Messages

16

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: PROMPT BOOK: Gratuitious Paperwork

« on: Sep 18, 2015, 06:59 am »

For me, it's become about having paperwork that is efficient.  I have standard formats that I use that can be easily tweaked as needed.  When I prep for a show one of the first things I look at is what paperwork will be necessary for the production.  The documents I usually use the most are a form that is basically my version of a who/what/where, a scene breakdown, and the calendar.  And I pack a lot of info into those three things.  I like to have as much as I can in one document so that I only have to look at one thing to get an answer.  However, there are times when even my most relied upon documents aren't needed.

I'm currently during a one man show where the actor is onstage the entire time except for intermission and one moment in the second act.  He has exactly two costumes: act one and act two.  There is one prop hand off.  Am I going to spend time doing a who/what/where or a scene breakdown?  Heck, no.  To be honest, I don't even have a sign in sheet for rehearsals, just for performances when it's conceivable that I might not see the actor arrive.

I had one PA a couple of years ago who really enjoyed doing paperwork.  At first I thought it was great until I realized that she was usually so busy creating/perfecting/tweaking paperwork that she wasn't paying attention to other things.  Her first response to something was "I could create a document that..."  I finally had to tell her to stop trying to reinvent the wheel and get her nose out of her laptop.

In short, weigh the time it takes you to put the document together against how frequently you think you will refer to it.  If you are creating something just so you'll have it but will probably never look at it, then don't bother.  If you will refer to it all the time and it makes everything more efficient, then that paperwork is worth every second put into it.

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Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: PROMPT SCRIPT: Assistant Stage Manager Paperwork

« on: Sep 18, 2015, 06:15 am »

I'm in the camp of having ASMs track entrances/exits and anything that affects props, costumes, or scenic moves.  And then be prepared to assist taking blocking with large cast scenes or in split-rehearsals.

That said, I think there may be some value in having a younger, less-experienced ASM do some blocking notes for a scene or two so that they can learn for the times that they will be required to do so.  So much of stage managing is learning by doing, that I think it's important to offer the opportunity for a hands on experience while there is still the safety net of an experienced PSM.

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Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: VENUES: Outdoor Theatre, revisited

« on: Sep 18, 2015, 05:57 am »

My additions/experiences:

1. Dress in layers and have an extra set of clothes handy (including the shoes already mentioned.)  I've had days where it was boiling while the sun was up and then the temp dropped drastically when it got dark.  As for the extra set of clothes, if you get caught in the rain you don't want to spend the rest of the day in damp clothes.  If you're going to be doing a lot of outdoor theatre it may be a good time to invest in some waterproof shoes that will keep your feet dry.

2. Security!  How accessible are your work areas to the public?  How do you recognize who is allowed backstage and who isn't?  Where do you put valuable items, including any weapon storage?  I usually tell the cast and crew not to bring any valuable items with them just to be safe.  What are your protocols if there is a breach in security?  Once during rehearsal we had someone hop the fence and claim someone with a gun was after him!  Another time, the audience got to choose whether to watch the show or the cops breaking up the drug deal on the hill behind us.

3. If it's really hot, take more frequent breaks even if it's more than the union requires.  Everyone's health is far more important.

4.  Keep extra towels on hand.  If the temp drops at night you can get condensation on surfaces.  One summer we had to wipe down the deck at intermission because it would get so slick.  I also had to wipe down any furniture before it went onstage to make sure it was dry.

5.  Paper gets soggy if it's humid.  If you have paper props in the show, have some paper weights and plenty of extras.  One gust of wind can ruin your prop table.  I favored keeping things in plastic totes and only getting them out right before they were needed.  A bit more work for the crew during the show, but it saved time on getting things under cover if it started to rain.  I also stored my script inside one of the trailers so that it was safe from the elements when we weren't working.

6.  If you do not have easy access to a water source invest in a lot of baby wipes or moist towelettes.  A good way to cool off is to rub down your arms and neck.  It's also feels heavenly if you get some of the layers of dirt, sweat, bug spray, and sunscreen off before you have to apply the next layer.  Having a solar shower on hand is great too if you're doing a show that can get messy.  We had one actor who really appreciated getting most of the blood off before he went home.

7.  As mentioned, be prepared for critters.  One year we learned that red tail hawks like to have a place that is high up in the middle of a clear space where they can easily see everything around them.....while they eat.  Everyone was really excited when the first one landed on the truss.  Until pieces of dead pigeon started raining down onto the stage.  We then turned into the Red Tail Hawk Diner and had to check the stage every day for partially eaten carcasses.  The half-eaten headless rat was my personal favorite.

All in all, I'd say most of my best war stories come from doing outdoor theatre.  Anything and everything can happen.  You have to be prepared for so many things that you never even have to think about when you're inside.  But I wouldn't trade a single moment or experience!

(One of these days I will have to share The Tale of THE BED)

19

The Green Room / Re: Odd legal stuff you've learned

« on: Sep 09, 2015, 06:37 am »

Maggie, this was one of the reasons why I created the Internship survey. I wanted to track which internships were actually educational. It's still going, you can access it from the top right navigation in the desktop version of SMNetwork.

Awesome!  I forgot about the survey.  The one thing though is that it is my understanding that in addition to the position being educational, an intern cannot be vital to the running of a company.  That's where I feel a lot of theatres can get themselves in trouble, particularly in stage management (here's your intern who will be serving as your union required production assistant who will be running the backstage crew, sounds kind of vital)

However, I also know that there are legal differences between internships at for-profits vs non-profits and volunteer vs paid.  Now I'm curious.  Time for some research!

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The Green Room / Re: Odd legal stuff you've learned

« on: Sep 08, 2015, 03:59 pm »

One of the things that I've run into is the legalities of internships.  So many companies use un-paid interns as a way of getting around paying employees but don't bother to find out if what they're doing is legal.  There have been a lot of news articles in the last few years about non-theatre companies being sued by former interns because they didn't follow the laws.  I even know one theatre that realized they could be in trouble if anyone looked so they changed their entire internship program and re-titled it as an apprentice program.  I've become very careful about throwing the word intern around.

Here's an article that I found very informative.
http://www.blueavocado.org/content/legalities-nonprofit-internships

Number 4 is where people usually get in trouble!  If you're working at a theatre that uses interns it's definitely something to ask upper management about.

21

The Green Room / Re: Professional Ethics: Hearing about a job

« on: Sep 08, 2015, 03:37 pm »

Interesting.  On the one hand, competition for jobs among your theatre friends is part of the business.  If my co-worker/friend and I are both going for the same job and they get it, I know that it's business and not personal and wish them the best of luck.  On the other hand, that competition can be easily mishandled by either party and that's where the line gets slippery and people get mad.

I was actually on the other end of a situation, where I was up for a job that was not being advertised at the theatre I was working at.  A stage manager I was friends with found out a lot of information about the theatre and the job through me and applied for it as well.  I didn't know that she was even interested in the position (very different theatre then she usually worked at) let alone applied for it until I found out that she had been hired.  While I was happy for her, I did feel a little used.  I was actually more upset about the way I found out and the fallout, an entire situation which was massively mismanaged by her and the theatre (but that is a different story for a different thread.)

In the situation Matthew described, I would be interested in knowing how the assistant found out about the position in the first place.  If it was a more "commercial" way, such as a website, then I'd feel that I could apply if I was interested but would inform the assistant that I was doing so.  However, if they found out through a more personal connection I would be reluctant to take advantage of that.

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The Green Room / Re: The Trouble with Paperwork

« on: Sep 08, 2015, 02:57 pm »

I recently had an interview where the production manager asked a number of questions about how I put my reports together and how detailed they were.  At the end of the interview he asked if I could send him an example of one of my reports from a previous show.  I dug through my files and sent him one that showed some of the things we had discussed in the interview but had nothing that revealed sensitive or confidential information.  This was the first time I've been asked about my paperwork in a long while.  However, judging from the questions he was asking, I gathered that one or more of the previous stage managers at this particular theatre weren't sending out very informative reports and he wanted someone who would handle it differently.  It was rather interesting to have someone with such a specific interest and who was more interested in the content then the format.

In most situations I don't think that sending paperwork examples is very useful for the same reasons others have listed but also because I'm not sure that most people really look at them.  Your resume, cover letter, and interview usually tell me what I want to know.  Having a fantastic way of putting a prop list together may be interesting but it's not going to be the reason I hire you.  The situation I describe above is one of the few times I felt that an example was useful and only because it was requested and he was looking for something specific.

23

Employment / Re: Working in USA

« on: Jul 17, 2015, 08:40 pm »

I worked with an actress who was originally a member of the British union.  AEA in the US did not recognize her as a member of the union and she had to earn her way through again.  She said it was a giant pain but because she was in the US to stay it was worth it in the end.

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Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: COMMUNICATION: Ignoring line notes, improvising

« on: Apr 08, 2015, 04:36 pm »

You can also take your concerns to the director or artistic director.  Although they may have cast this individual knowing that he had some memorization problems, they may not have realized the full extent of the problem.  It may be time to sit down with the director and the actor and have a very blunt discussion to try to find the root of the problem and any possible solutions (in a similar situation, my director and I found out that our problem actor was on medication that affected his memory).

While going into tech or being in tech may seem like the worse time to replace an actor, it isn't impossible.  And if the actor cannot be relied on for cues to other actors or for technical elements despite any and all assistance, then it may come to that.

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Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: SAFETY: Real weapons on stage?

« on: Apr 08, 2015, 04:11 pm »

If you are firing the weapons on stage you need to check what the local laws are.  Some cities can be very strict about the use of firearms, even blank firing ones.

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Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: COMMUNICATION: Communication with the production team/what do they need from us?

« on: Dec 21, 2014, 02:29 am »

Checking in in-person is always great when possible, because there can be things that are difficult to put into writing.  However, I like to immediately follow up any in-person discussions with an email or a report that refers to the discussion.  I like to have things in writing so that I have something to refer back to.  CYA

27

Employment / Re: WHAT NOT TO PUT ON YOUR RESUME . . .

« on: Dec 21, 2014, 02:13 am »

I once went to a resume and cover letter workshop at the USITT conference where they showed a number of examples.  Some people on the panel would absolutely love something about one example while someone else would absolutely hate it.  The main thing I learned was that there is no one true way.  Nothing you do will satisfy everybody.

One thing to mention that is related (and perhaps a different thread) is double-check your internet profile, especially if you include a webpage on your resume.  One of my costume shop friends once had an applicant who was very active in the Furry scene online.  To be clear I am not judging that activity but they definitely referred to her as "the Furry one" and that's not how you want potential employers to identify you.

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Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: PEOPLE: Directors on Double-Duty

« on: Dec 21, 2014, 01:46 am »

I second what everyone has said.  One thing I do suggest, if they do run late multiple times, is take note of any patterns.  For instance, if they're always 30 minutes late on Fridays because of weekend traffic you can:

1. See if you can push rehearsals to a 7:30p start time that day.

2. Talk to the directors about scheduling things during that time slot that they don't need to be there for (choreography, line thru, fittings, etc)

But don't worry about it too much until it happens.  As for their work relationship, the best thing for you to do is to make sure the lines of communication remain open.  Good luck!

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The Green Room / Re: The Great SM Gift List

« on: Dec 05, 2014, 11:42 pm »

This thread is just a neat way to come up with new ideas for gifts!

I am hoping to get Grab-It Pack Gadget Holster (http://www.thinkgeek.com/product/c616/). I think it would be quite handy when moving around a rehearsal space.

I've had one for a few years now and use it backstage during tech.  I absolutely love it!  Really handy plus it looks badass.

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Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: VENUES: Outdoor Theatre

« on: Jul 08, 2014, 10:34 am »

It may sound strange, but baby wipes or face wipes are good to have on hand if there's no running water nearby.  Being able to keep your hands clean is wonderful.  Also, wiping down your arms or face in the heat of the day feels really good.  I also bring extra sunscreen and bug spray in case someone in the cast or crew has forgotten.