Messages

1

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: Cast/Crew call format question

« on: Apr 15, 2008, 05:10 pm »

It was on one of the lists in the FORMS forum.  I liked it... it was in the place of "Places" I think. Beginners meaning those starting the act... not those new to the theatre as someone thought.

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Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: Fire Effect - need help FAST!

« on: Apr 15, 2008, 03:23 pm »

Thanks... how does it work? Is there chance of real fire?  We have a magician in the cast!

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Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / CALLING: Cast/Crew call format question

« on: Apr 15, 2008, 01:36 pm »

I am currently working with a community theatre and trying to make the SM (and ASM) positions a bit more professional.  This is a great group with very dedicated people who have done a great job - I just wanted to make things a bit more formal.

So, I think I have pretty much got a "PA" rigged from my SM position to the dressing/green room for calls.  I will be making the calls in the form of:

"Ladies and Gentlemen of <Company> this is your half hour call.  30 minutes please."

and

"Ladies and gentlemen of “Show Name” this is your beginners call for Act One.  Beginners to the stage please: Miss F, Mr O, Mrs S and Mr S.  Standby assistant stage manager, front of house and technical staff."

This will be new for this group.  I like the formality and the tradition (which, even though they may not realize it, I think will come through).  I also like the business of addressing the beginners by name, etc.

My question is this... I notice throughout this board when calls like this are refered to it usually (always?) is in the format of .... "Show Name" Company.... Do SMs really always include BOTH the show AND company name in each call?  I personally find this awkward lengthy... however, I dont want to destroy a tradition of theatre by cutting down to just the Company and leaving the "Show Name" out of the calls.

Sandy

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Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / SCENERY: Fire Effect - need help FAST!

« on: Apr 15, 2008, 11:15 am »

Our community theatre is staging "No S-- Please, We're British"... in that show there is some "burning" of paper in a wastebasket, which is then quickly doused with water and flowers from a vase.

We have some very enthusiastic volunteers (remember... community theatre) one of whom has created a rather elaborate rig with compressed air and flour which gives sort of a "smoke" effect coming up from the waste basket.  However it makes a dreadful roar (like a small elephant) and the flour in the air is making cast members cough.

We have our dress on Thursday (two days) and first public performance on Saturday.

What is needed is some black/grey smoke - no need for flames.  I need to make it happen fast and simply... we all have regular jobs so running around the city tracking down little pyrotechnics etc. isn't really a possibility.

Any help is appreciated.

Sandy

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Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: Question about - "No Sex Please, We're British"

« on: Mar 17, 2008, 04:28 pm »

My initial suggestion is that you could do something with a small bundle of nice, big green straws (like the ones at starbucks)... Take a bundle of straws, tie them together with some fancy fabric and ribbon, and disguise the bundle with a few pieces of artificial greenery... then tuck the flowers and greenery that will be 'guillotined' into each straw... when the hatch comes down, all the heads of the flowers will be on the wrong side of the hatch and you should be able to slide the bundle right off... if you glue a few 'broken' looking pieces inside the bouquet, it should look right... (Does this description make sense to anyone but me?)

Yes, this sounds quite reasonable!!  Thanks!

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Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: Community theatre group

« on: Mar 14, 2008, 05:59 pm »

That sounds wonderful!!

We are in a church hall.  In many respects we are very fortunate:

• During pre-production (a few months) and production time the stage area is pretty much ours to do as we please.
• We have a small but adequate storage room that is fairly secure.
• The hall is wired in such a way that the 25-30 theatrical lights we use don't overload the circuits
• Our lights are able to stay in place all the time
• We have a nice "green room" and dressing rooms with close washroom access (the green room is a Sunday school nursery and meeting room - but not when we're using it)

On the other hand (and this is not meant to be a complaint... just facts):

• The hall itself is used for many things during pre-production and production time including a day-care/nursery in the mornings
• We loose all access during Holy Week (right now)
• We have a low ceiling so lighting has to accomodate that challenge
• Once the set is built, the "back stage" area is very limited and sometimes very cramped
• Our seats, lobby decorations, light/tech board/booth, and anything else not ON the stage come out on Thursday evening, and get  put away on Saturday after the show (we run shows three weekends, Thurs thru Sat)

It's interesting to compare spaces... everything has its pros and cons.  I think it's wonderful how we all work with what we have!

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Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: Question about - "No Sex Please, We're British"

« on: Mar 13, 2008, 09:59 pm »

Ahh... good question... in fact its a large sliding door... between kitchen and living room.  It SLAMS down on the flowers and cuts the boquet in two.

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Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / VENUES: Community theatre group

« on: Mar 13, 2008, 04:32 pm »

I've looked around the board and havn't seen a group specifically for Community Theatre.  Wondering if that has ever come up before.  Every theatre has its own set of issues, but CommTheatre often has lots of them all in one location... low ceilings, using other groups spaces (church halls), lack of resources and of course the list goes on....  Maybe the members and Mods have heard this a dozen times... maybe not.  Thoughts?

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Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / SHOWS: Question about - "No Sex Please, We're British"

« on: Mar 13, 2008, 03:26 pm »

HI all,

I am stage managing "No Sex Please, We're British" at a Community Theatre in Nova Scotia.  If anyone has done this show, maybe you have some ideas (you might even if you aren't familiar with the show) that can help us with a problem: We need to have a "hatch" come down on a boquet of flowers and guillotine the stems off... any suggestions as to how we can make this happen??

Thanks for any help.

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Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: Preshow (turn off your cellphone) announcements

« on: Dec 16, 2007, 12:45 am »

When I've done the announcements before the show I've always tried to remember to thank the audience for being there since "without you, all our effort would be for nothing"... or something to that effect.  While this doesn't directly address your question, I'm just thinking that maybe this approach will cause "some" of the patrons to feel a bit more gratitude and they really WILL listen to the rest of the announcements!