91
Self-Promotion / Re: Mary T. & Lizzy K.
« on: Feb 14, 2013, 10:51 pm »
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92
Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: TECH: Thoughts on paper tech
« on: Feb 13, 2013, 05:43 pm »
I think paper tech can be very useful, but it really has to be planned on a case-by-case basis. On some productions it just really isn't practical. Sometimes maybe Sound is prepared to paper tech, but Lights wants to write cues on the fly so they really have no information to give you before they write it. Other times maybe you already have comprehensive q sheets and you're expected to book them yourself, and then tweak in tech if needed. Other times, the only reasonable expectation of what can be gotten out of paper tech is a framework of deck/rail Qs. Who knows.
So in general - I like paper tech, I think it's a good thing, but I also think it's not always practical, so it doesn't make sense to force the designers in to a paper tech if they won't have anything to do there. So check in with the director and designers, get a feel for the environment, and then decide.
In an ideal world, you could book everything before tech. But in the real world... I get what I can done. Which definitely includes deck/rail, and at least an idea of where sound/projections will be. But I put my Qs on stickers so I can move them with no erasing... because I will have to change them.
So in general - I like paper tech, I think it's a good thing, but I also think it's not always practical, so it doesn't make sense to force the designers in to a paper tech if they won't have anything to do there. So check in with the director and designers, get a feel for the environment, and then decide.
In an ideal world, you could book everything before tech. But in the real world... I get what I can done. Which definitely includes deck/rail, and at least an idea of where sound/projections will be. But I put my Qs on stickers so I can move them with no erasing... because I will have to change them.
93
Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: Prop/costume responsibility
« on: Feb 10, 2013, 11:23 am »
I'm not sure "fault" really matters here. There are five people who should have caught this, and none of them did. I guess you could say it's the fault of the first person for missing the pre-set, but any of the other four should have been checking their pieces and noticed that it wasn't there. So everybody messed up here. What's important is that the pieces all got on! It may not have looked exactly like planned, but it worked out fine. There may have been a panic, but it really wasn't a major disaster. And I bet that pre-set will never be forgotten again!
94
Introductions / Re: Hi there!
« on: Feb 10, 2013, 01:26 am »
Welcome!! Your job title is one I've never heard of before, so I'm curious - what exactly is a "high school drama moderator"? Like... teacher, director, drama club sponsor? Or is moderator a student position?
95
Students and Novice Stage Managers / Re: Reharsal Report AND Notes?
« on: Jan 31, 2013, 12:21 am »
Actors should be taking their own notes during rehearsals. I don't think it's the SM's job to pass notes from director to actor... then the actors will just get lazy and not take notes, because they know an email is coming that has all the information so why bother writing it themselves? It's important for me to know it, but it's not my job to know it FOR the actor.
I think it's a good idea for the SM to TAKE notes particularly in tablework, just record whatever ideas are spouted out... so that you have a resource to look back to, when somebody says "ok now what did we decide I was doing on this line?" or "go back to the way you were doing it before" etc. But those notes don't need to be emailed to the actors. Actors should be recording all notes that are given to them by the director, whether it's in rehearsal or, occasionally, via email (on those nights when you run out of time to give notes in rehearsal).
The only time I think it's acceptable to email notes to an actor is, for instance, last night was Q2Q. One of my actors called me saying "I'm on my way to rehearsal but I just brought my child to the hospital..." so as soon as he arrived we excused from rehearsal to go back and be with his family. We ran Q2Q and I took an individual set of notes for that actor - "make sure you arrive at your place by this line!" or the director calling out "hey [Actor] is going to have to wait for the sound to run before he speaks," but this was a really unique circumstance and it's absolutely not something I would do just for your everyday rehearsal. I'm definitely not going to just record everything the director says to the actors' faces and then send a copy of that to the actors...
I have been in situations where my director has typed up notes from a rehearsal, and sent them to me to ask me to distribute them to the cast, for consistency's sake... but in those situations it was made very clear that the notes were coming from the director and the actors should respond to her with questions, not me.
I do sometimes email performance notes, if the nature of the show is not conducive to giving face-to-face notes. So I'll email notes such as runtime, significant flubs, "this one scene was dragging a lot more than usual," "there was a traffic jam during a scene change, we're going to run it at call tomorrow," "your facial scruff is getting to be too much, please shave for tomorrow's show," etc.
I think it's a good idea for the SM to TAKE notes particularly in tablework, just record whatever ideas are spouted out... so that you have a resource to look back to, when somebody says "ok now what did we decide I was doing on this line?" or "go back to the way you were doing it before" etc. But those notes don't need to be emailed to the actors. Actors should be recording all notes that are given to them by the director, whether it's in rehearsal or, occasionally, via email (on those nights when you run out of time to give notes in rehearsal).
The only time I think it's acceptable to email notes to an actor is, for instance, last night was Q2Q. One of my actors called me saying "I'm on my way to rehearsal but I just brought my child to the hospital..." so as soon as he arrived we excused from rehearsal to go back and be with his family. We ran Q2Q and I took an individual set of notes for that actor - "make sure you arrive at your place by this line!" or the director calling out "hey [Actor] is going to have to wait for the sound to run before he speaks," but this was a really unique circumstance and it's absolutely not something I would do just for your everyday rehearsal. I'm definitely not going to just record everything the director says to the actors' faces and then send a copy of that to the actors...
I have been in situations where my director has typed up notes from a rehearsal, and sent them to me to ask me to distribute them to the cast, for consistency's sake... but in those situations it was made very clear that the notes were coming from the director and the actors should respond to her with questions, not me.
I do sometimes email performance notes, if the nature of the show is not conducive to giving face-to-face notes. So I'll email notes such as runtime, significant flubs, "this one scene was dragging a lot more than usual," "there was a traffic jam during a scene change, we're going to run it at call tomorrow," "your facial scruff is getting to be too much, please shave for tomorrow's show," etc.
96
Self-Promotion / Taming of the Shrew in DC and on the radio!
« on: Jan 29, 2013, 01:56 am »
Lean and Hungry Theater is a Washington DC-based company that does one-hour radio drama adaptations of Shakespeare, and presents them on WAMU 88-5fm, DC's local NPR affiliate.
Our Taming of the Shrew has been plucked out of Padua, Italy, and dropped in San Antonio de Padua, Mexico. This production puts a Latin flair on Shrew by setting it in the world of the Mexican radionovela (radio soap opera) called La Fierecilla Domada.
We'd love to have you in the audience for our live broadcast, but if you can't make it, we'll be streaming live online at wamu.org. Show time is 6pm on Sunday Feb 3. Yes, it interferes with the Super Bowl. Yes, a local team is playing in the Super Bowl. I know. But if you don't mind missing the first little bit of the game, please come see us! Or at least tune in on the radio/online
Tickets to the live broadcast performance (which features six actors playing all the roles* and doing live foley!) are available here for $20. The performance is hosted by the Women's National Democratic Club, at their historic Whittemore House at 1526 New Hampshire Ave NW (Dupont).
See our website or RSVP to our facebook event!
*Okay, the six actors are only playing MOST of the roles. We did have to cut a few. The whole production is an hour long, give me a break
Our Taming of the Shrew has been plucked out of Padua, Italy, and dropped in San Antonio de Padua, Mexico. This production puts a Latin flair on Shrew by setting it in the world of the Mexican radionovela (radio soap opera) called La Fierecilla Domada.
We'd love to have you in the audience for our live broadcast, but if you can't make it, we'll be streaming live online at wamu.org. Show time is 6pm on Sunday Feb 3. Yes, it interferes with the Super Bowl. Yes, a local team is playing in the Super Bowl. I know. But if you don't mind missing the first little bit of the game, please come see us! Or at least tune in on the radio/online
Tickets to the live broadcast performance (which features six actors playing all the roles* and doing live foley!) are available here for $20. The performance is hosted by the Women's National Democratic Club, at their historic Whittemore House at 1526 New Hampshire Ave NW (Dupont).
See our website or RSVP to our facebook event!
*Okay, the six actors are only playing MOST of the roles. We did have to cut a few. The whole production is an hour long, give me a break
97
Tools of the Trade / Re: Call Script Word Processor Mac App
« on: Jan 29, 2013, 01:22 am »
1. Above all, flexibility. I say this because... the last two shows I did had books that were almost identical in style, but my current show is SO vastly different because this is what works for this play. So I really... need the ability to move any item to any place. I also NEED color-coding! OH and I would like tables too. Basically... I want all the same functions I always use, but I want to be able to manipulate them easily and quickly, and create a layout that fits my needs for that particular show. Rather than being married to one specific layout. ALSO there needs to be a good way to fit timings into it. Preferably there would be multiple options - you could insert the time on each page, or on each scene, or you could insert 1 minute or 5 minute times as they fall.
2. I generally keep the text on the left and cues on the right.
3. See, this is one of those questions that requires flexibility. My "normal style" is that I have the text on the left, and I use color-coded dots in that side of the book to show cues. Then on the blank page on the right, I write in my standbys and GOs, and exactly how they should be called (for instance: "cue line." (beat) GO). I tend to read the entire two-page spread from left to right, if that makes sense? However, on my current show, I'm keeping the text on the left, and then I'm writing my cues in the left margin on the same page, because my actual called cues are very minimal, and the page on the right has much more important information that is unique to this production.
4. Depends. If I'm using the same script as the actors, then I want the numbers in the top left and bottom left corners. HOWEVER if I'm using a different version from the actors, I want to have THEIR page numbers. For instance, if I had a book script that I retyped to a doc, the pages are going to be all off, so I would like to mark in where the pages are for the actors. Because if it's page 14 in my book, but page 21 in the actor's... 21 is the one that matters more, and that's what I'll use in rehearsal reports and such. So in situations like this, I just pencil a straight line across the page wherever the 'real' page break is, and number it there.
5. I'm not huge on shapes; I really prefer color-coding. Colors are much easier for me to see at a glance than shapes. If the shapes function in the app was easy to use, I would use it... but for me, the difference between pink and green jumps out at me a whole lot faster than the difference between a rectangle and a triangle.
2. I generally keep the text on the left and cues on the right.
3. See, this is one of those questions that requires flexibility. My "normal style" is that I have the text on the left, and I use color-coded dots in that side of the book to show cues. Then on the blank page on the right, I write in my standbys and GOs, and exactly how they should be called (for instance: "cue line." (beat) GO). I tend to read the entire two-page spread from left to right, if that makes sense? However, on my current show, I'm keeping the text on the left, and then I'm writing my cues in the left margin on the same page, because my actual called cues are very minimal, and the page on the right has much more important information that is unique to this production.
4. Depends. If I'm using the same script as the actors, then I want the numbers in the top left and bottom left corners. HOWEVER if I'm using a different version from the actors, I want to have THEIR page numbers. For instance, if I had a book script that I retyped to a doc, the pages are going to be all off, so I would like to mark in where the pages are for the actors. Because if it's page 14 in my book, but page 21 in the actor's... 21 is the one that matters more, and that's what I'll use in rehearsal reports and such. So in situations like this, I just pencil a straight line across the page wherever the 'real' page break is, and number it there.
5. I'm not huge on shapes; I really prefer color-coding. Colors are much easier for me to see at a glance than shapes. If the shapes function in the app was easy to use, I would use it... but for me, the difference between pink and green jumps out at me a whole lot faster than the difference between a rectangle and a triangle.
98
The Green Room / Re: Side Gigs
« on: Jan 26, 2013, 03:02 pm »
I have adorably tiny feet (I got an x-ray a few months back and the tech giggled at my feet. come on they're a size US6.5, they're not THAT small!!) but have a huge tattoo on one of them, so no
Last week I started a new temp office job (first day job in a year and a half, I've been doing ONLY theatre) and, if my first two days are indicative of the rest of my time here, it appears that I'm going to be pulling staples for eight hours a day. It's dreadful. But alas, I need a paycheck that's more (and steadier) than the couple hundred dollars I get for two months of work on a non-union show.
Last week I started a new temp office job (first day job in a year and a half, I've been doing ONLY theatre) and, if my first two days are indicative of the rest of my time here, it appears that I'm going to be pulling staples for eight hours a day. It's dreadful. But alas, I need a paycheck that's more (and steadier) than the couple hundred dollars I get for two months of work on a non-union show.
99
The Green Room / Re: Production Haikus
« on: Jan 19, 2013, 08:42 pm »
I *know* the floor was
Dark on the model. Don't spring
White on us in tech.
Dark on the model. Don't spring
White on us in tech.
100
The Green Room / Re: Weirdest Item In Your Kit
« on: Jan 19, 2013, 08:34 pm »
I have a referee's whistle, which came in handy a few shows back, when I had a 20-person cast with 6 teenagers (and a handful of adults with attitudes). I haven't had to use it since then, because since then I haven't worked with such a patience-testing cast... but it's there just in case!
101
Tools of the Trade / Re: Strange things in your kit, and how they got there
« on: Jan 18, 2013, 01:59 am »
I've got a whistle... left behind from a show with a referee. Yoinked it from the dressing room during strike, washed it, put it on a lanyard (a very pretty one that a friend made for me out of purple and green glass beads - I used to keep my old work ID on it). Got a lot of use out of that whistle during rehearsals for a show with six teenagers in it (and a bunch of adults with attitudes and no sense of focus).
102
The Green Room / Re: Live Animals Onstage.
« on: Jan 12, 2013, 03:24 pm »
When I had a dog onstage, he entered chasing an actor. So the actor would play with him backstage with a dog toy (I think it was actually a cat toy... a ball with a little jingle bell in it. Tiny tiny dog.) and get the dog interested in the toy, and then run on and drop the ball, and in theory the dog would go to the ball.
It almost never worked. So what I mean to say is, don't just accept the pet of a cast member who says "I'm sure it'll be fine," because it won't be fine, and when you hit the pin spot that's supposed to isolate the dog, he won't be in his place and the entire gag will be ruined. And then, because your producer didn't want to hire a dog handler, the director will be in the dressing room at every. single. performance. Which is even worse than the joke not landing. Sooooo....
Use training treats (small, usually soft treats, they're a 1-bite thing so the dog won't get full on them and won't make a mess eating them) or individual pieces of kibble, and make sure you have a good trainer/handler on staff.
It almost never worked. So what I mean to say is, don't just accept the pet of a cast member who says "I'm sure it'll be fine," because it won't be fine, and when you hit the pin spot that's supposed to isolate the dog, he won't be in his place and the entire gag will be ruined. And then, because your producer didn't want to hire a dog handler, the director will be in the dressing room at every. single. performance. Which is even worse than the joke not landing. Sooooo....
Use training treats (small, usually soft treats, they're a 1-bite thing so the dog won't get full on them and won't make a mess eating them) or individual pieces of kibble, and make sure you have a good trainer/handler on staff.
103
Introductions / Re: Hello SMs!
« on: Jan 07, 2013, 07:11 pm »
...and I am now on a quest for an awesome stress ball to add to my kit. 
Welcome, Jer!
Welcome, Jer!
104
Students and Novice Stage Managers / Re: Working with my mom???
« on: Jan 05, 2013, 02:14 am »
It's probably more of an issue between you and your mom, than between you and the cast. Make sure you have a very professional, non-familial relationship with her at work. Even if everyone knows she's your mom - you don't have to act like it in public. You are both there to get a job done. Ask her to treat you like you're in charge - because you are. If she's a high-tier ballet dancer, she knows a bit about professional relationships, and she knows the role of a choreographer and the role of a stage manager. She shouldn't call you "sweetie" or any other pet name or family nickname, or talk about "what are we going to have for dinner tonight?" because those aren't conversations that need to be had in the workplace. And by that same token, you shouldn't have those conversations with her either.
Maybe it would be helpful for you to not call her "mom." This suggestion is probably going to be hard for you - I know it is hard for me, and I'm in my mid-to-late 20s. If you call her by the same name everyone else is calling her (whether it's "Mrs. [Lastname]" or just her first name), people will understand that this is a business relationship. I'm not saying you must not call her "mom," it's just a thing that I think would really help me if I was in that position.
I recently stage managed a professonal show that had a voiceover-only character and after the original actor kept canceling on our recording sessions, we brought in my dad to do it. Luckily I didn't have to interact with him too much because he was only in for one day, but while he was there I just treated him like one of my actors. He didn't get to sit at the SM table with me or anything like that. We were both there to do our own jobs, and doing our jobs involved not interfering with each other.
Don't panic. That's the key to everything in your job, is to maintain a level head. So even if you're frustrated with your mom (because that's bound to happen), it doesn't matter. You're there to get the job done. You're there to create art. Let go of personal issues, at least in the rehearsal room. Don't let any of it get under your skin.
If you give the cast and crew the impression that you are in control and you are deserving of respect... then you will get that respect. If they see you accidentally slip into childish mode to bicker with your mother, you're going to lose their respect.
Just have a chat with your mother before rehearsals begin. Explain that you need to distance yourself from the mother-daughter relationship while you're in the rehearsal room, because you need to be able to run the process effectively, which means you need to have the respect of the entire cast and crew, which will be hard to keep if you guys act too much like mother and daughter in public. She will probably also have some ideas of how to help with that.
Maybe it would be helpful for you to not call her "mom." This suggestion is probably going to be hard for you - I know it is hard for me, and I'm in my mid-to-late 20s. If you call her by the same name everyone else is calling her (whether it's "Mrs. [Lastname]" or just her first name), people will understand that this is a business relationship. I'm not saying you must not call her "mom," it's just a thing that I think would really help me if I was in that position.
I recently stage managed a professonal show that had a voiceover-only character and after the original actor kept canceling on our recording sessions, we brought in my dad to do it. Luckily I didn't have to interact with him too much because he was only in for one day, but while he was there I just treated him like one of my actors. He didn't get to sit at the SM table with me or anything like that. We were both there to do our own jobs, and doing our jobs involved not interfering with each other.
Don't panic. That's the key to everything in your job, is to maintain a level head. So even if you're frustrated with your mom (because that's bound to happen), it doesn't matter. You're there to get the job done. You're there to create art. Let go of personal issues, at least in the rehearsal room. Don't let any of it get under your skin.
If you give the cast and crew the impression that you are in control and you are deserving of respect... then you will get that respect. If they see you accidentally slip into childish mode to bicker with your mother, you're going to lose their respect.
Just have a chat with your mother before rehearsals begin. Explain that you need to distance yourself from the mother-daughter relationship while you're in the rehearsal room, because you need to be able to run the process effectively, which means you need to have the respect of the entire cast and crew, which will be hard to keep if you guys act too much like mother and daughter in public. She will probably also have some ideas of how to help with that.
105
The Green Room / Re: Thread to vent about / Actors behaving badly / As haiku only
« on: Jan 01, 2013, 08:51 pm »
Being a jerk to
Me is bad enough. Please don't
Hit reply-to-all.
Me is bad enough. Please don't
Hit reply-to-all.