Messages

91

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: Ricola

« on: Aug 28, 2008, 12:47 am »

The info in that thread is great, but I've also found that the rep for their charitable giving has changed quite a few times recently, and varied by region.  If you write to info@ricolausa.com, they should be able to point you in the right direction.  They like to hear that you're a theatre company (not for profit, if applicable), etc.  I usually include how much our actors appreciate it.  It helps if you include the shipping address of the theatre on the initial inquiry, so that you save a step of back and forth (the speed of the back and forth has varied wildly).  Once you finally get the confirmation that they'll send you some, it comes pretty quickly.

92

Tools of the Trade / Re: What's in your bag?

« on: Jul 17, 2008, 12:28 am »

I'll preface this by saying that my daily bag is a laptop backpack...my computer, memory stick, ipod & all cords needed to make it talk to any basic sound set up, a folder with schedule, contact sheet, etc, pens, sharpies, mechanical pencils, small notebook, hair elastics, bandaids, Neosporin, and Advil, and my tool pouch with my leatherman & flashlight

93

Tools of the Trade / Re: The Blackberry

« on: Jun 27, 2008, 04:03 pm »

I downloaded a great stopwatch that keeps running even when I go do something else on the phone.  And the camera works pretty well for preset photos.

What's the name of the stopwatch?

It's actually just called "Stopwatch (for Palm OS)".  I downloaded it at www.mytreo.net.  It's very basic, but its silent and keeps running until I hit the stop button, even if I go into another application.

94

Tools of the Trade / Re: The Blackberry

« on: Jun 26, 2008, 11:38 pm »

I'm also a Treo girl.  I have the 700p.  I love being able to access my email and calendar wherever I go.  I also use the Documents to Go, so I can access files of all types.  I downloaded a great stopwatch that keeps running even when I go do something else on the phone.  And the camera works pretty well for preset photos.

95

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: Running Book

« on: Jun 09, 2008, 10:59 pm »

I have found this to be useful from a backstage standpoint on a big show, even having been in the rehearsal room as PA.  We had a meeting like this on a large show last season, to coordinate all the backstage moves, the elevator, the slick trap and the Foy, and it was incredibly useful to get everyone on the same page.

96

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: "Blood" cleaning techniques

« on: May 29, 2008, 04:19 am »

On a recent production of Richard III that we did, for an especially hypo-allergenic blood, we used Johnson & Johnson's Baby Shampoo as the base.

I've also worked on shows that have used Simple Green as the base, producing a nice dark color, but again, you probably wouldn't want that on someone's face. 

It helps that if anything is done onstage before the end of the show (and I apologize, I don't know your show), to start soaking it immediately.

97

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: Glass Menagerie

« on: May 14, 2008, 06:36 pm »

The production I did a few years ago was a little more outside-the-box, and we had lots of little glass items, but the only actual animal was the unicorn.  What we did with the unicorn, was to coat him in epoxy, to make him sturdier.  It definitely helped, but by the end of the run, the poor little thing was made more of epoxy than glass after so many repairs.

98

The Hardline / Re: LORT levels

« on: Apr 13, 2008, 10:39 pm »

The TCG website has that information for theatres that are TCG members (which isn't all of them).   The advanced search ( http://www.tcg.org/tools/profiles/member_profiles/profile_search.cfm )  lets you search by LORT categories.  Again, there are a bunch of LORT theatres on the Equity list that aren't TCG members, but it's a start.

99

Tools of the Trade / Re: Headset Side

« on: Apr 07, 2008, 11:46 pm »

Left side.  I don't know where that came from, but it drives me nuts if it's not.   If it's wireless, I also like my pack to be on my left side, cause I wear my tool pouch and phone on the right.

100

Tools of the Trade / Re: "Mylar" tape removal?

« on: Mar 11, 2008, 11:41 pm »

It's a certainly more toxic smelling than goo gone, and I wouldn't try it if there isn't good ventilation, but I find that Goof Off (and sometimes just good old WD-40) are stronger than Goo Gone at getting off the really sticky messes.

101

Employment / Re: What to wear to an interview.

« on: Mar 10, 2008, 11:06 pm »

If you search the archive, you can find a lot of great information on this subject.  There are a bunch of threads that talk about interviews in depth. 

102

The Hardline / Re: LORT rehearsal/performance hours question

« on: Dec 28, 2007, 04:09 pm »

Ultimately, it turns out they are ridered, not on separate contracts(what we'd seen them signing at the top of yesterday's first rehearsal were just riders after all).  This was not made clear to our stage manager (who has dealt with the other situation of people finishing off one show at one theatre, while starting rehearsals for another at a different theatre many times).  Our biggest issue wasn't with having to follow the preview rules, it was that we couldn't get a clear answer out of our production management office as to what rules applied to the situation.   The rulebook strikes me as a little vague on this matter of two separate shows. 

I appreciate all input though.

103

The Hardline / LORT rehearsal/performance hours question

« on: Dec 27, 2007, 07:39 pm »

Background: I'm a PA at a regional theatre that has a company of actors.  We started rehearsal today for one show while we are still in performance for another.  The company signs a new contract for each production.

We encountered a few questions today, that we have been unable to glean answers to from the book.

*Our deputy has brought up that because they have a performance at night, they are only allowed to rehearse 5 1/2 hours (they voted not to rehearse on 2 show days, so we are distributing the 2 hours worth of extra half hour chunks throughout the week).  This surprised our stage manager, who assumed the rehearsal hours in performance sections applied to the same production, not separate productions at the same place.  Has anyone else encountered this?  Do we have to limit the rehearsal hours of the folks involved in both shows per the rule that says there can only be 5 1/2 hours of rehearsal on a one show day?

*Related to that:  If we do have to limit our day to that 5 1/2 hours worth of call, does it have to be consecutive or can there be a meal break in the middle (we were originally going to do a full day, and the director has an newspaper interview during this already scheduled break)?

*Also: How does this affect our span of day? Does the day for the overlapping actors need to be calculated from beginning of our rehearsal to the end of their performance for the other show?

I know we won't get an answer before we have to make a choice and put out our daily, but I'm curious to know what other people think.

104

Students and Novice Stage Managers / Re: Do you have a preferred type of show?

« on: Dec 03, 2007, 06:11 pm »

I love new plays.  There's something about being involved in the process of creating something that really clicks for me.  And even though I've done a lot of workshop-type productions with few cues, the rehearsal process is usually a lot more exciting, I find, as things are constantly changing. 

105

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: Henry IV, Part I

« on: Dec 03, 2007, 12:38 am »

Regarding Falstaff, when we did it a few years ago, our actor was quite padded, and got very hot, so we came up with some great ways to help him cope.  We had a fan set up in the green room, pointing at the couch, where he could turn it on for himself whenever he got a scene offstage.  We also filled all his bottles and flasks with gatorade instead of colored water, to keep him better hydrated.

We did a combination of parts 1 & 2 that our director cut herself (it was mostly part 1).  It came in 5 minutes under 3 hours with 2 intermissions (one of which was right after the big fight, because I remember spending most of the intermission crawling around on the deck with a towel and a bucket, cleaning up the spatters of the crab apple sized blood pack we'd used).  Speaking of blood, you'll want to find out if they are planning to actually do blood packs and such.  There are so, so many different ways to do stage blood and the specifics (does it need to come out of a costume?  Is the actor allergic to any detergents?, etc).

Have fun!  This show is one of my favorites.