Define: Sitzprobe

[curtis73]

I ask because an IATSE venue is seeking minimum staffing reduction for sitzprobes and there seems to be a very, very broad interpretation of the term.

If I were a union house, I would be paying exactly one tech person to run 3-4 channels of mics for vocal support. The whole point is so the two entities can hear each other and integrate the music after a month of the actors rehearsing with a piano.

I just did a Sitzprobe for Joseph/Dreamcoat. I spent about 1 hour setting up 3 cardioids and one condenser for choral numbers. Sitzprobe took 2.5 hours. I would have hired someone on the expectation of 4 hours. Instead, it was just me and I'm salaried.

So you technically would be paying the MD, musicians, actors, and one tech person in my theater (if it were union). Sitzprobe is basically a sing-through. Sweatpants, chairs, and fluorescent work lights in a big space that doesn't even have to be the performance space.

 

[TimMc]

If I were a union house, I would be paying exactly one tech person to run 3-4 channels of mics for vocal support. The whole point is so the two entities can hear each other and integrate the music after a month of the actors rehearsing with a piano.

I just did a Sitzprobe for Joseph/Dreamcoat. I spent about 1 hour setting up 3 cardioids and one condenser for choral numbers. Sitzprobe took 2.5 hours. I would have hired someone on the expectation of 4 hours. Instead, it was just me and I'm salaried.

So you technically would be paying the MD, musicians, actors, and one tech person in my theater (if it were union). Sitzprobe is basically a sing-through. Sweatpants, chairs, and fluorescent work lights in a big space that doesn't even have to be the performance space.

Yes, and what is happening in this venue: symphony rehearsals being understaffed by applying a sitzprobe exemption in the contract.

I was wondering if there was substantial disagreement on what the SP actually is. So far it looks like this exemption is being gamed at the expense of employees.

 

[gafftaper]

I'm another vote for the first time the orchestra and singers work together... Sitzing down in ze chairs and zinging wiz ze bad AK-sent! Audio is there for information but mics are not used as actors are marking.

 

[themuzicman]

I'm another vote for the first time the orchestra and singers work together... Sitzing down in ze chairs and zinging wiz ze bad AK-sent! Audio is there for information but mics are not used as actors are marking.

I second almost all of this. I find it's a 80/20 not-marking/marking but we never really gripe either way.

On every commercial production I've done we have 3-8x SM58's on mic stands and the actors step to the mics, sing, and sit back down. In union venues we almost always have the sitz off-site or in some secondary space in the venue to keep the need for a union crew to a minimum - usually just head of props to help with the band stuff and a head elec or head audio if they really have stringent rules on plugging a tiny mixer into a wall outlet in whatever secondary space we are in. Either way, the sitz is for the MD, band, and actors, and the sound designer and A1 get a first-listen and maybe take a few notes about how they would tackle things but when actors mark the usefuleness of a sitz for sound design purposes is limited.

 

[curtis73]

I second almost all of this. I find it's a 80/20 not-marking/marking but we never really gripe either way.

On every commercial production I've done we have 3-8x SM58's on mic stands and the actors step to the mics, sing, and sit back down. In union venues we almost always have the sitz off-site or in some secondary space in the venue to keep the need for a union crew to a minimum - usually just head of props to help with the band stuff and a head elec or head audio if they really have stringent rules on plugging a tiny mixer into a wall outlet in whatever secondary space we are in. Either way, the sitz is for the MD, band, and actors, and the sound designer and A1 get a first-listen and maybe take a few notes about how they would tackle things but when actors mark the usefuleness of a sitz for sound design purposes is limited.

I agree with this... at least in our space. The point is to bring the actors and orchestra together. If the orchestra and conductor can't hear the actors, it is just another pit rehearsal. I set up mics so it simulates the scenario we will be seeing in the performances so the conductor can suss out cues and integrate how the actors rehearsed with how the pit rehearsed.... which might be two very different things. How many vamps of this do you need to repeat? How quickly does that line happen after the dance break? That kind of stuff. If it is unamplified or marked, it's kinda pointless... in our space anyway. Actors don't need to stress their voices, but doing it as closely as possible to a performance-level effort is what really helps the pit gel with the singers.