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I'm practically a rookie, but I've always sat down with the director during tech/dress rehearsals and checked levels on every effect and music cue, and then even adjusted those on the fly depending on the night. Sounds like they were just hired for PUSH BUTTON MAKE SOUND.
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Nov 15, 2011 20:32
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NC Wyeth Death Cult posted:Is there something that says that sound designers can't use simple effects like fading in and the guy/gal at the sound board can't use limiters and compressors? Are they allowed to listen/watch the play with their music or is it set it and forget it? I saw "Pardon My Invasion" at Plays and Players in Philly and I realized that I've yet to see a play (outside of really pro places like the Kimmel Center/and sometimes the Wilma) where the sound cues weren't dropped on the stage like a cinder block and then were loud enough to take away from the scene. God knows how you've seen so many shows with awful sound operators. I've done sound design and operation for a total of one show - it was set in the girls' toilets of a skeezy nightclub, so the music was going throughout the entire play, and fade-ins/muffling effects were my bread and butter. Would've been so awful otherwise.
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Nov 16, 2011 10:19
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In the last show I did, we weren't mic'd but the sound effects still came through the speakers. They were, in fact, the only sound that came through the speakers other than the horrible buzzing that we've spent hours trying to get rid of to no avail. God, we need a new small performance space. I wasn't directing and just reached a point where I couldn't keep dedicating myself to things that shouldn't be my problem. It's hard enough to act in something without also trying to fix all the technical aspects of the show, too.
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Nov 16, 2011 15:07
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That sounds like absolute hell.
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Nov 16, 2011 15:27
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rantmo posted:That sounds like absolute hell. The guy who ran lights and sound for me on The Last Five Years (who did a great job, by the way) spent a good six hours one day and a handful here and there doing everything he could to isolate and eliminate the buzz and it never, ever went away. He managed to get the buzz down to almost nothing, but then during this show it was just as loud as before he ever started on it. Drives me insane. Insane. I'm also resigning myself to the reality that I'm pretty much the only person who doesn't believe in "good enough." Yes, it's community theater for a small town, but the better the shows are that we give them the more demanding they'll become. There is literally no reason not to be excellent. Sometimes I think I should just go try and do some semi-pro stuff in Columbus instead. Then when I pore myself into something if any/everyone else sucks, they can be fired. Geekboy fucked around with this message at 19:06 on Nov 16, 2011 |
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Nov 16, 2011 19:03
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Geekboy posted:I'm also resigning myself to the reality that I'm pretty much the only person who doesn't believe in "good enough." Yes, it's community theater for a small town, but the better the shows are that we give them the more demanding they'll become. There is literally no reason not to be excellent. This is me giving you a hug from across the internet.  Geekboy posted:Sometimes I think I should just go try and do some semi-pro stuff in Columbus instead. Then when I pore myself into something if any/everyone else sucks, they can be fired. Why not? There's no reason not to give it a go.
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Nov 16, 2011 19:22
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http://johnaugust.com/2011/follies-kindles-and-second-act-malaise John August talks about Follies and its story problems, of all things.
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Nov 16, 2011 20:41
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Geekboy posted:Sometimes I think I should just go try and do some semi-pro stuff in Columbus instead. Then when I pore myself into something if any/everyone else sucks, they can be fired. Hold on a sec... Columbus, where?
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Nov 16, 2011 23:56
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CoolZidane posted:Hold on a sec... Columbus, where?  e/n ahead Ohio. I've been doing a lot of stuff (read: I've had a part in I think every single production that had a cast of adults) with the Mount Vernon Players the last two years after not doing anything since high school and discovered I didn't just enjoy it: I needed it. It's hard to explain to people why the theater I do is so important to me. I've spent my entire adult life dealing with some pretty major depression and I've only been able to keep myself pulled out of it on a consistent basis since I started doing theater again. I went to art school (and dropped out), I sing, I write, but the collaborative nature of theater and its strict deadlines keep my brain engaged in a way that keeps the chemical balance in order better than any medication I've ever been on. There are people I work with who get that and people who just like to go on stage and have everyone look at them. I'm actually uncomfortable with the attention and have been since I was 18. I would really rather just disappear after the curtain call. I feel like the people who just like attention are getting more of the say than those of us who view it as an artistic endeavor right now and it's just got me feeling pissy. As far as reasons not to go to pro auditions: I have basically no resume and am quite honestly not comfortable with my weight. I lost a lot of weight when I first started up but I've been stalled for a while all the rest of my life has been in bad shape. I have a couple of goals in mind for when I am going to start searching for them and a timeline to get started on those goals. Step one is to finish up the book I've been writing, which is getting close to done. Then I'm going to find a gym and get started on a play I want to write. Hopefully the weight loss goals and the writing goals will coincide nicely. If the play works out, I'd actually like to use it as some proof that I can back up what I say I can do with some results. In my mind the time off gave me time to really experience life and have things to draw from, but not everyone views things that way.
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Nov 17, 2011 01:59
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Geekboy posted:As far as reasons not to go to pro auditions: I have basically no resume I say this as a casual friend from the internet, from our days on City of Heroes; bullshit. Actually, I'm going to make this a two-parter: bullshit and who cares? You have a resume, even if it's just the community stuff you've done. It's theatre, it counts, it's a resume. Go in and audition, get seen, let them know who you are. Keep submitting, volunteer for stuff there, go to their parties, friend the company on Facebook. As for weight stuff; man, I hear you. It's tough and it sucks. Theatre has been a huge motivator for the weight loss I've achieved (and still need to achieve.) If nothing else, it's made me more athletic and active which has made a world of difference, even if I'm still packing a belly. Don't sell yourself short or hold yourself back. Get out there and audition.
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Nov 17, 2011 03:03
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Thanks, man. It means more coming from strangers than someone who has to see me face to face, etc. I made a commitment to be in a show in March, but after that I don't think I'll have anything until the fall. And even then it's stuff that I was going to pitch as ideas. Not that Columbus has a lot of opportunities, but you never know what could lead to something.
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Nov 17, 2011 03:36
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I am in Toledo right now but I have teched a few shows with CATCO in Columbus. They are an equity company but I am not sure if they will do waivers for non equity actors. I would check them out though they are a really good company to work with. Also I have a good friend that works with The Illusion Factory in Akron. They tour and do childrens theatre but it does pay and is considered professional experience so there is something to check out too. Burger Crime fucked around with this message at 05:37 on Nov 17, 2011 |
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Nov 17, 2011 04:28
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Just got cast as Bob in Charles Mee's Summertime, and this is the beast I must tame:quote:BOB
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Nov 17, 2011 09:08
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Break it into chunks first. Then analyze the turns. Once you have the turns, tape the entire thing and practice off it. People memorize half hours of standup all the time by learning and refining incrementally. But gently caress Charles Mee. As a playwright he's so imprecise and BORING. Never tell your reader "if you can't do this impossible thing I just said, whatever." Tell them what you want to see.
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Nov 17, 2011 09:33
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T-Bone posted:Just got cast as Bob in Charles Mee's Summertime, and this is the beast I must tame: That is one hell of a beast. I agree on the idea of recording it. I used the note taking utility on my iPod for my last show and will be doing that for as long as I do theater now. Such a simple idea and yet it took hearing Matt Smith talk about how he did it to memorize the scientific jargon in his dialogue as Dr. Who for me to think of it.
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Nov 17, 2011 11:36
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I have been doing some light monologue coaching, and one thing that really seems to help the actors I work with is if I stand there and have them deliver the monologue to me. The monologue delivered to an imaginary person changes when delivered to another actor who is responding. It also helps break them out of pattern/repetitive delivery.  For me writing the subtext of the line helps me memorize Break a leg T-Bone!
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Nov 21, 2011 14:21
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The "tape the monologue and listen to it" trick has never worked for me, oddly. I get self-conscious and start "delivering" the monologue instead of just saying the loving thing. That said, that monologue is rough and those "uh"s are going to drive you insane.
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Nov 23, 2011 06:26
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Type it entirely from memory. That let's you know exactly what you do and don't have.
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Nov 23, 2011 07:08
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I just got an email from a director I work with saying he is doing a production of Urinetown in March and he asked me to work as LD. I am hella excited about this.
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Nov 24, 2011 03:01
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Just FYI guys A Behanding in Spokane is pretty loving weird, even by Martin McDonagh standards.
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Nov 25, 2011 22:12
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Hello theatre thread. I have been working as a stagehand or doing related stuff for the past 15 years. Somehow I never though to look in CC for a thread.
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Nov 27, 2011 03:42
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Glad I found this thread. Sounds like there's a nice spread of people here. I've dabbled in acting, running crew, stage-managing and more recently lighting and costume. Hoping to either stage-manage again, improve with lighting or try my hand at sound with the next show. Currently doing lights for Rough Magic. I must say, that is so much more entertaining with haze, fog machines, strobes, and choreographed drag queen dances, (complete with disco balls!) than the usual spot, blackout, cross downstage lighting.
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Dec 5, 2011 11:29
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Just got cast as Horace Vandergelder in an amateur production of Hello Dolly, making two Walter Matthau roles in less than a year. I'm only 33, but this is a case of happy and somewhat worrisome type-casting. This will be with the guy who directed my high school plays at the new high school they just built, which includes a really nice small stage. The room seats 3-400 and it has actual wings, new lighting and sound (they still smell new), the whole ball of wax. Considering when I was in school we had people sit on the floor in the gym while we opened up a retractable wall and did shows in the cafeteria . . . well, it's an improvement. I'm not sure how I feel about this production yet (since it isn't for the group I normally do things with and it seems bizarre to be doing a community show in a high school as an extra-curricular activity for the students), but I'm happy to help him get the ball rolling on doing his own thing here. His idea is to do one community and one student production each year, so I really hope it works out for him. Once this show is wrapped (March), I'm going to look into some semi-pro stuff in Columbus. Promise. I'll actually look before it finishes up, but I made this commitment so I don't want to start pursuing that until this show is over. Don't mind auditions overlapping, but there isn't enough of me to go around if the shows do.
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Dec 7, 2011 01:32
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Met someone who programs a fringe fest in my area. Sent over a few scripts so they could get a sense of my style. What's the most graceful way to talk about payment? I could really use some, but even if I didn't, my time and writing are valuable (otherwise I wouldn't have (other) work repped)).
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Dec 7, 2011 06:56
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Payment at a Fringe Fest? I sincerely doubt it. I don't think *anyone* makes money at those things.
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Dec 8, 2011 23:11
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Drat. Edit: according to documentation, last year paid out 84k, which was double the year before. So there's a chance! Golden Bee fucked around with this message at 10:29 on Dec 10, 2011 |
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Dec 9, 2011 02:31
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Golden Bee, Just curious, what is your play called? (Yes, I know. I'm late.)
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Dec 10, 2011 17:44
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Which one? I'd be writing a new one for the Fringe.
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Dec 11, 2011 03:28
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Opening the show I'm the associate director of tomorrow...my hand aches from writing cards for everyone! Pray that we don't get panned.
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Dec 11, 2011 07:13
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I just had my first audition in New York. No matter how many you go through, you always get those nerves. In my case, I get that thought, "That sucked, I sucked, oh God why am I doing this to myself?" right after. It's exactly like "Climbing Uphill" from The Last Five Years. But after all that settled, my first audition wasn't a bad one. Just gotta kick back and wish for the best for now.
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Dec 17, 2011 05:59
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The thing with auditions is, you have to understand that 95-99% of your auditions will end with a "no", but don't take it personally because it only takes one "yes" to change your life.
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Dec 17, 2011 06:29
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Pigeon Shamus posted:it was set in the girls' toilets of a skeezy nightclub, so the music was going throughout the entire play, and fade-ins/muffling effects were my bread and butter. Would've been so awful otherwise. What show was this? That sounds like it'd be really fun to distort and fiddle with. Last show I did they had a fun time figuring out a phone conversation. At first they just had the chick stand off-stage and say the lines, then they decided-we have recording equipment, why not? So for the next week of tech the phone conversation was muffled a different way every night. And every show, stage manager about dropped after calling fifty some odd sound cues in a row just for that one scene. I haven't worked sound yet, but I've heard a lot of people use QLab. I'm a little apprehensive about using something designed for a Mac. How does it compare to others? What do you use?
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Dec 17, 2011 07:08
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I've seen shows use it at the pro-level. Dunno beyond that.
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Dec 17, 2011 10:29
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Ksrugi posted:I just had my first audition in New York. No matter how many you go through, you always get those nerves. In my case, I get that thought, "That sucked, I sucked, oh God why am I doing this to myself?" right after. It's exactly like "Climbing Uphill" from The Last Five Years. But after all that settled, my first audition wasn't a bad one. Just gotta kick back and wish for the best for now. If by "kick back and wish for the best" you mean "go to about 300 more auditions" then you are on the right track!
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Dec 17, 2011 18:38
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kentuckyfriedfish posted:
QLab has been absolutely exceptional, and all of our sound designers/engineers love it. (LORT B/C theatres for context) It's made getting sound into the rehearsal room even easier than ever, and we've had zero problems running shows with it.
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Dec 17, 2011 19:27
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I'm fine with auditioning back to back to back. This one though will take me out of the country and out of the American market for two years. I've got a lot riding on it and I wanna see how it pans out.
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Dec 18, 2011 10:20
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I just found out the next show I was going to do has been cancelled, so I think I'm going to jump right into doing some "real" auditions. The only semi-pro stuff I see is an audition for the Columbus Children's Theater and it is, well, tonight or tomorrow, so there's not a lot of time to prepare. There's only one male adult role and I am woefully unprepared, but the same group has a production of Secret Garden coming up and I would like to get on their radar for that. This is a role that I think I could do (Uncle Hob in an adaption of Getting Near to Baby) and do well, but I don't know anyone in the group and I'll be essentially cold reading for this. My question for those of you who have more experience in the paid theater realm: Is this worth my time? Am I going to be doing myself a favor down the road even if I have almost no chance at getting the role this time around?
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Dec 19, 2011 16:23
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Absolutely. Getting yourself on the radar is useful in and of itself but getting the experience of auditioning at that level is also incredibly good.
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Dec 19, 2011 16:47
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Got cast in Metamorphosis (not Kafka's). It is a modern re-telling of Greek myths. I'm pretty nervous to start memorizing, but I have some time off so I might as well start. And Geekboy I would audition. Spend some time before the audition studying up on your character and his relationship to the other characters in the play and what his objective is and you should do swimmingly in the cold read. Even if there is only a small chance, getting your face out there is a good idea. You may never know if this group will have another audition for something you are more prepared for. And if they have your resume and headshot they can give you a call for stuff you are more suited for. Just go in and be natural and listen to your scene partners and pursue your objective honestly. They will remember you fondly. (Sorry my sentence structuring sucks)
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Dec 19, 2011 17:03
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Thanks for the words of encouragement. Looks like I have to write up a new resume and have a picture or two printed for tomorrow. Here's the listing, if anyone is curious: http://www.colschildrenstheatre.org/auditions/auditions.html I'm more suited to musicals, but this could get me into their heads so if I have a shot at The Secret Garden it would be easier to get in.
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Dec 19, 2011 17:27
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