Topics

1

Employment / Changing lanes.....

« on: Oct 15, 2007, 07:40 pm »

I'm sure there has to already be a thread for this but i'm not finding one...

Due to a variety of personal reasons, I'm leaving theatre and Stage Management.   The job is too consuming for me and I need to transition to a line of work that will allow me flexibility in work hours and the ability to take time off when needed for illness or personal reasons.   

I've been a successful professional SM for years and don't have much job experience outside of theatre.   Even when not stage managing i mostly worked in theatre....

*I* know that I can succeed in just about any line of work, but how do I phrase that in a convincing way on a resume for people who just don't know how theatre works?  It's tough enough to explain what a stage manager is in 100 words or less.   I don't want to waste a lot of print and paper (and interview time) explaining what i've been doing with my life....more interested in spotlighting the many strengths and breadth of experience that i already have and can put to work somewhere else.

Any ideas on how to phrase this concisely without scaring off potential employers?  I've been lucky enough to not have to look for non-theatre work for a very long time so I'm starting from scratch here and it's a little frightening.  I have put together a non-theatre resume which i'm glad to share with anyone willing to give input!

I'm very sad to leave theatre, especially after everything i've been through and given up to make this career work.    However, it is what i need to do at this point in my life.    Sadly, i don't have a target audience yet so I'm not ready to tailor to a specific industry (or potential job market, still trying to figure out that aspect of the shift.)

I would very much love to get some help from people in the know on how to make the transition to non-theatre-work and how others would phrase our skill set to those who haven't 'been there'.     



On a  totally different note, i told my PM in July that i would be leaving after X-mas, and am astonished that the rumour mill has not yet circulated this information.   The high-ups all know as they've already hired a replacement, but  but most of the people i interact with directly on a day-to-day basis have no idea i'm leaving until i tell them personally....is there a tactful way to spread the information without talking individually to every person?   It's a pretty big place!

2

Stage Management: Other / Event management

« on: May 09, 2006, 03:42 am »

I have an offer to pick up a major event, but i've only done theatre so far.  

Any words of wisdom from those who have branched out?    

For a one-day event with two weeks of prep, what is a reasonable asking salary?  (Event includes auction, a couple of bands, dinner, cocktail reception, ballroom dancing, A/V, balloon scultures, confetti cannon....you get the idea).   I honestly have no idea what to ask, and rated hourly/daily/weekly....This is all new to my world.

3

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / ESCRIPTS: Final draft, new scripts, and electronic markups

« on: Apr 03, 2006, 10:56 pm »

Ok folks, who were is proficient with computerized scripts?

I'm ready to make my calling script fully electronic (easy enough on a word document) in part because i have to hand over the show for a week later this week.

I love doing new work, but i'm starting to hate final draft and need to find a better way to convert documents.  My intern is sharing the playwright/director's copy of FD in order to keep the script current, and to print out new pages (since the PW/Dir is too busy to do that himself.) and has been fiutzing around with it trying to come up with a sharable document with no simple result.

Trying to save a final draft document as a word document makes the formating go insane.  It takes longer to reformat than it would to retype.  

You can save the document as a PDF format, and i got a trial version of full Acrobat Professional so that i could make modifications, but i can't figure out how to make textual changes or insert regular text (not a text box or callout or pop up window).

I don't have a few hundred extra dollars to throw around on conversion software or scanners.

How do i get a viable electronic script out of a final draft document?

4

The Hardline / LORT / TYA overlap

« on: Oct 14, 2005, 11:45 pm »

Has anyone ever overlapped LORT and TYA contracts?  

Possible scenarios:  
1.  SM for a TYA starts on a LORT contract during TYA performance weeks, concurrently rehearsing LORT and performing TYA.
2.  ASM of either a LORT or a TYA rolls over onto the other contract but continues to be the "ASM of Record" on the first show while a non-eq "crew" takes over the track (i think this is probably not kosher, even though it's done many places.)
3.  ASM for a LORT rolls over onto rehearsing a TYA.
3.  Actors in TYA performance starts rehearsal on a LORT
4.  Actors in a LORT performance start rehearing on a TYA

My brain is spinning.  

Though the two contracts share many similarieties, max weekly hours for both Actors and SMs are different and rules about rehearsing on performance days are different.  

The biggest issue here is taking actors who are doing 2 TYA performances in the morning (9:30 and 11:15am curtains) on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, done with performances by 12:20pm, and then have to go to rehearsal for a LORT in the afternoon.  We're looking at a 9am-12:20pm span of day for the TYAs, then adding on rehearsal hours for the next show.  
How long of a break do they need between?  
How many hours can they rehearse per day?  
Per week?


On the reverse, performing a LORT show in the evenings, how long can they rehearse for a TYA during the day?  

The good news is that i have some time to muddle through this conundrum.    This situation has never occurred at this theatre before, so everyone is in the dark.  
(I sense much time on the phone with the LA office in my future.)

Surely someone else has been here?