Table Saws Fear Me

Kahlan🌸Tech theatre major mainly focused on Stage management and scenic paint. {Background image ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ Set, design by Zsófia Opra-Szabó, lighting design by Scott Peters}

[stagemanagerssaygo]

Josh Loar talks about the perils of overworked staff in the performing arts industry. He says it's time to stop pretending that working like this is ok.

“When (if) you ask what’s wrong, they pull themselves momentarily together, and often choke out some version of: “oh, nothing, I’m just tired”.

I’ve been working in theater and other performing arts for more than two decades, and I couldn’t count the number of times I’ve walked into this scene for how common it is. I also probably couldn’t count the number of times the person huddled in a heap somewhere was me.”

[q2qcomics-deactivated20200929]

Q2Q Comics #517: You’re Not Done!

[sonotdracula]

Stage crew is goblincore. Pushing big things around in the dark, wearing all black? Pushing buttons and submerging a theatre in darkness? Pointing bright lights at people because they’re beautiful and need to be heard? Goblincore.

[stagemanagerssaygo]

Time crunch in the costume department

[stagefoot]

I can tell when it’s almost intermission because my headset digging into the side of my head becomes unbearable

[lx-puns]

Why did the gel go to prison?

He got framed.

[techi-e]

Some of the strangest things I’ve heard from actors:

“Do my nipples look okay?”

“Lesbians... can’t use scissors?”

“When I finally jump off the fifth floor of this building it’ll be because of you three specifically making fun of my nipples every day”

“You can’t say thy negligence! You’re white!”

“Let’s. Eat. Nuts.”

“Take my tongue”

Most of these were said to me.

Im gonna miss these hooligans.

[coffeebeforerehearsal-deactivat]

Checking the Callboard: Balancing School and a Show

Checking the Callboard is where I give advice on theatre-related things! I’ve dealt with a lot of unique challenges over the years, and I want to help others avoid some of that stress. This week, I’ll be helping student artists by listing some of the ways to help manage school work while being part of a production. While this article does lean a bit towards actors, there are helpful tips for student designers as well.

Document everything you have to do

Before rehearsals begin, write down important events you know about in advance. This could include your rehearsal/performance schedule, tests, and family events. By organizing it all, it’s easier to see when you can get ahead on work, and when you’re pressed for time. You’re also less likely to forget homework for a class or a test that you have to study for.

Take care of yourself

It’s the most stressed piece of advice given by directors and stage managers and for good reason. Without your full energy and focus, there’s no way you can juggle two huge aspects of your life… at least not without breaking down. Please don’t be like me. Eat full meals, drink plenty of water, take moments for yourself, and for the love of all things good in the world, SLEEP. (…I write at 1:30 a.m.)

Prep the night before

If you’re bringing anything to rehearsal, make sure to pack it all up the night before and leave it by your school bag. This way, you won’t be running around your house looking for it all while you’re also trying to get ready for school. It’s a small thing that will take care of so much extra stress.

Be honest about your schedule

No one likes admitting they have conflicts. But letting your stage manager know ahead of time allows them to prepare and schedule accordingly. This way, you miss out on less content and work doesn’t have to stop. Now if you’re in an ensemble, and you’re missing a big choreography rehearsal, you’re going to be missing a lot of content. Which leads me to my next point:

Get to know the people around you

You’re working with these people for at least the next few months! Getting to know your cast mates/designers is essential to the collaboration that goes into producing a show. And if you do miss a content-heavy day, you have someone to reach out to and get blocking or design notes from. And of course, always reach out to the stage manager if you have questions! They don’t keep detailed notes for the hell of it. They want to help you.

Feel free to message me if there are other topics you want advice on!

[smonheadset]

Headset Etiquette

Using headsets for communication between different parts of a theater can be invaluable. It’s a prominent system for stage managers to give cues to various hands and board operators and to keep in contact with what’s happening backstage where they can’t see. In order to keep this line of communication clear, there are some general guidelines a lot of people can find helpful. Keep in mind, though, as with many things in theater, these aren’t always universal.

1. Don’t say “go” unless you’re giving a cue. It’s easy to mishear things over headset and you don’t want a cue to come early. To try and minimize any confusion, it’s helpful just to try and not say “go” except in that one very specific circumstance. Some alternatives are “the g word” or my preferred saying something like “on my G-O” spelling out the word.

2. Listen for a little while before speaking when you put on a headset. It’s good and helpful to let people know you’re there instead of sneakily eavesdropping in on the conversation (that’s just bad manners), but you do need to listen for a second or two to make sure you’re not about to speak over a cue.

3. Don’t speak during a standby. Often a stage manager will call “standby x” to give whoever’s running that cue a warning that they’re about to have to do something. Don’t speak if you know you’re in a standby, because when the stage manager needs to call a cue they need to call it that second. If you’re speaking, the go won’t be heard and the cue will be late.

4. Be mindful of who can hear what you’re saying and know that what’s said over headset stays over headset in most cases.

Different shows and different stage managers will have a different tolerance level for how much non-official chitchat they want happening over headset. Some don’t like any at all and others will happily chat away with their crew. My personal opinion is if it’s not a cue-heavy show then I don’t mind quiet talking over headset. It’s often some of the most hilarious conversations I’ve ever heard. It just can’t ever interfere with the main purpose of communication during the show. 

Know your stage manager’s preference and respect it and know at all times that there’s a show going on and people doing their jobs. And yes, it does makes you feel official and important.

[heck-yeck-deck-tech]

Something along these lines which I think is quite helpful is prefacing everything you say with who you are and who you’re trying to reach. And, if you’re the person being reached, responding the same way. In the last show I worked, it was most often: 

Me: ASM 2 to ASM 1? *pause*

ASM 1: ASM 1 to ASM 2, what’s up?

We used names because that was most efficient for us (some folks might orefer department names, it’s just personal preference), but this is just another level of communication specificity that helps rehearsals, tech, and shows run more smoothly. When you direct questions to folks, they know to answer and you’ll always get a response, even if it’s “ASM 1 here, one sec please.” Folks are able to continue doing whatever they’re doing without having to pause to find out if the question was for them, and it means you can avoid the awful limbo of Who was that question for? I don’t think I was in charge of that and I don’t know anything about it but what if that WAS for me?

This also helps the SM not go slowly insane at the voices inside their head while still staying on top of any concerns that come up that require their attention. Since SMs have chatter from every channel in their headset, the best coping strategy is often to relegate all that to background noise until they hear their name, at which point they can say, “SM here” and solve the problem.

[1stutilityplayer]

Here’s a message to young Stage Managers:

Each time you SM a production, you’ll come out different.

Always, always, always, keep a calm, level head. Be professional.

If it’s a big production and you’re a notably young SM, don’t feel discouraged. Work hard. Get the credit you deserve. Show everyone why you’re there and that you can handle all the work.

Never give up!

[absolute-virginia-flute-exe]

Musicals as John Mulaney

I’ll start-

Dear Evan Hansen

Jekyll and Hyde

Newsies

Mary Poppins

Be More Chill

Rent

Hamilton

Sweeney Todd

Spongebob the Musical

Heathers

[unexpectedtexture]

Doesn’t matter how silly your technique looks as long as it works.

[littlebitzbackstage]

Theatrical Burnout is Real.

Seriously friends, take care of yourselves. Working technical theatre is a love/hate relationship (I count Actors too of course but I’m in tech)

We bust our asses and break our bodies for our art. Namely OTHER PEOPLE’S art. We take great pride in our craft.

This causes us to forget our own mental/physical health.

I work full time for a professional theatre company in Ohio as their Production Technician. This basically means I’m a catch all. I am namely a Scenic Painter however I frequently work on light hangs and focuses. I also find myself running boards for our productions and was recently added into Actors Equity for Stage Management.

List it all like that and people are often impressed and say things like “Wow you must feel so lucky!” And I am don’t get me wrong but in short:

I’M TIRED.

I frequently let my job run my life and I have to let go a bit. My love for theatre can’t keep up with a bubbling sense of loathing.

If you have experienced burnout (which we all have, wether you realized it or not) you know that coming to terms with hating something you love, is just shitty. You start to resent the job you so desperately wanted.

Pull back when you have to. Walk away and don’t do anything theatre related for a moment. Your wellbeing is so much more important than putting Sound of Music on for the 50th time.

Theatre can be a beautiful life changing thing. But it can also be a beast that sucks out your soul and leave you crying on the floor.

RESPECT THE BEAST

RESPECT YOURSELF

[theatre-never-theater]

Stage manager aesthetic

[scoutfinches]

I’m weirdly very proud of this stone platform I painted today. I’ve had trouble with stone before, which sucks because it seems like it should be so easy, but it eluded me. UNTIL TODAY. this is plywood, no actual texture on it. just a ton of paint layers.

[scoutfinches]

8-step stone effect! this is the process we’re following for 90% of the season’s final show, The Hunchback of Notre Dame. here is the process: 

 slather surface with Jaxsan (or another goop, if you can’t get Jaxsan; i have suggestions if you want them), smooth down peaks with a spatula or putty knife

scumble purple-blue and creamy yellow (we misted the surface with water first to keep this thin)

sponge with white

spatter with white and black

apply a dark glaze (black+water) that will settle in pockets; mist surface, brush glaze on, dab off with a rag

apply blue and purple shadows in cracks and corners; brush on, soften edge with a rag

apply another, greenish glaze (black+raw umber+water) in the same manner as step 5

drag a barely-loaded brush across the texture, holding the brush almost parallel to the surface. move in curved strokes to avoid brush marks. i like to move the brush side to side instead of following the direction of the bristles. for this reason, choose a really cruddy old chip brush for this step - in fact, every brushed application in this process should be done with your saddest brush, because it will be beaten to death by the last step.

[mondays-off]

This is so true. I’d love to see the performing and the technical departments to swap over for a show though, just to see what happens. What do you guys think? -F