Messages

1

Students and Novice Stage Managers / Re: Running Tech, etc.

« on: Nov 10, 2006, 12:06 pm »

Last night was our first tech rehearsal--it actually went pretty well, regardless of the fact we didn't start doing anything until about 7 because the director wanted to warm the actors up fully as if it was a regular performance. Now, I can respect that, but I've got a 5-act show to tech and you're eating up my time! anyway, we got through 31/91 pages which is pretty good...we've got this evening 6-10:30 and then our 10 out of 12 is Sunday...we're hoping to get a run in on Sunday...that'd be fantastic.

I was particularly proud of the one major scene change in the show which happens from Act One to Act Two. The actors have to move 4 cubes, bring on 4 chairs, a harp, a table, a bed, and a chaise lounge. For this we paused in tech, I assigned people roles one-by-one, hoping that I was not going to screw it up, then we took it slowly in regular scene light to check the traffic patterns. Then we ran it in transition light which happens to be blue which is FANTASTIC because I just happen to be using neon yellow spike tape which (obviously) glows in the blue light. It went well, so we tried it with the music/singing that has to happen in the transition and the timing was perfect. I-in the words of my director-single-handedly choreographed the one major problem of the show.

Sorry. I had to boast a little. I'm kinda proud *sniff* 

2

SMNetwork Archives / Re: Who makes the best SM's?

« on: Nov 08, 2006, 10:58 am »

*raises hand* um...straight woman here. *waves*

AND I'm working with a straight woman director. BAM.

Most of the stage managers who come out of my school are women. We have had 3 male SMs in the entire 3.5 years I've been here and one has graduated, one has become a religious studies major, and the other one...is also a set designer. *Shrug*

3

Employment / Re: summer jobs.

« on: Nov 07, 2006, 11:48 am »

This summer I worked on a show for NYCFringe (unpaid booo) so I had a paid job in the roundabout phone room where i interned last fall. I still work there but I'm on a break now because of my show--unfortunately the demands of this show + school don't let me work...grr.

4

Uploaded Forms / Re: Reports and minutes (Performance, Rehearsal, meetings)

« on: Nov 03, 2006, 12:00 pm »

This is one of my rehearsal reports from an early Slavs! rehearsal

and also a crew assignment list from The Blind Age in 2004.

5

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: Stop The Show!

« on: Nov 03, 2006, 11:43 am »

In high school I was running light board for our production of A Midsummer Night's Dream and we had dress rehearsal the night of this huge hurricane/thunderstorm so we had shorts and things blowing out...we thought we'd solved all the problems until the director and I walked in the next morning and found, with all the masters down, there were lights turning on and off on their own. So we went thru opening night with random lights popping on and off and THEN the powerstrip for the light board got tripped by some kind of electrical surge and the stage was in blackout for 3 minutes until we figured out how to turn the system back on.

6

Tools of the Trade / Re: latest toyes...

« on: Nov 02, 2006, 09:33 pm »

I got them at Staples (man, I looove that store!)  The company's name is "case it" They are two tone, black and a variety of colors.  I actually have a couple of them in case I have more than one project going.  The surface is nylon, so it is easily wiped clean if something spills or it gets grungy. 

OMGOMGOMG I went to Target today and FOUND THEM! The one I god has a fantastic open elastic pocket which my laptop fits into so, not only do i have my bible binder, but I can carry my laptop! and the inside...I've already managed to cus tomize it with extra mesh baggies. *AHHHHH* I'm so excited. I picked up at least $75 worth of supplies for my kit...I got brand new retractable sharpies and highlighters--my new best friends--some fridge magnet clips from the kitchen section, white out pens, glue sticks, new lables, I got a new tumbler and a new carabiner and new tape meausres and glues and such...omg I got...SO much...but this binder is like my new baby...

7

SMNetwork Archives / Re: Drinks, Teas...

« on: Nov 02, 2006, 12:47 am »

unless of course two people are drinking from the same pitcher or something that gets poured onstage. then they need to get over their differences.

8

College and Graduate Studies / Re: Little help please...

« on: Nov 01, 2006, 08:18 pm »

just a personal plug--Fordham isn't TERRIBLE for a stage manager. We're in high demand here so you find yourself getting a lot of experience--and there's a really great community here.

9

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: Stop The Show!

« on: Nov 01, 2006, 03:34 pm »

I've never had to stop a show...*knock on wood* but last year the other spring PSM made a list of what to do in case of emergency...there's one for fire, one for medical...and also one for Zombies:

Zombies:
"Ladies and Gentlemen, we have just been notified that the living dead are approaching this theatre, hungry for brains. Please be prepared. Look around you for any objects that may be used as weapons to defend yourself from these unhuman beasts. With our combined strength and numbers, we hope to be able to fend off the menace and create our own colony of self-defending living people in this theatre. Once again, the living dead are approaching, and we plan to defend ourselves. Please prepare yourselves and await further instructions."

10

The Green Room / Re: Snacks

« on: Nov 01, 2006, 02:00 pm »

I tend to keep dried fruit and nuts around me during rehearsal and meetings for my snacking needs.  They are small, quiet, discreet, non-messy and also pack a bit of an energy boost.  If I don't have something to snack on with me I fear falling prey to the junk food in the vending machine.  Something that I do not need to be eating when sitting in blocking rehearsals.

I actually have an oral raw food allergy and dried fruits, fresh fruits and veggies and nuts tend to become more of a distraction because, while i can eat them, they tend to cause my mouth to itch or sting. I'm looking for some sort of solution...something without a wrapper...

11

Tools of the Trade / Re: latest toyes...

« on: Nov 01, 2006, 01:52 pm »

Not only a handle, but came with a shoulder strap too!  ...but i don't use it, just the handle....     the rest of my stuff I carry in a back pack.

I WANT ONE!!!

12

SMNetwork Archives / Re: Drinks, Teas...

« on: Nov 01, 2006, 01:46 pm »

Try Caramel Food Coloring for brandy, whiskey, etc.  It has no flavor and very few calories!

Beverage Recipes

Red Wine:
112 oz (2 pots) hot water
10 Celestial Seasonings’ Wild Berry Zinger tea bags
1 ˝ teaspoons red food coloring
16 drops blue food coloring

White Wine:
56 oz (1 pot) hot water
4 Celestial Seasonings’ Chamomile tea bags

Brandy:
1 gallon water
3/8 teaspoon caramel color

Tea:
3 Lipton tea bags in pot


Coffee:
1/2 tsp. carmel coloring
1 pot water

Whiskey
1/4 tsp. carmel coloring
˝ gallon water

that's brilliant

13

Students and Novice Stage Managers / Re: The Ultimate Decision

« on: Nov 01, 2006, 01:44 pm »

I was never sure what I wanted to do with my life. Up until the 8th grade I still wanted to be a cinematographer and so I wanted to apply to the TV production department of the magnet program at the High School I was going to be attending. My mother, while I was picking up that paperwork, picked up forms for the Theatre program and insisted that I audition. I got so into my audition prep that I didn't even both to apply to the tv production magnet and i got into the theatre one. 2.5 years later I was still trying to prove my worth as an actor and it didn't work. when I wasn't cast in that year's musical (pippin) I approached the director/head of the program and asked her what i could do for the production since I wasn't in it. She asked me to stage manage. Now, the stage managing I did for that production is baby work compared to real stage management. I had no guidance, no idea what i was doing. the most i really did was set up the schedule. the shows up til my senior year were not called by the stage manager because the sound and light boards were run by crews that figured it out for themselves. So I really did nothing.
My senior year I focused on dramaturgy and doing whatever I could for the productions technically so I could fill up my resume for college applications. Most of the colleges I applied to were for general theatre and 2 or 3 were for Stage Management. I initially got into 7 of the 9 colleges I applied to--eventually I was moved up from the waiting list at DePaul...I think the fact that I had an argument on the phone with the head of the SM program had something to do with it. But I got into Fordham and they were giving me a lot of money to go and it was in NYC so I was set.
Day 2 of orientation I'm in a room with my advisor (Chad, who's the head of the production concentration) and a bunch of other freshmen and transfers. He goes thru everyone one-by-one, introducing them to everyone...when he got to me (mind you, I had come to Fordham just as a "production  major" not a stage manager) he turns to everyone and says "This is Lauren. She's a stage manager."
That was it. From then on I was kind of gleefully stuck. I ASMd a studio show and a week after it closed PSMd my first studio show. I ASMd the mainstage in the spring and PSMd another studio show on my own. I managed to separate myself from my ambiguous identity as a production major and set myself on the stage manager course. Which was a good thing because the following year I worked on a really horrible production but was also TAKING a stage management class taught by a Bway stage manager and that got me thru it...and continues to get me thru it.