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Messages - leastlikely

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31
Uploaded Forms / Re: Entrances and Exits Tracking
« on: Jan 23, 2016, 05:19 pm »
Yeah, this was made a few years ago - if I made it today I would try to format it way less complicatedly, and I'd probably use PU (pick up - if the actor gets it from the prop table themselves) or Drop (actor drops it themselves) or HO (hand off - if a crew member is involved) or Drop. But the bottom line is, it's showing actors entering and exiting, and what they're wearing and carrying when they do it. So you know where stuff starts and where it dies, and if it needs to be tracked during the show.

32
Employment / Re: Worst Job Offers?
« on: Jan 11, 2016, 07:09 pm »
A couple years after high school, a guy that I had gone to school with started up a youth summer theatre company through the local parks & rec dept. It has become now more of a standard summer camp program, where they meet daily for two weeks and present a showcase at the end of the session, and then the next session starts. But in the first summer, it was a single three-week session to put on a fully-staged production of a musical. He contacted me saying "I'm directing it, our other friend from high school is choreographing, someone else I know is coming in as MD, do you want to stage manage it?" So I said yes. It was really hard but really fun! And then after the final performance, the woman from the parks & rec dept was there to hand out checks to the counselors. A check and an envelope full of coupons from sponsors. This is when I learned that there was not a check for me. They had budgeted for three counselors (which, if it had been a regular day camp, would have been more than enough for the number of kids we had) and it wasn't their fault that the director had elected to take on a fourth counselor, which was not required for the camper-counselor ratio. The parks folks don't know anything about theatre and don't understand what a stage manager does, so from their POV they viewed me as unnecessary to the operation of their day camp.

The other three counselors, rather than paying me out of their own pockets (which is what I would have done if I was them), banded together to give me their coupons. So I got like. 15 coupons for restaurants I've never heard of, landscaping services, printing services, etc. For three weeks of work as a combination camp counselor-stage manager.

33
I've done the paper cup method and set a sharpie at the water stations. Everyone writes their name/initials on their cup, and during post-show I'll just pour out any remaining water and put the cups back at the station, unless it is not able to be reused (dirty/soggy/crumpled). If a cup doesn't get super gross it can totally last a week. Then I toss them all on Sunday night and start fresh next week.

I've also used a hanging shoe organizer with labels on the pockets. You can encourage actors to provide their own reusable bottles to go in the pockets, or provide regular storebought 16.9oz plastic bottles with labels. You can refill the bottles daily, and replace them if they get gross (covered in lipstick, etc)

34
Possibly not at all helpful, as I don't know her myself, but I seem to have a mutual SM friend on Facebook with the Production Coordinator & SM at American Stage. I could try to nudge my acquaintance to ask her?

EDIT: Actually, the Production Coordinator/SM's email address is listed publicly on American Stage's website, so that may be an easier way to get in touch.

35
Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: Report/Notes Language
« on: Dec 15, 2015, 09:51 pm »
"No notes tonight, thank you."

36
I like Bex also have a Telex PH88 XLR4F (though mine is still in one piece) and I love it! Super lightweight, great for glasses (no pressure at all), single muff that can switch sides. It doesn't have the flip-up/turn-off feature but it's got everything else you want.

37
Employment / Non-Union SM needed ASAP in Northern VA/DC area
« on: Oct 13, 2015, 12:30 pm »
Hi all. I have stepped in as interim SM for Harvey at 1st Stage in Tyson's Corner, VA. Looking for a non-Equity SM to take over rehearsals starting Sunday October 25th or sometime in that week - my last day is Friday the 30th.

  • This position is paid with a weekly stipend
  • No housing available - SM must be local or provide their own housing
  • Metro accessible (silver line)
  • Tech begins Fri Nov 6
  • First preview Thurs Nov 12
  • 5 shows a week Fri-Sun
  • Closing is Dec 20

Please PM me for more details and how to apply!

38
I'm not disagreeing with you in any way. But alas, what "should be" and what "is" are often two very different things. Sometimes SMs run rehearsal sound on their personal computer before moving to the space. Sometimes SMs or sound ops for very small fringey theatres use personal computers. I was simply posting this as a warning to those who are not operating under ideal circumstances and who may need to take this into consideration before deciding to update or not. :)

39
Of course. And in an ideal world, none of us would ever have to use our own personal computers to run shows. But sometimes we do, and that's where this could get tricky.

40
They have! They released two new updates (3.1.14 and .15) in September.

I think the comment about QLab 3 was just a disclaimer. Like "we're pretty sure it will work, but you may use QLab in an interesting way that we haven't tested yet so there's a slight chance you may find something that doesn't work."

My understanding is that something in the El Capitan update is affecting sound drivers so it could potentially break just about any application that uses sound. They're working on updating 3 so that doesn't happen, but they've dropped support for 2 so they aren't looking at fixing that anymore. But they know that many people still use version 2, so they're just stating up front that if you plan to continue using QLab 2, then you can't update your OS. Or if you update your OS you will need to update your QLab (and also rebuild all your show files from 2 to 3).

41
This may not have a lot of relevance for many of you, but I'm sure I'm not the only one who still uses QLab 2 for some things...

Quote
From: Sam Kusnetz
Date: October 7, 2015 at 11:30:07 AM EDT
To: QLab List
Subject: [QLab] Warning: QLab 2 not compatible with Mac OS 10.11 "El Capitan"

Hello folks

I regret to inform you all that QLab 2 has been found to be incompatible
with Mac OS 10.11, or "El Capitan" as Apple seems to want us to call it.

We do not have any plans to update QLab 2, so please DO NOT upgrade the
OS on computers that are running QLab 2.

Testing so far shows that QLab 3 appears to be compatible with 10.11,
although we have not tested definitively and we're not prepared to shout
it from the mountaintops.

Yours,
Sam and all the folks at Figure 53
--
Sam Kusnetz | Figure 53 Field Operative

42
Coir (coconut fiber) is also a good dirt substitute with easy clean-up - just sweep and re-pot. Wet it occasionally so it doesn't dry into a powder (because it's super super absorbent). You buy it compressed into a brick, so you get a LOT.

43
I'm almost entirely self-taught. Books, and websites like smnet and tumblr, are super valuable resources, but most of what I know has come from on-the-job training. Am I the absolute best at what I do? Well, no, definitely not. Far from it. But I'm good enough for people to trust me. So I keep working, and with ongoing practice I continue to improve and to evolve my style.

Sometimes on-the-job training comes in the form of noticing someone else's method and adopting it and tailoring it to your needs. Sometimes it comes in the form of noticing someone else's method and vowing to never ever do it that way.

For stuff like blocking notation, there isn't really one single standard across the board. There are methods that are widely used, but not just one used by every SM ever. I think this is an instance that's more about you perfecting your own system. It's pretty rare that anybody other than stage management needs to be able to read blocking notation. If an actor doesn't remember their blocking, all you have to do is tell them. They don't need to see it on paper. So as long as it makes sense and is clear to you/your team, I think it's fine!

44
The bottom line of this question: Is it possible to pay for performance rights for a song that's not covered by ASCAP/BMI?

I'm doing a TYA show right now about Mayan indigenous folklore. We've found a song by a Yucatec artist that we really want to use. Our actors would be performing it onstage, we're not using a recording.

As far as I can tell, the only official recording of this song is in a Yucatec documentary about indigenous music. I don't believe there's a 'studio version.' The artist has two albums on iTunes but neither one has this song. We found it by looking for Mayan songs on youtube, and found a clip from the documentary. The documentary doesn't seem to be on sale on Amazon, so I don't know how to get that either!

We'd like to be able to give the composer a little money for our use of his song. We are trying very hard to be supportive of indigenous artists. Even though we know he will never know about our use of it unless we tell him, we want to pay him because it's important to our mission with this play.

But, because his song doesn't seem to be covered by an American performance rights organization... is it even possible?

I'm thinking the only way to do it might be to track down the guy personally... which looks like it might be difficult. Which basically means either we use the song for free, or we find another song that's easier to pay for.

But we really love this song and have already translated it (so we sing one verse in Yucatec, one in Spanish, one in English) and arranged it... and the show techs in one week. So we would be very sad to change it.

45
I love dots. Stick 'em on your jeans before you put them in the book. They'll still stick to the paper, but with the little layer of fuzz on the back, it means they're safe to move without tearing up the paper.

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