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October 29, 2008

The Tour: Day 3

I call this: On the Road Again,theatre — Posted by KP @ 1:55 pm

Day 3 of my preproduction week.

A recap:

Day 1

I spent most of the day at home doing some light paperwork and emailing, then went into the office for about an hour to read and fill out about a thousand forms.  For those curious, this includes the regular stuff you have to fill out when you start a job: W-4, I-9, NYS tax withholding form, employer’s info sheet for their records, and direct deposit paperwork.  Then the contract, which in this particular case consists of the Equity contract itself, the basic Letter of Agreement rider, and a very extensive rider which covers mostly matters related to touring — what kind of housing, per diem, etc.  A lot of it was new information, and the only surprises were pleasant ones, so that made me happy.

Day 2

I went into the office for about 3 hours and started off making copies of some research packets we’re giving the cast at the first rehearsal.  The first show we rehearse, The Spy, takes place during the American Revolution, so the packets are all historical information, timelines, and maps from that period.  Then I spent the rest of the day catching up on some paperwork, getting more accurate information about actors’ conflicts and passing it on to the directors (each show has a different director).

Today is

Day 3

…and my first full day at the office.  Because there’s not a spare desk for me I’ve wound up parked in the conference room, trying not to look like I’m taking over the entire thing. But essentially, yes, I have the corner office.

In the meantime, the first rehearsal draft of the script landed in our inboxes during the day.  The play is a new adaptation, and will be changing during the process, but this is the version we will begin rehearsal with.  So I threw that in the fancy and so-far-very-dependable copier and made 20 copies.

There was also a staff meeting today, which I was invited to attend. Most of it was about the company’s upcoming annual gala, which I have nothing to do with, but there was an opportunity to talk about arrangements for our first rehearsal. After the meeting concluded I discussed a bit more in depth in a side meeting with the production manager and general manager. The company manager and I have been meeting periodically for a few minutes here and there over the last couple days, as issues come up. Subjects have included my flight to Minneapolis (to which my answer was, “sure, whenever.” I’m easy like that), hospitality info packets for our stay in Minneapolis, catering for the meet-and-greet.  She’s totally on the ball, and I feel fantastic about that.

I also got my first paycheck today. My ASM, Nick, showed up at the office in response to my email that his check was waiting, and I loaded him up with the new copy of the script fresh off the presses, the Equity LORT rulebook, and the 6-page stage manager’s guide to rehearsing at New 42nd Street Studios. He’s officially on contract starting today, but I’m trying to go easy on the workload with him because honestly I don’t really think there’s that much for him to do right now. On Friday we’re going to meet at the office and spend the day preparing boxes of office supplies, spike tape, and whatever else we are going to be loading into the studio on Monday. The “we” of that component actually means Nick and I show up at the studio at 10 on Monday and the stuff we left in a corner of the office will magically be delivered, along with all the props, by our production manager and crew. We agreed that this is indeed a very high-class production.

Most of what I’ve been dealing with today is the deadline to get some paperwork in to the New 42nd Street Studios, where we’ll be rehearsing in New York. A lot pertains to our meet-and-greet on Monday. The studio is pretty much the premiere place to rehearse a show, and since they deal with high-profile productions, they are used to this kind of event being a big undertaking. Apparently they reserve the right to hire a fire guard at additional cost if they think your meet-and-greet is a little too ambitious.  I don’t think we’re going to have that problem.   But they need a head count and they need the names of all our attendees, which includes the cast and production staff as well as invited guests such as board members and guest speakers, because from all I’ve heard, if you’re not on the list you’ll have a hell of a time getting past the front desk.  They also need to know who is delivering our catering, and at what time.  So since all that information was constantly being updated, it took me literally the entire business day to fax these forms.

Another full day at the office for Day 4.


October 27, 2008

OK the Job…

I call this: On the Road Again,theatre — Posted by KP @ 10:19 am

As I wrote in this teaser post, I am starting a new job.  I think now is a good time to tell you what it is.

I’m going to be the Production Stage Manager for The Acting Company’s 2009 tour.  In a very brief history of The Acting Company, they have been producing classical theatre and new works for 36 years, and every year they do a tour, bringing classic plays and educational workshops all over the country.  In 2003 they were given a Tony Award Honor.  Much more information is available at their website, linked above. 

The tour this year is Shakespeare’s Henry V, and a new play called The Spy, based on a novel from 1821 which takes place during the American Revolution.   The shows will be performed in rep by a cast of 12.  

The touring company will consist of the 12 actors, as well as the company manager and the staff rep director, who basically functions as the resident director of the company, meaning I don’t have the responsibility for the artistic integrity of the show.  These 14 folks will be traveling on the cast bus.  On the crew bus will be me, Nick, the tech director, lighting, sound, props and wardrobe supervisors.  We’ll be living on the bus part of the time, which I expect will be kind of annoying and kind of like being a rockstar.  The cast will be staying in hotels.  

There’s also going to be a shortened school version of Henry V, which will be performed out of a trunk that travels under the cast bus.  Occasionally the trucks and the crew bus will leave town to head to the next city while Nick and the cast stay behind to perform the smaller show for students, followed by workshops.  This sounds kind of fun.  I’m not sure if I’ll ever get the opportunity to do one of these performances.

Budding stage managers always want to know how to get jobs, so I’ll tell my little story about this one.  It’s pretty standard for the business.  Back in July, I was contacted about the show by Bill Fennelly, who was the director of Frankenstein last year, and had just taken a new position as Associate Producing Artistic Director of The Acting Company.  When they were looking for a PSM for the tour he sent out a brief summary of the job to me and some other people (via Facebook of all things) asking if anybody was interested.   I was out of town doing summer stock at the time, and not coming home anytime soon, but I called him and he told me what he knew about it.  It was hard for me to consider touring when I was already away from home, but the job fit some of the experience I’m looking for in my career.  We touched base about once a week for the rest of the summer, and a couple days after I got home I met with the production manager, who gave me a more detailed picture of how the tour would operate.  I liked what I heard, but since my suitcase wasn’t even unpacked, I still wanted a little more time to think about it.  A short time after that meeting, I met with the artistic director, who gave me the A-OK, and I accepted the job.

The moral of the story is, of course, you usually have to know someone.  The selection of a stage manager is such an important decision in a production that few people want to take a chance on someone who they haven’t personally worked with before.

On the bright side, my ASM got the job by submitting a resume in response to a job listing, I’m not sure where exactly they listed it.  Basically I couldn’t get any of my colleagues to do it, so I was ready to open it up to the world, confident that there’s somebody great out there that I just haven’t met yet.  The three guys I interviewed all had no prior history with the company and were selected for interviews just based on submitting their resume.  So there is an chance to get your foot in the door with new people, you just have to get lucky and hope the PSM’s friends all have better things to do!

As we will be all of over the country and doing a lot of one-nighters, this presents a perfect opportunity for some serious blogging, so stay tuned to the category “Tour Mini-Blog” to come along on the journey.

Also watch the sidebar, I’m experimenting with using Flickr to quickly take photos with my iPhone and upload them instantly to the interwebs, creating a real-time “KP’s-Eye-View” photostream of where I am and the interesting, or interestingly mundane, things I see.  Once I get some time with it, I’ll do a technical post about the apps I’m using and stuff.