Messages

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SMNetwork Archives / Re: I could have kissed them!

« on: Apr 18, 2009, 11:04 am »

I could have kissed one of my cast members.

We had a fundraising/publicity concert last night for the show I'm currently working on, bare. It's the annual freshman class musical and as such, we're not a recognized group by the university and can't get any funding from the theatre department like other student theatre groups. Our fundraising/publicity director had organized the event with the cast performing two songs, an on-campus dance troupe performing, and a popular on-campus a cappella group performing. We were locked out of the tech booth, couldn't find enough mics for the stage, the amp for the accompanist's keyboard wasn't working, and a few people were late showing up.

The fund/pub director was panicking a bit (understandably) but then he started taking it out on the cast, shouting at them and ordering them around. God love the cast, but they're flaky. In the three weeks we've been rehearsing, I've figured out what it takes to get them to do stuff, so I say to fund/pub, "Hey, I'm the stage manager, I'll take care of the cast. You focus on getting into the tech booth." I turned around to start getting the cast to do stuff and the fund/pub director makes some snarky comment that I didn't catch all of, but that at least one member of the cast did. The cast member that did hear sees that I'm a little tweaked about it, walks over to me, and tells me, "No matter what anyone says, you're fantastic at what you do. You're the most professional one on the team and you're the best stage manager I've worked with."

And then I gave her a big hug.

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Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: Creating a Calling Script

« on: Feb 23, 2009, 12:42 pm »

I have used my blocking script in the past because that's all I was provided with, but after my last show, I'm going to be using a clean script for calling from now on. We had so many "L" names and "S" names in my last show that I was panicky each night. I was SO scared I was going to mistake a blocking note for a cue or vise versa.

I've been converted to the clean script team.

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Students and Novice Stage Managers / Re: Specialized program vs. state school?

« on: Feb 22, 2009, 01:01 pm »

I'm a Northwestern for theatre (duh ) and love their program because it's NOT a conservatory. In fact, unless I get two years of foreign language, I'm going to be graduating with a BS!

It's definitely a great opportunity, but I'd echo what others have said.  College is about learning, and not just in your courses. You learn SO much about yourself. I got here thinking I'd split my time between acting track and production, and now I'm not even considering acting track.

Figure out where you'd be most comfortable. Entirely separate from where you have been accepted, thing about what you want from college.  Is it just another obstacle to overcome, or do you want more out of your college experience?

Every college applicant has to think about these things. It's one of the most exciting times and one of the most dreadful times, but we all have to do it.

Good luck and congratulations!

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Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: What basics should actors know about tech?

« on: Feb 22, 2009, 12:27 pm »

This is more of a "keep this in mind" than a "tech knowledge" tidbit, but I've had problems with actors sighing, whining, and being general pains about the sitting and waiting while tech sorts out issues.  I've found that it helps to remind the cast that while they've had weeks to do their rehearsals, tech has had hours. Sure, there are plans, but no one got everything exactly right the first time!