War Music

... the new piece at ACT in San Francisco, War Music, had this promo video. I know many of the actors in this piece and they seem excited about it. Hope to attend and follow up with a review...

Orginization?

These were at a small theater company I visited and my head hurt to see the "orginization" there... This is what happens when you leave things to unsupervised volunteers... Here is a sample of the problem;


Take a good look at the boxes above... Let me take a moment to explain exactly what is wrong with this;

"Cumberbunds + Suspenders"
1. It's spelled Cummerbund
2. The box also contains Sashes
3. Cummerbunds and suspenders do not serve the same function and are not used in the same outfits (the suspenders that are hard to get to amongst the Cummerbunds are going to be used much more frequently)
--Solution--
Put the suspenders in their own box, cummerbunds and sashes are ok to mingle

"Teddies, slips, bras+ tops/ Bum rolls pads, etc"
--ok this is an everything box full of things that you don't have a lot of, you are forgiven, although a box of slips alone would be useful.

"Goggles + knee pads"
1. Eew
2. actors also say "EWW"
3. anyone who has worn knee pads while working hard can tell you why this is bad. Imagine a lot of sweat, imagine crawling on the floor... now put those sweaty dirty things in a plastic bin to stew with things that go on your face... even if you had washed the knee pads before putting them in this box (which you clearly did not) it's not sanitary,
--Solution--
Put knee pads and elbow pads in their own box, and always CLEAN them before storing them.
Keep Goggles with sunglasses

"Ties + Scarves"
1. So you're putting together a nice suit for your leading man, all you need to complete that outfit is the perfect... scarf? Really?
--Solution--
Use your head, think about what you'll be needing when you reach for a tie, what it will be going with. The only thing that would be ok to have with your ties might be bow ties... although in fact I find that putting ties in a box just leaves you with a nasty tangle of ties that take forever to look through.
Hang your ties, box your scarves, ne'er the two shall twain.

--This has been a public service, thank you--

A bloody buisness... (not for the faint of stomach)

Every time there is a show with blood it seems there is a need to re-invent the wheel.

The problem with there not being an obvious method is that every show has a different need for effect and application of blood.  
For one show the blood is supposed to come "gushing" from a wound, or the floor, or come dripping down from the skull... For another it may be a bloody nose (that is supposed to just coagulate and not run alot) The best and only kind I use for scabs and bloody noses is Ben Nye's fresh Scab.

There are different colors and viscosities.  
As far as viscosities go there are bloods formulated to be pumped through tubing called, oddly enough,  "pumping blood".

The pumping blood is most usually needed for "blood razors" in shows like Sweeney Todd.  Here is a video a prop master made to display his version of a blood razor;

Towards the end of the video you will notice that he tilts his hand away and you see that his thumb is on the expired blood pack attached to the razor (quite a handsome design I might add)

Colors;

Varieties of colors are typically "dark" and "light" with a wide variation therein between brands.  Mostly the color is chosen by where the wound is and how fresh it is ("arterial blood" is un-oxegenized and is darker whereas "venous blood" is generally brighter).  Often the lights will also factor in as to how bright blood should be (if there's a lot of blue light, the red of the blood becomes florescent and darker liquid is needed).  

A little tip though; blood can be made darker with a little green food color and brighter with a little glycerine or shampoo.

 Some blood is formulated to be safe to have in your mouth (not ingested) called "mouth blood". There is "film blood" that isn't uncommon on stage but what makes it special is that the color is especially realistic, and there is also just run of the mill "stage blood" that is usually too thick to go through tubing at a rapid rate but still a somewhat realistic viscosity to look like a wound. Usually your run of the mill "stage blood" is best in blood packs for war wounds and hand held head wounds. 

Drying is also a factor to consider.  When cleaning up blood, you want it to be wet, but if an actor is "bleeding" all over the stage it makes everyone's life hard.  

Many people will swear by some special blood formula that they've created but really unless you're in need of a lot of blood for a show (where the cost becomes prohibitive) I find that the commercially available stage bloods are best.  Mostly because of all of the engineering that has already gone into the commercial bloods they actually do what they are advertised to do and I find that they are more consistent and don't cause staining as much as the home made variety.

Re-inventing the wheel often means experimenting with new varieties of blood in order to insure that you get the correct drip time and color for your specific scene.  It also involves testing to see which kinds will stain skin;

and fabric.... you will note that I've tested three different types of fabric as well (Poly, silk and cotton)

Whenever you see blood on stage there has usually been  a great deal of experimentation with types and production meetings involving phrases like;

"when you gouge an eye, how much blood does it actually contain?  Would it just be clear?"

  "we'll let's pretend they went all the way through into the brain"

"ok, then how oxygenated is brain blood anyway?"

P.s. Please remember stage blood has a shelf life and usually isn't much good after about 6 to 10 months.  Have Fun!

What's it like working in the theater...

I found this picture on the web (clearly a joke) but with a few minor adjustments it seems works better;

There are advantages to working in theater;

Flexible hours (although there are many more hours than in most jobs)

Usually awesome people, plus if you don't like who you are working with they go away in about 6 weeks until the next time.

No cubicles ever! 

Constant creativity; always learning new (often useless) information, solving weird problems, creating new things, and re-creating old things.  There is lots of research and drawing to be done.

You get to work with your hands a lot... so much the occasional hand massage is needed.

You get to work the night shift (which I LOVE) and do your grocery shopping while all the 9 to 5's are working. 

Yes, there are really good reasons that I like my work (most of the time). But as a career, sometimes it feels futile. The money doesn't get much better as you move up. Theater companies sometimes have a modest amount to pay/budget, and other times the same company will give you two cents to pull a miracle from the air.

 Sometimes all jobs seem to dry up as theaters try to "tighten their belts".

Heavy lifting? Why yes, heavy lifting, not just for carpenters, but for us all. Costumers haul costumes from rentals to and from the shop, the theaters, stock rooms, dry cleaners, outsourced places... Props people haul furniture and whatnot around similar routes... and actors have to often move said furniture on stage while singing and dancing.

It's often great work, but a hard life.  Advancement comes in the form of working at bigger theaters, usually no benefits, and if you actually were to calculate what we make hourly it would make you cry.  

In conclusion kids, if you think you want to do theater for a living, think hard, and think about what kind of lifestyle you would like to live (not just what kind of work you want to do).