Monday, April 26, 2010
Stage Manager Description
Follow this link to find the job description of a .stage manager that BHS Stage Crew uses as its basis for understanding stage managerial duties for departmental drama productions at Burlington High School.
Friday, April 16, 2010
United States Institute for Theatre Technology
An association of technical theatre professionals actually exists! Here's a link to their website. Enjoy exploring:
USITT
USITT
Monday, April 12, 2010
The Structure of Stage Crew
Stage Crew has never before this year been an organized, recognized extracurricular activity like it is now. In order to keep Stage Crew alive and thriving in years to come and to ensure that Stage Crew can more ably accomplish its goals, the structure of the group is being re-organized.
Stage Crew is generally associated with the Spring Musical at BHS, but Stage Crew is now an official group that performs many duties outside of just the Spring Musical. The option to join Stage Crew (the group) or just the running crew for the musical is open to any student at BHS. Obviously joining the group is a larger commitment than just joining for the few weeks of the musical in the spring.
To make sure Stage Crew is able to perform its duties, a group of select students will be picked each year called the "Core Crew." The Core Crew consists of a Lighting Specialist, a Construction Specialist, a Sound Specialist, a Rigging Specialist, the Booth Chief, two Assistant Stage Managers (ASMs), and the Stage Manager. The Stage Manager is like the president of a club, with the Booth Chief and ASMs as his vice presidents. The specialists are like other officers.
The Stage Manager, Booth Chief and ASMs are also their own separate group within the Core Crew, called the Leadership Team. Their job is to lead the entire Stage Crew (not just the Core Crew) in its endeavors and to perform administrative duties for the group.
The Core Crew and Leadership Team are not elected; vacancies are filled with new members, chosen by the current/outgoing members of the Leadership Team at the end of each school year.
The Junior Assistant Stage Manager will be a junior or sophomore to be trained for a year and become Stage Manager the following year. The Senior ASM will be an experienced senior crewer to fully assist the Stage Manager.
Below are the currently filled positions of the Core Crew for next year, 2010-2011. Vacant positions will soon be chosen by the outgoing Leadership Team.
Stage Manager - Victoria Carrabino
Senior Assistant Stage Manager - Joseph Nosack
Junior Assistant Stage Manager - *
Booth Chief - Christopher LaRocque
Lighting Specialist - Jonathan DiRusso
Sound Specialist - Christopher LaRocque, Christopher Coe
Rigging Specialist - *
Construction Specialist - *
Stage Crew is generally associated with the Spring Musical at BHS, but Stage Crew is now an official group that performs many duties outside of just the Spring Musical. The option to join Stage Crew (the group) or just the running crew for the musical is open to any student at BHS. Obviously joining the group is a larger commitment than just joining for the few weeks of the musical in the spring.
To make sure Stage Crew is able to perform its duties, a group of select students will be picked each year called the "Core Crew." The Core Crew consists of a Lighting Specialist, a Construction Specialist, a Sound Specialist, a Rigging Specialist, the Booth Chief, two Assistant Stage Managers (ASMs), and the Stage Manager. The Stage Manager is like the president of a club, with the Booth Chief and ASMs as his vice presidents. The specialists are like other officers.
The Stage Manager, Booth Chief and ASMs are also their own separate group within the Core Crew, called the Leadership Team. Their job is to lead the entire Stage Crew (not just the Core Crew) in its endeavors and to perform administrative duties for the group.
The Core Crew and Leadership Team are not elected; vacancies are filled with new members, chosen by the current/outgoing members of the Leadership Team at the end of each school year.
The Junior Assistant Stage Manager will be a junior or sophomore to be trained for a year and become Stage Manager the following year. The Senior ASM will be an experienced senior crewer to fully assist the Stage Manager.
Below are the currently filled positions of the Core Crew for next year, 2010-2011. Vacant positions will soon be chosen by the outgoing Leadership Team.
Stage Manager - Victoria Carrabino
Senior Assistant Stage Manager - Joseph Nosack
Junior Assistant Stage Manager - *
Booth Chief - Christopher LaRocque
Lighting Specialist - Jonathan DiRusso
Sound Specialist - Christopher LaRocque, Christopher Coe
Rigging Specialist - *
Construction Specialist - *
Sunday, April 11, 2010
New Rep On Tour
On Thursday April 8th, the travelling theatre group from the New Repertory Theatre, based at the Arsenal Center for the Arts in Watertown, performed a modern adaptation of Macbeth at the Fogelberg Auditorium. The New Rep On Tour provides educational experiences for high schools in the region by performing plays like Macbeth and Animal Farm, which was performed at BHS earlier this school year. The performances allow students to visualize on-stage the plays that they read in their curriculum.
Stage Manager Kevin Parker, Booth Chief Chris LaRocque, and Assistant Stage Manager Tori Carrabino met with the stage manager from the New Rep On Tour group after school on April 7th to show her the theatre space and technical specifications("tech specs"). New Rep's stage manager proclaimed about the Fogelberg Auditorium: "You guys are spoiling us with such a nice space! And with people who actually know how to use its equipment! Usually we just have to perform in a gymnasium or a cafeteria." It was a concrete reminder to the stage crew about how lucky we are to have such a professional theatre to work in and reinforced how important it is for us to keep the theatre in top notch condition. Stagehand Nick Stewart helped Kevin and Tori prepare the stage, wings, and dressing rooms for the New Rep On Tour.
Because New Rep On Tour participates in many different spaces at all sorts of schools, its plays do not have lighting designs, nor do they count on the use of theatrical lighting to reinforce meaning. However, with the Fogelberg Auditoriums 3 electrics and catwalk, it was very easy to set up lighting for the performance. In addition, the stage manager from New Rep suggested that Chris and Kevin use cyc lights to come up with a lighting design that fit the play. Chris set up a wash (general white lights) for the entire play from the catwalk, and used blue from the second electric to highlight the playing space. Kevin and Chris then discussed and explored the use of cyc lights (red green and blue) and the various combination of colors to set the mood and tone of each scene. It was a great experience for Chris and Kevin to actually design lights somewhat on-the-fly for a professional theatre group.
After their performance, the cast of Macbeth held a Q&A "talkback" session where students could ask questions about important themes and theatrical techniques used in the play. During this talkback the cast gave a shout-out to Chris and Kevin for their work with lights and to all the tech crew for helping set up the space for their load-in.
And the first question asked by a student in the Q&A session:
"Was there any signifigance to the change in color of the lights?"
Yes. Yes there was.
Stage Manager Kevin Parker, Booth Chief Chris LaRocque, and Assistant Stage Manager Tori Carrabino met with the stage manager from the New Rep On Tour group after school on April 7th to show her the theatre space and technical specifications("tech specs"). New Rep's stage manager proclaimed about the Fogelberg Auditorium: "You guys are spoiling us with such a nice space! And with people who actually know how to use its equipment! Usually we just have to perform in a gymnasium or a cafeteria." It was a concrete reminder to the stage crew about how lucky we are to have such a professional theatre to work in and reinforced how important it is for us to keep the theatre in top notch condition. Stagehand Nick Stewart helped Kevin and Tori prepare the stage, wings, and dressing rooms for the New Rep On Tour.
Because New Rep On Tour participates in many different spaces at all sorts of schools, its plays do not have lighting designs, nor do they count on the use of theatrical lighting to reinforce meaning. However, with the Fogelberg Auditoriums 3 electrics and catwalk, it was very easy to set up lighting for the performance. In addition, the stage manager from New Rep suggested that Chris and Kevin use cyc lights to come up with a lighting design that fit the play. Chris set up a wash (general white lights) for the entire play from the catwalk, and used blue from the second electric to highlight the playing space. Kevin and Chris then discussed and explored the use of cyc lights (red green and blue) and the various combination of colors to set the mood and tone of each scene. It was a great experience for Chris and Kevin to actually design lights somewhat on-the-fly for a professional theatre group.
After their performance, the cast of Macbeth held a Q&A "talkback" session where students could ask questions about important themes and theatrical techniques used in the play. During this talkback the cast gave a shout-out to Chris and Kevin for their work with lights and to all the tech crew for helping set up the space for their load-in.
And the first question asked by a student in the Q&A session:
"Was there any signifigance to the change in color of the lights?"
Yes. Yes there was.
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Stagecraft Facts: Double Purchase Fly System
What is a double purchase fly system? Simply, its a way to move set pieces and curtains vertically on a stage.
A more complex description goes like this: The fly system operates on a system of weights and pulleys. In the Fogelberg Auditorium, there are 16 battens (or long metal pipes) to which curtains, backdrops, cycs, even set pieces can be affixed. Each batten is attached to a pulley with a balancing weight on the arbor. A double-purchase fly system has two pulleys for each batten. This means that the length of the rope is halved, so the "fly box" where the ropes are operated to fly the pipes is actually a number of feet above the "deck" (or stage floor). This also means that there is a 2:1 weight ratio for the arbor. That is, for every 100 pounds on the batten, 200 pounds is necessary on the arbor for the pipe to be balanced and not come crashing down or flying up recklessly into the flyspace. A balanced pipe can be controlled to fly in or out for scene changes in a performance, or to set curtains, legs, and valances to their proper heights or settings.
Still confused? Follow this link to a wikipedia article about fly systems: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fly_system
A more complex description goes like this: The fly system operates on a system of weights and pulleys. In the Fogelberg Auditorium, there are 16 battens (or long metal pipes) to which curtains, backdrops, cycs, even set pieces can be affixed. Each batten is attached to a pulley with a balancing weight on the arbor. A double-purchase fly system has two pulleys for each batten. This means that the length of the rope is halved, so the "fly box" where the ropes are operated to fly the pipes is actually a number of feet above the "deck" (or stage floor). This also means that there is a 2:1 weight ratio for the arbor. That is, for every 100 pounds on the batten, 200 pounds is necessary on the arbor for the pipe to be balanced and not come crashing down or flying up recklessly into the flyspace. A balanced pipe can be controlled to fly in or out for scene changes in a performance, or to set curtains, legs, and valances to their proper heights or settings.
Still confused? Follow this link to a wikipedia article about fly systems: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fly_system
Welcome to the Blog
Welcome all! This blog provides information about Burlington High School's Fogelberg Auditorium, events that are occuring at the auditorium, and, most importantly, gives information about the student-run stage crew that maintains the auditorium and helps run events at the auditorium. Key people in the current stage crew are:
Kevin Parker - Stage Manager
Victoria Carrabino - Assistant Stage Manager
Chris LaRocque - Booth Chief and Sound Technician
Jon DiRusso - Lighting Technician
Nick Abruzzese - Rigging Expert
Watch the blog for news about upcoming events and messages to the crew. Any student interested in joining stage crew, visit the stage crew office in the back of the auditorium near the tech booth, or contact any of the people listed above. Or just leave a comment here on the blog!
Kevin Parker - Stage Manager
Victoria Carrabino - Assistant Stage Manager
Chris LaRocque - Booth Chief and Sound Technician
Jon DiRusso - Lighting Technician
Nick Abruzzese - Rigging Expert
Watch the blog for news about upcoming events and messages to the crew. Any student interested in joining stage crew, visit the stage crew office in the back of the auditorium near the tech booth, or contact any of the people listed above. Or just leave a comment here on the blog!
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