I make sure to be in constant communication with the director, as well as everyone else doing everything. If your going to spend hours working on something, better make sure it is going to work with everything else.
I also usually end up running odd jobs, i'll photocopy 6 copes of the 190
page script for the director if she needs it, or help do whatever needs to be done, or read for someone if there not there....
This is good because the director then likes you, so is more likely to listen to you for other things, as well as I like the director as a person, so its nice to help
As for actors, during the rehearsals I usually like to know where they are. There eater in the room that were rehearsing or a room just down the
hall, or somewhere in-between. It is impossible to keep high school kids in the theater room without talking or being noisy, so they go into the computer room. The director hates this, but i let it slide on this, since this is the only way anything gets done.
My director never gives
stage direction, so because of that i never bother to write
down stage direction. During the rehearsals I try to get an idea of how each scene is, the mood, and logistics, such as this person and that person need to not run into each other, or this and that is supposed to happen at the same time.
I also like to know the entire script by heart, and understand the plays backwards and forwards. This way if and when something bad happens, and we go off
book, I can tell what the actors are doing, and give them the correct
cue's.
for example, one of the shows last year, the most of the second half was off
book because 2 of the actors screwed up. The next 10 minuets was off, but I knew the shows well enough to know what the actors were doing, and got them the correct cues for what was happening, and all in all, the audience didn't notice much.
I'm sure i'll think up some things later, but thats about it...
oh, and don't be upset taking advice from someone much younger then you, or smaller then you. Last friday I was taught about
smoke machines by a 7th grader who knew about dry ice and how these things would work...
Listen to everyone, get ideas from everyone
I'll think of more stuff later
--zac