Topics

16

The Green Room / Name change and resume/references

« on: Sep 02, 2011, 12:43 pm »

Okay, I am completely stumped about how to handle this and could use some input.  I just got divorced.  Just, as in yesterday.  I have reverted from a rather distincitve last name to my maiden name, which is more common.
Unfortunately, almost ALL the work I have done in this city was while I was married, and my website is my full married name. 
So, how do I indicate that Jessica L. was previous know as Jessica F., so that when prospective employers call my references (or other people they know worked on shows I've worked) they know who the heck I am?
I really, REALLY do not want my ex-husband's name to continue to appear on my resume and website, but I do need people to know who I am when someone calls asking about Jessica L.
Figuring this out was the thing I was dreading most about the divorce.  Help?

17

Self-Promotion / Directing a Summer Short at Academy Theatre

« on: Jun 13, 2011, 10:52 am »

Two days ago, I got a phone call out of the blue from a gentleman who I've worked for, as an SM, twice before:  "I'm looking for another director for our short play series.  I want you to do it."

Eeeep!  Yes, but eeep!  I haven't directed in...a decade!

So, I'm now directing Grand Dame by James Beck for the Academy Theatre's Summer Shorts, in Atlanta, July 9-11.

I've mentally subtitled it Short Scene for Actress and Two Monkeys.  I have plans and visions.  Oh yes.  Muwahahahahaha!

18

The Green Room / "I've never been so grateful for X as when Y happened"

« on: Mar 27, 2011, 12:47 pm »

It can be something you do, another member of the company you're grateful for, the nearest coffee shop, etc.

I've never been so grateful that I don't suffer from stage fright as when an actor ripped his Achilles tendon in rehearsal, earlier this week, and I had to go be the male lead for the first designer run, the next day, in front of an "audience" of about twenty people.

(Aforementioned actor had to drop out of the show and get surgery, yikes!  We're all very sad to have lost him; he was phenomenal!)

19

The Green Room / Snowed in in the South

« on: Jan 11, 2011, 01:26 pm »

Or... you could get snowed in for two days, and after having done all the housework on day one, settle into pre-prod paperwork for your next show on day two.

I'm stuck in the ice down south.  Can't even get down my driveway; I'm going stir crazy.  Hello, next show, two weeks early!

20

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / REPORTS: Referring to Stage Manager IN the report

« on: Dec 26, 2010, 01:40 pm »

Doing a report last night, I had to reference myself a lot (more electrical troubles and reports on my struggles to get the show back up once it crashed), and really, I'm not very fond of doing that.  I prefer to refer to self in the third person in reports, but it's so awkward when you have a lot of referring to do.  I ended up reporting my struggles with the computers in first person, but in the Accident/Illness/Injury section, I used third person: "Lead Actor" and "Tempest" continue to suffer from serious colds.

And then my high school creative writing teacher bellowed in my head all night for mixing POV...

Anyway, after that ramble, I'm just curious, when you have to refer to yourself in reports, how do you do it?

Edit to subject line-Rebbe

21

The Green Room / "Multi-tasking" actors and designers

« on: Nov 10, 2010, 11:48 am »

I've noticed this trend the last few shows I've worked on, and I'm wondering if anyone else has noticed it in their work, as well.  I have a lot of actors and designers (and the occasionl producer) "multi-tasking" multiple shows at once, AND it's affecting the show I'm working.  I realize that to make a living actors and deisngers need to work on more than one contract at once, (heck, I even have a day job) sometimes, but up until the last year or so, I've never had experience with it seriously affecting the show I was working on, with them.

However, in the last year, I've worked a couple of times with an otherwise brilliant sound guy who has never been to a tech, ran half a tech without either sound or lighting designers in the space, canceled or seriously abbreviated three rehearsals because a vital actor suddenly had a "shooting day," had to string along a young hopeful understudy without actually going to the expense of hiring her (in a theatre that typicaly doesn't do understudies) because one of the cast members "might have a film gig one week in the run, and can't guarentee filming will wrap up every night in time for me to get to the theatre," (that one made me ill, it was so unfair to the prospective understudy) and had to re-shuffle an understudy's tech put-in two days before it was to happen because the producer rented out the mainstage space to a conference the afternoon we were scheduled to rehearse.

Has anyone else noticed an upswing in this sort of behavior in the past few years?  And how on earth do you deal with it when the Producer says, "That's ok, we'll work around it," but doesn't give you any lee-way to actually work around it?  I'm getting so frustrated with being the only person working on a show acutally focused on the show!

22

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / PROFESSIONALISM: How would you as SM respond to an actors' stolen car?

« on: Oct 05, 2010, 12:00 pm »

This is a situation from long ago in my career, but as I'm working with the same actress, again, and it came up anecdotaly, I thought I'd pose it to the forums as a good "what would you do?"

The cast had left the theatre after the evening show, and between my post-show duties, locking up, and switching the laundry, I left the theatre about 45 minutes later.  Only to find my entire cast and a few of their signifigant others standing around the parking lot.

During the show, one of the actresses car had been stolen.

In aforementioned situation, what are your responsiblities as SM?

As it resulted, the actress wasn't too upset (she hated her car), and even found a $100 bill on the ground, where her car had been, and took her castmates drinking with it. 

As the parking lot was rather isolated, and the police had already been called, I went out to the street to direct them back to the site, unlocked the theatre so the cast could go back in and get a bottle of their wine from the fridge and some cups, relocked the theatre, ensured the cast would dispose of their cups and the empty bottle in the dumpster, made sure the actress had a ride home, and left because it was very late and I had an hour drive home, and there were seven people standing around the parking lot, so everyone was safe.
I sent an addendum to the performance report when I got home.

What would you have done?

Edit to subject line-Rebbe

23

The Green Room / Kids say (and do) the darndest things!

« on: Sep 01, 2010, 02:59 pm »

Some of you love working kids shows, and some hate it, some don't mind, but I'm pretty sure you can't stay in this career long without working with at least one person who has "not yet reached majority."  What is something a kid has done or said on one of your productions that has just left you blinking in shock and astonishment?

I was hired as an ASM by a producer who didn't know the difference between ASM and child wrangler, and that you need both.  I found myself exhausted, trying to fill both shoes.  It was a Christmas show with 16 kids, ager 7-16 in the cast and I had my hands full.  Opening night, I'm in the SR wing, breathing a sigh of relief because all the kids have just made their first entrance on time, in the right costumes, and are standing in the right places.  Then I see it.  One 8 year old little boy is standing there, quite calmly, pulling pennies out of his pocket, putting them in his mouth and swallowing.  Pennies.  As in the smallest denomination of U.S. currency.  Eating them.  Like candy.  About one every 15 seconds.

At this point, I was so fed up with the kids, and exhausted (it was also my senior year of college, and fall semester finals had coincided with tech week) that I would have just let him go on with giving himself copper poisoning, or whatever, except it was distracting the other kids and I could hear the audience start to murmmur.  It was a long scene, about 8 minutes, and I had no idea how many pennies this kid had.  To make a surreal sitation stranger, passing truckers on the highway kept picking up our wireless coms on their CBs and hitting on the SM, so communications were shot.  Hissing at the kid and waving franticaly from off-stage wasn't getting his attention, so I finally grabbed a nearby yard stick, slid it along the stage floor and poked him in the foot with it.  Impromptu sign language (during which he ate another two pennies) finally got across the fact that you don't eat on stage, which I reinforced with a lecture as soon as he exited.  Because it was just too weird for me, I didn't mention the penny thing, just stressed that you don't eat anything on stage unless the stage directions call for it.

24

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / NEW WORK: Script in process: how much paperwork do you re-do?

« on: Aug 25, 2010, 02:23 pm »

I've done a few shows where the playwright was a distant part of the process, and the script changes amounted to nothing much spectacular.  A few words, here and there, some lines dropped or added; nothing drastic.

Now, I'm on a world premier, and I've received three wildly differing scripts, so far, and we're only on the second day of rehersal.  In addition, the playwright is VERY much part of the process.  We received script changes from her between the first read-through and the end of rehearsal, last night.

Those of you who have been in these situations before: how much of the supporting paperwork do you re-do from script version to script version? 

Obviously, anything that affects the run, props tracking and whatnot, but do you re-do the tech analysis?  Re-work the French scenes listing?

I'm going to be a good little SM and re-do it all, but I guess just very frustrated.  I was told that the first version of the script I was given was "close enough" to start paperwork on, and this is the third time, in less than a week, that I'm going to have to ENTIRELY re-do a good bit of pretty meticulous paperwork.  Editing paperwork is one thing; of course I'm used to doing that daily.  But re-doing is making my head ache way too early in this process.

-Edit to tag subject line-Rebbe

25

The Green Room / Your ideal kit bag/box/portable hole

« on: Aug 23, 2010, 02:48 pm »

There's been a lot of discussion on the boards about SM kits; what goes in them, what it contains that can do double duty, bag vs. box, etc.  I like my tackle-box kit reasonably well, though it's frakin' huge and heavy, and hence not as portable as I'd like.

Because I occasionally forget I have skills, I have just realized that as a stitcher/carpenter/leatherworker/general crafter, I could build my own kit box/bag, and get exactly what I want!

Now, I just have to figure out what that is.  And I'd love to hear everyone else's ideas.  In your ideal kit, would it be rigid or soft, pockets or individual containers of supplies?  Sections that could lift out?  Nevermind what's actually out there; imagine the perfect container for you.

Who knows, if the one I end up making for myself works out well, I could start making them for other people!

26

The Green Room / Funny definitions

« on: Aug 17, 2010, 12:46 pm »

As stage managers, we have to define a lot of things.  From teaching new actors SL/SR (yes, I've had to do that) to explaining to non-theatre folks exactly what it a stage manager does.  Now it's time for some funny ones we're all going to understand. 

Stage Manager's Brain: A condition brought on by having to focus on more than a dozen details at once, with perfect recall, for long periods of time. Characterized by the brain feeling like the abused and ruffled pages of a large, musty, ancient book. Akin to Ice Cream Brain Freeze, without the fun prelude or brief duration.  Usually caused by massive amounts of paperwork.

27

Employment / Local and not so local job resource websites

« on: Jul 24, 2010, 01:33 pm »

I thought it might be a good idea to compile one thread of all the "Help Wanted" websites that we know of.  It would probably be of particular use to free-lancers, but you never know when an unexpected resource will pop up in your back yard.  I lived here for two years before someone turned me onto Atlantaperforms.biz.

Atlanta, GA: http://www.atlantaperforms.biz/Jobs.html

Also, anyone familiar with them want to post national boards (ArtSearch, Equity, etc.), as well?  Cruise ships sites?  Touring company sites?  Anything else you can think of? 
Let's pool our resources!

(loebtmc, if it gets big and useful enough, do you think this could be a sticky topic?)

28

The Green Room / Summer projects

« on: Jun 24, 2010, 03:02 pm »

So, what's rocking, this summer?  It doesn't have to be an SM gig, but if you're really excited about your current gig, let loose!  What is occupying your mind, slipping into the corners of awareness when you're eating dinner, taking a shower, or supposedly concentrating on something else?
 
I know someone who's trying to couch surf the entire summer (a whole year, actually) as a sociology study of people in their homes.  My husband is tackling the http://www.twohundredsitups.com/ challenge.  I'm working on creating a custom Phoenix Masquerade costume (http://www.flickr.com/photos/tempest_fae/sets/72157624197085606/) in silk and hand dyeing it.

I've been working without a pattern, and not a whole lot of experience with dye, but everything is coming out gorgeously, and it's almost done.  After the last layer of dye, earlier this week, I've got to re-iron everything, add some trim to the wings, paint the tail feathers, add the "feather shafts," put the feathers on a waistband, and wait for the corset to arrive, and it's done.  This thing has been CONSUMING my waking thoughts.

What can't you get out of your head?

29

The Green Room / Finish this sentence: "If all the world's a stage..."

« on: May 10, 2010, 04:39 pm »

I realize this is an old gag, but it's a fun one everyone can participate in!

Finish this sentence (one response per post, please, so everyone gets a chance): "If all the world's a stage..."

"If all the world's a stage, why am I the only one who seems to know the lines and blocking?"

30

Tools of the Trade / File Totes

« on: May 05, 2010, 11:12 am »

I went to Office Depot, that mecca of all Stage Managers, yesterday to get a Mother's Day gift.  I was a good girl, and didn't buy anything for myself, but I couldn't resist walking around and drooling over the office supplies.  and I almost bought something very similar to this: http://www.lillianvernon.com/catalog/product_display.jsp?pdId=9392, though what I found had a cover over the top.  And was purple. 
I'm one of those SMs who uses two binders, one for script/score and one for all other paperwork, and I thought this would be GREAT for all that other stuff.  Reasons:

• Faster accessibility
• Frequently accessed docments not tearing at the hole punch point
• Easier to take something out to be photocopied or loaned.
• Easier to pull out and look at two documents at once
• It is its own carrying case.

I ended up not getting the tote because my script in it's binder wouldn't fit in it, as well, and I'm trying to REDUCE bag lady syndrome when I leave for the theatre.  But I'm sure such a beastie exists that my three ring binder would fit into.

Anyway, I thought I'd share.  Does anyone use a system like this, or see a major stumbling block to it that, in my enthusiasm, I'm missing?  Of course, it goes without saying that everything would still get 3-hole punched and added to the show book at the end of it all.