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Messages - zayit shachor

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16
Tools of the Trade / Evernote
« on: Nov 17, 2008, 04:51 am »
I've just discovered Evernote, which is an online service that collects your notes.  The amazingly helpful thing about it is that you can snap a picture with your cell phone, send it to the email address they provide you, and it will recognize the text in the picture.  That text is then searchable.  So cool!  I like this feature because you can take a picture of a note jotted down on a post-it, or a business card, or a poster on a wall, and it will get neatly organized and digitized for you.

There's all sorts of interesting organizational duties this site can do for you, and it's free!  (You can sign up for a premium account, too, if you want that.)  There's a desktop client and a web client, and there's one for iPhone/Windows Mobile too.

www.evernote.com

Does anyone else use this service?

17
College and Graduate Studies / Re: Stage Management Colleges
« on: Nov 16, 2008, 10:13 pm »
Is it worth taking the GRE for the limited number of schools that require them? I suppose it's always "worth it" to take these exams, but I don't want to waste my money if not necessary.

I would say if you're seriously considering applying to Yale (or any other school that requires the GRE), take the test.  Even if you're undecided at this point but think that you might end up applying, it's better to take it.

18
Would you go to the producer if you had a set designer who insisted on creating an area on the set that was unsafe your actors, or a costume designer who designed costumes with the actors' bottoms hanging out for a childrens' show?

I'm not sure this analogy corresponds to the situation that Matthew put forward, though.  I think that this is more similar to going to the producer if you think the set isn't detailed enough or the costumes are ugly.

19
Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: I am out of solutions
« on: Nov 05, 2008, 06:18 pm »
Sounds like you're doing everything you can.  Hope everything works out okay!

20
Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: I am out of solutions
« on: Nov 04, 2008, 01:00 pm »
I have had a lot of experience dealing with this problem, and here are some suggestions of things I've discovered over the past few months dealing with worsening clinical anxiety myself.

Adjusting anxiety medication is tricky business, and can take weeks to get it right.  Most of these suggestions are things to try in this situation, where you may not have another person to go onstage, and where there are only a few shows left in the run.  Most of them are not ideal, but I'm giving them under the impression that you need to try anything and everything you can think of to get this guy onstage.

Is the actor on as-needed anxiety drugs (xanax, clonapan) as well as long-term drugs (zoloft, lexapro)?  If not, he should consider getting a prescription for something that he can take right before the show.  If he is on them and they don't help, have him check with his doctor to see if he can take a larger dose.  8 more shows of bigger doses shouldn't hurt him too much in terms of building up tolerance, and if it gets him through the show then that's a good thing.  These drugs might make him sleepy, but that's better than throwing up.  He also might want to look into anti-nausea medication - compazine and reglan are both good ones (he needs a prescription).

Work with him to plan out what to do if he starts to feel nauseous or thinks he's going to throw up.  In my experience, it is MUCH easier to deal with anxeity-related nausea if you have an exit plan, so to speak.  sievep's suggestion of hiding trashcans onstage or having them immediately offstage is excellent.  If the actor knows exactly what to do when the major anxiety hits, it will help him cope with it.

Does he have a loved one who could be with him offstage?  Having a person there who he can sit with and receive encouragement from could be extremely helpful.  Personally, spending time with my mom always helps to deal with anxiety.  Does he have someone similar whose presence could help to calm him down?

Chewing gum helps release a lot of tension and also relieves nausea.  Again, not ideal to send an actor onstage chewing gum, but it's worth a shot if nothing else is working.  Spearmint is best.

Can he adjust what he eats in the several hours before the show?  Another not-ideal solution of going onstage hungry, but it might work if he's willing to try it.

I have a recording of the Dalai Lama doing a healing chant that I've found extremely helpful when I need to calm down.  If you like I can email it to you.  The track is about an hour and a half long.

Is he seeing a therapist regularly?  See if he can schedule sessions right before each show.  If he's able to talk and release pent-up anxiety, he may not feel so anxious going onstage.

Finally, have him go see his doctor ASAP (either psychiatrist or general practitioner).  The doctor will be able to assess whether or not he should be onstage.  If the doctor tells him that he shouldn't be in this situation right now, he should take that advice.


I sympathize with this actor.  It's so hard to be dealing with such intense anxiety that you're unable to work.  If you have someone else who can do the role, I would recommend that you discuss it with the director and the actor who is having trouble - it will be upsetting for the actor but healthier for him in the long run, and also better for the rest of the cast.  I agree with sievep that the rest of the cast needs to be considered too.

I hope that you and your cast and crew are not getting angry at the actor - as Matthew said, anxiety is a serious medical problem, and the actor can't help what's happening to him, and probably feels guilty and ashamed.  PurrKitten is absolutely right that he's feeling anxious about being anxious - it might be worsening his symptoms.  If everyone deals with him with understanding and kindness, it will help him a lot.

21
A reminder about school projects involving surveys, interviews, and similar requests:  these posts must be approved by either Kay or myself prior to posting, as per the Community Standards, which can be found on the Announcements board.

As for advice, I agree with Mac:  share some of your initial thoughts with us, and then the community can weigh in.

22
Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: Prop Recipe Exchange
« on: Oct 17, 2008, 02:58 pm »
I always add a drop (or less) of blue to the blood.  It gives a richer color.

I like to use the blue laundry detergent as a base.  Often it gives you the same rich color as a drop of blue food coloring, but sometimes you might need to add some anyway.

23
I have seen SMs block with pages like this before and it seems to work well.  I think it's better suited to straight plays with small casts, though, where there usually isn't that much movement per page.

Since you're doing a musical with a big cast, you might find that for all the dancing you'll want a few smaller stages on a page so that your one stage doesn't get too crowded with letters and arrows and the like.

There's no set format - it's whatever works well for you!

24
Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: Prop Recipe Exchange
« on: Oct 15, 2008, 03:21 pm »
root beer would be the closest thing I can think of in terms of color. I don't know if that would give you the nice foamy head that Guinness has though.

Root beer!!  Genius.  Thank you!  :)

25
Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: Prop Recipe Exchange
« on: Oct 15, 2008, 02:32 pm »
Actually, there's one I've been stewing over for several days that I could use some advice on.  We're doing a props project for a play called "Vincent in Brixton," which has (among countless other food items) a bottle of Guinness being opened onstage, poured into a glass, and sipped at by the actor.  Guinness is so thick and dark that the normal sparkling cider/apple juice/what-have-you tricks won't work.  Any ideas?

26
Students and Novice Stage Managers / Re: Mentorship Program
« on: Oct 13, 2008, 08:04 pm »
I think there are different levels of mentor, which maybe we should take into account.  High school or college students might want an older student or recent graduate; someone who's just moved to NYC might want someone who's been there for several years...etc.

Also, a person might be in a position to be both a mentor and a mentee.  A college senior would be a great mentor for a new freshman, but would want a mentor who, say, has been working in their city for a few years.

Just some things to chew over...


(P.S. Stickying this for now to maximize the number of responses.)

27
Bringing a roommate to rehearsal with you is a great solution.

Just to play devil's advocate:  What if the friend isn't your roommate?  What if they live across campus, or off-campus, or you just don't have time to pick them up before rehearsal?

28
Definitely take a look around the boards - this is a question that many people have!  I recommend doing a search for "ASM" - you should find plenty of topics to help you out.

Best of luck!

29
Here's one we've all probably had to deal with at one time or another while stage managing in a university setting.  I'll set up a hypothetical, but feel free to chime in with your own experiences in similar situations.

You are the stage manager of your school's mainstage show.  Your roommate, who is a good friend of yours, was cast in the show in a fairly large role.  It's now a few weeks into the rehearsal process, and your roommate has been constantly late to rehearsals by 5 or 10 minutes - sometimes more.  Each time you talk to her about it, she gives an excuse and promises to shape up.  As her roommate you know that she's dealing with some personal problems and understand why she is having trouble, but her lack of punctuality has been affecting rehearsals and your director is very frustrated.  The director is thinking about replacing her, which you know would be devastating.

How would you handle this situation?

30
When I was in high school, we had the guy who had designed the lights running them himself, and the SMs were all backstage.  It's just a matter of finding out how things are done at your school.

Professionally speaking, the SM almost always calls the cues - so if SMing is something you're interested in, it's worth learning!  :)

Usually a calling sequence sounds like this:

SM:  "Standby light cue 12."
Board op:  "Lights."
SM:  "Light cue 12 GO."  (Obviously the go is at the appropriate time in the play.)

It sounds like you're having fun so far - keep it up!  I look forward to hearing about how it goes, so please do keep us posted.

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