Author Topic: I could have kissed them!  (Read 35248 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

deletedoldnotanymore

  • New to Town
  • **
  • Posts: 30
    • View Profile
Re: I could have kissed them!
« Reply #30 on: Dec 12, 2008, 09:30 pm »
I had to have an understudy fill in today during rehearsal for the roll of Arkadina in the Seagull.  She made it through a full run rather well, although she got a nice stack of blocking notes.  At one of our breaks, she came up to me and asked me, completely unprovoked, "Hey Chris, I most definitely don't have the blocking for acts 3+4, could I just copy it down now to make this next half go smoother?"  I love understudies who understand how to get stuff done!

allenah

  • New to Town
  • **
  • Posts: 9
  • Gender: Female
    • View Profile
Re: I could have kissed them!
« Reply #31 on: Dec 18, 2008, 04:47 pm »
I was SMing Equus in Jackson, MS and we had a turn table type set where the "horses" rotated this part of the set so that the scene of Alan on Nugget at the end of Act I could be seen from "all angles."  My Dysart left a clipboard on the edge of the set piece as it started to rotate (this had accidently happened before in rehearsal and the clipboard ended up flying off and causing a horse to fall).  Dysart made it all the way across the stage before he realized it, and then simply waled back over to the set piece, in motion, and grabbed the clip board off the set piece before the set gained enough momentum to throw the clip board.

In the same show, one of the horses lost their hoof,  and Alan picked it up, pretedned to "clean" it and then set it near our "barn" set before beginning his monologue.
Theatre is nothing if not spontaneous.The novel can be put away, taken up, reread.Not theatre.It keeps slipping between one's fingers.Its permanent features such as scenery, script, etc. are not more theatre than two poles of a generator are electricity.

BWEEVEED

  • New to Town
  • **
  • Posts: 35
  • Gender: Female
    • View Profile
Re: I could have kissed them!
« Reply #32 on: Dec 27, 2008, 02:44 am »
I could have kissed my producer when...

...during an oddly but highly stressful week of rehearsals of a play I hated with a cast of women driving me up the wall, I answered honestly when my producer asked, "How are things going?"...after a long and detailed 5 minute explanation he answered back, "Lemme buy you a beer." Awesome gesture, even if I don't drink  ;D



Let me guess...Anton in Show Business?
If the world is a stage then we rule the world.

SMExtraordinaire

  • New to Town
  • **
  • Posts: 31
  • Gender: Female
  • Must respect the ball cap....
    • View Profile
  • Affiliations: Stage Manager's Association
  • Experience: Professional
Re: I could have kissed them!
« Reply #33 on: Jan 09, 2009, 06:26 pm »
I could have kissed my director when...

She pulled me aside one day to remark on how she loved the fact that I kept cool and got problems solved in a professional manner when I literally had other production staff members yelling (literally) at me during a tech rehearsal.

That little observation made my week especially since I didn't even give that day much thought - just got the job done...
"It required a bland, conscientious temperament that expected abuse and never admiration. The best stage managers are usually women, who bear the indignity for the historical neccessity of continuity itself." - John Osbourne

killerdana

  • Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 87
  • Gender: Female
    • View Profile
Re: I could have kissed them!
« Reply #34 on: Jan 10, 2009, 03:42 am »
I could have kissed my entire Stage Management class.  I gave them an assignment that consisted of 7 situations that often come up as a stage manager and asked them how THEY would deal with them (things like tardy actors, missing crews, mid-show power outages, etc.).  We discussed the assignment in class and everyone had great answers, especially the one who started an answer with "First, I would stay calm," and the girl who said, "I would make sure to keep track of tardiness in my rehearsal reports."  Turns out they do listen when I lecture!!
Science without art is sterile.  --Albert Einstein

Amie

  • SM Expert
  • ****
  • Posts: 154
  • Gender: Female
    • View Profile
    • Amie S. Bajlaieh  - Stage Manager. Producer. Artist.
  • Affiliations: Crossroads Theatre Company, Rutgers University
  • Current Gig: Producing Associate, Crossroads Theatre Company
  • Experience: Professional
Re: I could have kissed them!
« Reply #35 on: Jan 10, 2009, 07:49 am »
I could have kissed my entire Stage Management class.  I gave them an assignment that consisted of 7 situations that often come up as a stage manager and asked them how THEY would deal with them (things like tardy actors, missing crews, mid-show power outages, etc.).  We discussed the assignment in class and everyone had great answers, especially the one who started an answer with "First, I would stay calm," and the girl who said, "I would make sure to keep track of tardiness in my rehearsal reports."  Turns out they do listen when I lecture!!

Yes! I've done this before for a stage management class.  It's awesome the answers they come up with :)
~ Amie ~

“This whole creation is essentially subjective, and the dream is the theater where the dreamer is at once: scene, actor, prompter, stage manager, author, audience, and critic.”

dcwhitson

  • New to Town
  • **
  • Posts: 12
  • Gender: Male
  • I don't recognize you without your hat!
    • View Profile
  • Experience: College/Graduate
Re: I could have kissed them!
« Reply #36 on: Jan 10, 2009, 11:13 am »
I could have Kissed my entire cast of Miracle on 34th Street when right before Christmas at our cast party the entire cast waited over an hour and a half for me to show up so they could give me a gift. I was very late as it was my first strike in that venue and I wanted to make sure everything was in tip-top shape and empty for the next show that was moving on the stage the next day.

I walk in the door and all I hear is "Chris is here....Chris is here!" and everyone gathers around and one of the stage mom's (there were 14 kids under 10 in the show) gave me a card and made a speech. I, for once, was speechless.

Another stage mom also told me I was the best stage manager she had ever seen because I knew all the kids by name. She said she has never seen that before... I told her it was a shame....
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I get to go to lots of oversea places, like Canada." - Britney Spears

kiwitechgirl

  • Permanent Resident
  • *****
  • Posts: 200
  • Gender: Female
    • View Profile
  • Experience: Professional
Re: I could have kissed them!
« Reply #37 on: Jan 23, 2009, 06:58 am »
I could have kissed one of my cast tonight; I had him in the show last summer, straight out of drama school, and he was a real problem child.  Nothing was ever his fault, he had an ego that far outstripped his position in the company and he had an attitude problem and a real issue with authority (particularly female authority).  He's been interning with the company for the last year (including a stint as an ASM), and I've seen changes in him, and tonight I had real evidence of it.  He was very late in opening a wall up as part of a scene change, and as he came past me on his way offstage he stopped to explain why - the cast pull their wigs off at the end of the number which immediately precedes the change, and when he'd pulled his wig off, his mic had gone with it (we're using the capsules on ear hangers) and was swinging around by its cable, bashing into stuff.  He realised he needed to sort that out first, so he dealt with that and then opened the wall in full light, perfectly calmly and as if it was meant to happen that way.  A year ago, he would have panicked, not opened the wall and then tried to blame someone else if I had asked him about it - there's no way he would have come to me to explain.  I'm so glad to see that he's turned into a member of the company who I like to have around!

SM19

  • New to Town
  • **
  • Posts: 45
  • Gender: Female
    • View Profile
    • A Keyhole View of Krysta's Kaleidoscopic World
  • Affiliations: Kabaret Charitable Foundation
  • Current Gig: North.Light Theatre (Actor); Webseries "Butterfly" (Principle actor)
  • Experience: Community Theatre
Re: I could have kissed them!
« Reply #38 on: Feb 14, 2009, 03:48 am »
I could have kissed my...

Crew last year during our annual show when, after firing 10 members of my crew for not showing up for a dress/tech rehearsal night, the last two members of my crew stepped up to the plate and did EVERYTHING! The Technical Director told us that we did the fastest scene changes he'd seen in 30 years at the theatre. I love my crew :D
Second Place in a Stage Managers Competition = Half of an Award Winning Stage Manager! :P

chrrl

  • New to Town
  • **
  • Posts: 32
  • Gender: Female
    • View Profile
  • Affiliations: AEA
Re: I could have kissed them!
« Reply #39 on: Mar 08, 2009, 10:00 pm »
My ASM this season - who gives me rides, makes sure I eat, is always cheerful, always asks if I need anything, plans drink nights for the entire company, and generally keeps me sane and loving my job.  It's amazing how much difference a fantastic ASM can make!

aquadrama

  • New to Town
  • **
  • Posts: 11
  • Gender: Female
    • View Profile
  • Affiliations: Adelphi University
  • Experience: College/Graduate
Re: I could have kissed them!
« Reply #40 on: Mar 10, 2009, 03:31 pm »
I could have kissed them when....

The cast of our last show made cards and a little gift bag for the designers (all students), director, SM and ASM and presented them with the gifts on closing night and included me as their "Standby ASM" because I had helped with rehearsals when the ASM was out with pneumonia. IT was a sweet gesture and very much appreciated.

deserted

  • New to Town
  • **
  • Posts: 12
    • View Profile
Re: I could have kissed them!
« Reply #41 on: Mar 14, 2009, 06:37 pm »
I could have kissed...

the cast when they gave me an standing ovation at the end of the final dress rehearsal when I walked in from backstage, and someone gave a speech. It's all a blur, because I was practically bawling from all the emotions I had been dealing with for the entire process.

my amazing crew, when they gave me a rose as a thank-you after the musical. It's ridiculous; I should be thanking THEM for everything. They had been nothing but loyal and helpful. Ugh I'm going to miss them.

It's amazing, because I never seek a "thank you" since I think of SM as a behind-the-scenes job. It's really special when someone does thank you.


elle

  • New to Town
  • **
  • Posts: 7
  • Gender: Female
    • View Profile
    • Elisabeth Meindl
Re: I could have kissed them!
« Reply #42 on: Mar 15, 2009, 05:02 pm »
I just closed a local touring children's show, which had been hell from about day one of opening. I know children's shows suck because they're early and school tours are frustrating just because of the red tape - but this had been an especially trying production, where i had left the end of the day in tears several times. The cast had a very hard time communicating and tensions were high and volital the entire time on tour.
The final breaking point of what i thought was my givadamn was when we returned to our home theatre to perform the final weekend. on our final performance i finally got a chance to look at the program (which we didn't know existed) and was hit with the stark reality I had been left out. I was muttering to myself of returning to school and becoming a librarian when the most difficult of actors that i had several run in's with came up to me and asked why i was so tense that day, i told him why and he said - "hell no, they can't leave you out! you're my shero! I'm introducing you at the talkback." i then had to explain that would not help in the least, but that i was grateful he felt so strongly. he looked at me and said "you're the reason this whole thing happened, how could anyone forget you?"
I have never felt more loved in my life.
watch people - they might amaze you.

Love is Patient. Love is Kind.

kiwitechgirl

  • Permanent Resident
  • *****
  • Posts: 200
  • Gender: Female
    • View Profile
  • Experience: Professional
Re: I could have kissed them!
« Reply #43 on: Mar 18, 2009, 05:40 am »
I had an absolutely hideous phone call with a director I'm about to work with last Monday (completely bawled out for several things which are not my fault or even my job, with a deaf ear turned to all my attempts at explanation); it was so bad that when the production manager, my boss, phoned me half an hour later to check if everything was OK, I was still so upset that I could barely speak to him through the tears.  This particular director is the former artistic director of the company, and while he is an incredible director, he can be an incredibly unpleasant man when he wants to be.  The problem is that if I stand up to him, he'll make my life an absolute misery and so it's easier to take the flak and then start with a clean slate (he at least doesn't hold grudges provided you don't argue with him).  Normally I don't get upset by him, just steaming mad, which is much easier to deal with, but this time he got to me.  When my boss heard how upset I was, he rang the director straight away and informed him that there is no way he is going to stand for production staff being spoken to the way he had spoken to me.  So, when I had a meeting with the director yesterday (with the production manager there for moral support) he was all sweetness and light and consequently we got a lot achieved.  No apology, but then I hadn't expected one - we didn't even mention Monday! 

So, while I know it's his job, I could have kissed my boss for backing me to the hilt and, although I normally hate anyone doing this, fighting a battle for me!

Thespi620

  • Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 99
  • Gender: Female
    • View Profile
  • Experience: Professional
Re: I could have kissed them!
« Reply #44 on: Mar 18, 2009, 09:19 am »
I could have kissed my director last night. 

After a near sleepless night, waking up with a cough and no voice out of nowhere, followed by a day that was more stressful than it should have been, I showed up at rehearsal to cut & copy my prompt script........only to find my lovely director in the copy room with a clean, one-sided, beautifully copied script already made.  I'm surprised I didn't actually kiss him, that script was the most beautiful thing I'd seen in days:)
[The SM is] a very gifted, slightly eccentric master mechanic [keeping] a cantankerous, highly complex machine running at top efficiency by talking to it, soothing it, & lovingly fixing whatever is broken. 
-J. Michael Gillette