Recent content by sallyj

I realize this is an old post, but I thought I would add my ywo cents. For your first year, at least, you should stay in the dorms. Not only does it "build character", it is one less thing to worry about while you are acclimating to a new environment, feeling your way around school and a new...

It has been my experience that Lauan is not the best thing to use for keystones or cornerblocks. I have seen fasteners blow right through lauan. 1/4" Plywood, although more expensive, is a better material to use. Our theatre doesn't dutch any more. Heck, we rarely use standard flats anymore...

The Backstage handbook is a must for any technician.Scene Design and Stage Lighting (Parker, Wolf, Block) is an old standard, and the new edition has been expanded. The Gillette book is excellent too; it is a shame I can't think of the title and it is currently at home. I am a big fan of books...

jwl868: Welcome to the site, and greetings from Oakland here in Pgh! SJM

One thing that always gets me is when we are working with, say pink foam or something that is odd colored, and the actors come on stage for rehearsal, see it and ask, "is that what it is going to look like?" You just want to say "yes, the show will have pink bricks. Isn't that realistic?"...

I believe pink foam comes in varying thicknesses. I know that blue foam and green foam do as well. SJM

I tend to stay on the low tech side of carving foam, due to the fumes put out by burning and chemicals. We just stick to carving and shaping. The grinder is our friend. We used to use a lot of foam a few years ago, but steel has taken over as the material used most often. But lumber will never...

Hey, do you have something to tie this chandelier off to when it is in the air? SJM

Being staff, I have an alarm code and a key. I have spent a few nights in the theatre working on stuff. Usually during tech week. Our university will be taking over the security part, so I don't know if they will make me leave at a certain time or not. Or if I will get to keep my key. SJM

A flying booth sounds really cool, and possible. Saving room for seats is a good selling point for admin. SJM

The board thing sounds a little strange, but I know what you are trying to do. As long as you use an eye bolt and not just an eye screw, you should be okay. SJM

In most instances, the SM should be "on book", calling all the cues, including deck moves and directing traffic. Because of the concentration needed for calling cues, an ASM will often take over traffic control backstage and make sure everything is running the way it should be. An ASM also could...

When you are not on shift, does that mean that the crew is there without any staff supervision? Do you have a security guard? Is there anybody staffwise responsible there when you are not? If so, give the names of the kids who have been kicked off of tech crew to that person in charge and if...

If the TD is starting to see the light, that is a good thing. Best thing you can do is stay on his good side and be helpful. Maybe then you can try to reinstate a training process for up and coming techies. Documentation of training or something. SJM

You say you have a huge theatre dept. Do you mean huge like in students involved, or number of shows you do? Or both? Are there a lot of students interested in tech classes? Who does tech for your shows? Without knowing that stuff, my gut instinct is to gather numbers of people who are...