Musical theatre show case

The show its self isn’t like any normal show as it is a showcase so instead of telling a story they have chosen a selection of songs from musicals to preform so the script as just a collection of lyrics.

Because this show didn’t have a very big budget we had to source as many of the props as possible and anything we couldn’t source we went out and bought or borrowed from other departments from the college.

An ASM is an Assistant Stage Manager so they are in charge of the props and scene changes.

They work closely with the stage manager, deputy stage manager and the director to make

the show the best it can be. ASM’s also sit in the rehearsals so they can take notes and see

where things need to go on during the performance and how they can help the actors during

the performance. During the show an asm would be located in the dock so they can look

after the props table they have made with all the props they have collected before the show

and during rehearsal, they will also help with scene changes so the show can run as

smoothly as possible. As an active asm you would help the team out as much as you could

by helping put the set up and they also need to set their props table up and make sure they

have got all the performance props instead of the rehearsal props. An asm would use all the

tools that are needed for the show because if they need to make a prop for example, it could

be made out of wood, so they need to use a saw to get the wood to the correct size and

shape. To be a successful asm the main fetcher you need to hold is communication skills as it

is not just the rest of the team to talk to you Also have to communicate with the directors

and actors about what they want and need for a show.

Skills an asm would need

An asm needs to be organised to keep all the props neat and tidy on the props tables and

making sure everything is where it needs to be. They also need communication skills, so they

can communicate with the rest of the team and the actors.

Being an asm on this show differ to any other show because of not having a script with stage

directions so there are no details on what props are needed so it was all down to what the

director wanted. If this was a normal show all the props would be from the same era

however because they did different songs from different shows the time period changed

from each song so we needed to get all the time period right for each of the songs so it

looked right for the performance.

Rehearsals

In the rehearsal process I created an initial props list and gathered rehearsal props for the show, but because there is no script as such because it all a collection of songs so there aren’t many stage direction or prop description in them. So, I got all the details of what props that are needed from talking to the director, they already had an idea of what props they wanted for the show, so I created my props list from there ideas. They gave me a list of

the running order with prop ides next to the song. Shown in the photo below.

From this list I crated my intal props list for the show but also from being in rehearsals the directors said other things they wanted that weren’t on the list, so I added them in as well to get. I started collecting the props as soon as I could. The first props list was quite small but over the rehearsal prosses it grew as they went over different songs props got slowly added to the props list, so overtime I updated the props list every rehearsal if it was needed.

In the photos below is how my props list progressed over the rehearsal prosses I also split the props list

into songs, so I knew what songs had props and what was needed for each song. I then also colour coded it to; red for if we haven’t got it, amber if we have a rehearsal version or we are in the prosses of making it or waiting on an actor to bring it in, and green meant we had the prop and it was ready to use in the show.

Also, during the rehearsal proses it give us a better understanding about what is going on, on stage and what health and safety measures we need to put into place for the actors to be safe on stage at all times. For instance there where 6 Macbeth tables used in the performance and the actors had to climb on them and stand on them to give vernation in height, so the stage manager did a risk assessment on the 6 tables and all the actors and made sure that they all felt comfortable climbing on and off them, all the girls all had heels on throughout the show as well so that changed the risk assessment so we told them all of them if they don’t feel comfortable getting on or off the tables not to get on them or if it doesn’t feel right like if it feels a bit wobbly then tell us straight away so we can fix the problem as soon as possible. We also told them this about their shoes if they ever felt like there shoes where wobbly or broken to tell us straight away so that they are going to be safe on stage.

As well as collecting all the props I also had to paint the 6 tables in different shades of blue instead of the yellow colour they were before.

Tech

During the tech the other ASM and I got all the props we collected over the previous weeks and made our props tables in total we had 2 props tables to crate the props tables we got some white lx tape and put it all around the edge of the table the started placing the props on the table putting the large breakable items at the back, so they don’t get nocked over when collecting other props from the table, once we put the props on the table we out

lined a box of where it would go the wrote on the white lx tape what it was so it could pe placed back there after the use of it. At the front of the pros table we doubled the white lx tape so that anything big that needed to be stored under the table could also be written on the tape as well with arrows pointing to the under side of the table with what is under the table. We also have furnisher in the dock as well, so we put all the furnisher to one side neatly, so it could be moved easily when needed, to make it visible in the dim light (blues backstage) we put whit gaffa tape on the floor making out where all the furnisher was and the 2 props tables where.

I also created a cue sheet for myself during the tech, so I knew what props needed to go on in the next song and what furnisher was needed for it as well and if I needed to go on and take anything on or off or page the curtains.

The stage manager also crated a cue list for the team and put it on the dock doors, so we could all see it during the show.

The stage manager also created a settings list, so we could do a shout check before every show.

here are some photos from the tech of the use of cans and cans ready to be used on top of my script ready

for the tech to begin. Also, a photo of where the vanity mirror needed to be during the show in once of the scene changes.

Shows

During shows I was sat on cans so that I could here the DSM cuing any backstage cues and when I was needed to move furnisher or set props then I would say “backstage off cans” by

doing this it lets the DSM that ere is nobody on cans backstage so if the need to get hold of backstage then need to press the call light on can so that it gets out attention to come back onto cans so we can communicate with each other.

As part of the pre-show checks we also had to do a stage sweep to make sure there was no dirt or sharp objects on the floor for the actors to perform on.

We also responded to all the feedback we got from the show reports so that each show we did was better than the last. Shown in the photos bellow.

Incidence during the show we had one incident during the show where one of the tables fell off another one when they where stacked up on top of each other in one of the songs (‘I’m braking down) where the actor slightly knocked it so the table fell because it was put on the

other table off centre so it wasn’t evenly balanced the actor did amazing not to brake character and carry on with what was going on and picked the table up and put it back, however it meant that some of the things on the table fell off and she was chopping up

banana so there was banana on the floor and also spilt a bit of water, during the next scene change we went on got as much of it all up as possible and then carried on until the interval

there I did a stage sweep to get it all up so it was safe for the actors to dance on.

The get out

For the get out we started the props get out during the last show so once we knew a prop weren’t needed any more we put it in the props box out the way so then we had less to do on the Monday. On the Monday we had to put all the props back in the props store and tidy the dock up making sure it was all neat and tidy for the next project to go in there. Once we did that we could help the other team to get lx down and sound out and the dance floor out so that the theatre is back to normal ready for the next show to get in.

Research

I also did research on one of the song as it was set in 1815 so the props needed for that song

would need to be historically correct for the piece, but because we don’t have all the correct

historical props needed for it we improvised with some of them and the director was happy

with the solution we came up with, we didn’t have any of the psoralen tankards so we had

to use the plan metal ones we had at college in the props store alone with some puter plates

that matched the tankards so they didn’t look out of place.

Evaluation

I believe the show ran very well and we all worked well as a team the co-operation between us all and helping each other out as much as we could really make the show run smoothly and my part in the team was just as important as all the other also because the other asm was busy on a show during the rehearsal prosses and then also wasn’t there for the 3rd and 4th show I really had to up my game and fill in and keep her UpToDate with everything that is going on and what she needed to do when she got a chance to get all the things she needed to get for the show, also because she wasn’t there for 2 of the shows I need to make sure I could do all her jobs during the show as well as mine I did split her jobs with the stage manager who help out lodes with everything that we where doing she gave a lot of support through the prosses and gave advice on how to do the job better or in a different way to how I did it the first time.

BibliographyEssentials of Stage Management. (2004). In P. Maccoy. Methuen Drama.

theatre uoregon edu. (2018). Retrieved from assistant-stage-manager/: https://theatre.uoregon.edu/assistant-stage-manager/

wikipedia. (2018, June 26). Retrieved from /Les_Misrables_(musical): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Les_Mis%C3%A9rables_(musical)