Messages

91

Employment / Re: Stage Management Salary

« on: Jun 30, 2008, 03:12 pm »

I had to do the math, since I am a yearly salaried position.  It works out to a bit over $650 a week, but that's every week in the year, with health insurance, paid vacation and a retirement plan.  My road house is owned by a municipality, so I'm a city employee.

-Centaura

92

SMNetwork Archives / Re: Aging in stage management (those late 20's)

« on: Jun 30, 2008, 03:01 pm »

I am constantly hearing my teacher say - some of these things just come with age or experience.

I remember how annoying that was to hear all the time in college, and yet now I can see how true it is.  And will continue to be - I have a lot of acquaintances who are 60+ who I am sure can look at me at my current age and think of all the things they didn't know then, like I can think of the things I didn't know when I was in my teens or 20s.

-Centaura

93

SMNetwork Archives / Re: Aging in stage management (those late 20's)

« on: Jun 29, 2008, 01:32 pm »

Whenever I get a year older, I wonder why folks have a problem with the idea of aging.  I have found that the older I am, the easier it is to get respect.  When I was in my twenties and on tour, it was harder than heck to walk into a venue with grizzled old IA hands and get then to listen to me about what I needed for my show.  I would have to spend extra time explaining every reasoning behind what I wanted before they would do anything.  I had to prove to them that there was a string of logic behind what I was asking for, they wouldn't just take my word as the person in charge of the tour.  I'm in my mid-30's now, and while I'm off the road, I still find that I'm having an easier time working with roadies because I'm older.  They're accepting the things I'm saying without the long explanations of logic.  I don't know if I have any advice to 20-somethings about getting respect - I had to resort to brute physical strength sometimes.  I found that if the guys saw me lifting heavy things off the back of my truck, they took me more seriously that day.  If for whatever reason I didn't unload the truck on a given day, I would notice that I was working harder to be believed that day.  Other than that, I had to know my show twice as well, so I could logic away any questions or concerns that locals had.

-Centaura

94

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: Director From Hell

« on: Jun 23, 2008, 01:03 pm »

A lot of it depends on the scale of company that you're working with, whether a union is involved, and how people's relationship's stand.  In my very first job out of college, I was an ASM at a union theatre.  There were very strict rules regarding what I could do verses what the IA hands took care of.  I slipped a few times, but the guys were fairly cool about it since it was small stuff and they knew I was new.  There was a situation where everyone was comfortable with a 'the show has highest priority' mentality, though I definitely couldn't constantly break the rules. 

As its been said, it all depends on a case by case scenario - I wouldn't get into the habit of thinking of it as okay, its only something to do in serious circumstances.  Even if everyone is getting along fine now, if you step outside of your department too many times, that can give you a bad rep as interfering - even if you're only doing it for the show's good.  Lets say you hemmed a frayed handkerchief - do you know for a fact that was the final prop?  That wasn't something that was borrowed, that they thought would be final, but it doesn't quite look right, so they are supposed to return it untouched?  If they're really busy, they might forget to say that its not going to be the final prop after all.

This was just a hypothesis - there are times when you can use your own judgement as far as taking care of something, but really, I'd check with your prop department before you did anything - just to say, heh, I know you're behind, I'd like to help out, do you mind if I take care of this item for you?

-Centaura

95

Stage Management: Other / Re: Orchestra Stage Management & Unions/Pay Rates

« on: Jun 23, 2008, 12:39 pm »

Our local symphony doesn't have a SM - there's a stagehand that does some basic stage management duties, but he's really just the deck hand on the call, so covered by the venue's IATSE agreement.  I'll ask my symphony contact if he knows anything - I know there's a musician's union, our symphony is a member.  But I have no idea if it covers SMs or not.

-Centaura

96

Students and Novice Stage Managers / Re: calling cues? (warning vs standby)

« on: Jun 11, 2008, 11:49 am »

The other times that I have used warnings is if a crew person has to take a cue after having done nothing for a long time.  It serves as a "wake up" call before the actual standby and cue.

That's the main time that I used warnings - if there had been quite a while since the last cue sequence.  I remember one show I did in college where we went most of Act II without any cues to call.  I remember having a really long warning for the end just to make sure that I had everyone's attention.

The other times I'll put a warning in is if we're going into a complicated series that needs more prep time backstage.  I.E.  "Warning on Boat Shift", and then I give each individual cue its own standby and go.

Standbys can also be used for sequences when cues are tightly packed - I.E. "Standby Light cues 54 to 63, and Sound Cues 29 and 30" and then each cue got a go.

-Centaura

97

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: Dressing For The Part?

« on: Jun 11, 2008, 11:43 am »

But I have a hard time with the whole dress-nicer-and-people-will-think-you're-more-professional notion.

Its a very unconscious reaction, but its there.  Even you have pointed out that you make an effort at first impressions by dressing differently for them - so I think you understand it partly on a subconscious level.

I don't propose wearing heels, impractical skirts, etc.  That's not dressing appropriately.  There is a balance between looking professional, and wearing clothing that still allows you to do your job.  Try walking down the street and looking at folks and taking note about what crosses your mind first.  And then try to analize how you came to that conclusion.  You'll be amazed about the conclusions you've come to about the people around you just based on how they're dressed.

-Centaura

98

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: Alertness

« on: Jun 11, 2008, 11:32 am »

When I did shows that ran for 100+ perfs, I was on tour and that was enough to keep you going no matter what.  Yes, the show was the same, but the venue and crew was constantly changing and that kept me on my feet.  One day you're dealing with a 30' proscenium, and the actors are slowing themselves down and cramping trying to keep the blocking realistic, and then you'd hit a 70' proscenium and the actors are trying not to run to keep their entrances and exits.  Another time, you're dealing with a full IA crew that's highly departmentalized, the next day you're at a university where you're wondering if you're going to have a load-out crew, since the students got their credit for showing up at load-in.  I never really wanted to do stationary shows for 100+ perfs, as I could see where that would get really boring.

-Centaura

99

Stage Management: Other / Re: Regarding SMing Dance with a Stopwatch

« on: May 27, 2008, 10:42 am »

Thanks for sharing your story of how you overcame the challenge of that production.  Hopefully it will help someone else who finds themselves in a changing production.  The one time I SMed a dance production, I had to create my own calling book, since most of the music was modern, some of it commmerical CD tracks, and there was no score.  I did something similar in that I did a balance between calling off times and calling on pure visuals.

-Centaura

100

The Hardline / Re: NYTW Laying off Production Staff

« on: May 14, 2008, 09:51 pm »

Budgets are getting tightened everywhere with the current economy.  The state that I live in has just enacted a new 'tax break' that's going to cost millions in lost revenues.  My venue is owned by a city, which has just been told that it needs to cut $9 million from its operating budget next year.  We're a road house, so we don't have the kind of production staff that a producing venue does, but its still scary.  We at least fall into the category mentioned above:

Different situation outside NYC, where I think non-for-profits usually pay a vital role in areas that can't sustain as much commercial theatre

And can argue that we return almost all of our budget back to the city.  But if we didn't, we'd have to start looking at cuts - and the most expensive part of our whole operation is the salaried personnel.  A person on salary costs not only their take-home pay, but the extra above that for taxes, benefits, etc. etc.

-Centaura

101

Tools of the Trade / Re: Headset Side

« on: May 14, 2008, 09:39 pm »

I was a left-ear in college, but have since damaged my right eardrum.  I now find that wearing it on my right ear is helpful, since I can bump up the volume to compensate for my slightly damaged hearing.  That leaves my left ear, which can hear subtle things better, free to listen to the show.

-Centaura

102

Tools of the Trade / Re: Cue light system

« on: May 14, 2008, 09:35 pm »

They are most often hard-wired into the theatres that are using them.  My college had a cue light system, but the only time we ever used it was once when we were doing a tech and our clear-coms died.  We didn't have enough working headsets to go around, so we turned to the cue light system.  At my road house, we don't have a system in place.  Most of the shows that come in don't miss it - and if they do want cue lights they generally have their own.

I wouldn't stress over it at this time, when you get into a situation where you'll be running cue lights, you will have time to practice on that specific system before your shows open.  Tech is your time to learn show specific motions, just like it is the rest of your crew's.

-Centaura

103

The Hardline / Re: Do you agree with Equity representing Stage Managers

« on: Apr 04, 2008, 09:34 am »

IA requires a meal break after 5 hours UNLESS 6 hours is the full day.

It depends on the contract.  The contract that we have locally says that the union has to have a meal break at 5 hours, no exceptions, or you go into meal penalty.  If they know they only need 6 hours, then they meal break the union after 4 hours and then get 2 hours after the break.  But there is no clause in our contact that lets them work for 6 hours without a meal break or meal penalty.

-Centaura

104

Students and Novice Stage Managers / Re: Trouble Finding Support.

« on: Mar 21, 2008, 10:00 am »

The only way to convince a parent is to do it and be successful.  They forget that its really easy to tell someone else what they 'should' do, and at the end of the day, they are just trying to think of your long term well-being.  They want you to have a well-paying job so that you don't want for anything, and their only concept of theatre is the idea of 'out of work actor waiting tables'.

My mother was against me getting a theatre degree; I was supposed to leave college with 'marketable job skills'.  Twelve years after graduation - theatre has taken me to 48 of the 50 states, a year in the UK,  I have only ever worked in theatre or theatre related jobs, and am now in a full-time, year-round position, with good benefits.  She keeps telling me what a wonderful person I've become, how well-rounded and experienced I am.  A decision she was once totally against she now thinks is a great choice I made for my life.  Convincing her at the time that it was?  Not possible.  Showing her by being successful?  What I've now done.

I wouldn't stress too much right now about convincing them, unless its a matter of 'they won't pay what they've promised to' unless you take a degree that they approve.  And if that's the case, the best way to show them that you're serious is to take out your own student loans and be self sufficient.  Just thank them for their well-wishes for your future, and say you want to do something that you love and that your research has shown you you can make a living doing.

-Centaura

105

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: sound cue debate - letters or numbers

« on: Mar 20, 2008, 09:45 am »

I agree with the opinion that you've tried, but its not worth making a fight over it.  Consider it a challenge to your calling skills, and a good learning experience.  Who knows, there might be a time that you're called in to be a last minute replacement on a show that has numbered sound cues.  There would be no way for you to change things in that scenario, so having had previous experience in calling sound with numbers would be good background.

-Centaura