Messages

901

Tools of the Trade / Re: Prop Drinks : Port

« on: Feb 27, 2010, 02:35 pm »

grape juice or cranberry juice base and then add either red (to grape) or blue (to cranberry) food dye to color. Grape juice is a bear cuz it stains, but it gives the thickness you need - we build dubonnet with cranberry base and a port with grape base and they looked amazing.

902

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: What's the most controversial show you've ever worked on?

« on: Feb 26, 2010, 06:38 pm »

wow, I've done some really controversial pieces - and some (like Orphans) that warn the audience and then still they are surprised when they see the offensive language, violence, drugs/booze etc

903

Tools of the Trade / Re: New Printer Recommendations, Please!

« on: Feb 26, 2010, 06:37 pm »

I love my Brother - work really well w Macs, and they do the job every time - cheap replacement ink (monocrome laser printer since so much of what I do is b/w) and lasts for freakin' ever. Had an Okidata I loved for my PC before it died and I transfered to a Mac platform and was sad to have to give it up but after 5 years this Brother has been amazing.

904

The Hardline / Re: EMC for lighting intern

« on: Feb 25, 2010, 04:51 pm »

I sincerely doubt you can get EMC points for doing IA rather than AEA-related work but check w your local rep just in case. But, think about it - if you are not working as an actor or SM, you wouldn't be learning those skills and moving ahead in our profession.

905

Tools of the Trade / Re: Converting PDF Files Back To Word or Excel

« on: Feb 23, 2010, 09:23 pm »

cool - and totally useful thanks!

906

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

« on: Feb 23, 2010, 12:10 pm »

um, not sure how you get scripts, but for me a script is just 3-hole-punched 8-1/2x11 paper, so those magazine holders are pretty useless altho I use these for music when I work as a singer and have folio rather than copies to read from.....

907

The Green Room / Great descriptions of stage managers in 1-2 sentences

« on: Feb 23, 2010, 02:27 am »

I saw this on the new FB page "I bet we can find a million Theater people" quoted by the page's originator, Morgan Rusler -

Ah, stage managers - the human super glue of live theater!

I love these juicy tidbits encapsulating our work - how about a collection of the best of them!

908

Students and Novice Stage Managers / Re: Blocking using a score

« on: Feb 23, 2010, 01:59 am »

I think it comes down to how you look at music. Those of us who are musicians, who read music fluently, will prob feel more comfortable with the score, while those who don't will feel better about counts. As long as the cue is called at the correct time, you gotta do what feels most comfortable, most right for you and your brain -

909

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

« on: Feb 22, 2010, 01:31 pm »

The bottom line is, do what makes sense to you. There are no rules about where a script is or is not supposed to be. As long as you can do your job efficiently and well, who cares where it lies in the general scheme of things.

910

Students and Novice Stage Managers / Re: Blocking using a score

« on: Feb 22, 2010, 01:02 pm »

it depends on show - I prefer scores cuz it's easier for me to see/follow/call on a specific beat in the  measure - and esp w long dance breaks to know exactly where we are even if I have been distracted at some point to handle something. Yes, if I run a show for more than a few weeks I don't need to look at the score, but for short runs it is a great asset.

I have seen other folks use the count system and yes it saves tons of paper space, but is less clear for me - but I have done it and it can work well

911

Students and Novice Stage Managers / Re: When to take the blame

« on: Feb 21, 2010, 11:24 pm »

I was taught to lead with this phrase "I'm so sorry, it was my mistake, it will never happen again"

(and, what Dallas said - the SM is the team leader, and no matter who does what it's on our shoulders. We fix it later after the dust settles and others cool off - without blame, without anger, without rancor. A dangerous mistake was made, it needs to be fixed, how can we fix it)

912

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: SHOW CAN'T GO ON: Tell your stories here

« on: Feb 21, 2010, 03:48 pm »

Places for both shows in both (adjacent) theaters had been called when the entire section of the city went dark with a power outage. My cast went to the other house and, with flashlights, the two shows joined in the larger house and explained to the audience what was going on, offering them either future tickets OR to hang in and wait til we knew what was going on. Three of the actors being cabaret artists, we held mags on them and they sang and did jokes and improv and led the audience in singalongs for about an hour until it was clear the situation was hopeless. The audience had a blast. Then everyone went home.

913

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: COSTUMES: How involved do you get with costumes and wardrobe?

« on: Feb 18, 2010, 12:08 pm »

I'm just saying that it is everyone's job to help everyone else on the production, and I don't consider it an imposition to have someone say, "Hey, I found this form (on this really great forum that I'm part of) and think that it might be helpful to us with our production to use it.  Use it or not, but it's somewhere to start."

Honestly, as a union stage manager, if I ever even offered any of my professional costumers a form I had generated, I would lose all credibility, and they would take great offense and consider me stepping way, way over the line. Granted, there have been very rare occasions when I have done shows with novices, and  yes, I have politely offered to help by sharing forms/plots from other costumers (and printed out a page each of several choices). But that is the exception rather than the rule, and it is still better to treat these newbies as if they were pros for the sake of the team.

914

The Green Room / Re: Best bit of advice from a Stage Managment book

« on: Feb 16, 2010, 01:05 pm »

Charles Nelson Reilly "It's only a little show.."

and others "it's not brain surgery"

915

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: COSTUMES: How involved do you get with costumes and wardrobe?

« on: Feb 16, 2010, 12:16 pm »

as NomieRae said - it's stepping on toes. I generate forms and organize the overall show and things that directly pertain to me, but I would never suggest my forms to a costumer, or even have forms to suggest. Each has his or her own way of collecting the info needed, and those folks generate forms when they need them. I expect the costumer to give me a plot, and we will discuss when I think QCs are (an experienced costumer will know abt QCs before I do since they have already had that discussion w the director abt who wears what when) and we will together make sure there is time to rehearse any that might be scary. But being sympathetic (or even empathetic) and even having done wardrobe doesn't mean I do their job. Yes, on rare occasion, my knowledge in the field has helped when we have had emergencies (needing to clean a costume between matinee and evening when u/s did one and the original player the other with no back-up pieces), or wardrobe busy w QC while someone else's hem needs to be gaff taped up or zipper safety pinned) and once, w a brand new costumer, I shared sample costume plots from other shows, but that was handled as suggestion only. Bottom line, I don't expect them to do my job and I don't expect to do theirs. In addition to treading on toes, it's also an issue of respect.