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Messages - NomieRae

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46
The Green Room / Re: Regrets
« on: Mar 07, 2013, 10:56 pm »
I'm with Matthew in that I generally apply for any job as long as I am not already contracted (although it does pay to be discreet if you are applying for a job so you can leave your current gig, everyone knows everyone...)

Looking back I have regretted not taking certain positions because at the time they had more 'cons' than 'pros' for me but later went on to long off-broadway runs or international tours... but in the whole scheme of it I think I've done okay.

Sometimes I rue jobs that are perfect but I'm not in the right point of my career for them. Case in point, last summer a regional theater was hiring a resident PSM and I would have done anything in my power to get that position... it's my dream gig. However, they were looking for someone with 10-15 years of experience when I just barely capped at 7. They enjoyed my resume and my first interview but admitted that I wasn't a right fit for right now. Will I be keeping a close eye on that theater for the future? Damn skippy!


47
Agreed with those who come before me on this thread - as per usual.

To tack on, the reasons people listed above are also reasons I feel like we should not be lumping jobs together on the SM's plate in the first place once a show is open.

Often in small productions (or just small budget productions, or hell I've done Off-bway shows this way) the calling stage managers are asked to do the job of board op for lights, sound, etc.  Very often on a short run I am asked to also run a board (for an additional fee, of course) and if the show is much more than lights up/lights down I usually do everything to avoid it because the division of labor on a production is so important when looking at the bigger picture.

If I'm the calling SM and running the light board and a fixture goes out, am I equipped to fix it or try and put a band-aid on it to get us through the show? Often times, not. I have to move forward with the show calling cues and watching the action, whereas a board op has the knowledge (bless them) to work in a blind mode, fix things, and still take cues. Meanwhile they can tell me "Hey fixture 34 is out and it's also so-and-so's downlight so we're doing only front light today" and I can tell my ASM who can relay to an actor.

Asking people to do several jobs trivializes our skill set and labor. There is a reason I became a stage manager, and while I have a good working knowledge of the technology that runs the show, it is not my job to know these things and fix them. My job is to manage the crew, and cast and oversee the running of the production which encompasses far more than just calling the cues.

48
Self-Promotion / Re: Off to China
« on: Feb 25, 2013, 08:02 pm »
Exciting stuff! Hope you have a blast and keep us posted here with how it goes--

49
Could be a fun toy - but sadly I feel I am too ingrained in some of my ways and wouldn't use it to the full extent. I have a similar reaction when I have team members who do their pre-show checklists on their ipads instead of a hard copy, really useful for them and saves resources, but I just can't jump on the bandwagon.

50
The Green Room / Re: Weird Dreams
« on: Feb 25, 2013, 07:51 pm »
I've had many show specific ones, but usually before any opening night I have my standard crazy dream of running into the theater and being bombarded with problems (actor was arrested, parrots invaded the stage, no one can get ready because the costumes all turned pink....) and then once I get through all of that I get to the booth and go to call house to half and realize my script is blank.

Just a whole binder of blank pages.

And then I usually wake up.

51
Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: SCENERY: Sand Onstage
« on: Feb 25, 2013, 07:46 pm »
I did over hire work on a production that had a sand floor that had to be picked up and MOVED between acts.

They laid down four squares of canvas (some heavy duty stuff) and overlapped the layers in a way with velcro that once the floor was down you could lay the sand on it with little to no spillage onto the floor. To move it, they reversed the order it was laid down and picked up the corners of each individual square and carried it off.

Also agree on carpets everywhere to catch the sand, even a shoe drop off station where they might be able to change into flip flops/slippers might be helpful and keep dressing rooms cleaner.

52
Echoing people before me... breathe. It'll be okay if you don't do the show. Enjoy your last semester of high school and the experiences you won't have again.

I also got jilted out of my last show my senior year, and yes, it seemed like the end of the world at the time. Nearly a decade later, it doesn't even matter. You know why? I got into my fabulous BFA program with just one high school show on my "resume" as a stage manager.


53
Tools of the Trade / Re: The Curse of Drop Box
« on: Feb 23, 2013, 11:42 pm »
That is pretty disheartening to have someone flat out copy your format. In the past if I've really liked a form I ask if I can use the framework but make it my own and 9 times out of 10 they are flattered and allow me.

I've also seen people get really touchy about forms that seem similar just by lack of variables. One time I had a PSM ask me if I stole their friends' contact sheet setup because they looked so similar. Sure enough, he sent me a PDF and we had the same setup and even a similar font, but I had to malicious intent to steal any format... I just came up with something that looked good and was useful.

54
The Green Room / Re: "I quit!"
« on: Feb 23, 2013, 11:31 pm »
Quote
Two, we can stop accepting these no-pay or low-pay jobs.  Three, we can stop taking jobs with these horrific working conditions.  Four, we can have the guts to quit jobs that become unbearable or abusive.  (I know that many producers will just turn around and pluck someone else from the over populated work force to replace us . . . but if people just refused to work under these conditions, hopefully in the long run the working environments will change).

Yes!

It took several years for me to realize that working for the sake of working isn't always worth it. I would be doing some showcase in a church basement with rats running behind me next to a patch bay for lighting fully composed of orange extension cords...all for $200. It. Isn't. Worth. It. Maybe to build your resume or for a friend or a director you love you'll find your parameters are different, but everyone has to know their own price and limits. I now know what kind of salary I need to make a project worthwhile, and what contract negotiations I go into my meetings with.

I've quit two shows - one out of anger and one out of necessity. The anger one stemmed from a director who didn't care about the Equity rules or limitations and liked to toe the line with them and hated when I enforced them.  After a dreadful tech process during our last dress, the director wanted to extend photo call for one hour.  First I called a hold and told the director she had to have the GM/Producers approve the overtime before I'd even ask the cast. Once it was approved, the cast obliged for the extra pay (via unanimous secret ballot) and we moved forward. The hour ended and the director kept going... I told them we were out of time and said I needed to release the cast and the director yelled at the cast to not move. I promptly asked our TD to turn on work lights and said I was going to dinner because we were at break. The director yelled at me asking where I was going and I just turned around and said, "I quit." and walked out. I was definitely shaking out of pure anger by the time I hit the sidewalk. Our GM caught up with me down the block and we ended up ironing things out enough to finish the performances. The really trippy thing? The show did another workshop and the director requested me. We hashed out our problems and came to an understanding. I ended up doing the workshop but not the full production since I had other work lined up. So many actors returned for the second permutation and were beaming when they saw I was back.

The second was a long running gig - Matthew is so right, you like to think the show can't go on without you... but it can and it does and it should be able to. I had health issues that piled on top of an ailing parent so I decided to bow out and gave four weeks notice. They did offer me a leave of absence which was touching (I had been with the show for over a year, and since it had first come to the US) but ultimately I didn't think it was fair to leave whoever was standing in for me with no sense of when their gig would be up. 

Also, it was time to move on from that show for me, which I had known for some time, but it was very hard to walk away from the steady pay and benefits. The kicker? It closed a few weeks after I left. If I had taken the leave of absence I could have claimed unemployment... Sigh...

Do I regret either of them? Nope. It was what was right at the time and I didn't burn bridges and I did my job well while I was there. Half of my battle now is turning down jobs that I know will just make me miserable, nobody likes a martyr stage manager.


55
Quote
The only thing that I can think of now is that at the last IA house I worked at, props filled backstage water pitchers. ASMs set out cups, paper towels, and cough drops, but if we needed a water pitcher filled, we asked props. I don't know if that's a standard thing or not.

YES. For a tour I did this was also the case. Seemed silly at the time considering how props light the show was, but I am glad I asked when we moved into each venue. When in doubt, ask the TD or their rep where it should fall. This is especially true if you're touring because everyone's idea of the rules will shift with each venue.

For instance, we had a lead who needed props brought to her at half hour in her dressing room. In our rider it was spelled out that only the ASM and wardrobe was allowed in her dressing room once she arrived. (she was a very modest woman and was only comfortable with female crew she was familiar with) Some venues insisted that their props head bring them from the table and hand-off the props to me at her door to be set with her, while others just let me set them myself as long as I confirmed with props once it was complete.

I've never had an IA crew member get mad because I asked questions. It is when you assume or plow ahead without asking when they tend to get bristly.

56
Quote
Our producers beamed that we made it work. Did they ever hire a beatbox swing? Nope.
I'd be willing to bet a small sum of money that you were paid neither for the time spent coordinating this affair, nor a bonus for saving their show. (In any other industry you'd be under a mountain of cash if you pulled this off.)

A mountain of cash? Oh, never. We did get the overtime rate for the few hours of emergency rehearsal which was spelled out in our contract, of course. Ultimately the satisfaction of a job well done came more from the trust we gained in our cast who knew that when presented with a less than ideal situation, that the SM team would make it work in a way that didn't screw anyone over. (If we hadn't performed we obviously wouldn't have gotten paid, and we all needed that paycheck)

Do I use these scenarios when interviewing or contract negotiating? Sure, but I also be sure to mention that my job is about preventative measures versus emergency band-aids. If the proper swings had been hired we would have never had the drama.

57
Depends on the show, in certain instances (like a festival show) I ALWAYS do paper tech because there is such limited time to tech and work on things, and if worse comes to worse I know I can plow forward and at least get the show up on it's feet in our limited time.

I also agree if you're dealing with projections or fly rail or scenic pieces it helps to have that penciled in ahead of time so you can start to understand the flow of the show. Will things change? Most likely. Sometimes designers can give you their paperwork and you can plug things in yourself to be ahead of the game. (Knowing a projection has a 5 second fade up gives you a heads up on when it should be called...etc) Also if you have a complicated shift/change such as a wardrobe quick change that happens onstage during a light cue, with a sound effect, and a projection, it's something that the timing can be done in rehearsal and save lots of aggravation in tech.

I usually take the cue off of the director whether or not we will be doing paper tech - many times it can be very helpful to know what and how the director and designers collaborate before you're in a room under a ticking clock. Some directors always want a sequence followed for continuity, as in Slide-lights-sound so the scenes start in a similar way. Little info like that can save you minutes of catch up while at the tech table. 

58
Oh boy have I ever seen both sides of this coin -

I have done plenty of shows in a short run where something happened and so-and-so went on book in hand. Audience lap it up, and for certain shows it works just as well. Some actors love that adrenaline... but it makes SM's want to tear their hair out. Should shows with a short run and small cast have to hire understudies? I don't seem to think so.

Conversely, I worked on a long running musical type of show where we had two swings for a cast of 8. One male swung on for 2 male parts, and the third guy learned one extra part so we always had a cover. One lady swung on for all the women AND was dance captain (she had to sing alto, mezzo and soprano..I mean, cmon shes a saint.) The producers originally thought they were an unneeded expense, but when an actor sprained his ankle mid-performance during previews, having swings became oddly convenient.

But we didn't have a cover for the two LEADS of the show which were harder to find swings for due to them being beat-boxers. So for many months we ran that way, our poor cast members were denied time off or vacations because they couldn't bring in a sub for that time. Other actors could take 2 personal days to attend a wedding but our lead couldn't take his contracted vacation to see his family because we had no replacement.

Also, once we got replacements or short term subs, due to the show being so music and dance oriented every time we needed a sub flown in from another cast there were put in rehearsals. We were ALWAYS doing put in rehearsals. If we weren't putting in a sub, we were having brush up rehearsals for our swings to stay fresh on the vocal parts.

The icing on the cake was when one of our leads had his back go out and wasn't able to do the show for 3 days. We had no time to fly in and train a sub, no one in the cast was able to do his part (beat-boxing) so the PSM and I had to create a contingency show with only 7 performers and call emergency rehearsal via skype with our composer to make sure the percussion parts were covered in each number. It was a harrowing and stressful day, and we made it work. Our producers beamed that we made it work. Did they ever hire a beatbox swing? Nope.

Ultimately if we can make it work with the minimal tools were given, it seems producers would rather compliment our crisis management skills than to adequately plan for situations that will arise. Sigh.


Post Merge: Feb 13, 2013, 12:50 pm
Also -

This isn't necessarily just a trend for small companies either. I just recently learned that for ANNIE currently running on B'way, until very recently they had one orphan who could swing on for Annie and no swings for the rest of the orphans (around 6-7 girls I believe)


59
A list of things that could go wrong? That list is miles long...

Ideally if you're having sound issues, you need an A1 or similar sound person backstage for every show. Or at the very least the stagehand needs to be trained in mic troubleshooting issues and given the proper tools to execute basic repairs, replacements, etc.

If you have knowledgeable, and adequate staffing backstage (and quality equipment)  most of the issues will become null and void. Creating a list and protocol is just busy work! 

60
I think an important detail in this is the fact that it was a two show day - I find that very often on a two show day things get lax with presents and etc because, hell, we're gonna be here all day. So instead of resetting at the top of your crew call, you might say wait until right before house opens, but then you get to talking... and something gets forgotten.

Making a habit of doing your preset checklist the same time and same way every night helps this for me - makes it muscle memory and routine so nothing gets forgotten.

I've had it happen before to me on a show with next to no preset. I mean, literally all I had to preset was one prop and two handheld mics on stage. One day (only one day in nearly 1.5 years on that show) I forgot to set the mics and they weren't there for the very first moment of the show. Egg on my face. Never happened again, though.

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