Question about working through the meal break

[forner]

Need your advice:  I am PSM at a LORT ‘C” theater and am in rehearsal for  HELLO DOLLY. Just before the Company went on its scheduled one hour lunch break the director  announced he wanted to have a stumble-through of the entire show after lunch ( A major schedule change!!). I have two ASMs and one production assistant. My question is whether to: Take our required one hour meal break and return in a hour to preset for the stumble-through  thereby delaying the start of stumble-though; OR do the preset over the lunch break and eat in whatever remaining time is left before afternoon rehearsal begins; OR advise the Producer stage management will be putting in for penalty meal time if they have work through the meal break; OR stagger  individual breaks of stage management so each has a full hour to eat as well as preset for the stumble through;OR immediately point out to the director some of the consequences his decision to change the schedule have made for stage management. I am assuming that all members of the stage management here will support the final decision. I know there are other solutions and I  welcome your alternative suggestions. Thanks!

[loebtmc]

Present this to your producer have them make this decision quickly — either you get your proper meal break, then come back and set up, or they pay the meal penalty and you set up in time to start when the actors get back from theirs. Make sure you write down what they say and they agree (I had a producer agree on a meal penalty, then decide they hadn't said so after all).

Of course, doing a run thru immediately after eating might make for an interesting run.......

[VSM]

Or - if you can't get in touch with anyone to help advise you immediately - I suggest you stagger the mealbreak to allow your Team their proper break time and the proper time to set up for the Designer Run.

This may have already happened; what was your decision and the outcome?

[loebtmc]

VSM is right — if that is an option, it's the best one. I used that a lot on my last contract, so my crew got their breaks and the set-up got finished in a timely manner.

[RuthNY]

LORT actually has a rule about that, Fred.  "If the Theatre requires the Stage Manager or Assistant Stage Manager to work during the meal break, including, but not limited to, work which is necessary in order to enable a rehearsal to resume properly and appropriately on time, the Theatre shall provide the Stage Manager or Assistant Stage Manager with a meal and pay no less than one hour of overtime." (64-I-3-b)

So, your trepidation about presetting over break is correct.  You and your AEA assistants are not to do so, unless the person who approves overtime at the institution give their consent.

Pat and Vernon have already given great advice.  Staggering breaks is a great solution. However, as you suggest, letting the director in on the rule, and telling them that your department will begin preset as soon as the break is over, is also a choice. Depending on your relationship with them, of course. They can do scene work, or notes, or music until you are ready. There's ALWAYS something small that needs work.

But, you are backed up on this one, by a very specific written rule.

Need your advice:  I am PSM at a LORT ‘C” theater and am in rehearsal for  HELLO DOLLY. Just before the Company went on its scheduled one hour lunch break the director  announced he wanted to have a stumble-through of the entire show after lunch ( A major schedule change!!). I have two ASMs and one production assistant. My question is whether to: Take our required one hour meal break and return in a hour to preset for the stumble-through  thereby delaying the start of stumble-though; OR do the preset over the lunch break and eat in whatever remaining time is left before afternoon rehearsal begins; OR advise the Producer stage management will be putting in for penalty meal time if they have work through the meal break; OR stagger  individual breaks of stage management so each has a full hour to eat as well as preset for the stumble through;OR immediately point out to the director some of the consequences his decision to change the schedule have made for stage management. I am assuming that all members of the stage management here will support the final decision. I know there are other solutions and I  welcome your alternative suggestions. Thanks!

[forner]

Thanks for these helpful responses. As a follow-up I'd like to know whether the recent LORT contract specifically addresses the situation when the stage managers miss their meal break in order to attend production meeting? Thanks again for your support and advice.

[RuthNY]

As far as I know, this was not addressed in the recent negotiations. But the rule quoted earlier should cover a situation where the SM is required to attend a meeting over a meal break. A smart producer/AD/manager will ask the SM department to stagger meals breaks so that eveyone is covered and no gets overtime. 

However, there's a catch in the LORT book that seems to be in our favor. It's this rule:
(H)Working Conditions for Stage Managers and Assistant Stage Managers.
(1) The Stage Manager or Assistant Stage Manager must be present at all rehearsals and performances. The Theatre shall not require members of the Equity Stage Managerial staff to absent themselves from rehearsals or performances.

What this says to me, is that only the SM can make the decision on staggered meal breaks, depending on what is happening in rehearsal and what personnel is necessary to run said call. But I've never tested this out in real time with a producer and a business rep's interpretation.

Thanks for these helpful responses. As a follow-up I'd like to know whether the recent LORT contract specifically addresses the situation when the stage managers miss their meal break in order to attend production meeting? Thanks again for your support and advice.

[loebtmc]

I seem to recall that production meetings are time not counted in the SMs total hours. So this is actually an interesting conundrum. (Am I misremembering this contract? I remember having this specific discussion more than once....).

[RuthNY]

In LORT, Production Meetings ARE counted in the SMs total hours, EXCEPT in Tech week.

I seem to recall that production meetings are time not counted in the SMs total hours. So this is actually an interesting conundrum. (Am I misremembering this contract? I remember having this specific discussion more than once....).

[loebtmc]

Thanks Ruth E — in the midst of dealing in details on another contract so I was suspicious about my own memory —