Topics

1

Tools of the Trade / Music/Singers picked up in headset mic

« on: Jul 24, 2011, 12:58 am »

I'm having a problem in my current show. The Motorola radios we are using work great when there is no music happening. but once the orchestra kicks in and the singers are going, the headsets are impossible to use. I think the mics are picking up the extra noise in the room. Any ideas on what we could do to avoid that problem would be appreciated.

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Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / ELECTRICS: Calling cues for the spotlight operator

« on: Jul 24, 2011, 12:27 am »

I'd love to hear some tips for calling cues for spotlights. I've only ever had to call spotlight cues a couple times before, but now I'm calling a show with three spotlights. Any advice or things to avoid would be helpful.

The light designer is thinking she should give the spotlight ops a cue list and let them do their own cues. Good or bad idea?

Edit to subject line-Rebbe

3

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / RUNNING: No stage manager?

« on: Apr 06, 2011, 11:51 pm »

I have been asked to be the assistant technical director for a large community theatre musical this summer. We're having our first pre-production meeting tomorrow so everyone involved can meet, and basic questions can be answered. The cast will be made up of about 75 people, kids through adults (auditions in May). On the initial crew list that was sent out this evening, they did not list a stage manager at all. I've asked the Tech Director about that, but no response yet.

One of the things they have already asked me to do is call the show from the booth. Otherwise I'm not real sure what my other duties will be in this production. Assuming they have no stage manager, just a backstage person herding the cast, would I in fact be like a stage manager? Have you ever worked a show where there was no stage manager during the rehearsal process? I'm mystified how this could work.

4

The Green Room / Stage Manager Beverley Randolph Has Died

« on: Mar 16, 2011, 07:33 pm »

As reported in Theater Mania: "Stage Manager Beverley Randolph died of cancer on Tuesday, March 15 at her home in Bloomingdale, New Jersey. She was 59. The marquees of Broadway theaters in New York will be dimmed in her memory tonight, March 16, at exactly 8pm for one minute."

Full article at http://www.theatermania.com/new-york/news/03-2011/stage-manager-beverley-randolph-has-died-broadway_35130.html

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Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / SAFETY: 'Billy Elliot' musical sued for $4 million

« on: Feb 15, 2011, 03:35 pm »

From the Associated Press, published in the Washington Examiner, two patrons were injured by a prop during a performance of Billy Elliot.

The lawsuit filed Monday accuses producers of "negligence and carelessness" for "hazardous and dangerous" props and choreography, failing to train employees of the show and for not warning patrons of the risks.

- http://washingtonexaminer.com/entertainment/2011/02/billy-elliot-musical-sued-4-million-0

And this is why we have to watch our cast and crew members when they are handling stuff. Scene change is one thing, but people drop stuff all the time. Hopefully not on stage during a scene, but things happen. As for warning patrons of the risks, I'd guess their ticket has some kind of warning printed on it in small print.

Edit to subject line-Rebbe

6

Stage Management: Other / Hundreds evacuated in fire at NW Indiana theater

« on: Feb 10, 2011, 12:37 pm »

Reported by the Associated Press, published in the Washington Examiner: http://washingtonexaminer.com/entertainment/2011/02/hundreds-evacuated-during-fire-nw-ind-theater Hundreds evacuated in fire at NW Indiana theater

Authorities evacuated about 1,800 people from theater in Merrillville after a fire broke out during a performance on stage Wednesday night.

The event was not a play, but "Shanghai Circus Live." There are conflicting tales about how the evacuation was handled. The difference could be the "official" story, and how it actually looked being one of the 1,800 people in the audience.

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Stage Management: Other / Backstage at the Nutcracker

« on: Dec 17, 2010, 10:14 am »

Here's an interesting article about a backstage cat herder for the Washington Ballet's Nutcracker.

Her job has been compared to herding cats, but for Donna Glover, it’s the mice that are tougher. They’re rambunctious. They step on one another’s tails. They’re at the point in their pre-tweens where everything makes them excitable, no matter how many times a grown-up tells them to calm down and stay in line. Same goes for the rabbits.

Full article at: http://www.tbd.com/blogs/tbd-arts/2010/12/herding-rats-backstage-at-the-nutcracker-5939.html

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Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / PROFESSIONALISM: What to do when you're sick?

« on: Oct 17, 2010, 11:17 pm »

So, in a community theater production a friend of mine is working (Honest, it's not me!) the stage manager called in sick for a performance on Friday night. The light and sound board ops ended up calling their own cues for the show, the two ASMs stayed backstage where they had been working. The show went on.

So, for community theater (everyone is a volunteer), a short run of shows (three weekends, 8 performances total), what should the stage manager do in the event the SM is too sick to be at the show? What else besides the standard "make sure the prompt book is in good shape?" Thanks for any thoughts about this.

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Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / CAST: Practical jokes on final performance?

« on: Jun 27, 2010, 12:39 am »

I'd love to hear any tips on how to "convince" or "encourage" a cast not to play any practical jokes on one another during the final performance. My planned stern lecture given during pre-show notes I doubt will be effective. Before the show I'll be asking the producer what his expectations are; but knowing the cast like I do, I doubt most of them will be at all receptive to being professional on their final outing, and I'm worried about how the cast's actions will reflect on me.

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Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / PROFESSIONALISM: Director and Producer don't get along

« on: May 28, 2010, 11:27 am »

I've seen several threads here talking about difficult actors, directors, producers, etc... But I couldn't find any threads discussing what happens when the Director and the Producer don't get along. Screaming at each other during rehearsal is embarrassing for the crew and actors who overhear. Both the director and producer know they are being unprofessional, but can't help themselves. What can I do to keep things calm/stress-free at rehearsals and once we open? Should I try to ask them to leave the room if they start fighting again, and I'll run the rehearsal until they are able to return?

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Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / REHEARSALS: Director makes a poor decision of a character

« on: May 28, 2010, 11:14 am »

The director's job is to communicate a vision for the show through the actors. But for one role, the vision for that character is just entirely wrong. I know it's not my place to say anything, and maybe it will seem more natural as rehearsals progress. But what should the stage manager do, if anything, if a decision the director has made is just not working?

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Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / UNDERSTUDIES: Understudy should do part exactly like the original actor?

« on: May 28, 2010, 11:10 am »

In a community theater show, one part has an understudy. The part is fairly small, with only 2 or 3 scenes. The director is telling the understudy that she should do everything exactly like the main actor. Mannerisms, movement, body placement, etc... The issue I see is that the two actors are quite different physically. One is much taller and heavier than the other. So when the understudy runs a scene as the main actor, the effect is a bit comical. Not having worked with an understudy before, is that the normal way of doing things? I totally get that blocking and such should be the same, but some of the sight gags I don't think are working when the understudy performs. Not that I would say anything to the director, but I'd be interested in hearing some ideas about how to best help the understudy "get" the part being asked of them to do.

Change to subject line tag-Rebbe

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The Green Room / Interview with Jo Miles, Stage Manager for Love Never Dies

« on: Apr 29, 2010, 01:58 pm »

From Broadway World: In the first of a two-part interview with Jo Miles – who, as Stage Manager for Love Never Dies, knows everything there is to know about the show -  she talked us through what an 'average' day is like onstage and which actor she'd most like to see in a musical.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKWd_1UAuS8

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Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / FORMS: Your own format or director's?

« on: Mar 22, 2010, 12:21 pm »

I'm sure everyone has developed their own style and format for the forms they generate for shows. Has anyone had a director mandate/request strongly the stage manager use the director's format and style for a form? It's not a big deal, but it was a surprise for me when this happened to me recently.

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Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / COSTUMES: Wardrobe Malfunction - Hold the show?

« on: Mar 15, 2010, 02:04 pm »

Hi all,

I am ASMing a show and had a situation this weekend that I was told I handled incorrectly.

An actor split his pants open, a giant rip through the entire seam along his backside. I found out about it just before the places call at the end of intermission. His character is in a dress (impersonating a female) for the act's first 15 minutes, then is offstage for 2-3 minutes, then is on stage the rest of the show as a male. I held the show while we were trying to find pants for him to wear. We ended up stealing the pants of the other ASM. The hold ended up being about 8 minutes.

Afterwards the SM told me I should have started the scene, and found replacement pants during the 15 minutes the actor was on stage. The actor had 2-3 minutes to put the "new" pants on in the middle of the act. So everyone would have been fine. My fear was finding appropriate pants that would fit, as if they didn't fit, we'd be stuck in the middle of the act. So I felt it was safer to hold to be sure we'd be able to find pants.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this. Mike