.

My compuuter is very useful right now as we are doing this brand new show with tons of projection --- when the director says, "I want an image of this on this screen," I can jump onlinel, look up some proximity of what she's talking about so she can confirm or reject the idea. 

It also helps that i have another SM who's on blocking duty and an ASM who's tracking props and the camera...but the ASM has her computer out as well and does all her forms and work during rehearsal. 

I guess nobody finds it distracting enough to say anything...and its all dead useful!