Jonas Anderson @jonaswanderson-blog - Tumblr Blog

girlbefore

How do you like Broadway shows if you don't live in New York?

Tears, an Internet connection, and a healthy disregard for the law.

crescentwrenches-blog

And an even healthier disregard for the livelihoods of thousands of theater artists.

girlbefore

How could I tell you were a stage manager without clicking on your blog?

crescentwrenches-blog

I’m not a stage manager, I’m a lighting designer. And I’m also “bitter”, because bootleg video takes away from our income, and degrades our art. Look, I really appreciate that you pay for all that you can, and I’m sure you’re a great person, but it’s still not ok to promote bootlegging. I wish I could see a million Broadway shows too, but it’s just not economically feasible (which is a whole other problem in the industry). But please, just see the shows some other way instead? Wait for a DVD, official videos, a tour, or a non-Broadway production, because in the end, it’s still bad for the performers and designers.

tdldproblems-deactivated2021080

^ THIS ^

And I’m not an SM either. Electrics and scenic. Local and touring productions = WORK = PAYCHECKS = LIVELIHOODS.

backstageleft-deactivated202009

Pro-bootleg arguments make me so mad because they are ALWAYS, ALWAYS centered on “BROADWAY IS THE BEST AND NOTHING ELSE IS WORTHWHILE”. Go see shows at the tons of local theatres nearby you who do the same shows for a fraction of the price. They still have equity actors, they have talented designers. Or hell GO SEE A TOURING SHOW.

crescentwrenches-blog

^ backstageleft always knows what to say. Seriously though, I’d prefer never to have to work on the “big, important” shows of Broadway if I can financially avoid it, because they really aren’t important.

Are some shows, like the Deaf West Spring Awakening, amazing and relevant and necessary? Absolutely!

But I’d much rather be working on a small, new work show that has a good political/social message than YET ANOTHER production of “West Side Story”.

tdldproblems-deactivated2021080

crescentwrenches backstageleft AMEN, BROTHERS AND SISTERS.

Broadway is cool. But sometimes local regional productions are better.

Seriously, SoCal companies produced a better Tarzan (and that’s a tough show to mount). AND a production of Carrie just moved into a larger LA theater for a six-week run (possibly going longer), after having a successful run in La Mirada.

And seeing Phantom tour through SoCal…. asdfghkl;’ . SO WORTH IT.

So yeah, people. Bootlegging is not nearly as cool as the real thing. Support your theatre community!

gildedd

This has popped up on my dash here a couple times.

I’m confused- theater is not a zero sum game. Do we think theater fans watch bootlegs in LIEU of seeing shows in person? That has never been my experience.

And can we please acknowledge that being a theater-goer has a huge amount of privilege attached to it? Tickets are expensive, transportation is not always available, time is not always free, childcare is pricey, local theaters may not even exist in your area, tours may not come near you- the mindset of the industry is that “Theater should be accessible!!! (to those who can afford it).

And honestly if people are watching bootlegs because they don’t have the option of seeing the shows otherwise, you aren’t losing ticket sales from them - they were never gonna be able to buy a ticket to see your show anyways.

Bootlegs are illegal and therefore bad and wrong okay that’s very true can’t argue that. But are they inherently BAD? Nah, man. There are bigger things to worry about in the world of theater.

Why do they exist in the first place? To make shows accessible! Why weren’t these shows accessible in the first place? Get outraged about THAT instead

tdldproblems-deactivated2021080

See, here’s the thing. I’m not sure which started first: watching bootlegs because of a lack of accessible theatre, or a lack of accessible theatre because people are watching bootlegs. It’s a perpetual cycle, guys. Communities are cutting theatre because no one’s going out to see it. And when community theatre or school theatre tickets can be as cheap as $10… There are much larger problems at stake.

Bootlegging stuff can be hazardous for your computer. For all the money and time you spent having good antivirus, searching for the bootleg, downloading said bootleg, and looking up/troubleshooting the problems when your antivirus sucks at doing its job… could it have been easier/safer/more legal to take the kids to a family-oriented musical or ballet (cuz what kid isn’t inspired by a Cat in The Hat or a Cinderella or a Peter Pan or a Sugar Plum Fairy) on a Saturday night?

But then we have to think: what about the families that really can’t afford the $10 ticket? That’s addressing the issue of wages and our nation’s standard of living. If parents can’t take their kids to see a Nutcracker for $10 a piece, socioeconomics are at play.

Same goes for cable/satellite or streaming services. If a family can’t afford Netflix (which is cheap), it’s not because of a lack of accessible entertainment. Income inequality is to blame.

So people bootleg. Because no one’s going to see a show for $10-20. Attendance and therefore sales decline at local theaters. Companies can jack the prices, or do ad specials to get people to buy more, but that can only last so long before stuff starts getting cut, eventually making the company fold.

This literally started happening in my hometown/home county. Making a living as a stagehand would not be possible unless one of the handful of full-time staff members in the area dies or retires. There were a lot of community theatre companies in the area. Once 2000 rolled around, smaller companies folded or are now barely hanging on. This year alone, the only local dance attire shop and a costume/makeup shop in the area both closed their doors after 20+ years in business.

The more you bootleg, the more likely you’ll put people like me, who are tax-paying members of our community, out of work. And you can see how that can spiral downward

Can I also mention that there are free showings of concerts or plays on weekends in local parks in most communities?

Larger issues are at play in regards to bootlegging. In the meantime, go see a damn show. Pay for that Netflix or that Nutcracker. Whoever you support is eternally grateful.

@backstageleft @crescentwrenches Your thoughts??

backstageleft-deactivated202009

Man, I was literally just having a conversation about this with @ravicorn.

Most of the people I know of who watch bootlegs are the type of people who praise the almighty Broadway and don’t go see local shows because as I stated before they think “Broadway is the bestest”. I even did a fucking huge post on alternatives to broadway as a result of this post.

Like they think if it’s not the original broadway cast it isn’t any good. This is a real mentality that exists. Many theatres have options for students and low-income types to come see their shows in an effort to become more accessible. Broadway itself has the standing room only/rush/lottery tickets (That’s how I saw Book of Mormon for $27, when I couldn’t afford the price of $150). Barter Theatre, in fact, started as a response to the great depression. It exists in a small town away from practically everything. You could bring in some food in exchange for seeing a show (sort of pay what you can system, which does exist at a good number of theatres) and they’d pay their actors in said food, it’s how they got the name Barter. I believe on some days you can still donate can goods in exchange for seeing a performance.

Also how disruptive and fucking rude is it to record a performance?? By partaking in bootlegs, you’re encouraging bad theatre etiquette and behavior that disrespects the actors, the crew, and the audience. Bootleggers also simply do not record a show to it’s fullest potential. They don’t portray it the way the artists intended it to be seen whether via live showing or recording they did and released themselves.

Now @ravicorn and I were talking about how theatres totally should have days where they broadcast the shows to theatres in other cities (a few theatres in London and the Met already do this) and probably should record shows and sell them after the run has closed because hey, they’d get more money that way too and people could see a show that couldn’t otherwise! Win win!

The big problem with shows being recorded and released is that there’s some weirdness with Unions, especially Actor’s Equity. If you work with them, you’re not even allowed to take pictures of actors in AE without permission because you might show them in a bad light. Seriously I am not joking, AE has some fairly strict rules when it comes to portraying their members and compensation for things.

All in all, I’m fairly anti-bootleg because of the above. I agree with @tdldproblems on her post as well.

Here’s the thing, bootlegs are really only of Broadway shows (they make up the majority at least). So we’re really only talking about an inaccessibility of Broadway shows here. Acting like bootlegs are the response to the inaccessibility to theatre as a whole is really disingenuous.

Broadway shows are REALLY EXPENSIVE. Staying in NYC is REALLY EXPENSIVE. Buying a plane trip to NYC is REALLY EXPENSIVE. The combination of these things in HUNDREDS OF DOLLARS if not breaching into over $1000. Broadway shows by themselves are like $150+. So yes, they are very inaccessible to the general public. Both money-wise and geographically. But in that sense, it’s kinda like a vacation to Disneyland.

Meanwhile, going to a tour of Broadway in your town will be like $70-$130, going to a show at a LORT theatre near you will probably be more like $30-60, going to a good theatre near you may be $10-$40. There’s also the freebies and the under $10 crowd that definitely exist out there. Including college/university theatres that tend to be $7-$15 in my experience.

If you want to see a good show for an accessible price, they are absolutely out there.

Also I’m just kinda tired of people being super rude to technicians that are anti-bootleg. We help make this art. If you steal this art (bootlegging is stealing, it absolutely is, you are enjoying our art without paying for it), we have every right to be upset with you and call you on it. Go ahead and tell your favorite actor in that musical you bootlegged that you bootlegged it. See how they react. Go right up to Lin-Manuel Miranda and tell him you bootlegged the show he created, see if he thinks you’re a good fan. Spoiler alert: they’re not going to be happy that you did that.

tdldproblems-deactivated2021080

@spookded ^^^ Please read.

gildedd

@tdldproblems @backstageleft

I think you’re both making a number of very very important points, but I also don’t think you’re listening to me.

My argument is that A) bootlegging is inherently wrong, and there’s not way to get around that but B) we should not condemn the people that watch bootlegs so harshly because theater is a very inaccessible art form

The majority of my post has not been about Broadway. My post has been about the resources that theater fans have available to them in their OWN area. Local theater is the best. Local theater is fantastic and should be supported always. But local theater isn’t going to put up every single wonderful, amazing musical out there and it won’t ever have the means to. If the ONLY thing you have access to is local theater, you will never see Wicked. If you’re a major Tony’s fan, you won’t see the shows featured in the Tony’s for a long time until the rights come out/your theater chooses to do it. You probably won’t see the expensive shows to put on like Lion King or the shows that are expensive to produce but are smaller scale productions (small musicals like Last Five Years). You aren’t gonna see more than one or two musicals a year, plus some plays. You can go and see every local production that’s available to you and it STILL WON’T FEEL LIKE ENOUGH if theater is your one love and passion. There are not enough filmed stage works. The rights are too expensive to justify producing musical after musical. Local theater doesn’t have the ABILITY to make huge quantities of theater.

Let’s rehash the privilege! Tours don’t always come near you. A huge amount of college students/even adults don’t have the means to transport themselves to a touring show, when it comes by. Local theaters are limited in their scope There are parts of the world where LORT theaters are not on every corner. There are parts of our world where community theaters are not on every corner. Your argument is repeatedly “just go see local stuff” but you’re ignoring the huge amounts of the country that does not have access to the arts.

If you’re someone that is making a living off of doing theater, then you live somewhere where theater exists and that’s just not always the case! I’m not trying to convince you that bootlegging is good - I just think it does not impact your life. And I think we should understand WHY it happens and what the problems are with the industry that cause it to happen.

backstageleft-deactivated202009

I honestly don’t think you’re listening to us either though.

Look I’m not coming down on someone who lives in another country with a culture that doesn’t support theatre. This argument is western world based. And truthfully mostly US/UK people are commenting on this.

Of course someone in India doesn’t have access to our theatre. (However, UK people complaining that they have no access to good theatre so they need to bootleg is completely mind boggling to me. They have quite a bit of good local theatre brewing over there.)

I also stated that I think theatres should release a filmed copy of the show after it’s run and that it would be a win for everyone if they did that. Mostly the thing stopping that is rights and union rules.

BUT this hasn’t fucking stopped people, just look at the amount of people that are bootlegging Hamilton despite the fact they announced they want to do a recording of it for release and despite the fact the creator of the goddamn show is very upfront with how he feels about bootlegs.

The reason I’m so focused on Broadway in these arguments is because (and I think I stated this already) there are people so caught up in Broadway being the best that they don’t see the appeal in local theatre at fucking all. And I think Broadway bootlegs contribute to that mentality. (I mean, so do the Tony’s, and boy could I write a giant long post on why I think the Tony’s are awful too).

Yes, theatre is a somewhat inaccessible medium. Most art is. Primarily because it’s location based and is meant to be seen live. And artists need to get paid for their work so ticket prices are higher. In that sense the Louve is also inaccessible.

But watching bootlegs only encourages the market for bootlegs which encourages more people to come into our theatres with fucking cameras and tape our shows in a quality that it was never meant for. It’s a disrespectful light for our designers and technicians who work just as hard as the actors and I think it really enforces the mentality that the actors are the most important part of a production and as long as you have them, none of the other designs matter that much.

I’m not sitting here hating on the fucking kid in the middle of Wyoming who doesn’t have a theatre for five hours in each direction. I’m not hating on the kid in Ecuador that just wants to see Wicked. I’m hating on the people who do live by good local theatre and still watch bootlegs (they absolutely exist). I’m hating on the people who think it’s acceptable to walk into a damn theatre space and record all of our work in low-quality without our consent. And while it’s shitty that those people in po-dunk nowhere now won’t be able to see it, consumption of bootlegs still encourages more bootlegging. There has to be a market for these things for them to continue happening.

Look artists already have enough problems getting paid and then people claiming that it should be their right to see shows. That it should be their right to have the art artists create. I’d love to be able to give the whole world a new work for free, but I also need to pay my bills to live. There is a real sense of entitlement about art that people have. There’s a huge mentality that because artists enjoy what they do for a living, that they shouldn’t get paid as much for their work. That because art doesn’t have a concrete way in which it benefits society that it should be cheap or free. These are my main reasons why I’m against bootlegs.

jonaswanderson-blog

As an Australian, we’re in a different situation. I agree with everyone above who has advocated for more recorded shows, because we’re desperate for them down here. We don’t get new shows for years - Book of Mormon will not hit Australia until 2017. We waited 8 years for Lion King. We will likely never get a production of many of the shows currently on Broadway, on off-Broadway, or sometimes even off-off-Broadway. Do we have a brilliant theatre culture here, with amazing local productions? YES! But only in two cities. Most of our state capitals don’t have more than two real theatres, and our population and economy are too small to support a wide variety of touring shows. We need more recorded shows, because no matter how good our theatre culture gets, it’s always a few years behind Broadway/the West End’s. That’s not just about the Tony winners - it’s about everything. We don’t just lose on things like Hamilton (which likely won’t come here till at least 2020, and possibly never - a founding father of another country is not sellable here), but on little shows which stretch and push the boundaries of theatre. We won’t get Sleep No More. The ABT only comes here once a year. The list continues. And it’s same for new work across the world.

Until there’s more recordings, we’re going to have to keep bootlegging. Surprise, surprise: we hate it too. Met and National Theatre’s recorded stuff is breathtaking, but it’s only available in cinemas here and then only for very short runs. There’s not enough of a market to make it successful at the box office, but if you make DVDs or downloads available, we will pay for them.

If you work with any company making new or exciting theatre, please start the conversation about recording it. We will pay for it it, and we’ll pay just as much as we do for tickets. We’ll keep going to local shows - because we love them - but please don’t leave us in the dark. In a country where theatre and live arts are physically and financially inaccessible for a large part of the population, recordings help inspire and generate interest in exciting local works.

#australian theatre #stage manager #bootleg #broadway #west end #theater #musical #musical theatre

chescaleigh

via Old Try

thankyoufive

Props Paperwork

Hey everyone!

I’ve recently had a slew of paperwork asking about props tracking, plots, and otherwise dealing with props. Below are some screenshots of what I typically use to help with props!

Props Plot

This is the props plot that I/my ASM typically put together for a show. A couple of things to note with this particular document:

The KEY in the top left corner deals directly with the table seen below.

This particular production had a production pack that came with the rights to the show, so rather than going into incredible detail on this document we left a column that indicated which page people should refer to for more information. I’ve only ever done this with one other show – Crazy for You and, again, it was because we had the rights to the original choreo so we had a huge choreo book that we were constantly referring to.

The # column exists to give you something to refer to in reports, notes, etc. “The fishbowl on pg. 14 (item #14 in the props plot) needs to have a teapot in it, please”.

The RECENTLY ADDED/ALTERED table is for a quick way to see what has changed since the last update (whether you update it daily, weekly, every other rehearsal, whatever). Similarly, anything from that table that has been added/altered should be highlighted in the master props plot so that you can see “Oh, this thing changed!”.

And I think that’s it for that particular document!

Run Notes

This document isn’t specifically for props tracking, but it is definitely helpful. This is a page from the run notes for my current show.

In the OBJECT column is where I list any props/pieces/whatever that someone enters or exits with.

There is not a lot of actual tracking in this show, so this document mostly helped with presets and locating everything at the end of the show.

The LOCATION column shows where things are coming from/going off to. Tracking help.

Again, there’s A LOT more to this document than just props tracking, it’s going to give you an overview of the entire show rather than just props. May be a lot to take on if you’re only looking for props paperwork but definitely way helpful.

Props Acquisition Sheet

Admittedly, this is not a template of my own design. The props designer for my current show used this for his paperwork. It is VERY detailed, VERY specific, and deals a lot with drop down menus, etc. It should read with all of the colored columns going all the way from left to right with the yellow “Prop #” column being all the way on the left and the green “Notes” column all the way on the left.

We also create things like a Props Check In document, that gives a detailed checklist of where each prop should be at top of show. I separate it by location: USL, USR, DSL, DSR, and onstage.

I hope these things help you in your props tracking! It can seem like a whole lot of information – and honestly, it almost always is – but if you approach it with a plan and take the time to get the details, you’ll be in great shape!

jonaswanderson-blog

<3 beautiful paperwork.

#stage manager #paperwork #props

broadwaysymposium

Digital Call Desk

Check out the call desk from Baby It’s You. Invented by Broadway Stage Management Symposium Speaker, Joshua Halperin. Moving stage management forward, at the highest level. Hear all about it at the Symposium!

May 30th & 31st, NYC… more info at www.broadwaysymposium.com

jonaswanderson-blog

I want one. I want one now!

#theatre #backstage #stage manager #prompt copy #showcall

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