Messages

91

Students and Novice Stage Managers / Re: Labtop vs. Pencil and Script/Notepad

« on: Apr 12, 2010, 08:18 pm »

"After all I was always taught that as long as you understand your blocking notes, no one else really has to."

Well, until you are hit by the proverbial bus... 

92

Students and Novice Stage Managers / Re: Labtop vs. Pencil and Script/Notepad

« on: Apr 04, 2010, 08:31 am »

Just to clarify, I am not calling a show from the computer.  Again I like to have the ability to flip back in forth in the pages, jot down little notes of things to keep an eye on and I would be too nervous of a computer crash at just the wrong moment...

93

Students and Novice Stage Managers / Re: Labtop vs. Pencil and Script/Notepad

« on: Mar 22, 2010, 12:07 pm »

For me, everything is in Word.  Conveniently this season, all but one of my scripts have already been computerized, so all I had to do was format them. I use Callouts for cues and place numbers like you would for footnotes to indicate blocking.  I then have a separate file with corresponding pages that have the blocking written out and mini of the set at the top that I fill in by hand. 

94

Students and Novice Stage Managers / Re: Labtop vs. Pencil and Script/Notepad

« on: Mar 21, 2010, 11:30 am »

This season I made a pack to myself to digitize my book for every show, mainly to see if I felt it was worth the extra effort.  Now that have have completed 6 shows this way, I have become more efficient at it and am not killing as many trees.  And I have to admit, it makes it pretty and neat and organized and probably far more detailed than my books were before.  However, I still do diagrams by hand, no show is worth having to digitalize diagrams, I have better things to do with my time. Also, in the end, I now have a digital copy to keep with me and don't have to lug around paper.

That being said,  I still use pencil and paper in the rehearsal room and only once blocking begins to solidify do I type it in to the computer after rehearsal.  I guess I am slightly more old school and I find it much faster to take notes on a pad and blocking in the book than have to fuss with the computer.  I am also a visual person and like to have the information and full picture sitting in front of me that I can flip through and not have to scroll through a computer that will only allow me to see limited information at a time.

95

The Green Room / Re: Best showing of appreciation from a cast?

« on: Mar 08, 2010, 07:56 am »

One of my first casts got me up on this bridge that was part of the set and then they all gathered below to serenade me closing night. 

96

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: PROMPT BOOK: Organization?

« on: Feb 22, 2010, 10:19 am »

I also like my script in the front behind cast list and contact info.  What would be the advantage for having it last?  Anyone?

97

The Hardline / Re: Half Hour Call

« on: Jan 08, 2010, 09:53 am »

I also love this puzzler.

Okay, it's tech.

Actors are called for a 12:00n Half-Hour Call, and then you start on stage at 12:30p to work (NOT RUN).  When is the first AEA break due?

Next scenario: You are still in rehearsal doing a dress run.  Actors are called for half hour.  Do you still give them a five before you call places if your Act I is over 50 min?

98

The Hardline / Re: John Connelly resigns as AEA exec director

« on: Dec 01, 2009, 09:35 am »

I found out about it the week before Thanksgiving because Area Liaison Chairs were notified and ours passed on the information to the committee.  I was finding it odd that it hadn't been posted on the website.  Like you, nmno,  I think it is too bad that as members we have to find out about it on Playbill.com.

99

Employment / Re: resume format

« on: Nov 15, 2009, 07:36 am »

For those of you who are union, AEA specifically, do you specify which contract different productions are under?  Or do you let the theatre speak for itself and list knowledge of contracts under "Additional Information"?

100

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: Require cast to have an email?

« on: Oct 20, 2009, 10:34 am »

Maybe I am beginning to show my age, but isn't a physical callboard still part of standard operating procedure?  Or is it beginning to go the way of the Dodos as well...

101

The Hardline / Re: Script rewrites

« on: Oct 18, 2009, 09:40 am »

To answer the first question, at my current theatre (LORT D) I am generally the one who updates script changes.  The main reason I do it is A), there isn’t anyone else to do it and  B) I have found Playwrights don’t keep on eye on page breaks and it ends up messing up the rest of the script so, I format the new pages to fit in the existing script.  Also with new scripts that I can get digitally, I format my book very specifically to my tastes that I have to type it up anyway. I might as well make copies for the cast.  But on the flip side, I have also worked for a company that had a literary department who sat in on rehearsals and tracked all script changes and arrived every morning with the new pages.  (I still had to type it in for my script though…)

Now to the larger issue of hours.  I find this a very interesting question.  Personally I find the rules so vague for stage managers sometimes.  And maybe that allows more freedom to get the job done.   But the book actually seems to contradict itself, because in one paragraph it talks about the hours specified in Rule 50(A) that Matthew sighted as the maximum and then in 63(I) it says 52 hours as the maximum. The question is, at the end of the day are you only supposed to work one hour or whatever takes you to 6 straight hours (like adding a costume fitting for an actor) and in that time you need to get all script changes done and all your meetings and then you have to do notes and calls and whatnot after that hour because those are not billable?  Which doesn’t quiet seem right.  Does “communicating & coordinating” include me having to answer my cell phone on the day off?  Now, I have heard of a SM team that billed overtime at a theatre where it consistently took the Director/Choreographer/Music Director over an hour (don’t ask me why) to figure out a schedule for the next day and SMs had to sit around while the they mucked about.  And another instance where the day before rehearsal started, the Director gave the SM 20 or so pages of re-writes at 8:00p at night and wanted them ready for the first rehearsal the next day.  Again, they put in for OT.   

Now the above being said, I generally can leave within an hour of rehearsal ending and as a resident SM, I have been known to answer my cell phone on my day off. However, in the end, think I would count re-writes as billable.

102

Employment / Re: Workers' Comp

« on: Jul 17, 2009, 08:08 pm »

(Now, if you are screwing around, don't expect worker's comp to cover you.)

Not necessarily true. I worked for a theatre that was forced to pay workman's comp on an employee that broke his ankle during a break playing frisbee. 

103

Tools of the Trade / Re: mobile printer

« on: May 15, 2009, 01:29 pm »

I have the Canon.  I really like it. Good quality & color.  Easy to transport.  However, something to take into consideration.  The print cartridges are much smaller and I can chew through the black in no time.  Printing out one script will usually do it.
 

104

Tools of the Trade / Re: Google Docs?

« on: May 13, 2009, 07:48 pm »

I would concur.  The loss of formatting on files produced originally in Word or Excel makes it useless to me.  If I could upload a file just for storage and it could be downloaded great, but I haven't figured out a way to do that.  And I guess since I work with a company with a server, it doesn't seem necessary.

105

Employment / Re: How Much Is Too Much?

« on: May 05, 2009, 01:29 pm »

Dannysabenada, please don't take what I am about to say the wrong way.  I agree with much of what has been said above.  Taking a job only to leave it is not a good idea.  And only you know whether you can put the past aside and work with this director again and maintain a civil working relationship. 

Here is my comment and yes I have made a few assumptions.  Based on your profile, you mention you are only 16.  You seem like a very mature and responsible young stage manager based on your posting.  And getting this kind of experience at a young age is setting the stage for a nice career.  However, you are still very young.  I am assuming that this director is an adult and a paid person at the school and in their eyes you are still a high schooler.  Yes, that stinks, but facts are facts.  In this economy, money gets cut left and right, right out from underneath you, even in the professional world.  Yes, it seems unfair that she did not include you when she wasn't going to use your part of the design, however in this kind of school setting, there are still lines between adults and students, whether or not you are paid or volunteering, and there are many decisions that you may not be involved in for this very reason.  It seems that this has been a really good learning experience on how to work as a team, how to keep personal feelings aside for the good of the production, and how to learn to work with difficult people.  This is something you will end up dealing with more often than not.  Now can you turn what has happened from a negative to a positive to improve things for the future?

Good luck with your decision.  Do what is right for you.  When you are having to give so much, being unhappy at your job is not beneficial for you or the production.