Where do you call your shows from? (High school especially)
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WestlakeTech
Active Member
Personally, I prefer to be able to see the entire stage from the booth. The TV monitors we have backstage just don't cut it and our crew is spread all over the place so most of them will communicate to the SM through Com anyway.
But that's when I just say "To each his own." I find myself using that phrase a lot in the past year or so.
But that's when I just say "To each his own." I find myself using that phrase a lot in the past year or so.
LightingPenguin
Active Member
Short and simple, the booth.
We have ASM's backstage if needed
We have ASM's backstage if needed
I coulda sworn I had posted here before now.... Maybe it was lost in the Great Server Dump of '08. Ah well, here goes.
I'm in high school, and whenever I SM (whether for school, community theatre, etc.) I always like to call from off SL. I have tried calling from out front (like in tech rehearsals and such) and it just doesn't work for me. If something were to happen backstage (and many somethings have happened backstage), I would need to be right there immediately. Lighting is generally pretty consistent, and as long as I call the cues right, things will generally go like they're supposed to. Same with sound, except that they are left to their own devices when dealing with wireless mics and such. But, at least in my experiences, there's always something that can go wrong backstage. Maybe a caster broke off a wagon, and now there's no way to wheel it out like planned. If I'm backstage, I can quickly be informed of the situation, then advise lighting on what we're going to do to cover the problematic scene change. If I was up in the booth, I would have to go through a complex series of communications over the headset before finally having an idea what's wrong and what needs to be changed. I find that my view of the stage is generally good enough even when I don't have the luxury of a camera.
I'm in high school, and whenever I SM (whether for school, community theatre, etc.) I always like to call from off SL. I have tried calling from out front (like in tech rehearsals and such) and it just doesn't work for me. If something were to happen backstage (and many somethings have happened backstage), I would need to be right there immediately. Lighting is generally pretty consistent, and as long as I call the cues right, things will generally go like they're supposed to. Same with sound, except that they are left to their own devices when dealing with wireless mics and such. But, at least in my experiences, there's always something that can go wrong backstage. Maybe a caster broke off a wagon, and now there's no way to wheel it out like planned. If I'm backstage, I can quickly be informed of the situation, then advise lighting on what we're going to do to cover the problematic scene change. If I was up in the booth, I would have to go through a complex series of communications over the headset before finally having an idea what's wrong and what needs to be changed. I find that my view of the stage is generally good enough even when I don't have the luxury of a camera.
Landon2006
Member
It depends... 2 of our Theaters have booths, and one doesn't. When I have the option, the booth.
At my school we have a director's panel on SL and that is usually where our SM calls a show from. From the balcony, I dont understand how you could call a show. The entire crew knows all the cues even if they do not need to know certain ones, but even with everyone knowing what is going on you can still miss something and th one cllling maybe the only one who can take care of it.
kiwitechgirl
Well-Known Member
I always call from backstage. I have a monitor (and conductor-cam on a musical) and have long adjusted to using that. Our shows usually just have the SM and the operator (plus an ASM and sound operator on musicals, which is what we're doing at the moment), so it's handy for the SM to be at deck level so that if stuff goes wrong, they can get there to sort it out quickly; this was proved the other night when a floor track broke, meaning that furniture had to be pushed on manually rather than hooked onto the track and moved on from the wing (I have cast members helping with scene changes). We were able to easily sort out three of the four scene changes before the end of the show, but the fourth one was tricky as there was no-one available to shift a bench offstage - so I had to leave my operator to it and do the scene change myself. If I'd been in the booth, there is no way I would have been able to re-jig the scene changes or do one myself.
Now, I am not saying that calling a show from backstage is wrong, however, it is not the SMs job to be pushing scenery around. This is why you have ASMs and crewtons. Sure, the SM may be the only one with the answer to some problems, but there is a chain of command for a reason. If you have a good staff then 80% if not more of the issues that come up backstage during a performance should be able to be handled by the ASM(s). Yes, the SM needs to know that the track broke, but s/he should not have to be bothered with how to fix it or get the scenery on stage. There are many elements that still need coordinating, like lighting, sound, etc, and if the SM is distracted by issues backstage then everything falls apart. If you can't communicate to your crew how to get things done or fix a problem without getting up from calling the show then how do you keep the show running in the first place?
Keep in mind that I come from a background of working with AEA SMs, in school and community theatres it can be very different based on how you are staffed.
Personally, I call shows from the booth. We have our sound board in the back of the house, light board operator in the booth, two spots on platforms in the back corners of the house, camera people on spot platforms and in the booth, and ASMs on both stage right and stage left. SM, ASMs, someone from sound, both spot people, and the light board operator are all on headset to communicate cues and problems. Being backstage would just be too hectic (our wings are pretty small) and I like having a full view of the stage.
kiwitechgirl
Well-Known Member
I don't have a crew. Ever. And I should note that we are a fully professional producing company. On our annual musicals I've had one ASM for the past two years, but never prior to that (and never on anything except the musical); we're a small house (291 seats) with no flying and the way we work is very different to most other theatres! We did The Producers last summer and I rather suspect it's the first time it's ever been done with a crew of four - SM, ASM, LX op and sound op. 90% of our sets are static, or only have changes at interval, and on the musical when we do have moving sets, the set changes are done by the ASM and actors - it's the way we've always worked, actors know that when they're signing up for the musical that they'll be signing up to do some set changing and mostly it works very well for us. It's choreographed by the director so it's almost a featured part of the show. I do agree that in more usual circumstances that the SM shouldn't be having to push scenery around, or sort out how the furniture is going to get off the stage, but in my situation that is part of my job. And as to how we keep the show running, I have a brilliant operator who is quite capable of taking cues for himself if I have to duck off comms to sort something out - I trust him implicitly. My situation is unusual, but it's the way we work, and I've been working this way long enough to be able to sort out issues and keep everything else together at the same time - there have been many occasions where I have been swapping out someone's radio mic while calling a complex cue sequence. Ideal? No. But it's the way it is, I can't change it, I like the challenges it brings and so I stay in my job.
I do agree that it is very much situation dependent. However, given that many here are in high school or college theatre programs which is more important as the SM, keeping the show running or safety with a crew that is just learning their craft? Who is more likely to assist in their learning properly, the SM or the ASM? Where are serious problems or injuries most likely to occur during a show? Probably not with the light and sound ops. I think that these kinds of questions regarding the responsibilities of the SM beyond calling the show have to be considered. I also believe that a SM should learn to deal with all the distractions, otherwise what happens when they have no ASM and have to deal with them?
I also find the whole booth issue interesting. As an acoustician and audio system designer I am always pushing to have the mix position located out in the audience or at least where they can hear what the audience hears and are not isolated from the them. I think that lighting ops also benefit from having an audience perspective. This is often an uphill battle as Architects and administration are usually just looking for excuses to stick the ops somewhere out of the way. However, calling a show from out in the audience is a terrible situation for a SM and the problem is that as soon as someone mentions wanting a booth that is somewhat acoustically isolated for the SM then you can just about bet that the sound and lighting positions just ended up there as well. If you have a booth, then that's one thing, but when looking at new facilities or renovations, please consider how this could potentially affect the sound and lighting positions.
I totally agree that the FOH mix position needs to be somewhere that gives a good average of what the audience hears (as not every seat in the house will hear everything the same). Putting a mix position in an acoustically isolated booth or even a booth with a window that opens can be problematic.
However, as a lighting programmer/operator, I would rather be in the booth or at least in a place where I am looking at a downward angle at the stage. This is especially true if I programming moving lights. If I can't see the deck it makes it harder to program, and often if you were to be on the orchestra level of a theatre you can't really see the deck. (also why I try to get 1st balcony or Loge level tix when I go to shows).
ishboo
Active Member
We got lucky with our new theatre sound position-wise. We have our main booth at the top of our balcony which houses all the sound and video gear and usually the light board. Then in the middle of the orchestra level there are 6 seats that you can take out and pull up a metal panel and be able to completely run sound and/or lights from this position. This is nice because for musicals or sound heavy events you can mix from one of the best places possible, or for less sound heavy events you don't have the distraction of sound on the floor. I've seen a handful of theatre's that have this setup and it really helps out a lot.
Having the SM call from the middle of the house just sounds like a recipe for disaster.
Well we have a tech booth where we run the sound and lights from. The SM usually sits in the middle and calls the cues from there. We move the booth around depending on where are set is located (we move it around the theater a lot) and is almost always directly facing the stage, so it's an awesome vantage point for the SM. The booth itself is not very intricate either. We put it together in about an hour an a half or so (not including painting). Works really well.
I agree. I've had to run sound for three years of my High School's musicals through a large, open booth window, and each year I asked to transfer to the FOH position in the middle of the house. I've gotten used to in now, all I have to do is lean over my board and stick my head out the open window into the house for a good mix.
On SMs: My High School alway left the decision of position up to the SM (who was different for each musical, mind you). The SM would make sure that each person knew what happens when, where, and how, as well as calls the cues, but the crew was to fix the problems. One thing I loved about the way our school ran the show was that; after the first few rehearsals, the TD would not be on headset. The TD and the Director would take notes, but that was it. The show was ours, run by the students. I mean, for the performances, the TD would not even watch the show, and the director would be in the audience, both on hand in case of emergencies. As sound, I would normally run the sound cues on my own. I was not allowed on headset for anything other then emergencies (ie: the lead's mic just died. "Sound on headset" = "Everyone be quiet and be ready to chase actors down!") Is that normal for High School/College shows, for the students to run it and the adults/teachers to be hands-off towards the performances?
Sorry for the tangent.
I think that the booth is the best place for our SMs, because they are normally not tech trained and only call the cues. I think that it is entirely up to the existing situation. The SM should be where they are most comfortable and effective. Then again, we usually have large backstage crews, as well as a Crew Chief and an ASM, for our musicals, so the SM is not really needed backstage to fix something. Our SMs are usually in the booth, next to the sound and light boards. I think they just like it better.
That's my two cents. The SM position always depends on the situation and the venue.
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Of two schools I've worked in, one has always had the stage manager in the booth with lighting and sometimes sound depending where we're at. The other school had the SM in the booth until this year when they transferred to DSL with a video feed from the followspot platform.
when I was in high school We had 3 coms in the booth they were for the Light, Sound and SM. We gave manual ques to the 2 folowspots in the booth as well. 2 ASM's one on SL the other on SR (SR was also the head of our Fly) both on coms. 1 com set up in both of our dressing rooms. And a com set up in our little theatre (greenroom) which was right next to the dressing rooms. If our Pit was open we had a 3rd ASM on a com in the pit. For any show we had anywhere from 9 to 12 Headsets set up never seemed to have too many problems.
