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Messages - stagemanagerluana

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Joshua,

I know, right?!??  Most shows I do take just 1 or 2 days.  But one show I did had a really big cast and it took FOREVER to actually speak with EVERYONE.

I'm meeting tomorrow with the director of the upcoming show and I'm going to talk with him about this.

Thank you!

2
Thank you for responding!

At the community theater I work with, I am approached months ahead of time to SM a show.  I've never had any of the directors make their own phone calls; it's always been me.  (They don't want to be the "bad guy".) 

Normally, how I've done it is to start with the leads and work my way down the list.  The longest it's taken to get thru the entire list is 3 days because of leaving messages, returning phone calls, etc.  (I also have a regular day-job so I can only make phone calls in the evening.)

One theater here has sent out individual emails to let people know they've been cast.   (That would actually work great for me...)

3
Question...

How does everyone here let auditioners know if they have been cast or not?  Do you physically post a Cast List?  Make personal phone calls?  Mass email?  Personal email?

I work at a small community theater.  This will be my 8th show there.  I normally call every auditioner personally, but recently found out some of the other SM's don't do this. 

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Thank you PSMKay! 

THIS is a very small theater and people here are used to doing multiple jobs at the same time because there just aren't enough people/budget for someone to have a single position.  So for us, the props person for shows collects/makes props and also sets them up and runs the props backstage.  It can be somewhat confusing.  Especially because I'm not the main stage manager here at this theater.  I'm one of several who rotate for each show.

But thank you for telling me how Props Masters normally function.  I ended up having a conversation with the show's director (he's also the Technical Director for the theater) as we are about 2 weeks from opening and we still don't have 1/4 of the show's props because she won't use my prop list, she only listens to what the director tells her. 




5
Aloha all,

This is my 5th show I have stage managed.  All have been at our local community theater.  (I do about 1 show a year.)  While I am fairly new to being an SM, I have been an actor in youth and community theater since I was a little kid (I'm 48 now), so I do know how things are supposed to go.

I have worked with the same props master this whole time.  Up until this show, she's been ok to work with.  A little quirky, but aren't we all?  But for this show, I'm really having a problem with her and I feel terrible because I really like her as a person.

She is refusing to use the prop list I have made, the props tracking chart I came up with and the chart of where to pre-set props so they would be easy for the actors to grab.  She is using 2 props tables, but they're not taped off, so everything is disorganized and messy (which I absolutely hate).  Basically, things are organized in such a way that makes it easy for HER and not for the actors.

When I brought it to her attention, she said that she can't work with MY system and that she'll be working with HER system of doing things.

Ultimately, the main thing is that the actors have their props when they go onstage, so instead of causing a HUGE rift in this little, local community theater, I am just dropping the issue and letting her do HER system.

Because I haven't had any formal SM training, I don't know if the SM has any say about how the props are run backstage or not? 




6
Introductions / Aloha from Maui!
« on: Jun 05, 2016, 07:12 pm »
I've been lurking for a while, so I thought I should put on the big girl panties and say "Hello" like a grown up.

I am currently the stage manager for a small community theater's production of Spamalot.  I usually stage manage 1 show a year for the theater.  (They ask different people for different shows.  It's a small island and they like to spread the aloha around.)

I started acting at age 7 in our local youth theater and was in show after show for 22 years.  I stopped for 15 years to get married, have kids and start a business with my husband.  I was asked to stage manage a small show for a friend who was directing and that's how I got back into it.  Spamalot is the 5th show I've stage managed.

I have always done theater for fun.  I've rarely gotten paid for anything.  It's nice getting a check for stage managing now.  It's not much compared to the hours I put in, but its fun and I get out of the house for a couple hours a day (but that's a whole other story).

Much aloha,
Luana

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