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Topics - Scott (formerly Digga)

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1
Self-Promotion / Mary T. & Lizzy K.
« on: Feb 14, 2013, 09:55 am »
This is the first week of rehearsals for me at Arena Stage in DC.  Having never worked in DC before, I'm very excited.  Thankfully, I've worked with half of my design team before and the director has worked with all of them many times.  This makes it a little easier for me to get acclimated.

I will say it's been a big shift for me.  The last 4 years, I was working in a theater that had a staff of 12 doing everything.  Now I've got departments and assistants and assistants to the assistants that I'm dealing with.  It's great having the support system though.  TheaterWorks Hartford got everything done and you always knew who to go to for a problem but I'm still learning my way around Arena.  What has helped is my ASM (though technically I think she's called a Stage Manager Apprentice since she's non-AEA) has worked here before.  She's good and has helped bring me up to speed. 

Looking forward to the next 3 months!

2
Self-Promotion / An End and a Beginning
« on: Nov 14, 2012, 07:46 pm »
This week marks my last at TheaterWorks Hartford.  I've spent 4 years here and like most jobs have had my ups and downs but mostly ups and that's what we strive for.  I close out Venus in Fur on Sunday which is my 17th production here.  I've thanked this company for all the work they've given me and now looking forward to what the future will bring.

And speaking of future... after 2+ months of family time, I begin work on a new play at Arena Stage in DC called Mary T & Lizzy K.  It'll be my first production with the company and my first in the DC area.  I'm really looking forward to it and it'll be a nice 3 month job before I finish getting ready for Grad School (on the assumption I'll get accepted of course but I like to think positive  :) ).

On a side note - I don't think TheaterWorks has found a full time replacement yet if anyone might be looking for work in the Hartford area.  The first show after their Christmas production starts rehearsal sometime around New Years day.

3
The Green Room / Smallest Audience Size
« on: Nov 07, 2012, 07:00 pm »
I'm curious, with another storm here in the Northeast, what's the smallest house size you've performed for?  Our house only seats 195 and before the office closed today our reservations had dropped from 180+ to 50+ and we're expecting even less than that by the start of show time. 

I remember 2 winters ago doing performances for about 20 people when we had major snow storms. 

It's a shame that the weather can affect us this much.  The good thing this theater does is if people have to reschedule, they're not charged again.  Even if they just don't show up, they can call the next day and still change their reservation.  It's one of the things that has kept our subscription rate so high I think.

4
Self-Promotion / Taught my first class today
« on: Oct 18, 2012, 07:00 pm »
I've been brought in as a Guest Lecturer for an SM Course at Eastern Connecticut State University and will be teaching for 3 days.  Today was my first and involved Blocking Notation. 

I think it went well.  I was nervous since I haven't taught a class of any kind since I was in Boy Scouts about 20 years ago.  I think I may have spoken a little too quickly at times and started running out of things to talk about with about 15-20 min left in the class. But the teacher was happy with it and the students seemed involved.

Next Tuesday I'll be taking the role of director and will be directing a scene from one of my past shows while the students take the blocking notation.  It's a small scene but I should easily be able to fill up the hour and 15 minutes by changing blocking options and working with the actors. 

Then next Thursday I teach a class on Managing Personalities.  That one may be a little trickier.  It's hard to talk about what we do and keep the students involved.  I don't like lecturing the entire time but I've gotten a great article from the professor from which to work off.  I just need to do more planning as far as writing up a guideline for me to follow.

The best part is getting the teaching experience for me.  I'm trying to get into Grad School so I can get my MFA and be able to teach consistently and this is a good chance to see if I really like it.  So far so good!

5
Tools of the Trade / Looking for suggestions
« on: Sep 12, 2012, 03:19 pm »
My current laptop is dying.  In December it'll be 4 years old and it's started overheating and randomly shutting down at the most inopportune times.  Looking inside there are some burns and melted transistors that would be more trouble replacing than it's worth. 

So the question is do I look into another laptop like an ultrabook?  Or do I try going to something like a tablet with a bluetooth keyboard?  I have a main desktop that I keep at home and use the laptop only for work and when traveling.  If I'm going with a laptop it'll be a PC - this isn't meant for a discussion between PC vs Mac.  If it's a tablet - it'd probably be an iPad (only because I already have an iPhone and don't want to add a 3rd OS with Android).  What do some of you use? 

6
Random question: When you're reporting running times on your reports - do you include the seconds or do you round up/down to the nearest minute?

7
The Green Room / Moving on...
« on: Aug 01, 2012, 04:25 pm »
After 4 years and 3+ seasons at TheaterWorks in Hartford CT, I'll be moving on to new and different things in November.  What those will be, I'm not sure yet.  Current plan is to apply to Grad School for Fall of 2013 entry.  Between November and then, I'll be trying to find work to keep me busy.  Current thoughts are to be based out of either NYC, DC, or Dallas - because those are the cheapest places for me to live for about 9-10 months. 

Anyone need an SM or ASM?   :D

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The Hardline / Air Conditioning broken
« on: Jun 16, 2012, 09:38 pm »
I've looked through the SPT book but the only mention of temperatures is the minimum of 68 degrees for audition rooms.  Currently working on a show where the A/C for the theater (and only the theater - the rest of the building is fine) has gone out.  Thermostat is reading only 77 but it definitely feels warmer and it's got to be at least another 10+ degrees on stage under the lights.  Does anyone know of a temperature threshold that's too hot for performance under AEA rules?

9
Self-Promotion / I Loved, I Lost, I Made Spaghetti
« on: May 10, 2012, 09:53 am »
I start rehearsals today on a new play based on the memoir I Loved, I Lost, I Made Spaghetti by Giulia Melucci and written by Jacques Lamarre.  A 1 woman show where we'll be cooking and handing out pasta dishes each night.

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The Green Room / Practical Rant
« on: Mar 30, 2012, 08:48 pm »
I love when a practical is such a big part of the lighting and works without a problem through a week of previews and all through triple check and preshow of Press Opening only to die after that due to a cabling issue.  And of course it's on stage and there are no intermissions so there's no way to fix it.

11
Self-Promotion / Red
« on: Mar 11, 2012, 05:41 pm »
Red starts previews on Friday, March 23rd and runs through May 6th.  Staring Jonathan Epstein (as Mark Rothko) and Thomas Leverton (as Ken).  One of the more fun shows I've worked on in a while.

12
Self-Promotion / Updating our resume here?
« on: Mar 11, 2012, 05:39 pm »
I just looked at my resume in the resume browser and it's severely out of date.  How do I go about uploading a new one?

Thanks!

13
Self-Promotion / The Motherf**ker with the Hat in Hartford
« on: Sep 24, 2011, 10:06 am »
Just finishing the first week of rehearsals for The Motherf**ker with the Hat at TheaterWorks in Hartford, CT.  Such a fun show with very colorful language. 

14
The Green Room / It's been so long...
« on: Sep 12, 2011, 02:07 pm »
It's been a long time since I've really been on here.  I went through a lot of personal and professional angst in the past 3 years but it's starting to look up and thought I'd share. 

Some of you may remember I was very excited in the fall of 2008 when I was moving up to Hartford, CT to start at TheaterWorks where I was expecting to be for a few seasons.  As the 1st season was closing with American Buffalo I was told that I wasn't being brought back for the next season (this was in September about 2 weeks before the show closed and about 1.5 months after they had told me I would be back for the next season).  Since I thought I was continuing, I had renewed my apartment lease so now I was stuck in Hartford with an apartment and no job.  The economy had already crashed and finding work (theater or otherwise) wasn't easy.  I experienced my longest period of unemployment from November 2009 until April 2010 when I finally got a job with the U.S. Census Bureau which lasted until July 2010 and paid really well. 

That July, the Production Manager for TheaterWorks called me and asked if I wanted and was willing to come back for the closing show of their 2009-2010 season.  We both understood there was no guarantee of future productions but I had nothing else lined up and despite my being let go suddenly, I actually liked working there so I said yes.  They had brought in a new director, Tazewell Thompson, for the show and he loved me and was doing 2 more shows in the next season so he requested me as the PSM.  This eventually led to me doing all of the 2010-2011 season and as this season comes to a close in 1 week, I've been told (again) that they want me for all of next season.  So it looks like I've come full circle and am back on the track that I was originally intended to begin in 2008. 

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http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.4355

It blocks cell phone signals in about a 10'-40' radius and could easily solve problems in theaters.


Moderator note:  edited subject line for clarity - kmc307

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