Stage Manager’s Kit

You will find that all professional Stage Managers have a kit they carry around with them at all times. This is a treasure trove of bits and pieces that will help the stage manager in doing thier duties. Below is a list of items that you might find in a Stage Manager’s kit. This of course can vary depending on your preferences. But basically anything that makes your job as a Stage Manager easier is fair game for the kit.

• Scale ruler
• 3-hole punch
• highlighters
• pens
• pencils
• sharpies
• coloured pencils
• post-it notes
• paper clips
• erasers
• stapler (w/ spare staples)
• staple remover
• hole punch
• glue
• super glue
• labeler
• velcro strips
• scissors
• hair pins
• needle
• thread
• safety pins
• seam ripper
• rubber bands
• cotton balls
• kleenex
• ibuprofen
• aspirin
• tampons
• Band-Aids (assorted sizes)
• instant cold pack
• rubber gloves
• scissors
• 5m measuring tape
• 15 m measuring tape
• utility knife
• pliers (needle nose, slip joint, and diagonal)
• batteries (9v and AA)
• nail clippers
• gaffa tape
• spike tape
• glow tape
• shifter
• jewellers screwdrivers
• mini mag-light

Maintenance Tips

Is the light output of your fittings starting to look dim. The shutters are sticking, basicly the fitting is not working like it did when you removed it from the carton, a brand new gleaming lantern.
Well it is time to clean the fitting and go over it and fix all of those niggly faults.
first of all give the outside a clean. Inspect the power cable and plug for any damage. Check the lantern body for any damage. Any damaged control knobs etc should be replaced.
Now it is time to open up the unit, taking particular care not to loose any screws, nuts etc. Also you should try and remember how it comes apart as you are going to want to put it back together.Blow out any dust.Gently clean all the lenses with a lint free cloth and maybe a little bit of window cleaner. Use the lint free cloth to clean any dust of the reflector, being mindful of not touch the lamp. Lubricate the shutters if there are any, graphite powder is ideal. Check all the internal electricals to make sure they are sound.
When all is clean and put back together you should have no parts left over. It is time to test the unit, there should be a noticeable improvement of the beam quality and it should all be working like a charm.

Rigging and Focusing Lights

This is part of the bump in procedure. This is the moment when all of the work of the lighting designer comes together. If the lighting designer finds out if his pre-planning is going to work together with all of the other elements.

So what are these elements?

Well paperwork is one of them. This consists of the lighting plan, patching charts.

Another key ingredient is having the correct number of working lanterns. Make sure the correct colour is available, and preferably cut to the correct size.

Optical Focus Reflector clean? Lenses clean? Lens properly positioned with retaining clips, rings etc? Lamp not to black? Lamp properly seated in its holder?	Electrical Check Plug and cable correctly attached? Cable in good condition? Does it light?
Mechanical Check Len tube or focus knob moving freely? Shutters moving freely yet remain in position? Tilt locking device free from slip Hanging bolt completed with wing nut? Safety chain for each light?	Accessories Check Enough barndoors with leaves that stay where put? Enough irises, masks, gobos? All colours cut to size, labeled, and in their frames? Enough clamps and boom arms?

Cables

You should make sure that there are plenty of extension cables available. Also they all should be in good working order

Fuses and Lamps

You should always have on hand spare lamps and fuses. You never know when you are going to blow one.

To give your lamps a better chance when you are focusing them, don’t have them up a full. If you are going to have to move a lantern that has been on for a while, let it cool before you move it.

Rigging Team

Always make sure there is enough people on hand to help with rigging. There is nothing more frustrating than having to do a lighting rig by yourself. Not only is it tiring work it is also very dangerous. If a lighting bump in required a lot of work on a ladder you will require at least three people on your team. Make sure that the rigging is neat and tidy, nothing worse than having to sort through a mess of cables to find a fault.

Focusing

Focusing is the most important part of the lighting process. Ideally you should have at least four people for the lighting focus session. This can be a time consuming procedure, so try an allow as much time as possible for this. It is a good idea to have the director present while the final focus is happening. The lighting designer should be at stage level, keeping an eye on the whole process and give directions. A person is needed to focus the lights, a person to operate the lighting desk and someone to hold the ladder.. If you have more than four people, get these people to help move ladders, walk around stage in the light.

There are at least two ways to focus the lights. The first method is to stand with your back to the light, then direct the person focusing to direct the centre of the light onto the back of your neck. It is not always an accurate method of focusing lights, but it does give you a starting point.

The other method is to keep the intensity of the light low and you face the lantern and see where the filament is in relation to the reflector. Once the light is centred, bring the intensity up and check the effect. Once the light is pointing in the right direction it is time to adjust all the other bits and pieces. Things like barndoors, shutters etc.

If you are focusing fresnels sometimes it is handy to spot the beam, then open up the beam to the required size, so that it covers the required area. Try to visualize what the lighting is going to do and try to correct any obvious faults. Focusing is a very important part of the lighting so try not to rush it. A small mistake can ruin the whole effect, you have to remember that visibility is one of the most important aspects of lighting. So take time and double check everything. A few inches difference really does matter. Thoughout the operation the lighting team must work together having their separate but coordinated roles to play. As you focus each light you can put the colours in, or you can leave it until after the first focus session is over. Then check the focus again.

Once you have focussed all of the lights it is time to see if it all works and blends nicely together.

You will of course have to touch up the focus as rehearsals progress, and things don’t work .

Theatre vs Sports

Lets set the cat among the pigeons. Do you remember at school you had access to music, drama, dance or any sport. Once you left high school what do you have access to that is partially funded to the government -sporting facilities to play basketball, volleyball etc. The are a lot of sports centres that are funded by local government and state government to offer you the consumer very low cost sport facilities. Here you and your mates can get together for a game or three.  Now if you were involved in music, dance or drama do you have the same access to similar facilities? Unfortunately no is the answer. There are lessons you can take at a high cost. And there are amateur theatre groups and bands etc.  But a lot of these are not subsidised to the same level that sports are.  So why does the government not supply similar facilities for the Arts. The reason seems that we are viewed as a sporting nation by the rest of the world. By the same token that means that anything artistic that comes out of the country is not going to be taken seriously by the world and by our own nation. It is time to put more money into the creative side of Australia. But, I hear you say, we have a variety of theatres and other venues around the place. surely that is the same as sporting venues. But no it is not. These venues charge a fee to use them and that is not cheap. The venues do not have the same amount of subsidies as the sporting venues, If it was the same we would have more performing arts. So we need places for musicians, dancers and performers to hang about developing thier skills and these need to be funded by the government. Participants then only pay a small fee to take part. I am sure we would see more talent emerge and also see more people attneding the performing arts.

Building audiences

This is something all theatre groups etc need to think about. They need to find away to increase the number of people attending their events. At the moment a lot of them are marketting to the same group of people and therefore pulling people away from othe companies. This is not really the right way, we all need to survive. We need to look at what non-theatre attending people want to see, where their interest lies. We need to know where they get their information from are they using web 2.0 sites. Social media web sites. Should companies move away from traditional advertising mediums to the new media. Surely using traditional media is preaching to the converted, these people already attend theatre, and since they have a limit amount of finance they can only view a certain amount of shows. If we target them surely they may come to us but at the expense of another company. And if we want the performing arts to continue  surely we don’t want to affect the financial viability of another company. We need to target people that normally to not attend theatre. We need to get in thier face, advertise were they hang out. This is were the web comes into view. People are finding thinks to do etc using web 2.0 sites. Some popular sites are Myspace, Facebook, BeBo, Twitter and even YouTube. We need to understand these new technologies and then we can make them work for us.

There is a concept called Guerilla marketting.This is an unconventional system of marketting.It is run on a very low budget, by relying on time, energy and imagination instead of big marketing budgets. It is unexpected and unconventional. Customers are targeted where they would not be expecting, which can make the idea that’s being marketed memorable, generate buzz, and even spread virally . Youtube and the other websites can be good for viral marketting. Theatre companies should also have a page on these websites and get as manty friends as possible as you then have a list of people to notify about coming events. The companies need to reach out to people in as many new ways as possible, theier marketting should not be static. Even thier own websites should be designed for people that do not normally attend shows. They need to be updated very often not just each time they have a show. They need to be blog like in essence. The also need an RSS feed available for those people that want to be notified when knew stuff is added. An almost aggresive email type campaign can help. The trick is to hit people often with snippets of info, that develop thier interest in the coming event. And these days of online purchasing it might be worthwhile having a method to purchase tickets online using paypal to complete the payment. If you build thier interest and they notice they can buy online you might just hook another sale.

Strand Patt 23

This old trooper has been around since April 1953. The first Strand Patt23 was designed for Amateur or Little Theatres as the Strand press release noted. The first Patt 23’s had noshutters for beam shaping. Basically you slide a  straight edge adjustable mask into the gobo slot to shape the beam. And there are still plenty of the first range of P23’s around, and in some theatres you will still find the beam shaping slides that went into the gobo slot. The beam angle is 20 degrees.Now for the first series of patt 23’s you could get extra lens as accessories.  One of the lens would fit in the diaphragm section of the lens tube, it then became the Patt23W thus giving at a beam angle of 36 degrees. There was also a fresnel lens that replaced the front lens turning it into a 23F, the beam angle was then 30 degrees.

Little did Strand know how popular this model would become.

They then released a mark 2 version. This still had the same extra lens etc, but the main difference was the addition of shutters into the bodies.  This made the unit more versatile.

In use the lanterns are still quite good. I am still using then for specials and sidelights in dance.  Focusing them can become a problem if they have been on for a while, they become very hot and I have burnt many a finger focusing them. The plastic knobs on the shutters can break off and then it is very difficult to adjust them as they do heat up.  The shutters can stick as can the lens tube when focusing. One problem that seems common is they can droop when you tighten the tilt control knob. To fix this problem all you need to do is open the lantern remove the reflectors and tighten the nuts on the stirrup anchors. You can upgrade the lamp to a 650w lamp but it will get even hotter.

These are solid workhorses of lighting. Many a technician first experience with lights was with this baby. They maybe old but with tender loving care they will keep working for years. So regular maintenance is the key with this lantern.

I still love using this lantern, I have achieved some great lighting with the Strand light. I don’t think there has been another lantern like it and with the longevity.

Rating 9/10

Pre-Loved equipment

We all have old pieces of kit that we still love to use. I am sure every theatre has some wonderful old equipment that they still keep using, because it there, it never breaks down and people keep on asking for that 30 year old device. Well I am going to cater for said bits of equipment. I am also going to write reviews on bits of old kit that we all have lurking around. Such wonders as the Strand Patt 23 and the Shure SM 58 microphone all of which  you will still find in venues worldwide. These devices have insidiously made themselves indispensable in our lives. This is my tribute to and review of these devices that continue to work and help create the magic of theatre.

They will have thier own catogory called belive it or not “Pre-Loved Gear”

FAL 1000w Fresnel

Fal fresnels are a lightweight, low cost alternative to the mainstream manufacturers. The 100w units weigh just over 6kg. The one really nice feature is the focus mechanism, instead of a slide knob this fitting uses a similar threaded rod like the old Strand P743. This is much kinder on the lamps, as there is less chance of jarring the filament and blowing the bulb. There is a built attachment point for a safety wire. It has a hingable lamp tray on the bottom, this is good if you hare changing lamps from a ladder but could be a bit awkward if you are reaching down from overhead position. The light output is pretty reasonable considering the pricepoint. The beam angle varies from 10 degrees to 53 degrees. There is the conventional tilt adjustment know on the side. The is a problem with this is once the lamp has been running for a while the stirrup seems to almost weld itself to the body. It is quite a struggle to release it so you can tilt the lantern. This could be due to the paint that is used. But it is a problem that the manufacturer needs to overcome. You can get barndoors for this lantern, but these are not that good. On the ones that we brought the barndoors are lose and the doors fell off on a couple of the units. This could be rather nasty if the unit is above someones head. Overall the unit is ok. But it could be better with better quality control in the factory.

I give a 5/10 score

Kupo MultiPar

I have recently been using the Kupo MultiPar fitting. I am quite impressed with this product.The Kupo MultiPar is a well made fitting.  It feels solid in the hand, but is certainly heavier than the parcan that it is replacing.

Its basic specifications are:

• POWER SUPPLY 240V
• POWER CONSUMPTION 600VA
• LAMP 575 HPL/600W GKV, Socket G9.5 colour temperature 3200K-life 300 hours / manufacturer ratings).
• OPTICS High efficiency aluminium reflector and enhanced coating. Four different lenses included: Very Narrow spot 15º, Narrow spot 19º, Medium flood 21º x 51º.
• BARNDOOR Optional 4 leaf barndoor.
• COLOUR FRAME Filter frame with spring clip for easy filter change.
• VENTILATION Construction assisted convection cooling. BODY Fused aluminium. Metal parts have epoxy paint finish. Easy access to lamp and main components. Protection IP 20.
• DIMENSIONS: 270mm L x 260mm W x 295mm H (included bracket) Weight 3.5 Kg.

In use this is a very nice lantern to use. The colour frame is nicely secured. The light output is very nice. With the changable lens you can light any part of the stage easierly and evenly. The zoom function on on the HOG version is a nice touch. It is certainly safer to use compared to the old PAr 64’s. It takes up lesss space. But you do need to take into consideration the extra weight in the rigging. The lens changing is a bit fiddly, but after a while you will get use to it. The only real problem, and it is minor, is the tilt function. You loosen the tri-wheel on the stirrup to tilt the unit and it seems to be a bit sticky. This can be a bit of a problem when up a ladder. it requires a bit of force to get the fitting moving. I think it could be the epoxy paint that might be causing it to stick. Maybe over time it will become less of a problem.

Overall I think this is quite a good fitting for the price. I am pleasantly surprised with the finish and the light quality.

I would give it a 8/10

Who Does What

Have you ever wondered who does what backstage in theatre?

Most people are not to sure what each job does and what skills are required for the variety of positions available backstage. So lets look at a few of the jobs and see what they do.

This is only a brief description, but if required I can expand the information in future blogs.

Lighting Designer

This is almost self explanatory. This is the person that designs the lighting for a show. They decide the colour and direction of the light, they decide where the shadows fall and direct the eye towards the key element of the show. They need to have a good understanding of the production, they need to be sympathetic to the directors vision. The designer needs to know the capabilities of the equipment that will be used lighting the show. They will always work together with the Director and the Set Designer.

Stage Manager

The stage manager is a key person in the backstage hierarchy. When the production is running they will be responsible for the vision of the director being carried out consistently. The stage manager will attend all of the rehearsals and make copious notes of where the actor stand and move. They will pass technical information on to the various technical departments. The Stage manager will have a “bible”, this is a special copy of the script that has all of the actors moves, lighting cues, audio etc marked in it. This is so that the Stage Manager can cue everybody exactly the same each and every show. They make sure it all proceeds nicely, they also need to be very aware of occupational health and safety, first aid etc.

Production Manager

This person  is in overall control of the technical side of the production. This can range from budgets to finding crews and trouble shooting. This person as to have  knowledge of what every department has to do. This person holds the tech team together.  They set up the budget and production schedules and then make sure it is followed as closely as possible. They are the ones to make sure everything is done in a safe and timely manner.  They need to carry out the risk assessments to make sure the show is safe. They need to understand technical drawings. This is a highly skilled position and one that should not be undertaken lightly.

Audio Designer

This person assembly the soundtrack of the show. This can range from assembling sound effects to recording musicians. This person works with the director to create the aural background of the show. They will go out and records voices, effects, music – whatever to create a soundtrack that will enhance the audience experience. The also need to have a great understanding of the equipment available and also the effect of sound on an audience.

Wardrobe

This department clothes the performers in costumes that will complement the production. Again they will work closely with the director.  Sometimes the costumes will give you hints of the period of the show or the maybe complete reproductions of the genuine clothes of the period. They need to have a good idea about costume construction and a good eye for design.

In a later blog I will cover briefly more backstage roles.