Messages

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Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: SAFETY: Hanging an actor....

« on: Oct 22, 2016, 06:08 pm »

I know this is extremely late, and the show probably already happened, but I wanted to add to the discussion.

In university we did 2 separate shows with hangings. I was involved in them, but not directly with the rigging. But the way it worked was the actors had harnesses that went down their legs and around their feet, they were clipped into a line that went up to the grid, and was rigged safely. The rope followed the line from the grid, and the actual noose part was a tube that had rope wrapped around it to look like the knot and the end of the rope was pressure fit into the tube, so if something happened they would just fall the two foot fall to the floor, and the noose would come undone.

I don't know if there were any professional companies called in to help, but I believe the carp professor was a certified rigger. The actors were weighed by the carp professor before the concept was put into action, and was weighed again as they were setting up (a few weeks later) in their full costumes.

Obviously, no matter what you need someone certified to come in and help you guys. But there are ways to do it.

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Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: PRE-PRODUCTION: Marking Out Techniques: empty Stage, Set flies in.

« on: Mar 05, 2015, 06:31 pm »

Depending on how much take you'd be willing to have on the deck of the stage, you could put numbers running from DC to DR and DL like this:

9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Space them a certain amount apart (something like a foot each, so the number corresponds to the foot marking). And do the same on the sides going from DS to US, so it could help the actors orient themselves in a grid like pattern.

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Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: SOUND: How to pay for a non-ASCAP/BMI song

« on: Mar 05, 2015, 02:36 pm »

My only suggestion would be to check the CD info for a production company or producer he may have gone through. And see if they have any information on his copyrights and possibly contact information. Also you can probably check with the producers of the documentary to ask about permissions.

I'm not really versed in copyright law so I can't really help with that. I know that there's laws that protect parodies and covers, but again, I don't know enough to tell you the exact language.

I've worked on shows focused on aboriginal culture and history, and what the director did for the sound design was to either use music was created/produced by acquaintances of hers, and she just asked for permission, or use versions of songs that are open domain. Which really eases the whole process.

No this artist may not ever hear of your show, but if he is covered by copyright law, he legally has to be aware and/or compensated for his work.

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Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: Sharing Paperwork with ASMs

« on: Dec 06, 2014, 11:00 pm »

I'm happy with dropbox for most things, but as an ASM, I want my run sheets in google drive. I can export it later for sake of having it all in one place, but I need to be able to edit run sheets on the fly during tech, and the easiest thing is to have it open on my phone. This is so much more convenient for me than carrying around paper and pencil (plus I don't have to go back after rehearsal and type up my notes, if I can just put it in my phone immediately). If we're coming up on a shift that we've never teched before, I want to be able to quickly type up who is assigned to every aspect of the shift, and exactly what they do. So I make sure all crew/PAs/PSM are invited to the google doc, I maintain it, and then once everything's actually set I'm happy to export it to Excel and save that in the dropbox... but it's just so convenient to edit the spreadsheet from my smartphone!

Right now Microsoft office is free for both iPhone and Android, so that could be a possibility to updating your paperwork on your smartphone.

As much as I think it's a good idea that crew have access to the information electronically. What I like to do is to print off pages with the changes to the documents to give to the crew members, so that they can transfer the changes, because they might have their own notes. If the document has significant changes, then I will print a whole new set of them for the whole crew.

I like the print on a different colour of paper for every version method, but you won't always have different coloured paper at a moments notice. What I do like to do is write with a bold marker the version number in one of the upper corners of the first page, just so you can easily ask everyone you "Are you reading off Version 5 of the Tech Tracking?"

But if it's minor changes, I don't like printing the whole document off, just because the crew might have made lots of notes on their pages, so I wouldn't expect them to want to rewrite everything.

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Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: PROPS: Feather boa question

« on: Dec 06, 2014, 10:37 pm »

Possibly using hairspray. I just did a show with a faux fur rug that someone rolled around on, and even after combing and trying to get the loose fur out, it still shed a lot.

We used aerosol. I don't think the other type of hairspray would work well. And I would do a heavy coat after the performance, after the actors have left (you know how actors can get with hairspray when they aren't the ones applying it.), and I would do a small coat during preshow. No one complained, and it worked fairly well.

I don't know how much that would translate to feather boas, but it could be worth a try.

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The Green Room / Re: Stage Management Day in the UK

« on: Oct 12, 2013, 11:17 pm »

I know some directors bought the SM team lunches and such on that day, and there were many facebook posts, I'm not working on a show at the moment, and many people didn't know about it.. But, I did receive an amazing job offer that day, so that's how I celebrated

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Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: SCHEDULING: How much information do you give actors?

« on: Sep 30, 2013, 06:06 pm »

I always put "Subject to Instant Improvement" on my schedule.

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Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: Escripts=Do you HAVE to have them?

« on: Sep 14, 2013, 12:12 pm »

Things I would theoretically consider before typing a paper script (or printing an e-script!)...

- Cost per use. Yes, I like my margins a certain way and I like to add space, and I like line numbers for being on book. Is that enough to make it worth the (probably unpaid) time I will spend typing?

I've been searching all over for an answer to this, and have yet to find one, so I figured I'd ask you: is there a way to have editable line numbers? My script (Shakespeare's Merry Wives) is formatted such that if I have Word do the line numbers automatically, they don't line up correctly with the actual text's line numbers. If there were a way to manually adjust the numbers, that would be incredible, but it seems there might not be a way?

I'm thinking I'll probably have to insert a table in the margin to enter them myself, but if you or anyone has a way around this, I'd love the help.

My only suggestion for that is to separate the page into two columns, one small one for the numbers, and another larger one, for the text, the numbers will obviously have rows from the top to the bottom, whereas, the text column you will merge all the rows, so it's almost like a giant text box.

My thoughts on e-scripts. If the theatre requires you to have one, and they do not create one for you, you bill them for those hours. If it's your preference, you do it on your own time. If you have time during prep, even if it's not required, fantastic.

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Students and Novice Stage Managers / Re: Dealing with Panic Situations

« on: Sep 07, 2013, 09:21 pm »

The only way that I can tell you to be prepared is to make Paperwork, and that will only prepare you for what you know is coming.

I'll be quite honest, I've never come into a situation that I was too panicked to handle. It's my personality.

There's different levels of "emergency"

First there's the superfluous emergency. Which is forgetting a prop hand-off, calling a cue late/early, missing a quick change. It sucks and it affects the pace of the show, but it's easy to fix. If it's the first time, that's ok, make a note of it, and do it right the next time. This mistake, I don't think it needs to be told to everyone that it happens, if you can fix it. If you keep messing up either a)reconsider your career choice, or b) buck up, do the job you're getting paid to do. If you constantly make mistakes, on the same thing, fellow SMs won't trust you, actors won't trust you. A friend of mine was not cut out for stage management, but wanted to pursue it. She kept forgetting a handoff for an actor, this actor lectured her after the show, went to the SM and things were shuffled around, so someone else was put in charge of that prop. It sucks, but you're getting paid, and entrusted to do a job, you need to do it.

There are then, non-emergency emergencies. They are something that happens, that need to be fixed and can seriously affect a show, but non life threatening. If something out of the ordinary happens, I say"...ok..." stop for 2-3 seconds, take a deep breath, and as I'm briskly walking to fix the situation, I am on my headset letting everyone know what's going on. This can be a piece of furniture broke, mic pack not working, costume piece/prop broken or missing. or "small" medical emergencies. I had an actor who decided to help Stage Management and the Crew by moving his instrument by himself, which is a big double bass, and includes stepping down 16 inches with no intermediate step. He stepped oddly and the bass hit his head, and he got a cut. It was near the end of a tech rehearsal, so he wasn't needed, the other ASM stayed with him making sure he was fine and didn't have a major concussion. The PA ended up taking him to the hospital, where he got stitches, but did not have a concussion. I consider this a small medical emergency because in the end, he was able to perform, and he was only out for a few hours. Also, it was handled really well.

And then there are legit emergencies where you don't have time to second guess. They are life threatening, and if dealt with wrong. You have everyright to panic, but calmly. You need to deal with the situation, and then you can have a venting session, preferably with a drink, afterward.

I had an interesting summer where I learnt a lot about dealing with these situation, and equity rulebooks.

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The Hardline / Re: Director Notes

« on: Sep 01, 2013, 06:28 pm »

Most actors I've come into contact with, if they're not ok with it, they will tell the director/stage manager so. Some actors are very much ok with notes during the half-hour. If someone is not ok with it, but doesn't tell anyone, except the actors, this is where the deputy comes in, they can talk to the director/stage manager themselves (in person or via email) and if that does not work, they can go to equity, and mention the breach of contract. As for the director giving them notes after opening, as a stage manager, I would suggest the director give the notes to me, and so I can give them to the actors, and if it comes to a point where actors don't come in before the half, nor do they want notes after the half. I will catch them before they leave, and if not, I will write out notes, and leave them someone at their station in the dressing room.

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Employment / "To Whom It May Concern"

« on: Sep 01, 2013, 05:12 pm »

I am applying for a Production Assistant position at a large Festival with a lot of staff members. I have the name of the contact person, but this is the person that receives all the resumes for every position that they will hire for, and (I assume) will distribute to the specific people in charge of hiring.

I'm addressing my email to the contact person. However, I'm not sure who to address my cover letter to. I've been part of debates about this before, and never got a clear answer. Do you address it to the contact person, do you put "To Whom It May Concern", or do you address it to "Production Department"? What is your preference in either sending it out, and receiving. I know a lot of people are different, and there's no concrete answer, but I would like some perspective on it.

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Students and Novice Stage Managers / Re: Invaluable Advice

« on: Jul 10, 2013, 01:07 pm »

With my minimal experience, the one thing I found is Keep your training in mind, but never be set on doing things a certain way, especially since coming out of school you will be interning and apprenticing quite a bit, learn from the Equity Stage Managers, they wil teach you a lot, even if they feel they haven't, they will have. Keep your eyes open and make a mental not on how something is handled.

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Employment / Re: Cover Letters for Tours

« on: Jul 10, 2013, 12:12 pm »

I've never worked on a tour, and there's not many in Canada (most are American based).

But I would suggest emphasizing the fact that you are willing to travel or relocate. And you could potentially mention the fact that you would love to see the country while working in theatre. But that may just be seen as filler.

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Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: SM with a stutter

« on: Jul 10, 2013, 12:05 pm »

I think you're fine.

However, I may consider telling your instructors, if it comes up that someone notices it, they will know why rather than coming up to you in a potentially embarrassing setting (not that there's anything to be embarrassed about). They may also offer some advice as to different solutions if something is difficult.

Also, If you are interested, there is speech therapy you can take to reverse the issue, or atleast help it a little. Being a college age student may affect how much it can be helped.

When you get into interning and apprenticing, I think you should definitely tell your SM or PSM about your stutter. They could make sure that you aren't on book, and again, if someone brings it up to them, they will know what is going on before bringing it up to you.

But, like I said, nothing to be embarrassed about, lots of people have speech impediments, and different hurdles they need to jump over

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The Hardline / Re: OFF-BROADWAY - Actors being the musicians and issues

« on: Jun 18, 2013, 04:41 pm »

I don't know what the specific rules for those are there, but the ITA allows up to 4 hours of rehearsal a week. so the 30 minute music call would probably have been allowed