Messages

1

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / British Stage Managers

« on: Nov 10, 2005, 03:42 pm »

Hmm. Right. Here you go from England.

Production Manager/Stage Manager/Company Stage Manager (PM/SM/CSM) - One and the same position. Deals with administration, scheduling, can be involved in several projects at the same time but typically doesn't do anything once the show is up and running. Exception will be a stage manager for a Fringe production. The PM or SM would handle the show budget, hiring of equipment, etc etc etc.

Stage Manager (For Fringe) - Would do all of the above as well as (typically) calling/operating lights and sound during the performances. In a lot of these cases they'll also be the ASM for the show and it's not unheard of for them to design the lights as well. It all depends on how many people the company is willing to pay to do the job.

Deputy Stage Manager (DSM) - Runs rehearsals, calls the show, does all the scheduling and is the connection usually between a director and the PM/SM. Reports to the PM/SM with any problems regarding health and safety, union guidelines, etc. Is typically expected to be able to deal with most situations directly. Term is used for most genres of theatre here and isn't restricted (in a way) to musicals/opera. On larger scale shows there can be a few DSM covers who may rotate calling the show a couple times a week. Also known occasionally as Deck Manager but then typically doesn't call the show.

Assistant Stage Manager (ASM) - Responsible for props and ensuring that most things run smoothly backstage. Reports to the DSM. Handles such things as scene changes, backstage.

Production Assistant - Literally, the Production Managers Assistant. The go-between. Is typically in charge of ensuring that rehearsals rooms are booked and is the person waiting to sign for a delivery.

A stage management intern is practically unheard of here.

All the above is from my personal experience working on West End and what I've been taught from a UK point of view. It will vary slightly between theatres and so on and so forth. If anyone had anything they wanted to pitch in then please feel free

2

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / British Stage Managers

« on: Nov 04, 2005, 01:38 pm »

Deborah is right. The London SMA is the way to go. They'll get you in touch with those that may let you shadow a stage manager during a show. It does depend on who the DSM is and how comfortable they are with the situation but generally you get a good response.

The SMA also holds conferences and workshops during the spring/summer time as well as British Equity.

If you would like me to see what I can do for you (seeing as I'm based in London) then let me know.


And Deborah, I'm sorry we never got the chance to meet!! Next time right?  :wink: And it's just the accents that make it sound cooler.

3

The Green Room / Food

« on: Oct 06, 2005, 11:25 am »

Celery sticks! Haha they're almost part of my kit really. Always have some with me and part of my morning routine is making myself a homemade dip (chives, philly cheese and some seasoning, mix well in a bowl, add whatever else you want). That usually keeps me going a while. If I've done chicken on the weekend and I have leftovers I'll do a chicken salad.
And a bottle of some energy drink. Lucozade being the one of choice at the moment.

4

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / training assistant

« on: Oct 06, 2005, 11:18 am »

How much does she already know?

A couple shows ago I did something very similar only the girl was doing her internship with me. Because we rehearsed away from the main building she did a lot of photocopies, errand running to get something from the props store, that kind of thing. It just freed up my time to actually watch the rehearsals instead of running around like a headless chicken while trying to write blocking for a complicated scene.

5

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Drop Count

« on: Oct 03, 2005, 12:14 pm »

When I stage manage for Fringe (or the school I regularly work for) the actors are also the ASMs so they can leave me to do the light check, sound check, etc.
Usually for the drama school I write down how many times a shout check has been done and a preset check. The last show I did I had a cast of 7 and in a single night a shout check had been done a record 12 times. You think they'd talk to each other! Front of house and I usually have a good laugh about it.

The DSM at the theatre I occasionally work for (lx dep) has a "pill count" where he counts the number of tic tacs in a little bottle both before and after the show.... he also has a "Red Bull/Tea" count which is the amount of Red Bull and/or tea consumed by the tech crew that night. =)

6

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / British Stage Management VS American Stage Management

« on: Sep 19, 2005, 07:25 am »

Hi there.
I'm a current fresh-out-of-drama-school stage manager in London. As centuara said you'll be hearing different terms and so on but usually nothing that would be too different.
The only thing that I could possibly think of is that the union legistlation might through you a bit. If you will be using crew from the RSC then they'll probably be members of the technical orginization BECTU which has different working rules to Equity. (Ie, after 3 hours BECTU members would be given a 15 minute break whereas if you were just working with Equity members it would be after 4 hours, etc).

http://www.equity.org.uk/ is the British Equity website. There's also the Stage Managers Association that may be able to give you a hand.

Out of curiosity which show are you doing? I've been meaning to see some things by the RSC for a while.

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Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Backstage or Booth?

« on: Mar 31, 2005, 09:50 am »

I think it also depends on the type of show that's being called. Usually I call from the booth but I did work on a charity rock concert where the SM called from backstage. I've also seen a theatre on the London West End where there was actually a booth for the stage manager herself without anyone else. And naturually, there's advantages to each of the three options!

8

Tools of the Trade / stopwatches?

« on: Mar 31, 2005, 09:34 am »

Generally I've only used them for scene changes and quick changes. Every so often though a director may ask in a rehearsal for someone to time the acts so that they get an idea of the running time.

The one that I use is a typical sports stopwatch. Like Linka's it's got large numbers and doesn't click or beep. It's also really easy to use.