Messages

991

Employment / Re: resume format

« on: Apr 20, 2009, 10:00 pm »

Mine is...

Production   Director/Principle   Producing Company    Location    Date

I have found that in interviews thr Production Managers ask who produced the production and that shows the level of my experience.  Does anyone else have the same feelings?

~Josh

Sidenote - Josh, you may want to spellcheck that w. a dictionary.  A Principle is a moral tenet or guiding rule.  A Principal is a person in a central position.  An easy mix-up, but not one for the resume.

992

Employment / Share your special skills

« on: Apr 12, 2009, 11:57 pm »

Some of us have a "special skills" section on our resumes.  Others do not, but still have unique talents and experiences that make them valuable as stage managers or consultants.  I wanted to start building a resource list of members, so that when we land that crazy production where we suddenly need to know how to, say, make soap onstage, or assemble a legit mountain climber's kit, we know who we can email for advice.

So.  What skills have you used as stage managers that don't fit within the normal sphere of creating a show?  What have you done that might come in handy in the future?  Let's start building our network of expertise.

993

Students and Novice Stage Managers / Re: Student SM Challenge #6: Design your Department

« on: Apr 10, 2009, 10:05 pm »

These are all mostly ideas from my own college as well as grad programs I have researched. Also some are new takes on old ideas. What do you think Kay, would this be a plausible start to a program?

As always with these things, there is no wrong or right answer.  I think you're on the right track and your program would definitely be a good start.  I like your ideas of weekly production meetings and psychology courses.  Of course, other people might not.

The challenge remains open to others!

994

Students and Novice Stage Managers / Student SM Challenge #6: Design your Department

« on: Apr 10, 2009, 01:15 am »

This student challenge is mainly directed at our college student members, but it is open to all for discussion.

A private college has a small drama department, as spin-off from their English department.  The bulk of the classes are in theatrical literature and history, with a couple of acting classes, a "tech theatre" class and a public speaking class.  They have a theater facility, but it is used primarily for seminars and famous speakers.  Students have done grass-roots performances for years in found spaces, but due to scheduling conflicts with the main hall there have been only two school-sponsored productions a year, and they are typically small. 

However, a new grant donated by an anonymous alumnus has allowed them to create an undergraduate stage management major and convert an old gymnasium into a black box theatre.

You are the head of this little drama department.  Your task is to design the curriculum and hire the right teachers to create an effective major.  You can create new courses, and the new theatre can serve as your lab.  What classes do you require your student stage managers to take?  (They can be theatre courses or not.)  What expertise will you look for in your new teaching staff?  How many people will you accept into your program?  What sort of extra-curricular experience will you offer/require?

995

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: Headset Etiquette

« on: Apr 09, 2009, 11:11 pm »

I was learning headset protocols at the same time as I was working for my college's student police force back in the mid 90's.  At the time, I was doing radio dispatch for about 20 hours a week, so I was spending more time with the police walkies than I was on headset.  My headset style was definitely shaped by working in that kind of environment.

The issue that Lilz brought up back on the first incarnation of this thread with FCC supervision is 10 times more intense when you know full well that the city police force and the college police force are auditing every word you say. It's also a complete game-changer to know that your fellow students in the field are depending on you to efficiently work the radio and rescue them in the event that they get into trouble. 

It took about two years after graduation for me to be able to swear successfully if a microphone was anywhere near my face.  As I was only allowed to send out over police radio for necessary communications, I did not get in the habit of bantering in, although I had no problem if my show crews did so.  I'm a mouth breather by nature, so if I wasn't calling a standby or a cue, my mic was off.  My crews didn't really hear a peep from me for the first couple of years out of college.

I did eventually learn to talk though, and found out about actor-accessible coms in a very amusing way.  We had one actor who was only onstage for about a quarter of a five-person show, so he spent a lot of time being very bored backstage and would listen in on com.  After about a week he came up to me and in all seriousness asked me if I would consider phoning him for... hm, shall we say "adult conversation"? as he found my voice exciting.  (I declined and spoke a lot less over com for the rest of the show.)

I think in retrospect that attempting to apply FCC regulations to a closed-circuit hardwire system is excessive by miles.  However, we can reach back a few decades to the era of party telephone lines and bring forward some of the etiquette used in those days.  (For those of you who are too young to even know what a party line is, check over here.  Basically, if it oughtn't to be said in public, then don't say it over com.

996

Students and Novice Stage Managers / Dear Abby: Torn between two majors

« on: Apr 06, 2009, 01:23 am »

The following is a "Dear Abby" post, submitted by a member of SMNetwork who wishes to remain anonymous.

I'm torn. I love technical theatre, every aspect of it, from set design, construction, lighting, stage management, rigging, special effects. You name it, I probably love it. My parents don't. I'm heavily involved in my school's program, and I have expanded it to over 40 students from where it was when I started at about 5-10 students.

I'm a junior in high school right now, and I'm pretty talented with computers, so we've decided that I'm going to major in Computer Science when I go to college. My parents don't want me to be academically involved in theatre when I go to college, but I do. I've been involved in theatre so long that I just can't stand the thought of giving it up. Maybe it won't be a career for me...but I want to leave it open, because I really do love it.

My parents would never allow me to only major in theatre. My question is, should I try to do a double major in both Computer Science and Technical Theatre? I know it seems early to ask this question, but it also really affects where I apply/look at/go to college. My parents have made me a long list of colleges to apply to, but only two of them have technical (non-acting/performance) theatre majors: Purdue University and the University of Miami. Both schools look great to me and I'm confident I'll get into both. They have strong programs in both Computer Science and Technical Theatre areas. I just don't know if it would be too much work to do a double major like this, or if its even feasible to earn two unrelated majors like these in a reasonable amount of time. I also don't know how useful it would end up being to me down the road, and if it's worth putting up the fight.

997

SMNetwork Archives / Re: AEA and Facebook

« on: Apr 02, 2009, 11:02 pm »

I wonder sometimes what has happened to common courtesy when I see people resorting to rulebooks and lawsuits rather than starting first with conversations and accessible personal controls.

If someone tags you in a Facebook photo, you can remove the tag yourself if you don't like it.  You can also ask that the person not use your image in the future - my guess is they will be amenable to stopping if they value their career.  As long as these controls remain in place I think the concern, while certainly good brain fodder, is a moot one.

Regarding Sarah's specific questions I do not think that a cast member could be construed as a supporter of the Theatre, nor a sponsor.  They are employees or contract workers, and unless they are also donors to the theatre's endowment (which occasionally happens) and specifically posting those photos as part of a fund drive for the theatre, the division is quite clear.  However, I do think that if a Theatre were to use those candid shots on their own corporate "page" then it would be a potential violation if the necessary releases were not obtained beforehand.

998

The Green Room / Re: Trivia Tournament II: Electric Boogaloo

« on: Apr 01, 2009, 08:48 pm »

Just like that, March is over and we have a new top 10 roster.  Congrats to rvhead for making it to the top of the pile for the first time this month!

26 players played during the month.

1. rvhead (393 points, 4 wins)
2. ScooterSM (330 points, 3 wins)
3. ruthny (323 points, 3 wins)
4. scott (307 points, 2 wins)
5. Lizzie (307 points, 1 wins)
6. kiwitechgirl (291 points, 5 wins)
7. blantonrk (261 points, 2 wins)
8. Sarah (255 points, 2 wins)
9. stagebear (254 points, 1 wins)
10. killerdana (248 points, 2 wins)

After the month of random challenges, it's back to picking topics.  rvhead got the picks in January, which means that ScooterSM is next in line.  Scooter, check your inbox for the menu of topics.

EDIT:
Scooter has chosen her topics!

Sunday: Animals
Monday: Hobbies
Tuesday: History
Wednesday: Geography
Thursday: People
Friday: Science
Saturday: General Knowledge

You are spared from the dreaded theatre topic for another month!  Thanks, Scooter!

999

SMNetwork Archives / Re: 1880s Prompt Books Online

« on: Mar 27, 2009, 11:32 pm »

I love these! Thanks for posting them, great find!

1000

Employment / Other duties as assigned

« on: Mar 27, 2009, 12:21 am »

Anyone who's done contract work has seen the dreaded clause: "... and other duties as assigned."  Most of us have suffered due to its presence, either as interns or freelancers.  (I'm not sure if it's in the union contracts or not.)

What is the worst "other duty" you've slogged through?  Where do you draw the line between a duty and an utterly demeaning task?  Have any of you managed to evade the clause altogether in your non-union contracts? 

1001

Tools of the Trade / Re: Online Stage Management Software

« on: Mar 26, 2009, 09:03 pm »

Sock puppets? Really? I expected better of an MTI subsidiary project.

1002

The Green Room / Re: Trivia Tournament II: Electric Boogaloo

« on: Mar 18, 2009, 10:08 pm »

Woops, forgot to reset the topic for Wednesdays.  (As I reset the topics on a Wednesday I was unable to change Wednesday itself.  Changing in the middle of the day erases the scores for everyone who's already taken the quiz that day, so... yeah.)  My bad!

1003

Students and Novice Stage Managers / Re: Asserting yourself in front of cast

« on: Mar 08, 2009, 04:19 pm »

Well spoken, Matthew.

That being said, I wonder if we could earn some spare cash by renting out bears for first rehearsals.

We've addressed this a couple of times before, most recently in damjamkato's thread here.  Scaenicus also addressed the issue here, and Lucyinthesky had some questions about it back in 2007.

As you can see, Matthew's quite right - getting the attention and respect as a facilitator for your peers is one of the trickier things to figure out and it really is not something that can be taught, as everyone has their own style.  The only style I would caution against trying is the 'superhuman' approach, as trying to be everywhere for everyone at every time will leave you both sleepless and hairless. 

1004

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: How to explain what we do...

« on: Mar 07, 2009, 12:58 pm »

You may want to refer to this thread which, while taken from a more laid-back standpoint, gives a lot of different takes on "what we do."

1005

Tools of the Trade / Re: line note post its

« on: Mar 04, 2009, 10:42 pm »

Based on what I can see of your profile (as site admin), you didn't just "find" this product online, you are the owner of the company (or affiliated with it).  Running a whois on your domain name has confirmed it for me. 

Thanks for posting the link, I'm sure some people will find it useful, but in the future please be honest with us and use the established means of advertising your products.  We have the SMNetwork links database which is far more useful as a marketing tool than posting to the forums.

Members, has anyone used these line note forms or made their own?  Can anyone vouch for them besides Mr. Arave here?