Messages

1

The Hardline / Re: Recording rehearsals for designers

« on: Sep 28, 2014, 02:16 pm »

Thanks. I haven't been on a true LORT since 2011 and I remember that rule coming in. Didn't know it was still in play. It's not allowed on Guest Artist still and I'm not sure about SPT.

My last Off-Broadway in 2012-2013 didn't allow it either.

I'm also all for this across the board on all contracts. I'm now curious as to why it isn't.

2

The Hardline / Recording rehearsals for designers

« on: Sep 28, 2014, 09:35 am »

The Hardline seems a good place for this.

I've found a disturbing trend going on recently that deals with the allowing of recording of rehearsals for designer purposes. It is my understanding that unless there is a need to record something for safety reasons, it's simply not allowed by AEA. I even clarified this on my current Guest Artist contract with my rep.

However, this was done on the last GA contract by the theatre. They had one AEA contract and no AEA stage manager. When I spoke to the Lighting Designer, he told me that he has "never been denied this request in the past."

I didn't permit any recording for the current show but after more discussion, I found that the LD has been permitted to do this exact same thing at other theatres (at least one being a well-known LORT theatre).

So, what's the deal? Why do SM's allow it? Why does theatre management look the other way? Am I missing something? I've spoken with a number of  other AEA SM friends and they all say I'm clearly in the right. Believe me, I'd LOVE to let it happen to make all over our lives easier but, y'know, rules are rules. This isn't the first time I've come across this issue either. It's about the third time in the last TWO years.

I'm curious to hear your thoughts on this matter.

3

The Hardline / Re: AEA LORT COSTUME FITTINGS

« on: Sep 25, 2014, 09:53 am »

Calling someone for a 10am-10:30am fitting and then calling them into a 12pm rehearsal should not be a problem with the "six consecutive hours" part as long as they have the break by 4pm.

However, I don't believe you can just erase that 90-minutes in between the end of the costume fitting and the start of rehearsal from the AEA actor hours. Those hours would count in the overall daily hours. That's always been my understanding of the spirit of that rule, otherwise you're making that day go from 10am-8:30pm.

Anytime I've had multiple AEA contracts on a LORT, I've always managed to fit them in and have never had any OT issues come up for costume fittings. This keeps everything in accordance with the consecutive part, it just may take a little longer to do so.

It's always interesting to see how rules like this are viewed by SM's, deputies and the various AEA reps, so I'm curious to hear what the end result from the union rep will be. Anytime I call or write AEA, I make it quite clear that items like this should be clarified/simplified so it's much more cut and dry. We all have better things to do than drive ourselves crazy trying to appease everyone when there's so much room for interpretation.

4

Tools of the Trade / Re: Favorite Deck Flashlight?

« on: Aug 05, 2006, 09:49 am »

I love my Surefire. 

Executive Elite E2e

5

The Hardline / Re: Health cards discontinued

« on: Aug 04, 2006, 07:59 pm »

Theatres are still just finding out about this.  I just informed my new gig about this and they were quite surprised.

I'm glad AEA did it though.  Simpler is better.

6

Stage Management: Other / Re: What's the most unusual job you've had?

« on: Aug 04, 2006, 07:53 pm »

I was a "talent manager" for the Millennium bash at the Pontiac Silverdome, featuring Metallica and Kid Rock.

I was in charge of a bunch of little people who were to hop onto the stage at midnight and journey around Metallica's snake pit (a special seating area for fans).  They were all dressed up with costumes and face paint.

We had a skybox reserved for us that we shared with a juggler and a lot of strippers.

My actual job description?  "Make sure they don't do too many drugs or get too drunk to perform." 

So, I spent my first minutes of the year 2000 onstage with the band in front of something like 90,000 people.  The little people also tried to drag me out with them, but I managed to fend them off and stay behind the band near the drummer (Lars Ulrich).

Quite a hoot, actually.

7

Employment / Re: how do you get to Broadway?

« on: Aug 04, 2006, 07:43 pm »

Matthew's right.  Networking is a key and being a Production Assistant is a good way to start, even though there's no guarantee.

Each Broadway PSM has their own way of bringing in people so don't expect a standard.

A friend of mine has been subbing on Tarzan recently (and does she tell me some crazy things!), and they did not want to hire her because she lacked "Broadway experience."  With some urging from some other SM friends, the PSM finally gave in and put her on the job and now she's doing great. 

8

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: Creating a call script

« on: Aug 04, 2006, 07:38 pm »

Hey, thanks.  My girlfriend (also a stage manager) has been trying to get me to do the above format presented by Stagemonkey for some time and I've always resisted.  Actually, I figured this way was the best way to go.



I also really like the idea of page numbers on the top and bottom, Matthew.  I use page numbers often, especially on straight plays and newer works.  I find that actors want a page number to get them to the right spot.  This summer I would say, "Scene II.3" and I would be met with collective blank stares, even though I had provided them with a detailed scene breakdown.

Thanks again, guys.

9

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: Creating a call script

« on: Aug 04, 2006, 11:20 am »

I just have to add how it always amazes me that you do so many shows and then all of a sudden you learn something new to try.

Amen to that, brother.  You can never stop learning.

I need some advice that might fit in this category.  I searched and couldn't find anything and I doubt it deserves a new thread:

I'm retyping a script for Grease for my use.  IThe original is a Samuel French script so all the text is crammed together and there are no spaces. 

This will be my prompt script and then a new clean copy will be used for my calling script.

I would like to keep the pages consistent with the original as I type in Word but there's no way that can happen.  There's too much text on one page for me to space it out properly.  I even went so far as to try to manipulate each individual page in an Excel document but while that fits it all on one page, the page is then slightly too small for me to deal with.

So, how do I pull this off?  I have many ideas but I figured I'd throw it out there and see if anyone else has some creative solutions.