#theatre advice

[emi-thestarlightsapphic]

Hi you post sm stuff and I saw you post some stage management advice . I need help i need to make a detailed list of what I want my asm to do and I’m completely blanking so any help on anything would be greatly appreciated. Even though I’m a third year sm I’ve only ever had an asm for two shows and neither one of us can remember anything productive she did. Anyway I’m really sorry to bother you if this isn’t something you’re interested in but I’m just asking around tumbler bc I don’t have many other options

Thank you for reading

Hi! I’m so happy to answer this! Such good timing because I’m actually ASM’ing a show coming up soon!

So, there’s so many different ways that an ASM Role could go, it really depends on the theatre company that you’re working for, but let me type up my list that I have made for my own ASM’s in past shows!

My summary though is genuinely, your ASM is there for YOU! They are your support and your eyes backstage for when you can’t be there, especially once you get into tech and shows! They are your backbone to ensure that you aren’t bearing all the weight.

1. Rehearsal Support

• Setting up the rehearsal space: The ASM prepares the rehearsal room, ensuring all necessary props, costumes, and equipment are ready.

• Tracking blocking and notes: The ASM takes detailed notes of the actors’ blocking (positions and movements) during rehearsals. These notes are essential for the SM, who uses them to create the prompt book (the “bible” for the production)

• Managing rehearsal schedules: The SM and ASM help to organize the rehearsal schedule, making sure all departments are on track and that everyone is where they need to be at the right time.

2. Organizing and Managing Production Elements

• Props management: The ASM often handles the props, ensuring that they are in place for each scene, are in working order, and are returned after use.

• Costume coordination: Depending on the production, the ASM may assist the costume department by ensuring actors are dressed in the correct costumes and are ready for their cues.

• Set preparation and maintenance: The ASM ensures that set pieces are properly placed and maintained, and that all props or set items are ready for use in each scene.

3. Technical Rehearsals

• Supporting the SM in technical rehearsals: The ASM assists the SM in coordinating all departments during tech, helping to execute and fine-tune all cues, including lighting, sound, and set changes.

• Tracking and coordinating cues: The ASM helps track the technical elements (lighting, sound, effects) and makes sure all team members are aware of their cues and responsibilities.

• Prompting actors: If an actor forgets a line or a blocking move during rehearsals, the ASM may be called upon to prompt the actor, though this is not a primary role during performance.

4. Running the Show During Performances

• Assisting in show operations: The ASM is responsible for ensuring that everything runs according to plan during performances, including backstage management and ensuring all props, costumes, and set pieces are in place.

• Calling cues: The ASM may be responsible for calling specific cues for set changes during the performance (under the guidance of the Stage Manager).

• Managing the cast and crew backstage: The ASM ensures that all cast members and backstage crew are prepared for each scene. They may direct the crew in moving set pieces or handling props.

• Handling emergencies or changes: If anything goes wrong during the show, the ASM may be responsible for resolving issues quickly, whether it’s a technical problem, an actor’s injury, or any other unforeseen event. Let the SM know of any emergencies as soon as convenient for you SM

5. Maintaining Communication

• Liaising between departments: The ASM serves as a point of contact between various departments (costumes, props, lighting, sound, etc.) and ensures that any issues are communicated and resolved.

• Reporting to the Stage Manager: The ASM provides regular updates to the Stage Manager on any issues, updates, or problems that arise during rehearsals or performances.

• Communicating with actors: The ASM may also be the person to communicate specific notes to actors, especially for smaller issues that may not need the SM’s immediate attention.

6. Post-Performance Tasks

• Overseeing post-show duties: After a performance, the ASM helps ensure that the set is cleared, props are stored, and costumes are taken care of.

• Handling any actor or crew concerns: The ASM may assist with addressing any concerns or issues from the actors or crew that arise after a show.

7. Other Responsibilities

• Maintaining the prompt book: While the Stage Manager typically has the lead on this, the ASM may help maintain the prompt book, updating it with new changes to the blocking, cues, or other elements.

• Providing general support: The ASM’s role is ultimately to support the Stage Manager, actors, and production staff in any way necessary to ensure the show runs smoothly.

Skills and Qualities Required for an ASM:

• Organization and attention to detail: An ASM must be highly organized, keeping track of numerous moving parts within a production.

• Strong communication skills: The ASM needs to communicate effectively with the cast, crew, and Stage Manager.

• Flexibility and problem-solving: Things rarely go exactly as planned in theatre, so an ASM needs to be able to think on their feet and adjust quickly.

• Ability to multitask: The ASM must be able to manage multiple responsibilities at once, especially during performances and technical rehearsals.

• Team player: Theatre is a collaborative process, and the ASM needs to work well with a variety of people across different departments.

[littlethingwithfeathers]

Stage Manager career advice

(some of this probably works for other paths too... especially #1) -Never ever turn down going out for a drink or coffee. You never know who will be there or what opportunities the person inviting you has up their sleeve. In the same vein, if you're out at a theatre social gathering and you're thinking of making an early night of it for whatever reason... stay around for one more drink (even if it's water). When the crowd starts to thin is when you usually strike social/professional gold, because that’s when the more intimate conversations happen.

-Always keep a set of stage blacks in your car, along with updated copies of your resume, and a set of nice interview clothes (just like... a polo, button up, or tunic dress top to throw on over your jeans/leggings). You never know when you might get asked to help in a pinch or marched into someone’s office for an interview on the spot.

-While we're on resumes, email yourself a copy of your resume and keep that email in your favorites folder so you can find it easily and email it to a potential employer should they ask for it. Make sure to keep it updated.

-Things to keep in your SM kit that you might not think of, but I never go without: granola bars, glucose tablets (even non-diabetics can have blood-sugar emergencies), a decent camera (it can be your phone), work gloves, rubber gloves, and kneepads.

-Go the extra mile when it comes to your crew and your actors. Learn how they take their coffee. Find out what their favorite candies are. Make sure there's a bottle of water on every musician's stand. Stage managers get an awful rap for being these unyielding emotionless deities on high, but it's easy to dispel that with little gestures and it buys you a certain amount of leeway to be curt without hurting feelings.

-I always give the same speech to my cast and crew about a week out from the beginning of tech. It goes like this: "The next couple of weeks are going to be hectic. If I answer a question or give you an instruction and sound quick or brusque, pretend that I said one of the following: Please. Thank you. You're welcome." Like the advice about water/candy/coffee, it buys you a certain amount of grace from your cast if you can’t be polite or watch your tone.

-Every job you do is the interview for your next job, sometimes in totally different arenas of arts management. A local theatre director may be at a concert you're managing. A local ballet director might have dancers in the musical you're calling. The director of a major arts council might spy you working electrics for your local stage hand union. You can never guess what's coming or who it will come from. Assume everyone might have or know of work for you someday. 

-Do little jobs sometimes. Go usher for a theatre you don’t work for. Drop in to help with strike or build for a couple hours. You might even want to volunteer your time sometimes, especially if you’re new in town. It gets you into spaces so people meet you. This is especially true in a small town, and it goes along with my previous point. You never know where opportunities might come from, and you don't want to miss out.  -A note about volunteering. It’s a dirty word among professionals... never do anything for free. BUT! When you’re starting out, again especially in a smaller town, volunteering is a great way to pick up skills. Go be a wrench monkey for a lighting designer. Go be a hand at build. Go to the costume shop. They’ll be THRILLED for the help and will absolutely teach you shit. So... it’s not for free. I’ve gotten a tremendous amount of value from volunteering because once they know what you can do, you can start leveraging them to pay you for things you already know how to do. Just remember... keep strong boundaries. Ask to be paid if you’re not being compensated another way... and exposure doesn’t count.

-Conversely, learn to say no when you need to, be it for something in a show, or for your own health. You're not everyone's friend and you're not everyone's savior.

Skills to learn: Learn to drive a stick shift. Learn to drive a moving van. Learn to read music (just passably... you don’t have to be Mozart). Take a dance class. Go be in the chorus for a play/musical if you’ve never been on stage before. 

[average-emo-enigma]

Guys should I trust this one random Redditor? I feel like I could be safe trying whistle notes on my own as long as I trust my body and stay hydrated and work myself up safely

[log-ladys-log]

Writing Assassins

One of my favourite tropes is the assassin and especially assassins of the Manchurian Candidate variety. I love everything that comes with the human weapon character—the discussions of autonomy and guilt. I love when the characters are broken and remoulded against their will. Good stuff.

Increasingly, I have noticed characters who are assassins only in title. There are multiple reasons this has been happening, but I think one of the problems going on is that the assassin has been pushed through a game of telephone. People know the archetype so they recreate it in their own work without properly researching. I’m not an expert on assassins or assassinations, but I have thoughts and wants as a person who really enjoys the trope.

As with all discussions around writing, not all of these points will apply to every story. An assassin living in the Cold War is going to operate differently than one in the Shogunate era. Different genres also have different expectations and variations on the archetype. A rogue assassin in a medieval fantasy story has less expectations of realism than the femme fatale assassin in a political thriller. However, I find it incredibly sexy when a writer takes a grounded approach with their fantasy—a little nonfiction in my fiction. This is a personal taste. I’ve tried my best to frame my thoughts in a way that can be applied most broadly across genres and settings.

At the most basic level, assassins are people who killed someone of importance.  The vast majority of assassins in history weren’t guns-for-hire. They were fed up people. Professional assassins are largely fiction, which is fine because chances are you’re writing fiction. I do think it would be fun to see more one-off assassin types.

What are you character’s motives? Your character being an orphan is not reason enough for them to be an assassin. It is a huge decision for a character to be willing to throw away the rest of their life in order to kill another person, to trade their life to take another. No one casually decides to become a murderer, especially not a professional one. Murder is deeply intimate. You’ve got to build a relationship/conversation between the assassin, the victim, and in guns-for-hire situations, the client. Now when I say relationship/conversation, I don’t necessarily mean a tangible one more so their should be aspects about their character and being that compare and contrast with each other. In How to Write a Damn Good Mystery, author James N. Frey talks about how your detective and your culprit should be foils to each other. I believe the same should be said for your assassin, victim, client trifecta.

Keep the kill counts within reason. This is what inspired me to make this post. All too often, I will see assassin characters with their kill count in the 100s plus. Instead of showing me that your character is a badass, it shows me that you haven’t thought your character through. Yes, most of the lauded, “most deadly” snipers in history have kill counts in the 100s, but they were also soldiers fighting a war. They didn’t have to worry about legal repercussions for their actions. An assassination takes months if not years of planning. If your character is an undead or immortal assassin, I wouldn’t bother mentioning an exact figure for a kill count. It still has that sort of lazy short-cut to badass feel. In Captain American: the Winter Soldier, Natasha tells Steve that the Winter Soldier is credited with over two dozen assassinations in the last fifty years. To state the obvious, two dozen is twenty-four. That number is just credited assassinations, and likely doesn’t include the people caught in the crossfire along the way. The number feels reasonable given the time span.

“Beware of an old man in a profession where men usually die young.” This is an old adage that I quoted in my post about writing violence. Across conflicts, it has been shown that the longer you are on the frontline the less likely you are to die. Survival of the fittest and all that. If you want to show your audience that your professional assassin is good at what they do, make them older.

Head shots are mostly fictional. They rose in popularity after the assassination of JFK, and they’re often used to show that the gunman is really good at their job. However, outside of close range situations, your assassin isn’t going to targeting the head. Yes, a hit to the head is more than likely fatal, but it’s also a small target on the move. Snipers are trained to aim for the t-zone, which is around the clavicle. It’s a larger area that remains fairly steady no matter how the person is moving and if you hit anywhere in the area, it will be a kill shot. (Now, I’m not a professional marksman, so any snipers feel free to correct me on this point.)

Perfect marksmen kill tension. Your character is going to miss a shot now and again. That doesn’t make them weak; it makes them human. It also helps build tension. Your audience should not be able to answer the question “will they make the shot?” right away. Have their jobs go wrong, and if they still manage to complete it, that’s what will make them badass.

Know your weapons. If your assassin uses a gun, you better know the difference between a clip and magazine. I’d recommend picking a very specific gun for your character, and then researching the hell out of it. What’s its history? What were its innovations from the previous model? What type of ammunition does it take? If you can, ask someone you know with guns if they would teach you how to use them. If your character uses poison, learn as much as you can about it. Does a person ingest it, or can it be absorbed through the skin? If it can be absorbed, how long does it last on a surface? How are you guaranteeing the mark gets it? Choice of weapon can show us a lot about a character, but it can also just as easily show us that the writer has no clue what they are talking about. Don’t be the person who thinks a “silencer” makes a gun silent.

Know your world. Anytime you are dealing with criminal or intelligence type elements, you need to research and understand intimately how the world they are living in works. When I say world, I mean both the physical world and the world as your character understands it. Learn the lingo. Learn how real life people operated. What are the political structures? What’s the geography and architecture like? How do the small things like locks work? Remember you’re not just world-building you’re also casing the joint.

A feared or infamous assassin is an oxymoron. This could also be called the James Bond problem. If your character is known as the greatest spy the world, then they’re probably not actually that good of a spy. The same goes for assassins. Now, this can also be worked with, depending on your world-building. Maybe they’re known in certain circles or people know of their work but not their identity. This also ties back into kill counts. At some point, a too high of a kill count will draw eyes, and it will end your assassin’s career.

If you have drugs in the car, drive the speed limit. A character who works outside the law has to be cautious with what laws they break. This is where you can get some interesting internal character tension. Assassin and sniper-types may be thrill-seekers or adrenaline junkies. It would not be out of character for them to enjoy speeding down a highway, but they can’t because of their career choice. Remember, they got Al Capone on tax evasion.

That all leather outfit and greased-back hair totally isn’t suspicious. This is similar to the point above, but the assassin’s job is to go unseen. They’re going to be dressed comfortably and in layers.

There are no hard and fast rules in writing. That’s one of the great things about it. If there’s anything you want me to expand on, let me know. If you have any topics you want to see covered, also let me know. I don’t bite often.

[isadeeznutz]

WHY CANT I BE FREAKING NORMAL ABOUT MY INTERESTS!!!!!!!!?!?!?! “oh this music is so good and super meaningful” BUT NOoOOoOoOoOOO I JUST HAVE TO WATCH IT ONCE AND LISTEN TO THE SOUNDTRACK ON REPEAT AND LIKE IT SO MUCH IT CAUSES A DEPRESSION EPISODE?!?! LIKE WHAT?!?! (Fr tho can someone explain why this is pls thanks)

[eurydices-carnation]

now be honest if someone invited you to see hadestown with them would you fall in love with them?

[heere-there-and-everywhere]

projects you can start when life feels boring

Podcast (you can create and upload your own podcast for free in Spotify)

Short film (write a script and film it - you can involve friends as actors or crew. Save it for yourself or upload it somewhere like YouTube)

Social media account (create a social media account - can be on Pinterest, YouTube, Instagram, etc. You can post whatever you want)

Write a musical (you can hold onto the script/music, or you can get a cast of people to play it. Whether they're your friends or random performers, it's amazing to see people perform something you made)

Start a band (indoctrinate musician friends into making music with you. 10/10)

Write a book online (write an original story and put it on Wattpad or another writing platform. Try and win an award or something. Do it for the plot)

Write a song (upload it on SoundCloud to start your Y/N musician arc or something)

Online group (start an online group related to something like a fandom or a hobby. Start a Discord server, Tumblr community, etc.)

Talent show (find an online or IRL talent show and do something in it)

Club (assemble a group of people IRL to make a club for a shared interest or hobby... similar to online group, but with people you know/can meet in person).

Code an app in Python (download mu_code to your computer and learn to code in Python using Tkinter to develop a custom page for anything you want)

Make OCs (create original characters with lots of lore. You can upload them on unvale.io)

AO3 (start an AO3 account and write cursed fanfiction)

Learn an instrument (generic, but you could go far if you choose something niche and work hard enough)

Host an online competition (could be writing, drawing, etc.)

[mira-likes]

I found the scene of Fan Xian and Fan Jian jumping around with the discipline ruler and putting on the anger/punishment act very entertaining, but I just saw someone’s comment that like “Fan Jian knows he can’t hit him” and that made me pause. Can Fan Jian get away with flogging Fan Xian (the emperor’s biological son) if he wants to? How much of his approach to parenting Fan Xian is down to him being well aware that the emperor is looking over his metaphorical shoulder?

[filmcourage]

What Writers Often Forget When Writing Scenes - Matthew Kalil and Angelique Pretorius

Watch the video on YouTube here.

[chroniclesofatboy]

my writing process: day 1

had an insanely strong burst of motivation to write, and so I opened a google doc and got some words in. new script just dropped! formatted the document, then created the bare bones for a script and its prequel. the prequel does not exist, but is a thought which has been lingering in my mind for months (if not more!!). excerpt below :)

currently working on: scene by scene outline. word count: 750.

[derseprinceoftbd]

This is a very good characterization metaphor. More people should do things like this.

Also, am I crazy or is this giving Theatre Of Coolty? Like... uA, man. Love her.

[emi-thestarlightsapphic]

Things I’ve learned as a stage manager that I would pass to future stage managers!

1. You will make mistakes!! Mistakes happen, all the time, we are quite literally human. No one is perfect. What’s really going to count when mistakes happen is how you decide to handle to problem! How you react, your problem solving, and your communication!

2. Not everyone is going to agree with you! Leadership is really tough because most of the time, the majority is going to respect you and follow your decisions! However, there’s always going to be those times when someone might not agree with you. They did things a different way with a different theatre, something doesn’t work for them, the schedule doesn’t make sense to them. Whatever it is, at the end of the day, it’s between you and the director to decide. Stay confident in your decisions honestly though. If you seriously think there is an issue, talk with your director or your team!

3. TRUST YOUR TEAM. Cannot emphasize this enough. Your ASM’s especially are your BACKBONE. Please do not take on more than you are capable!!! I really struggled with this one and wanted to handle every little thing and problem but I was getting burnt out! I was so worried during tech week about a million little things that I honestly couldn’t focus on my cues. I started eventually though, arriving to tech week and show days and taking 20 minutes to myself to meditate and focus. My team was able to handle conflict for me, set-up, and so much more. I had an awesome team that had my back and that I trusted to handle backstage while I called cues! There is so much that comes with stage management, and you’ll have your hand in every part, but share the load wherever you can!!

4. Have Fun! I feel like everyone always says this one, but seriously, have fun! I get very serious and in my head sometimes when I’m stage managing, but there’s so many times I wished I had relaxed a little more! Laugh with your team, make friends, strengthen the friendships you already had! Theatre can be a truly wonderful experience if you let go of unneeded stress (which can be EXTREMELY difficult, I absolutely understand)

Stage management is a tough position that doesn’t get a lot of recognition, but it’s always so thrilling to see those lights come up the first show! I always feel like I’m doing magic. I’m by no means a perfect stage manager, but I look forward to every opportunity I get to learn more!

[brainrotqueen]

Hiii going to be finishing a post for someones fanfic request soon!

But I was wondering if anyone in theatre or knows about singing can give feedback on my singing for a role I am going for in an upcoming musical

Specifically Spongebob the Musical as Plankton

Any feedback or advice would be nice thank you!

[theuncleklunkabomination]

Klunkisms, III

Now listen kids, because this is important. Never stop tryin', and I mean it. Don't let any gosh-darned thing stop you from achievin' what you truly wanna do (long as it ain't illegal or hurtin' nobody - I won't be held liable!)

There's gon' be a helluva lotta people tryin' to put you down to make sure they's got someone on their level. Sometimes you can lift 'em up with you. Other times though, you just can't. It's a shame really, but that's how this big weird world works sometimes.

Old Uncle Klunk ain't doin' too well kid's, so apologies for being a bit slow still.

Stay safe, stay happy. Koosh!

[average-emo-enigma]

Y’all theatre actors got any tips for not having an identity crisis?

[valeriearmani1]

help i’m going to see the rocky horror show in may and i have no idea what to wear💔💔