Hey,
I am a high school student hoping to do theatre at University here in Glasgow, Scotland (UK).
This year, my final year, we are doing Chicago which I am SM'ing and we have been discussing props etc. over the past few weeks of rehearsal. The show opens on the 20th of June so i will keep this post as a running list of problems ive come up against which will be a good chance for you guys to "Flex your stage managing muscles" i guess.
First few issues -
Request for chains to run between a raised part of the stage and the lower part for the "cells" in the jail scenes. I suggested plastic/styrofoam but the directors (Thats right director X 2!
) would like metal ones so the light can reflect off them. This is a good idea but looks to be expensive (around £1.70 per Metre - thats around $2.50) and we have a limited budget.
Second - We are going to have a truck for Billy Flynns office which will roll on now and again. This is something i have not done beofre - what are your tips for trucks?
Third - Newspaper. The script calls for Roxie to be holding a newspaper that reads "ROXIE ROCKS CHICAGO!". Any ideas on how to make a realistic one? I did come up with the brainwave of getting our local newspaper to sponsor the printing of the programmes in a newspaper format. That way we could have the audience with a programme in the style of a newspaper with the cast lists etc. and Roxie could use that on stage too.
I will keep this list updated to keep us entertained!
Callum