Messages

1

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Child Guardian/Wrangler

« on: Jun 21, 2022, 08:52 pm »

Hey all!
I am going to be very fortunate to have Child Guardian/Wrangler(s) for my next production of A Little Mermaid. The guardians will most likely be volunteer parents added at Tech.

Does any one have a template or sample for a Runsheet/Cue Sheet for Child Guardians they be willing to share? 

Thanks in advance!

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Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: PROPS: Prop master problems

« on: Aug 23, 2016, 08:18 am »

(Apologies if this is too late and the show already opened)

Bring up the issue to the director or someone who is supervising your prop person. Explain why it's crucial that she reads your notes concerning props and why props should be set up a certain way for the actors. At the beginning of the production the props master receives a preliminary list which gives him/her an idea of the props going to be used. Its given at the beginning so the props person has time to research and source for props. Of course said list develops each rehearsal.

Another good solution would be having the theater set due dates for adding rehearsal props and final props. Perhaps a props call where you, your director and the props person to sort thru all the props and finalize things prior to tech.

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Students and Novice Stage Managers / Re: Assistant Design Experience?

« on: Jul 26, 2016, 01:42 pm »

Depending on your work load- you may be able to be take on an Asst. Designer role (maybe on a less heavy show). I was ALD for a production as well as being the SM. Being the ALD, it helped me gain a lot of personal perspective on what needs of the designer were and my LX notes became very detailed and more helpful.

Perhaps you can discuss with your mentor/advisor about this route and the potential you can take away from being an Assistant Designer and SM.   

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Students and Novice Stage Managers / Re: RE: First day of tech

« on: Jul 19, 2016, 02:35 am »

On the 1st tech day, my ASMs and I look over backstage for safety hazards, potential traffic issues and coordinate last minute "homes" for offstage scenery, furniture and quick-change areas. The ASMs take little time to mark sight lines and put glow tape where its needed. We work backstage to FOH. The next thing we address are run lights and work lights issues and questions we have with the Elex crew when they're available or we go grab clip lights. Once the backstage areas are ready to GO for the day, I spend couple minutes on my SM station at FOH, getting familiar with the controls/setup.  The ASMs meet briefly with the deck crew to go over their runsheets, and answer questions they have before we start. Of course that happens when they're not currently needed by their dept. heads.

Before the day even starts, the ASMs and I already have put together a "game plan" a to-do list of things that we need to get done before we actually start. Job assignments from that list are distributed and off we go, and report back to each other at times we already agree upon.

Usually, the cast waits in the greenroom once they arrive. So the ASMs and I drop by when we can to go over any last minute notes/info we have for actors.

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The Green Room / Re: Hell in a Handbag (A Game for Stage Managers)

« on: Jul 03, 2016, 08:03 am »

Is the actor also aiming for any parts of Marat's costume?
Where does Sarade urinate? Upstage? Downstage? Stage left? Stage right?
What direction is Sarade facing when he is in the middle of the action?
How long would the act of urinating be?
Would we need to make sure we have plenty of water for him prior to this scene?
What color should the urine be? bloody? transparent? greenish?

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Students and Novice Stage Managers / Re: What are you looking from your ME?

« on: Jul 03, 2016, 07:50 am »

If your board op/spot op and ME are not the same person, is the ME present at performances?

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Students and Novice Stage Managers / Re: Master Cue Sheet

« on: Jul 03, 2016, 07:45 am »

never heard of this in my life . . .

run book / run sheets . . .

But before tech, how would I know what cues I would be calling?

Do designer's not give a preliminary list of cues or does it solely depend on the individual designer? Are lighting, or sound cues usually not pre-programmed before tech? I sometimes receive a prelim. sound cue sheet from my sound designer before tech and I pencil them in. 

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Students and Novice Stage Managers / Re: Assistant Design Experience?

« on: Jul 03, 2016, 07:39 am »

I've heard from a professor of mine that usually assistant designers are more paperwork than making artistic choices and I'm wondering if that is true. I know the breakdown can vary depending on the theater, the actual designer and the working relationship. But what sort of things would the designer delegate to or asks of his/her asst. designer. 

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Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Managing wardrobe from a SM's perspective

« on: Jul 03, 2016, 07:27 am »

I have a few questions regarding wardrobe running and what information, paperwork and resources Stage Management should provide the Wardrobe Department (designer, costume supervisor, dressers). Usually the theaters I work at, don't have a wardrobe head/costume supervisor so I take upon myself to accommodate the needs of running costumes.

How are costume changes (mostly quick-changes) rehearsed, managed and organized? Should time be scheduled for the dressers to work through changes with the actors before 1st dress rehearsal begins or even earlier? Are costume changes pre-planned in advance as much as possible on dressing sheets? Does the Wardrobe Master/Costume Supervisor makes these kind of decisions or does the individual dresser? Does the supervisor prepare the actual wardrobe runsheet or is it the SM's responsibility.

Merged similar topics- Maribeth

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Students and Novice Stage Managers / Re: Rehearsal Reports

« on: Jan 24, 2016, 10:02 am »

I could send you examples of my past rehearsal reports, if interested.

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Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: SHOWS: How many times have you Stage Managed the same play/musical?

« on: Jan 24, 2016, 09:58 am »

While I interned at a community theater years ago, I learned that they do Christmas Carol and some other play each year. If my memory was correct, majority of the cast was the same as the year prior, only replacing those who could not do the show.

If you ever experienced this before how do you keep your sanity and keep it fresh for yourself? I would find doing the same play each year with same director, similar casts and production designs and at a small pool of the same locations would become boring and grey.

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Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: COSTUMES: How involved do you get with costumes and wardrobe?

« on: Jan 24, 2016, 09:45 am »

I'm just saying that it is everyone's job to help everyone else on the production, and I don't consider it an imposition to have someone say, "Hey, I found this form (on this really great forum that I'm part of) and think that it might be helpful to us with our production to use it.  Use it or not, but it's somewhere to start."

Honestly, as a union stage manager, if I ever even offered any of my professional costumers a form I had generated, I would lose all credibility, and they would take great offense and consider me stepping way, way over the line. Granted, there have been very rare occasions when I have done shows with novices, and  yes, I have politely offered to help by sharing forms/plots from other costumers (and printed out a page each of several choices). But that is the exception rather than the rule, and it is still better to treat these newbies as if they were pros for the sake of the team.

How does Wardrobe runsheets fall into that statement? Very curious as I tend to prepare those for the wardrobe crew and consult wardrobe head with QC and presets and other tasks.