Messages

31

The Green Room / Re: The Turos Test

« on: Aug 07, 2014, 08:45 pm »

I had an understudy who KNEW by opening night he would be going on for the last week of the show (about three and a half weeks after opening), due to an actor having to leave early for another commitment.  After the first rehearsal I went to the associate choreographer and told him he would have to be at the next one, because the choreography was in such a mess of a state that I couldn't fix it (we weren't required to have a dance captain on this show).  So we have another rehearsal the next week and the associate is able to fix some of it, but reminded him that he would have to be doing work on his own.  We get to his put-in rehearsal, and it's a mess.  And of course the female understudy, who was also covering three roles in the show, would have been ready to go on in a heartbeat.  Needless to say it was beyond frustrating that somebody who knew well in advance that they would be going on was so totally unprepared.

32

The Hardline / Re: assigning Dance Captain

« on: Aug 07, 2014, 01:50 am »

And a good dancer does not a Dance Captain make, necessarily.

A Union card does not a Dance Captain make...

Also very true, Ruth.  It definitely takes a special skill set to note problems and/or mistakes and then take the necessary steps to correct them, or to make necessary adjustments when putting in swings and understudies.  Not every dancer has that ability.

33

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: Sharing Paperwork with ASMs

« on: Aug 03, 2014, 11:22 am »

I'm not sure what you mean about having to delete the file and re-upload though...if you've downloaded the app, you can just hit save and Dropbox will automatically update.

I assume it would be in the case where one ASM does not have Word and is working in Pages on their Mac.  You can export your work then as a Word file, but it wouldn't register the changes to the original file in Dropbox because as far as Dropbox is concerned it is a new file, not the original Word file that is there that you opened in Pages to work on.

34

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: Calling Half-Hour

« on: Aug 02, 2014, 01:16 am »

I'm generally follow the same pattern as Matthew.

Half hour is called at 30 minutes to top of show, and I will announce it as "Attention ladies and gentlemen, this is your half hour call.  We are at 30 minutes to the top of the show" and include anything else that needs to be included (reminder to sign-in, any company announcements, when stage management will be collecting valuables, etc).

All other calls are announced based on when I expect to call places and will be announced as "x#of minutes to places" whether that be 2, 3, or, on a very rare occasion, 5 minutes before the start time (I did have to do a places call at 5 minutes to start once on a very large opera as almost the entire 60 member chorus entered right at the top of the overture and we needed that much time to count heads and make sure props were all distributed correctly).

35

The Green Room / Mini-rant: This Voicemail Box Is Full

« on: Jul 14, 2014, 11:18 pm »

Just a quick rant here. I can not understand people who don't delete old voicemails and thus let their mailboxes reach the point where you can no longer leave them a message. I've encountered that twice now in the past week when trying to contact people regarding a schedule change and a singer who was late to rehearsal.  Do they not realize that in addition to potentially not getting important information regarding the show they are working on, it could also potentially cost them employment down the line? I know if I was calling somebody to try to set up an interview, for instance, I would probably just move on if I wasn't able to leave a message. Anybody else just get extremely frustrated when they encounter this?

36

Introductions / Re: New Member: Sophomore at Baldwin Wallace University

« on: Jul 07, 2014, 10:44 pm »

Welcome.  I'm a graduate of BW from way back when (it was still Baldwin-Wallace College when I attended, and we still had to have somebody running the patch panel in the JPT for the bigger shows, to give you an idea of how long ago).

37

The Green Room / Re: ARTICLE: The Impending Death (?) of the Paper Play Script

« on: Jun 13, 2014, 10:19 am »

I'm all for ways to create a digital prompt book for long running shows, but it also needs to be able to then be printed out.  For me the purpose of digitizing is to create a clean, readable copy that I can hand off to anyone.  I still have no desire to call a show from a tablet or computer screen.

38

The Green Room / Re: ARTICLE: The Impending Death (?) of the Paper Play Script

« on: Jun 12, 2014, 01:07 pm »

I have to admit that I know far too many actors who would probably not be happy to be rehearsing with a script on their iPad or other table, and I wouldn't blame them.  I can only imagine that worrying about not dropping or damaging their expensive electronics would ultimately prove a hindrance to the blocking and staging process.

39

The Hardline / Re: Director Giving Notes

« on: May 25, 2014, 02:57 pm »

In addition, her notes are often actually changes (she is very resistant to the idea of a show being "locked") that I think are inappropriate and she takes offense when the language in my emails reflects which notes are hers and which are mine, citing the importance of "a unified front" and my duty to ensure the integrity of her artistic vision and all that good stuff.  She has been problematic to work with in terms of rules and boundaries [re hours, allowing union members to vote without making hostile comments, locking any aspect of the show including changing lighting cues in the second week of PERFORMANCE, changing blocking after tech and again after opening, suggesting we change a line of text so it doesn't "sound like a mistake"] so it is important to me that my conduct is distinct from hers.

I don't want to have to fight her on each note that I think is inappropriate, so on this latest round I just verbally gave the notes I agreed with (re timing with by having the actors run those lines together, and which I had previously given) and ignored the others.

How can I handle this diplomatically but also efficiently?  Thx

Noting and maintaining a show can be very tricky when you don't always agree with the director's choices, but ultimately it is still their show and their choices that must be maintained (provided of course that those choices are not putting any of the actors or other show personnel in danger; safety trumps everything in my book).

40

Employment / Re: Applying for AEA Positions W/O Being AEA

« on: May 25, 2014, 02:45 pm »

Well it should be stated on your resume if you are a member of AEA (I can't think of any resume I've seen from an Equity member who didn't have it right by their name).  I would say highlight in your cover letter any experience or qualities you have that makes you feel you are ready to join the union (I've worked on X# of productions as a PA at a LORT theatre; I've worked as a stage manager with Equity actors working under a guest artist contract; I've been working for X# of productions as a stage manager under one of the sister unions like AGMA or AGVA; things like that).

41

Tools of the Trade / Re: Prop Money

« on: May 22, 2014, 08:55 pm »

Maybe try looking at some of the specialty papers meant for resumes?  Southworth has a 100% cotton fiber paper that might be worth checking out.

http://www.southworth.com/resume/linen-resume-paper/

42

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: ESCRIPTS: Post your requests for electronic scripts here!

« on: Apr 21, 2014, 11:08 pm »

I'm looking for My Fair Lady, script and score, whatever format anyone might have.  Thanks in advance 

43

Tools of the Trade / Re: Who builds your Qlab file, and how?

« on: Apr 14, 2014, 04:55 pm »

I would guess probably through a MIDI interface, assuming your light board will support that.

ETA: I found this on the Figure 53 website.  Kind of fascinating everything that can be achieved through QLab, provided you have the right equipment.
http://figure53.com/qlab/showcases/cary-from-the-cock/

44

Tools of the Trade / Re: Who supplies spike tape?

« on: Apr 05, 2014, 12:30 am »

I'm thinking along the same lines as KMC.  I'm guessing the director doesn't know or care where the spike tape comes from, just so long as it is there and ready.  Even if I'm assuming that the company is supplying the tape I certainly would have verified before load in that they had enough different colors for my anticipated needs.  What have you been using in rehearsal up until this point?

45

The Green Room / Re: "I am somehow responsible for arranging the donkeys."

« on: Mar 26, 2014, 12:34 am »

Gotta love animals on stage.

Saturday night at the Met the horse the pulls the carriage for Musetta and Alcindoro in their La Boheme got spooked right before the entrance.  A friend of mine, who is making her Met debut as Musetta, said that she was certain they were going to end up in the pit.