vanilla extract is perhaps the fastest a meme has become unfunny to me. it was funny the first time i saw it (everyone choosing vanilla extract in the "let's bake a cake" poll), and then it was funny when i saw it in an unrelated poll. and after that it was never funny ever again
im in a group message with a bunch of straight guys and i have no idea what's going on. for example one of them just shared this meme which is simply enlightened:
Start a binder exchange. Cast/Crew can pick up a previously owned binder to use for the show and drop it off after the last performance for the next person.
Reusable Makeup Wipes. Encourage to invest in reusable that you wash after instead of single-use ones.
Biodegradable confetti/streamers.
Use google docs/spreadsheet. Send a link to the team to see revisions of and edit together prop lists, cue sheets, change plots, diagrams.
Reusable Bottles. Replace those red solo cups and water bottles with reusable bottles for the cast. You can even have the cast bring in mugs and wash them at end of day.
Recycle Paper. Print on the back of scrap paper and old copies.
Line Notes. Instead of writing line notes on strips of paper email them to the cast. Individually or as a group.
Checklists. Insert your Checklists and sign-in sheet into sheet protectors. If you write in marker and clean it off, you dont need more copies.
Turn Off Signage. Post funny signage telling actors to turn off makeup lights after use, or room lights if they're the last out.
Rechargeables. Encourage the switch to rechargeables from projector remotes to flashlights to battery-operated props to mics. Will also save $$ in the long run.
Recycle Bins. Place a recycle bin mext to each garbage. Maybe you can invest the bottle return into the rehearsal snacks fund.
Dropbox/Google Drive. Instead of copying sketches, printing plots and breakdowns make them easily accessible online via dropbox or google drive.
Hard Copy Upon Request. Restrict printing unless someone requests a hard copy and distribute electronically.
I’ve been working as an IATSE (and freelance) technician/stagehand since 2008, and here’s a list of things I wish someone had told me when I was first starting out.
In an effort to avoid my theatre related work, and fulfill your request that people ask you about theatre, tell me a cool fact or something you like about theatre?
oh mood! It is Sleepy Times!
This is slightly cheesy, but honestly? One of the things I like about about theatre is the collaboration and the people. Like, yeah, many many things are collaborative, and I'm not saying Only Theatre Is, but like. I have now held a few non-theatre jobs, and I have not found another place that had the same amount of organization to make that collaboration like, *work*. Like, with the stuff I do with IATSE (tech theatre union)? You show up, you know your job, everyone knows their job, and the people in charge know what needs to happen and how to do that. Everyone is having fun. My first calls, at least three separate people recognized I was new, and made sure to check in on me, answer questions, and make sure I wasn't totally out of my depth.
I'm too close to quitting my latest job to get into how wild that place was, but a few summers ago, I worked in an escape room. And when I was learning how to reset the rooms, I started making a list. And everyone was amazed! They had never thought of this before! And, shock upon shock, I picked up the room reset faster than anyone they had ever seen! Incredible! (they also paid me a decent sum of money to give them these lists when I left, so like. it's cool). But like? It would never have occurred to me to not make a list! That's like, half of tech theatre, at least!
IDK, I feel like I'm going off the rails. I was talking about my theatre work with a former colleague a week or two ago, and mixed in with how much I love this job, the work, the people, was just this all-consuming rage and grief about how I've seen my industry die these past few years. Work dried up, people had to sign petitions to get entertainment workers included in pandemic relief. And it was infuriating, not only seeing people not take the pandemic seriously, but also knowing that even though I sometimes got off hand comments that basically boiled down to, "Oh I did that in high school, what made you decide to get a real job?" Pretty much every stagehand I know was leagues better at pretty much every non-medical related portion of the job, and could probably do that part well too with like, training.
Anyway, wear masks, get vaxxed, and everyone should take a stage management course and learn how to move a piano.
A more fun fact: Clue the movie is a really excellent modern example of Commedia del Arte, an improvisational Italian street perfomance art from Renaissance times!
Got back to school for the first time in ten weeks and we had to bump out our half finished set after the show got cancelled. Hopefully there will be more shows to work on in the future.