Messages

1

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: Preshow Music Copyright

« on: Dec 03, 2014, 12:19 pm »

An Arts Organization can purchase small rights through an ASCAP License which is the legal way to go about it. There are different kinds of rights you can purchase. "Small Right" are things like pre show music. "Grand Rights" or "Dramatic Rights" are if you had someone performing with it. Here's from the ASCAP website:


"ASCAP gives you a license to entertain your customers, guests and employees with the world's largest musical repertory. One of the greatest advantages of the ASCAP license is that it gives you the right to perform ANY or ALL of the millions of the musical works in our repertory. Whether your music is live, broadcast, transmitted or played via CD's or videos, your ASCAP license covers your performances. And with one license fee, ASCAP saves you the time, expense, and burden of contacting thousands of copyright owners.[/size][size=78%]"  [/size][/size][size=78%]http://www.ascap.com/licensing/licensingfaq.aspx#general[/size]

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The Hardline / Re: Christmas Rule LORT

« on: Sep 13, 2012, 10:54 pm »

Hey All,


We were granted a concession...easy peasy. Thanks for the feedback!

3

The Hardline / Re: Christmas Rule LORT

« on: Sep 13, 2012, 07:35 am »

Thanks Matthew,


It may be that they've been given that concession in the past am I'm just playing catchup. I'm happy to wait to hear back from our rep. But it's nice to know that I'm not crazy and/or illiterate. I definitely need to up my communication game though.


Have a good one,
Gina

4

Students and Novice Stage Managers / Re: Summer Stock

« on: Sep 12, 2012, 11:26 pm »

I've done summers at Central Piedmont Summer Theatre (Carlotte, NC), Maine State Music Theatre (Brunswick, ME),  Walnut Hill Summer Theatre (Natick, MA), Yale Institute of Music Theatre (New Haven, CT), and Second Stage Theatre (New York, NY). They were all very different jobs but I enjoyed them throughly. If you'd like specifics, feel free to pm me.

As a recent grad school graduate, I would say it probably would have been smarter to have spent my summers focusing on what I wanted to do after school. I have since moved to NYC and if I would have decided that sooner, it would have been smarter to concentrate my energies here, developing contacts and learning the area. My school did mostly classics and new work, so I would try to mix it up and work on some musicals in the summer. I did do a new musical worship that was fun and refreshing.  I don't really regret my choices. I developed some amazing collaborator relationships and the experiences really grew me.

Best of luck!

5

The Hardline / Christmas Rule LORT

« on: Sep 12, 2012, 09:13 pm »

Hello Stage Managers,

I came across something new (for me) today and am checking in with my Business Rep but I have confused myself with this Christmas Rule (or my GM and I just have a different understanding the rule.) My instinct is to look at the most conservative sense of the rule to avoid making a costly scheduling error down the road, but my equity greenness may also be causing me to be overly conservative.

The Current Plan for Rehearsal:
Sunday 12/16 Day Off
Monday 12/17- Rehearsal
Tuesday 12/18- Rehearsal
Wednesday 12/19- Rehearsal
Thursday 12/20- Rehearsal
Friday 12/21- Rehearsal
Saturday 12/22- Rehearsal
Sunday 12/23- Rehearsal

Monday- 12/24- Day Off (Christmas Eve)
Tuesday- 12/25- Day Off (Christmas Day)
Wednesday- 12/26- Rehearsal
Thursday- 12/27- Rehearsal
Friday- 12/28- Rehearsal
Saturday- 12/29- Rehearsal
Sunday-12/30- Rehearsal

I Included the pertinent rules below. Now, there is not an actual day off in the week of Monday 17th. I took (f) [below] to mean that regardless of the Christmas rules, you still need a day off in each M-Sun week. My company believes that since we do not have more than 12 days between our day off that we are fine or that possibly the actors can vote to move the day off to the next week (for Christmas Eve). Now, in my opinion- the actors would much prefer to have both Christmas Eve and Day off but I haven't been able to find a rule to support this yet. Any experience/advice/other red flags you may have had with this would be greatly appreciated.
I guess I should count myself lucky that I've generally be off at Christmas, though a pay check is a nice present too. Thanks all! Gina

From the LORT Rule Book:

(ii) Christmas. In addition to the regular day off during the workweek, there will be no rehearsal or performance (except during tech week) on either December 24 or December 25 (but not both unless the regular day off is scheduled by the Theatre on December 24 or December 25). The Theatre may schedule six performances over three consecutive days during the seven day period prior to or following December 25 but not both. During tech week, unless there is a second day off during the workweek, there shall be a daylight day of rest in the same week as the holiday. The daylight day of rest is only required if there is a day free of technical rehearsals in Christmas week. Such daylight day of rest may end at 5:00 PM. (iii) Any changes of day off required by sections (i) and (ii) above will not be included in the changes of day off referred to in section (E)(7)(c).(e) Under no circumstances may more than eight consecutive days elapse between days off, except that 12 days may elapse between days off to comply with the Thanksgiving and Christmas Rule above (see Rule 66(H)(1)(l)(iii)). (f) NOTWITHSTANDING THE ABOVE, THE WORKWEEK IS STILL DEFINED AS MONDAY THROUGH SUNDAY AND THERE MUST BE A DESIGNATED DAY OFF WITHIN EACH WORKWEEK. [Equity's All Caps, not mine]

EDIT: Fixin some fonts.  --PSMK

6

The Hardline / Re: LORT-LOA Tech Hours- Creative Suggestions More Than Welcome!

« on: Sep 10, 2012, 08:37 pm »

This is a really interesting tangent...where do you put your 10/12s. I personally like them together, earlier in the week. My company would have rather split them but due to a couple scheduling issues they are together earlier in the week...You won't hear me complain. Tech is tech, but when it's only a week and is the same amount of hours as rehearsal, I would think people will adjust to it. To me it helps that transition of being a day worker into being a night worker. I'll take a week of tech over a month of previews any day of the week though.

7

The Hardline / Re: LORT-LOA Tech Hours- Creative Suggestions More Than Welcome!

« on: Sep 08, 2012, 05:12 pm »

@Matthew Shiner- Staggered calls for the win. The show is Mice and Men, so it's probably possible for all but 2 actors...which for $48 I can imagine they could swing. Unfortunately we can't get in the venue early...but that was another great suggestion. Thanks!

@Nick Tochelli- You must be the "Nick at Barbizon" I keep hearing about. It's definitely a tight one. Thanks for your insight. Sad that the tech hour fairy disappeared with that provision...ah well. No one was keen on doing the 10/12's back-back, but due to a couple factors we are a bit boxed in at the moment. Still exploring options. Thanks again!

8

The Hardline / LORT-LOA Tech Hours- Creative Suggestions More Than Welcome!

« on: Sep 07, 2012, 08:29 am »

Hello Ladies and Gents,

I could use some help thinking out of the box. I'm interested in any creative solutions you might have.

Thanks,
Gina

The Facts:

• I'm working on a LORT-LOA that has a maximum rehearsal week of 45 hours including Tech Week.
• We are allowed 2- 10/12 and a max of 8/10 the other days.
• A straight 6 still counts as an 8hr day.
• After that overtime rate would be $12/half hour per person (10 including SM).
• The crew, staff, and venue overtime are not a factor.
• Our tech is a Monday-Sunday with Monday being the day off.
• To add a little more creative fun, Sunday we have to end our day by 3pm to accommodate a load out to our first tour date.
• I am also trying to leave a 8a-12p work call in there for the crew.

I would love to do the improbable- make a reasonable week, that makes the most people happy, without costing my company $1680 in overtime charges (Which would be a 52 hour week, normally allowable under LORT for tech).

Here is the best swing I had at it-

If I do 3- 7/9's, 2- 10/12's, I could do a 5 the last day then I'm only 1 hour into overtime. Here's what I was thinking:

Monday- Day Off
Tuesday- 12p-9p (7/9)
Wednesday- 12p-12a (10/12)
Thursday- 12p-12a (10/12)
Friday- 12p-9p (7/9)
Saturday-12p-9p (7/9) [Could start this day earlier to allow for an evening work call]
Sunday- 10a-3p (5/5)

I tried a few other drafts (with some time tetris involved)-

• B- Sunday as a 6/7...Gain one hour of rehearsal, 2 hours of overtime for $480.
• C- Sunday as a Straight 6..Still only gain 1 hour of rehearsal but allows an extra hour of work notes, for 4 hours of over time for $960. (Honestly this sounds rather silly if work call isn't an issue.)
• D- Max out our rehearsals with the 7/9 being 8/10's with Sunday as a 6/7, 5 hours of over time for $1200.
• E- Same as D with a Straight 6 Sunday, 7 hours of over time for $1680. (In my book, not enough bang for the buck.)

9

Tools of the Trade / Re: Multiplay Sound Cue Software

« on: May 26, 2011, 10:24 am »

QLab does have a Pro version that has alot more capacity such as synching video and all that great stuff. There is a free version. I like that I can quickly program a fade in, fade out, link cues mostly for rehearsal. I've worked with a couple directors who as part of their process just need to hear something in the rehearsal room and I found this a lot less clunky for my purposes than running it off a CD player or through iTunes. It might be overkill for some situations.

Sorry not much help on your specific program but good luck.

10

Tools of the Trade / Re: Multiplay Sound Cue Software

« on: May 25, 2011, 11:12 pm »

I haven't used that specific program, but if you are running a Mac I would highly suggest QLab- another free sound program- depending on what you need to do with it. It is pretty customizable and user friendly once you get accustomed to it. I've found it very helpful both in rehearsal and widely used in performance. Let me know if you would be interested in more information.

11

Tools of the Trade / Re: latest toyes...

« on: Sep 22, 2006, 09:43 pm »

I had a new toy to add to the discussion. I was in the homewares section of Target and saw a WD40 pen...I guess it's like a white out pen. When I work deck I like to make sure to have a can of that or white lithium grease on hand, but a WD 40 pen may be something good to add to a kit.

I like check out the hunting, fishing, and automotive sections of stores in addition to office supplies, you never know what you are going to find.

And for binders, my personal preference is definately for D-Ring over O Ring. And I keep only my calling and blocking scripts and a copy of cue and contact sheets in one book, I keep everything else in a seperate binder. I can't stand writing over all that bulk in blocking rehearsals or while calling shows....and I can look up something without losing my place in my book. A score is only about 300 pages depending on the show and a libretto is less than that so I can use a much smaller binder.

12

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: How to keep kids *quietly* busy at rehearsal when they're not needed onstage?

« on: Sep 20, 2006, 08:13 pm »

I never really had any problems during rehearsals, The kids I got were pretty seasoned so they would do their homework and entertain themselves...mostly they liked watching the "Big actors" in rehearsal. Backstage- a parent is great. If you have an older kid who is interested in tech at all, Put them by an asm to act as a runner if they aren't being used for a while. Some kinds find charging glow tape amazingly ineresting. I guess it really depends on the kid. I've had great ten year olds and terrible sixteen year olds so I try not to judge them on age anymore.

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Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: how do u put on spikes/marker if your set is full of gravel and sand?

« on: Sep 16, 2006, 06:23 pm »

I came across this same problem in a show I did a couple years back. I don't remember all the posibilities, but we discussed led lights in the liner of the floor that would shine through the crumbled cork (wasn't quite sure how they planned on doing that though). It was a black box theatre without a lot of room for error. We ended up using a mixture of glow tape tick marks on the perimeter of the floor (dance numbers for crew basically) and the lighting designer also added some very minimal pools of light to mark the area for the key scenic pieces....it worked remarkably well....I was surprised. Let me know what you end up doing.

One thing I remember comming up alot was discussing the matierial we used too. There was worries about silicosis which can be caused by sand and fine dust particles. We ended up using crumbled cork. The floor had to be raked and walked through before every show, which took a little more time then your standard sweep/mop. We had discussed covering the ground with a tarp to reduce dust settling in the cork, but chose not to do it as classes were happening in the same area and were a trip/slip hazard. We lightly misted the air with a hudson sprayer to take out the dust after we raked the floor. We used a shop vac at strike to get it all up and that also worked fairley well. I dont know if any of this information helps you, but I figured it could hurt.

Best of luck with your show,
Gina

14

SMNetwork Archives / A Great Site

« on: Sep 10, 2006, 12:29 pm »

A friend of mine will be travelling soon and thought I would enjoy this site: www.minimus.biz . It is basically miniture or single servings of many things. It was interesting, and they have free shipping on orders over 20 bucks. There are alot of great kit stuffers for those stage managers who like that kind of stuff (myself included). Alot of it is stuff you can get at the store...but you can buy it there in individual packets, etc. Somethings seemed especially helpfull for those of us who do a lot of travel with a little suitcase. Well, i'll let you guys see it for yourself. Let me know what you think.

Gina

15

Employment / Electronic Portfolios- Need Help

« on: Aug 12, 2006, 11:45 pm »

Hey guys, I had a question for anyone who has an opinion on this:

I've done both a prompt book example and portfolios in my job searches in the past. I'm starting to apply to more jobs at a distance from where I live and I wanted to make an electronic portfolio. I'd like to make a website eventually, but I have some learning to do on that. It would cost alot of money to copy a promptbook and ship it out and I can't imagine as a prospective employer I would want that thick old book on my desk anyways.

Right now my ultimate goal is to be able to mail off a cover letter, resume, and CD in one packet. I've been going back and forth on format. It's inexpensive, I can make as many copies as I want, I can tailor it to a specific job, and it's easy to coordinate with resumes, ect with cd labels and jewel case inserts. I feel like it is one more step towards makeing it easier to hire me. My two thoughts right now are a power point "something" or a .pdf document. A third one, but not too palatable would be to .pdf an entire calling book. It may be worth it if someone ever wanted a prompt book, but I'm not sure. I'm throwing around what to include: production shots, paperwork, selections of prompt books. Fortunately I have the full version of adobe acrobat and a scanner available as well as some other imaging and photo editing software.

So, has anyone done an electronic portfolio for themselves? What did you put in it, what was your format? Has anyone thought of making one? Any ideas? Does anyone think this is just an oddball project?

Thanks for your help!

Gina