The Theatre Question Amnesty Thread

[Jon]

Was reading on the Equity website about how producers who are touring shows to Dublin are now responsible for finding accommodation for the company and crew which makes me wonder, what was the arrangement before?

[Deleted]

With get ins and get outs, is it always a local crew or do major touring productions look to have some "regulars" who always work for them. Also is it the production or the local theatres who will supply these staff?

I guess some of the best at this type of work will also be in demand at concerts if acts have big stage sets. The biggest acts probably have a core crew they take around with them or a trusted pool in each to call uponcountry or the likes of the O2, NEC Arena have regulars working on their ins and outs.

Is it almost a filter system as the bigger the set and venue, the more you'll pay and thus the better the crew you'll get.

[firefingers]

Sept 14, 2023 0:51:48 GMT Jon said:

Was reading on the Equity website about how producers who are touring shows to Dublin are now responsible for finding accommodation for the company and crew which makes me wonder, what was the arrangement before?

Previously it worked similarly to touring in the UK, where the producers would pay an allowance to cover the cost of accommodation and commuting into the theatre, as well as not being able to have food cupboard so you eat out more with the responsibility for researching and booking falling to the employee, OR provide accommodation and give you a per diem. The current UK allowance is £330 for commercial tours (£265 for subsidised tours), but Dublin meant tours going there had to receive the rate agreed by Irish Equity (roughly £500 from what I can remember). Dublin is incredibly expensive, meaning the allowance was woefully inadequate, even by the already poor touring standards. In the latest batch of negotiations it was agreed that the ability to pay people an allowance for Dublin would be removed and producers would have to book them accommodation. I've done Dublin a few times, when the producers sorted it I stayed in a modern aparthotel studio room, when I was issued the allowance I could just about afford a rather grimey spare room in a stranger's flat. 

Equity made a big song and dance about digs last year with their Dignity in Digs campaign, whilst achieving nearly nothing in the negotiations: www.equity.org.uk/campaigns-policy/dignity-in-digs None of the outlined aims were acheived and can't be neogtiated again for the next three years.

Digs is a big issue for me. I spend probably 10 months out of the year in them, so I could talk at length about the problems and solutions.

[firefingers]

Sept 14, 2023 1:39:52 GMT @original9 said:

With get ins and get outs, is it always a local crew or do major touring productions look to have some "regulars" who always work for them. Also is it the production or the local theatres who will supply these staff?

I guess some of the best at this type of work will also be in demand at concerts if acts have big stage sets. The biggest acts probably have a core crew they take around with them or a trusted pool in each to call uponcountry or the likes of the O2, NEC Arena have regulars working on their ins and outs.

Is it almost a filter system as the bigger the set and venue, the more you'll pay and thus the better the crew you'll get.

So there are three sorts of crew on the get in/get out:

Show crew: These people will have been working on the show every day. Employed by the producers, should be PAYE. (This is what I usually do)

Production staff: These are freelancers who come to every venue to put the show in/take it out. Employed on a freelance basis by the producers. When you see "production sound engineer" etc in a programme, that is who these guys are.

Venue crew: These are crew specific to the theatre, who have most likely never worked on that show before. The producers will tell the venue how many crew they need and of what specialty (staging, lighting, sound etc) and the venue supplies from their full time staff and casuals (a list of people called in specifically for these jobs)

A musical loading out for say lighting will often have: at least one production engineer, at least two show crew, and at least two venue crew, working together as a team.


Per your second point, although there is a general correlation between show/venue size and pay, there are places that buck the trend... There are houses with more than 2000 seats on the circuit where the venue crew are paid close to minimum wage.

[francistheatreboard]

Where do you find papered tickets for big regional shows and tours? Reading that some people have £2 seats - I only see offers of £15-20 which is still cheap but not through any papering sites.

[Ranger]

For the musically inclined...

Assuming one has written lyrics before any music, what determines whether it's set to 3/4 or 4/4 time?

Another way of putting it. Does line length (syllable count etc) of the lyric factor into the music choice, or can a lyric be set to either 3/4 or 4/4 reglardless. 

[wally]

For a musical like Pride & Prejudice (Sort of) that uses a lot of copyrighted music as background to original lyrics, what happens behind the scenes to ensure that licensing is possible.

Imagine writing the song to a particular tune then finding out you can't license the music? Or the musician wants a very large (or even extortionate) amount of money for the music? What percentage do the original makers of the music get?

Just generally curious about this topic.

[properjob]

Jan 9, 2024 17:40:12 GMT wally said:

For a musical like Pride & Prejudice (Sort of) that uses a lot of copyrighted music as background to original lyrics, what happens behind the scenes to ensure that licensing is possible.

Imagine writing the song to a particular tune then finding out you can't license the music? Or the musician wants a very large (or even extortionate) amount of money for the music? What percentage do the original makers of the music get?

Just generally curious about this topic.

This doesn't answer your question but you or others may be interested in the wide variety of types of music licensing even within theatre managed by the PRS PPL

pplprs.co.uk/themusiclicence/sectors/live-events-festivals/theatres/

I believe that they don't have the same system in the USA so even incidental  music has to be individually cleared and licensed.

[wally]

How do playwrights get their first play produced?

I often look at the websites of different theatre companies and they all tend to say "Sorry, we don't accept unsolicted submissions" from playwrights. 

I've looked at a few literary agents websites (  www.knighthallagency.com/ ) and they often don't accept unsolicited submissions either 

[jaqs]

Competitions, student productions, Edinburgh fringe, write a best seller.

[sph]

Many of them start out small. They get to know people in the industry: producers, actors etc. Then they might put together some table readings of their play, before moving on to a more "staged" reading in front of an audience, preferably an invited industry audience, usually in like a pub theatre or studio somewhere.

From there you hope it picks up some interest from producers. If not, it could mean self-funded/crowd-funded fringe runs, festival runs etc. There's a lot they can do actively as well as just sending the script to people.

[Dave B]

Spinning out of The Human Body at Donmar thread, it was 3h20m on first preview, it is seemingly now down to 2h40m.

How does a show drop 40 minutes in 3 or 4 previews? That is a full 20% of the running time gone. What happens in those performances that is so different than rehearsals? Is there that much watching of the audience and their reaction, or is it realising in the space that set changes can be done faster or more efficiently. Anyone able to give some insight? Ta!

[Someone in a tree]

I was thinking something similar Dave B. Makes me wonder what was cut if anything during the rehearsal process ? And if not are the creatives not able see that until joe public walks in ?

[sph]

Feb 22, 2024 11:22:19 GMT Dave B said:

Spinning out of The Human Body at Donmar thread, it was 3h20m on first preview, it is seemingly now down to 2h40m.

How does a show drop 40 minutes in 3 or 4 previews? That is a full 20% of the running time gone. What happens in those performances that is so different than rehearsals? Is there that much watching of the audience and their reaction, or is it realising in the space that set changes can be done faster or more efficiently. Anyone able to give some insight? Ta!

There's a number of reasons, but the main one is that when the creatives get to sit back and watch a show with full set, lights, costumes and a responsive audience, they get a much clearer picture of what works and what doesn't than they do in a rehearsal room. A joke that hasn't got a laugh in three previews? Cut. A scene that just seems jarring and slows down the play? Cut. 

Previews for a new play can be quite experimental and entire scenes can be rewritten during this time.

They may also have an "end goal" running time. If the producer/director wants a 2 hour show but it comes in at 2 hours 30 on the first preview, they'll spend the next few days "trimming the fat" to get it down.

[Jon]

I wouldn't be surprised if the dress run for The Human Body was 3 hours 20 minutes but as previews have gone on, they've managed to get timings down by cuts or just faster scene changes.

[Dave B]

Interesting, thank you sph!

Now I'm wondering how hard it must be for someone who has learnt all their lines and movements and then has a sudden chunk just removed, possibly as soon as in between performances.

[toomasj]

Feb 22, 2024 23:27:39 GMT Dave B said:

Interesting, thank you sph!

Now I'm wondering how hard it must be for someone who has learnt all their lines and movements and then has a sudden chunk just removed, possibly as soon as in between performances.

Oh actors LOVE that

[PhantomNcl]

Feb 22, 2024 23:33:21 GMT toomasj said:

Feb 22, 2024 23:27:39 GMT Dave B said:

Interesting, thank you sph !

Now I'm wondering how hard it must be for someone who has learnt all their lines and movements and then has a sudden chunk just removed, possibly as soon as in between performances.

Oh actors LOVE that

Even more so if they're rehearsing changes during the day, but still performing the original at night until the changes have been fully worked-in

[toomasj]

Feb 23, 2024 12:10:16 GMT PhantomNcl said:

Feb 22, 2024 23:33:21 GMT toomasj said:

Oh actors LOVE that

Even more so if they're rehearsing changes during the day, but still performing the original at night until the changes have been fully worked-in

And as a DSM there is nothing so fun as making detailed blocking notes, diagrams and beautifully detailing the show book for musical numbers/long scenes with dozens of Q’s which only get performed once or twice - if at all. We really love staying up late into the night doing that stuff, only for the director to let you know in the morning it’s all cut.

Great fun

[happysooz2]

After what I thought should have been a show stop on Saturday (see bad behaviour thread…)

Are there any guidelines on when a show will stop? Who decides? What are the trade-offs? How is it communicated to the actors?

[sph]

Feb 25, 2024 22:53:34 GMT happysooz2 said:

After what I thought should have been a show stop on Saturday (see bad behaviour thread…)

Are there any guidelines on when a show will stop? Who decides? What are the trade-offs? How is it communicated to the actors?

It really depends on a few factors when it comes to things happening in the auditorium, but it's generally a last resort. An ill audience member will generally be dealt with without the show stopping unless it's something big where they can't be moved from their seat and paramedics have to come into the middle of the auditorium etc.

Size of venue matters too. A small intimate venue may require a show stop for someone vomiting and a lot of movement. A West End theatre pretty much never would.

Disruptive or loud audience members are usually just removed by management or security if it comes to that - no show stop unless it escalates into a full-on fight.

The majority of show stops happen because of technical issues or injuries/sudden illness in the cast.

If a show stop happened every time someone was ill or disruptive in an auditorium, the show would be stopping every other day, and putting the brakes on a big musical is a big expensive hassle.

[Jon]

In regards to the vomiting situation, it's unfortunate but not worth stopping the show unless they're vomiting on the stage or on the actors themselves.

[Distant Dreamer...]

Here’s something I’ve always wondered about. In musical theatre I’ve noticed the MD speaks on a phone (which is usually black for some reason, the traditional chorded type) before a show starts and before the interval. I assume this is to speak to stage management to confirm they are ready to start…but I’ve noticed these calls can last for up to a few minutes which seems a long time for a quick “we’re ready”…sooo what is discussed? 🤭😀

[SuperTrooper]

Mar 5, 2024 21:44:19 GMT Distant Dreamer... said:

Here’s something I’ve always wondered about. In musical theatre I’ve noticed the MD speaks on a phone (which is usually black for some reason, the traditional chorded type) before a show starts and before the interval. I assume this is to speak to stage management to confirm they are ready to start…but I’ve noticed these calls can last for up to a few minutes which seems a long time for a quick “we’re ready”…sooo what is discussed? 🤭😀 

Once Beginners is called, the DSM comes on cans and checks everyone in. 
The conversation with the MD is checking they have a full band/orchestra and that everyone is happy with the set up. Sometimes a call will go out for LX to sort out a problem with a Music Stand, or to Sound for a Comms problem.

Obviously the weather, a day off or other such important things can also be discussed at this point too 😁

[happysooz2]

Interesting. What is LX in the above post?