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Messages - Maribeth

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931
Students and Novice Stage Managers / Re: First Tech Rehearsal
« on: Apr 28, 2007, 05:15 pm »
Keep a good attitude and sense of humor throughout, even if things are stressful. You can definitely help set the tone of the room.


932
In opera I have always called from backstage. In theatre, usually from the booth. The primary reason for calling backstage in opera for me would be cueing entrances, but being close to the performers and the scene shifts is not a bad thing.....easier to solve problems.

933
The Hardline / Re: Searching for EMC positions...
« on: Apr 19, 2007, 01:30 am »
i got EMC points at a theatre that at the time I think was LOA referencing Lort D, but is now Lort D, if that helps at all.

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Stage Management: Other / Re: My first opera! The Magic Flute
« on: Mar 24, 2007, 12:16 pm »
there was a discussion a while back about suggestions for opera- http://smnetwork.org/forum/index.php/topic,1249.0.html . it mentions some good ideas.

the thing that helps me the most in opera is timing out the score. sit down with your book and either the cd or if possible, during rehearsal, and mark out timings- either every 30 seconds or some people do every 15 seconds. it will make your life a lot easier later on. :) i would make sure to ask the conductor or director about any cuts they are planning on making- most of the time they will take out something, and this will affect your timings.

it's also good to know how to identify where you are in the score- when someone asks you for a placement in the score you should able to tell them the page number, system number, and measure. often, the conductor will have a full orchestra score and the page numbers won't match up with everyone else's vocal score. if the score has rehearsal numbers, i usually highlight them. it might be a good idea to find out if they are planning on using rehearsal numbers.

definitely taking care of the singers in rehearsal is a good ideas. cough drops, hot water for tea, etc etc. if the stage is dusty, spraying down the air with water. it will be appreciated.

one of the big differences between theatre and opera is that usually the stage manager in opera will call the show from backstage. (obviously some people do this in theatre as well,). one of the responsibilities of the opera SM is to cue every entrance. it's helpful to have an ASM on the other side of the stage to cue those entrances. every singer entrance should be marked in your book (and your ASM's book). if you have access to a PA system to the dressing rooms, it's helpful to page the singers to backstage at 5 minutes before their entrance cue. i also like to put a warning in at 2 minutes before their entrance so that if they aren't there in time you can send someone after them.

check out the thread at the top- it has some of these suggestions and others.

935
Tools of the Trade / Re: What goes inside a SM Kit?
« on: Feb 18, 2007, 01:32 am »
something i've found useful recently- a disposable camera. i've found that in rehearsal if you want to document the setup of furniture/props quickly, a disposable camera is invaluable. if you have one, a digital camera can be even better- on my current show i used it to send photos of changes to the furniture setup to the lighting designer, so he could adjust his lighting plot before hang. but with a show that has a ton of little hand props, having a photo of how the stage should look can be really useful.

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Having just moved from Cowlumbus to DC, this conversation is very timely for me!

Now I'm just another person trying to work out, eat well, and stay healthy.

One of my favorite ways to work out in DC is taking dance classes. There's at least a couple of studios that teach some variety of dance, and Joy of Motion (which is where I go) has a lot of drop-in classes. I love it because even if my schedule changes pretty drastically from week to week (daytime rehearsals one week, tech in the evening the next, etc) I can almost always find a class to fit. And then you only pay for the classes you take. Plus it lets me try some new styles of dance without having to commit to taking a class for a few months. I highly recommend JOM.

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I just hated adding up the totals of the different segments - I had a calculator that could add times once...

I don'tknow how to do this, but I know a stage manager who can get Excel to add times. I'm sure it wouldn't be hard to look up...

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Employment / Hiring and references
« on: Nov 28, 2006, 04:04 am »

fI know the person who I am getting a reference from, then they will know me and hopefully give me a honest, but more educated reference.  Someone telling me "She's great, but you two would not get along" is a much better reference then "She is great."



I agree- I think that anything on my resume (or that can be figured out from it, i.e. production managers) is fair game. DEFINITELY directors, but also conductors, designers, occasionally even actors). I think it can really work to your advantage to have as much information as you can about a show listed- if a hirer knows the stage manager I ASMed for, I think it's almost expected that if they are really interested in hiring me and want information that they would call this person, even if they aren't a listed reference.

I think of this a positive, rather than negative, aspect of a resume, though. The more chance that a hirer knows someone I've worked with, the more they'll trust that person's point of view, instead of knowing that someone who is listed as a reference is undoubtedly going to say good things. Theatre is a small business, and I've definitely had hirers look at my resume during an interview and say, "Oh, you worked at _____ Theatre last season? Then you must have worked with __________, I'll have to give them a call."

Although I'm constantly reworking it, my resume is currently split into ASM and SM positions, and the headings are a little different:

Production      Director        Theatre/Artistic

It's chronological, since I don't have room for dates. "Production" is the title, "director" is self-explanatory, and "Theatre/Artistic" has the theatre company, as well as any other information about the show. I used to have it listed as Thetre/Conductor since I wokr in opera as well as theatre, but to take advantage of the space, I use this "artistic" heading to cover other things as well, such as listing the stage manager if I was the ASM, or if there was something that made that show stand out that I want to feature. Mostly I use it for listing conductors.

I think one of the most valuable things listed on my resume is the director- if I worked with someone that I didn't want a hirer to call I would probably leave the show off.

939
SMNetwork Archives / Re: Free Stuff
« on: Nov 06, 2006, 02:42 pm »
I'll second the Vistaprint endorsement....I got the free ones and chose not to pay extra to have them shipped quickly, but they arrived in about a week anyway. Definitely a good deal!

940
Stage Management: Other / Re: Opera Staff
« on: Nov 05, 2006, 08:18 pm »
Welcome!

I'm by no means an expert, but I worked at a small opera company that doesn't usually hire ADs- however on one of the productions the director brought his own AD. Just something to keep in mind. Is that what you're interested in doing?



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Students and Novice Stage Managers / Re: Prompt Book Help
« on: Nov 03, 2006, 03:16 pm »
...however I don't use the back of any pages. I put a white page between each page in the script for blocking/notes/et al. All it means is I have to turn two pages instead of one.

I put a separate blocking page in as well, and (as I learned from another SM), if you cut a small corner off of the blocking page, it makes it that much easier to turn the page. Sort of the samething Erin mentioned. Keep extra blocking pages so it's easy to replace the blocking page if you need to, and less fumbling around when turning pages.

942
The Hardline / Re: EMC pay as an ASM
« on: Oct 05, 2006, 03:34 pm »
I'm EMC, and the show I'm ASMing now pays between 9 and 10 an hour, with time and a half for overtime. When I was an apprentice it was between 7 and 8. It works out to a reasonable amount when you figure 40-50 hrs/wk in rehearsal and more than that during tech. I pick up overhire work doing painting or other things during performance weeks to make extra money. :)

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College and Graduate Studies / Re: Grad School vs Experience
« on: Sep 15, 2006, 01:28 am »
I don't know that much about grad school, but I finished my undergrad a year ago and then did an apprenticeship for a year. The theatre I did it at had a resident stage manager, and I was the ASM for the season. It was great to learn from someone more experienced, and I got a chance to get to know the ins and outs of this particular theatre. Also, it was a really good way to make connections with people I worked with, which has helped me to line up work for the future.

I loved my apprenticeship, and it was a really good way to bridge the college/"real world" gap. Also, I was eligible to earn EMC points for the shows I ASMed. It's definitely something to look into. 

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Stage Management: Other / Re: Opera tips
« on: Jul 07, 2006, 12:34 am »
The diction guides sound perfect- I'll have to look around and see who has them that I know. I don't know about you, but if I can, I like to get a copy of the score with an English translation printed below the original, just to help me follow and understand better. Obviously, it's not crucial to do this, so if it's not possible no biggie, but I know it helps me.

945
Stage Management: Other / Re: Opera tips
« on: Jul 05, 2006, 01:22 pm »
I enjoy the difference in protocol that opera brings, as well. I have always treated the art with a touch of formality, paging "Ladies and Gentlemen of the Chorus to places, please" and calling Principals "Mr. Smith" and "Ms. Doe" over calls and in reports. But to me it is the most fun and challenging art form to SM.

Me too! It's definitely a different process/ atmosphere than theatre. I love the idea of color-coding the chorus nametags- that's so useful! I'm definitely going to steal that. And I didn't know about the Ricola lozenge thing- thanks. Singers do appreciate little things that show you are respecting their work- lozenges, water, spaying down the dust in the air.

Do you speak other languages? I know French decently, and I had a chorus member teach me to pronounce Italian, and a frined of mine is teaching me to pronounce German. I'd love to get to the point where I felt confident in pronouncing them off the page- I can follow them now, but I'd love to be more comfortable. Are there any skills besides reading music and languages that you think are useful to you?

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