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Messages - BalletPSM

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1
Tools of the Trade / Re: Style Question
« on: Aug 16, 2012, 10:10 am »
Matthew - I do agree with you - we are management - but a regional theatre ASM position involves a lot of schlepping of heavy scenery and rehearsal pieces...so it's an interesting balance between management and hard physical labor...I'll go back to what I said earlier; if I were PSMing and doing mostly sitting and more interface with producers/designers, it is a different story.

The culture of the theatre/company is also something to consider when addressing this topic...

I also ride my bike to work quite frequently - which plays into what I wear as well.....

Interesting conversation.

2
Tools of the Trade / Re: Style Question
« on: Aug 16, 2012, 01:37 am »
Let me amend this - let's remember I also live and work in Southern California...VERY different than what I would wear if I was working in New York, or even on the East coast.  How much do you think location in the country plays into what's okay to wear to rehearsal? 

For example, out here, yoga pants are sort of the norm everywhere...grocery store, movie, mall...but when I go to new york, I wouldn't think of wearing yoga pants on the street unless I were actually going to a yoga class.

I am also an athletic, physical person, and I think of my job as a very physical job - so I dress to that occasion by wearing clothes I can move in. 

And I would wear a dress to rehearsal if I wore leggings underneath it, and if it were a cotton dress in which I could easily move and didn't care about getting dirty/scarred by moving a table in rehearsal.

Continue the discussion....this is helpful and insightful!

-evangeline


3
Tools of the Trade / Style Question
« on: Aug 15, 2012, 05:56 pm »
I'm in a debate right now over what are construed as rehearsal appropriate and rehearsal-inappropriate clothes. 

When I'm ASMing, I opt for clothes that allow me to move - mostly yoga pants/exercise pants and tank tops.  Occasionally jeans, and occasionally a dress over leggings, but ultimately, clothes that I can move and move quickly.

When I'm PSMing I opt for nicer clothes - mostly nice pants and tops, or nice jeans with tall boots, and I take care to do my hair and makeup more so than when I'm ASMing.

So - thoughts?  Discuss!



4
Tools of the Trade / Re: 5 fingers
« on: Mar 30, 2012, 02:39 am »
So I'm interested in the merrell barefoot "pace" glove (NOT the "fingers"; just the really lightweight minimalist shoe) for REHEARSALS, not necessarily for being on deck.  Mostly because they are quiet and very lightweight.

But how much cushion/arch support do these minimalist shoes *actually* provide?  I don't have totally flat feet but I don't have that much arch either...so whatever I wear needs to have SOME support.

5
Employment / Re: Websites
« on: Jan 31, 2012, 01:01 am »
Just got a new mac.  doesn't have iWeb.  found out apple is discontinuing iWeb and all support for iWeb.

WHAT TO USE INSTEAD?  I had high hopes of creating a website this year.

Any help greatly appreciated!!

6
I was fortunate to do this show in a 3/4 thrust, where we had catwalks over the stage - so a crew person was literally preset in the catwalk and dropped the shoe.  It worked beautifully. 

I'm a big fan of the loose-pin hinge solution in your case, though.




7
The Hardline / Right of first refusal?
« on: Jan 29, 2012, 11:15 am »
Is it automatic if you're on a LORT contract and the show moves to Broadway - or does it have to have been written into a rider?  Is there a set number of weeks you must have been on contract on the LORT show?  These questions have come up recently and I'm having difficulty finding the correct answers.

I found a few other threads about this topic on this forum, but nothing particular to LORT/Production.

Thanks all!

8
The Green Room / Re: Pavlovian Response ?
« on: Dec 11, 2011, 02:36 pm »
Even though it's been three years since I've done the GRB nutcracker, I STILL remember all the cueing sequences and whenever I'm in a store at Christmas i have a hard time not calling the cues when the music comes on over the PA. 

I'm doing a different nutcracker this year and it's been tricky getting the old cueing sequences out of my brain!

9
The Green Room / Re: Tax Season!
« on: Dec 11, 2011, 02:32 pm »
I think one of the best question to ask when figuring out what you can deduct/can't deduct:

Would I buy this/do this/go to this if I weren't working in this industry?

If you say yes, then you probably shouldn't deduct it....or at least all of it.

Gym memberships are NOT deductible.  Specific fitness classes may be if you must take them for your job....

10
Self-Promotion / Odyssey at the Old Globe
« on: Sep 02, 2011, 11:25 am »
Check out this huge gigantic show here:

http://theoldglobe.org/information/latestnews/index.aspx#ODD

And here:

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2011/sep/01/odyssey-promises-a-singular-theatrical-journey/

We're about a week into rehearsals and it is is AWESOME.  It is so cool to hear so many diverse voices together in song.

If you're in SoCal, come see us!  Three shows only.


11
The Hardline / Re: Changing Economics of the Road
« on: Sep 01, 2011, 10:32 am »
So salaries are slashed to pieces, the set will be cut down to scraps, and the cast will be reduced.

Who wants to bet ticket prices won't change? 

So who's getting money in their pockets here?  It's times like this when I have a hard time with commercial theatre.  So an equity PSM on a national tour makes LESS Money than an ASM on a LORT B.  Wow.


12
Stage Management: Other / Re: First time on a devised show
« on: Aug 31, 2011, 03:02 am »
My best advice for a devised piece:

TRUST THE PROCESS. 

You have to, have to, have to be flexible and trust the process to carry you through.  As a stage manager you can have an incredibly influential and formulative role in how this process is carried out, but if you don't trust it, then you will only end up fighting with everyone and it will not be a pleasant experience for anyone.  So trust the process and realize that you are providing vital shape and structure but need to do so in a spirit of fluidity and flexibility. =)

And have so much fun!  I love devised theatre.

13
Stage Management: Other / Re: First time on a devised show
« on: Aug 30, 2011, 12:52 am »
I can write more on this later - but my first question is, is there a script supervisor?

the devised theatre I've worked on - in the early stages of devising I have always held the role as script supervisor - in the end, it makes my job as stage manager to have script control from jump. 

you are right that once a script is in place it becomes more like a standard process - at which point you'll want to have an intern, PA, or assistant dedicated to maintaining the script (as it will continue to change through opening) so you can focus on other things. 

happy to talk with you more about this as I LOVE working on devised theatre...but on a night that is not the night before first rehearsal.  =)

14
The Hardline / Re: AEA MAternity Leave
« on: Aug 29, 2011, 11:39 am »
As a few people have mentioned on this thread - plenty of ("real") companies (and even the "real" jobs in theatre companies) offer maternity leave but no pay.  I think this is, while not the greatest, perfectly fair.  Having a baby is - on the whole - a choice.  The same way taking a vacation would be a choice.  And not all companies offer automatic paid vacation either.  The biggest thing in maternity leave is a guarantee that you will have your job back in 6 weeks, 8 weeks, whatever the maternity leave allows for.  Just like an employer guarantees not to give your job away while you're on a vacation. 

As a freelance contract employee, there is no guarantee you will have a job, ever, after the current contract you're on, so AEA can't really offer a maternity leave option.  How would they?  Right now I have a total of 2 contracts lined up through end of next May.  I could time it to try to get pregnant sometime in November and it would work out about perfectly to have a baby after those contracts are done (now...I'm just ignoring the fact that stage managing a show at 7 months pregnant might not be the most fun thing in the world - but is any job?).  And then it's up to me not to take any more work that would conflict with having my baby and how long I want to stay home after that.   I can't call AEA and say, "hey, I'm having a baby in June, but I really want to start working again in August, so I'm calling in my maternity leave and can you make sure I have a contract by then?  Thanks." 

I'm not having a baby right now, but I AM going on a tour to the Dominican Republic at the end of November with a dance company.  It's throwing a huge monkey wrench in trying to book an equity contract between the one I'm on now and the one that starts mid-January - but that's my choice.  I want to do the tour - so that means I need to plan for essentially 4 months of unemployment (the tour is paying me about...1 peanut).  But, it's important to me artistically, so I'm going to find a way to make it work. 

On the whole, in a freelance situation, having a baby is no different than a choice like that.

I think you have a little bit of a different situation because you have a resident position - if I were in your position, I would go straight to your director and to HR (or whoever the HR equivalent would be) and rely on the good relationship you have with them - since your AEA contract offers no provision for you.  Think of what you absolutely need in terms of having a baby - you want 10 weeks off and then want to come back to work.  I agree with other folks here - you need to be able to do those 10 weeks without pay (since, as we've already mentioned, that's most other real jobs as well, especially non-profit jobs), but they should guarantee your job at the end of those 10 weeks.  What is  the policy for the other, non equity employees in the company?  Appeal to that. 

I think the larger issue with our union here is INSURANCE. If by having a baby you preclude yourself from being able to get your 20 weeks - then all of a sudden you've lost your insurance at the time when you need it most. 

THAT is a problem that our union COULD fix by offering provisions for women who get pregnant and so for whatever reason won't be able to get their 20 weeks.  They don't have to let this go on indefinitely - it could be a "you get to keep your insurance for one year after having your baby regardless of work weeks, and then after that you go back to the work week standard" or something similar.

Balletdork, I don't know if this is an issue for you - maybe you're on your husband's insurance policy, but plenty of women out there are having babies without husbands or a partner who's insurance plan they can just jump onto.

Those are my thoughts for right now.  Maybe if I were the one having the baby though I would feel differently.  Hard to say.


15
The Green Room / Re: You know you're in tech when....
« on: Aug 26, 2011, 04:34 am »
Your finger nails and cuticles resemble the Sahara Desert they are so dried out from spike tape.

BLEH I HATE THIS ONE!!!!!!!!!!!  I actually got a manicure at first preview on my last show because I couldn't stand my nails anymore!!!!

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