Moosicals

Other Student: Twirlies?

Student: Yeah, actors. Techies, twirlies, and twangies. That’s the musicians!

[later on]

Student: Ah, the setties!

Other Student: Setties? Like… sofas?

Student: No, set techies!

Thanks for asking! 😊

As someone who primarily does lighting, the most important thing for me is my wrench (6 inches. Anything more than that is overkill 😉 and will get in your way).

You know why he casts himself as lead, then is happy to step aside and let someone else take that part? Because he knows that if he doesn't write the roles himself, the chances of him (and other Latino men) getting to be a lead instead of sidekick (at best) are, well, not quite zero, but he also has pointed thoughts on how Latinos are usually portrayed.

When I started writing it, no one was taking my words seriously. I was 19 years old and I was just writing a story that I really wanted to write. As we continued developing [In The Heights] and it looked like we were gonna get a production, what I thought about ... And I didn't think about it very consciously in terms of the creating of the show, but it was in my mind, was I was very conscious of the way Latinos have been portrayed before on stage. I was Bernardo in sixth grade, I directed "West Side Story" my senior year in high school. I saw Paul Simon's "The Capeman" my senior year in high school as well, and that show just about broke my heart. Not so much for the show, but the fact that it was 40 years after West Side Story and we still had knives in our hands and we were still gang members.

(source)

well that isn't good 😐

seeing this and reading about his involvement with promesa, i think i have clarified my viewpoints after today's discussions:

Hamilton is a great musical

LMM is a great songwriter

Hamilton still has iffy history

While the Best Musical World Cup 2023 ended a week ago, I have decided it would still be worthwhile to publish some more stats about it! As such, I have created a full ranking of all 74 entrants; the winners of the Tony Award for Best Musical.

Ranking Parameters:

Musicals that finished in higher stages ranked higher than those that finished below, and I used the votes each musical got in its final poll to rank musicals within a single stage. Musicals that placed 3rd in the Group Stage rank higher than those placed 4th, which rank higher than those placed 5th.

Link to the Best Musical World Cup Knockout Stage

Link to the Best Musical World Cup Group Stage

The full ranking is below the keep reading button.

Quotes:

“I mean I feel like since I got high off of spray paint yesterday I might as well continue the tradition” -Chris

“Render like the wind” -Chris

“Pull the HELL outta that drop” -Mike about TLM last scene

“Oh are we seriously doing notes?? Fuck that I’m out” -Trey

“Phil: Yeah I broke my ribs and I asked the doctor if they could fix em and they said no

Spot op: Ask them if they could fix my daughter’s tuition“ -people on headset at TLM

“Phil’s fuckin with the console” -some guy on headset about the house lights coming up

“Fuck fuck FUCK” -Mike about missing a rail cue

“Mike (during One Step Closer): You know, we could just end the show here. They could kiss or if they don’t Eric can kill himself because she doesn’t love him back. Just like go on the ship and hang himself or something.

Some other guy on headset: The great sushi massacre”

“All hail the krab king” -John

“I don’t wanna be hot. I don’t wanna be cold. I wanna be HAPPY” -Mike about the temperature of the theatre

“*laughing* there’s a POTATO MASHER onstage” -Mike (after Les Poissons)

“They should drop kick it offstage” -Mary about the potato masher

“The ol bladder is filling up, t’is it?” -Spot op about Mike having to pee mid show

“Spot op: lots of beer

Mike: that sounds DELICIOUS”

“We need to check I think there’s a fuck up next to the beach drop” -spot op about a prop next to the drop onstage

“Spot op 1: why is he so damn monotone. Shouldn’t he be more excited to marry her??

Spot 2: He’s gay and this is royal pressure” -About Prince Eric

“Look at all that shit. This is a SHIT TROVE. This movie could be about our impact on oceans” -Mike about Ariel’s Grotto in TLM

“What the FUCK was that? What the fuck was THAT? What WAS that?” -Mike about the guy screaming “ahh ahHH” as a fish before going onstage

“Pee: GO” -Mike about having to go to the bathroom during the show

“A girl: are you SURE there’s no more crab hats? Can’t you check in the back?

Mike: there IS no more!! There’s NOT ANY “BACK”!! THIS ISN’T WALMART!!”

“Ah, shit. That was WAY TOO FUCKIN SOON. SHIT!!” -Mike about calling the rail too soon for TLM Act 2 opening

“God, Prince Eric. Why are you so cheesy??” -Mike about One Step Closer

“I am nothing but lies” -Mike about TLM

“what if we put a spot on JUST the crab hat” -Mike about Scott’s opening speech for TLM

“Chris just posted something online from his plane that said ‘so the guy next to me just took his phone and laptop into the bathroom with him.’ Observations from 10,000 feet” -Scott

“Everyone hold for five while I fight this kid for my hat back” -Mike about the crab hat

“He lost me like…. three lines in” -Harry about Scott’s speech

“Let me just wait a minute for the chimes to kick in so I can sing” -Mike about Eric’s dropper line

“He’s a yellow bat” -Mike about Flounder’s cape

“He does have a son…. it’s CRABFISH MAN. He gets cast aside, though” -Mike about King Triton

“Tell those people to SIT THE FUCK DOWN” -Mary about ppl walking in front of spot ops

“I’m gonna punch Flounder… RIP THAT FIN OFF” -Mike about Flounder talking in the dark

“Can we just rewrite the next seen so Prince Eric doesn’t wake up?” -spot op about Part of Your World

“Someone should send him back to biology class because fish do NOT do that” -Mike about the screaming fish

“Mike: Roll call! Are spots there?

Spot op: if we have to be”

“Stand by spots to be… spotty” -Mike

“She should be rolling around like a baby” -Mike about Ariel having new legs

“Crabs are assholes in the real world” -Mike

“This is the scene where we need the gulls to fly in and scoops up Flounder” -Mike about Positoovity

“Prince Eric is an ASS! You can’t just push someone over on the beach you’ve never met before!!” -Mike

“I was raised by fish and birds. I don’t know anything. As far as you’re concerned I’m a wild person. I’m the equivalent of one of those babies raised by wolves” -Mike about Ariel on the beach

“Speaking of rich people being assholes…” -Mike

“Stand by Spot one to pick up Ariel when she stands on the table like a BARBARIAN” -Mike about Les Poissons

“We should have the nightmare scene like all the flys and lighting cues reverse REALLY FAST. It’s been a drowning fantasy this whole time. Grimsby runs onstage crying over the remains of Prince Eric” -Mike

“I feel like Ursula would comment on the random dancer like ‘the FUCK is this thing doing here??’ But, I think it would fit into our dark theme TLM we were just talking about. Flotsam and Jetsam can eat her” -Mike

“I wish I could be a pirate” -Mike

Your paintbrush is not clean until the water you squeeze out of it is running clear.

use Murphy oil soap. it’s sudsy, it smells wonderful, and it can clean both oil and water based paints. I mix 50/50 Murphy/water in a bottle with a squirt top and use that to wash all my brushes. squirt some up near the ferrule, rub the bristles in your palm, and watch the soap PULL pigment out.

unless you’re using a dry brush technique, wet your brush with water and give it a shake before dipping it in paint. this keeps the paint flowing out of your brush instead of sticking to the bristles.

use a “swish bucket” in the sink. instead of using gallons and gallons of running water trying to get that stubborn paint out of the ferrule, fill a small bucket with water and swish your brish in it, all the way up to the ferrule. I know that sounds like a no-no, but if you already got paint up there, you might as well get water up there too. swishing helps pull pigment out of hard to reach places.

not everyone has this option, but if you can lay your brushes flat on a screen instead of hanging them to dry, do that. when you hang brushes, residual paint (especially sneaky stuff like clear sealer) will all run down to the ends of your bristles and dry there. the tips of your bristles are the most important part of your brush, so if they get crusty, the brush is done for!* leaving them to dry on a screen means that any residual gunk will dry in the ferrule or at the base of the bristles. still not ideal, but better than the alternative.

*bonus tip: if you think a brush is beyond repair, try soaking it in acetone before chucking it. acetone loosens dried paint very easily, and can save that rock-hard sealer brush you accidentally left on the deck overnight.

When the director is away, the tech crew will play.

Writing a resume for Stage Management, or theatre in general, is different from most other fields. Here are some guidelines and examples to help you build your own or update one you’ve already written.

-Don’t overcomplicate your format. Adjust your margins to make them comfortable, but not running off the physical page.

-Make sure your name is prominent but not loud. I can always point out the young technician slash actor in the resume pile when they list their eye color and height.

-If you’re non-union or union, it’s a good idea to say so next to your general title - hiring managers appreciate it.

-Cater your resume to the position you’re applying for. If it’s for a musical, put your musical experience first; if it’s for an opera, put your opera experience first (then musicals because they’re the most similar), etc.

-When I was younger, it was standard to include your home address, but I advise against it. You don’t want the hiring manager to subconsciously factor in your travel expenses before even seeing your experience.

-It was also standard to include the year of the production you worked. I have mixed feelings on this - if you’re older it can date you and a hiring manager may subconsciously (or outright) decide against you. If you’ve had large gaps in employment, it will show. A practical reason to leave them out is a matter of space on the page.

-Shorten the longer titles of productions using ellipses.

-Standard order is Show-Director-Position-Producing Company

-For recurring productions with the same company, include the year.

-Be careful with your abbreviations, make sure they are industry standard. SM, PSM, PA - these are standard and typically used. Do not, for instance abbreviate the name of a show (Don’t Tell Me I Can’t Fly, not DTMICF) or a theatre company’s name (there are several CTC’s around the country, but only one Children’s Theatre of Charlotte).

-The old standard was to keep your resume to only one page, which resulted in using tiny font or picking which shows to leave off. Now that the majority of resumes come to the hiring manager in the form of email, it’s okay to send a two-page resume. If you do have a two-page resume, notate the page number on the bottom of the page. Put your name and contact info on the top of each page.

-Make sure your skills are accurate, don’t embellish or lie. If you only have a basic familiarity with lighting equipment (e.g. you can name the basic parts of a lighting instrument), then say so. If you have experience in other fields that translates well to theatre (e.g. event planning), then mention that. 

-You have to put your education information, even if you didn’t finish school for whatever reason. I had to leave CCM due to financial difficulties, even though the school gave me a scholarship to continue; I include my internships under education as on-the-job training and, during the interview process, make sure to elaborate on why my college education was cut short.

-List any affiliations you have that are helpful to your field.

-Use spellcheck and a friend with a killer eye for detail and the english language to double check your resume.

Also if you could respond quickly I accidentally glued myself to the grid and I don’t think it’s gonna hold me up for long…

Sorry for the late response. I hope can hold on for one day more. This will be a long answer so sticking with me is all I ask of you.

Lots to unpack here. While you haven't given me a lot of information, I'm going to have to assume that holiday show + strong adhesive = glitter....that's one of two things. Its probably R525600. When working with R525600 and glitter, you really should wear PPE!! Safety glasses, boot covers, a Tychem Level A...all that jazz.

If you're up on the grid, the unfortunate and first thing that will work to unstick you is...well, there's no defying gravity. This is the most pressing matter. Is the adhered skin tingling at all?

What you're going to need to do ASAP is call over any volunteer/freshmen/interns (not sure what level you're working in) and have them gather up a large mattress and then add a layer of upholstery foam. How's your skin? I hope there isn't much tingling...or burning. Once your crew has gathered the materials, they need to hold the foamed mattress above their heads. At that point...what comes next? I'm sure you see where this is going, aim is important. There's a fine, fine line. The mattress will absorb the initial impact and the crew will absorb the rest. You're probably wondering why I asked about the tingling. That's the second point. You may be dealing with ALW Industries JCSS1970, which reacts with the reticular dermis of your skin, causing it to slough off. If that's the case, this is an additional problem to gravity. DO NOT WORRY! Once you've landed, first aid for the sloughing is easy. Apply the industry standard of 3 inches of glittered meat to the wounds. Every theatre tech, at some point, has an ALW incident.