Theater Appreciation Rutgers Bender Final

What happens after college?

not union but needs to earn union equity

AEA

Actors Equity Association - Theater Union

SAG-AFTRA

Screen Actors Guild/American Federation of Television and Radio Artists - Film/TV/Radio Union

-used to be separate until merged in 2012

2 major markets for actors

NYC - mostly for theater LA - mostly for film/tv

Chicago - growing into 3rd major market; same with Atlanta, GA

headshots

representative photos that actors give to casting agents and directors; can be $100-700; photos are sent to reproduction company to mass produce

2 primary: dramatic and comedic; 3rd is for commercials or with facial hair

resume

A brief account of one's work experience and qualifications.

Includes: personal info, acting experience, education, special skills

Where to find work or gain exposure?

backstage magazine; online serivces (ex: playbill.com); instagram/Facebook; make own website (includes reels)

How to become an equity actor?

-gain 50 Equity Membership Candidate points (1 point = 1 week of rehearsals or performances)

-get hired by theater that turns you equity

Non-equity auditions

-look for auditions; go to open call (no appointment)

-usually casting director or director in the room

-read sides and sing 16 bars of song if musical

Equity Actor Auditions WITHOUT AGENT

Equity Principal Auditions

-Line up 6-7 am outside of Equity building to sign up for slot later

-director not usually in room

-Callback

Acting Agent

-gets big auditions

-can get agent by performing showcases

-agent negotiates if you get the part

favorite nations

everyone is paid the same so there is no negotiating

Equity Actor Audition WITH AGENT

-Casting Director sends notice to agents for what role is looking for and agent submits you for an audition

-if accepted, casting director gives agent the audition time for actor

First Rehearsal

-begins with meet and greet

-director speaks

-designer presentations

-first read-through

-start table work

table work

script analysis with everyone; few days

Blocking

The planning and working out of the movements of actors on stage; run-through is done after

technical rehearsal

Rehearsal at which all the design and technical elements are brought together without audience; actors on stage for first time and stage manager works with cues

1st previews

first time performing in front of audience

opening night

the show's first full-price public performance with critics in audience; last night of the director

stage manager

maintains shape and integrity of show once director is done

Strike

after closing night; set and props are taken down

Bertie Michaels

equity stage manager of be more chill

Stage Manager

the person who is completely in charge backstage during the rehearsals and performances

Two Modes of managing

1. Rehearsal:

-daily schedule

-track/notate: blocking, props, costume

-rehearsal reports

2. Performance

-deck stage manager: preset, run sheet, deck

-calling stage manager: calling, maintenance, report

stage managing in Pre-production

-need ground plan and take it to the floor

-make rehearsal room and organizing it

stage managing in rehearsals

make schedules for:

-music

-choreo

-dialect sessions

-fight rehearsals

-fitting and shoots

-audio recordings

-press

-and designer run throughs

script tracking

-tracks costumes, props, blocking, entrances and exits

-starts in pre-production

Rehearsal Reports

Reports detailing all changes, additions, and events before, during, and after a rehearsal which affects other production departments

*MAIN BASIS OF COMMUNICATION WITH OTHER DEPARTMENTS DURING REHEARSALS

Performances Duties of stage manager

still in charge of scheduling and communication as well as:

-running the deck

-maintaining the show

-calling the show

deck stage manager

main responsibilities: check props, run deck during show

Preset Checklist

checklist of where props go

run sheets

list that tells people what to do for a show

Stage Manager Maintenance of Show

-understudy and brush-up rehearsals

°put ins: new actors rehearse with current actors

-notes since director is gone

-performance reports

shift plot

for understudies; overview of the show

performance report

-depending on performance, can be long or short

-gives and overview of how well a show did or if there were mistakes

Show Calling

nothing happens until Stage Manager calls go for something, especially calling stage manager

What is equality, diversity, and inclusion?

equality-ensuring that everyone has an equal opportunity to make most of their lives

equity-everyone has access to the same opportunity

diversity-the presence of differences in one sitting

inclusion-having and including diversity and uniqueness; allows more people to be valued

intersectionality-having different categorization where they may overlap

Land Acknowledgement

land was stolen which is a truth that more people need to see

-rutgers sits on Lenape land

Rutgers Origins

-Book: Scarlet and Black: Slavery and Disposition in Rutgers History

-Founders were all slave owners

-----Livingston bought 66 slaves in 1751 to build Queens College

Race, ethnicity, nationality

-race: a group of people who share a biological ancestor

-ethnicity: a group of people who share common and distinctive culture, religion, and/or language

-nationality: the status of belonging or being a citizen of a particular nation

Racism=?

race prejudice/bias + power

Power

the legitimate systems sanctioned by the state

ideology give us the design and blueprint but institutions are the building blocks

Sociological structures

structural racism: a system in which public policies, institutional practices, cultural representation, and other norms work in various, often reinforcing ways to perpetuate racial group inequality

cultural representation: refers to popular stereotypes, images, frames and narratives that are socialized and reinforced by media, language, and other forms of mass communication and "common sense"

white supremacy

the belief that whites are biologically different and superior to people of other races

-examples: Jim Crow laws, red lining, assimilation, who can marry who

How do impose and enforce white lies?

Violence, Discrimination, Terrorism

-ex: Buffalo Bill, War on Drugs, Japanese Interment Camps, President Obama, Family Separation, COVID, BLM

Beyond Orientalism terms

-orientalism: the way white America has traditionally seen Asians

-Yellowface: the practice of using costumes and make up to make someone look east or south east asian

-brownface: doing the same but to look south asian

-white washing: replacing asian characteristics with white actors or white characters

Asian roles are limited to: whores, news, ninjas, terrorists, etc.

Importance of storytelling and representation

-causes action

-more representation

Casting Breakdown by ethnicity, 10 years combined (2006-07 to 2015-16)

-caucasian: 76%

-African American: 15%

-Latinx: 4%

-Asian: 4%

-MENA/AI/DIS: 1%

Right Now We See You Movement

-theater movement of BIPOC who want to pursue anti-racism and black theater

-Dear White American Theater letter

-emailed theaters and gave them a time span to take action

The Designers

-live in a period of incredible stage sets, did not used to be fundamental

-costumes may have started with ancient Greeks but it is still a new job description

-lighting design came from being able to control light when gas light was invented in 1830

-sound design is not new but it is still a recent innovation

-Projection design is a 21st century job

6 elements of design

creates mood, atmosphere, and focus

1. color

2. line- the defining edge of a shape is called a line. the outline of a shape can convey meaning

3. Mass- the bulk or weight of objects on stage or their apparent bulk or weight

4. composition- the arrangement and balance of items on stage. The "look" of the stage

5. Texture- the "feel" of the stage composition

6. Light- the darkness or brightness of a stage picture

Scenic Designer

creates a visual home for the play; gives clues to the audience about play's locale

Scenic Designer responsibilities

-settings and transitioning from one setting to another

-masking: the stage curtains or walls that hide the actors' backstage area from the audience

-set dressing: like furniture

-props

Scenic Designer issues

-number of settings

-shape and size of stage

-sight lines of the theater: if something is blocking certain views

-means if shifting the scenery

-materials the set is built with

-effects that make special scenic demands: like water or earthquake

-decision to imitate, abstract or detailed historic scenery

-some duties may fall to other experts under scenic designer's direction: detailed paint work or magical effects

-the scenic designer is normally in charge of props; theaters can have prop masters

costume designer and responsibilities

-clothing, hats, hair styling, makeup, shoes; dresses both character and actor

-for contemporary plays, clothes can be bought which can take longer to find the right fit

-must consult with both scene and lighting designer to make sure their costumes will look as they are designed to look

-responsible for worn props

-other specialized duties fall to experts under costume designer's discretion: like wigs

Costume designer issues

-silhouette: the mass and outline of the costume as used on stage

-costume in motion

-fabric texture and draping

-fabric patterns

-enhance r suppress body lines

-special effects

Lighting Designer responsibilities

-illuminate actors and scenery

-use light to communicate: time, place, and mood

-to light transitions from one scene to the next

-works with 3 fundamentals: color, direction, or intensity of light

-in charge of shadows, clouds, etc.

-lighting changes can be sudden or bold

-lighting changes can change pace of: play itself, scene, dance, or song

-visibility/invisibility of actors and set

-dimensionality: light creates depth

-color/lack of color

Modern lighting equipment

-subtlety in stage lighting came about the creation of: small, easily aimed lighting instruments; complex electronic controls; computerized memories

-gel: a transparent, colored film placed in front of a beam of light

-modern tech has created scrolling color changers

light plot

-lighting design plan

-shows location and directly of each instrument

-shows what kind of instrument will be used and their location on the grid

lighting instruments

-striplights: a series of lights, either overhead or in the wings, that bathe the stage in light

-footlights: light source on floor in front of stage. casts light upward creating harsh shadows

-follow spots: spotlights that an operator can swivel so that the beam of light shines on the actor as the move

Sound designer responsibilities

-amplifying the actor's voice when used

-recorded sound effects

-selecting music

-sometimes writing or commissioning new music

-sometimes designs the layout of speakers in the theater or on stage

Sound designer issues

-acoustics: plaster works not concrete

-volume

-location of sound

Projection Designer

-may not be formerly used because it is a new field

-aka video designers or media designers

-use the skills set of both scene and lighting designers

-used to be solely the job of either the scene or lighting designer

-more productions are using projections of some sort because it is cheaper and transitions are faster

-an animator may be hired is designer cannot do it themselves

Projection Designer responsibilities

-locating, editing, or creating still or moving images projected onto scenery or instead of scenery

-designing the movement and transitions of projected elements

-the selection and control of projection equipment

What is musical theatre?

-Combining music, spoken dialog and dance.

Gestamtkunstwerk

complete art

Theater Tradition

-early forms no distinct line between song, drama, and dance

-romans and greeks in eluded music and dance

-shakespeare's stuff had musical numbers

opera

effort to revive Greek drama

American Operetta

influenced by imported European works; Victor Herbert, Sigmund Romberg

First Musical

The Black Crook (1866): created after combining of Niblos Garden Theater and Parisian Ballet Company

Rise of American Theater

-Eurpoeans focused more on the literature

-19th century: times are changing because people were demanding more entertainment because Industrial Revolution

Vaudeville

A type of inexpensive variety show that first appeared in the 1870s, often consisting of comic sketches, song-and-dance routines, and magic acts (like talent show)

-mostly visual because not many spoke English (immigrants)

Revues

high-class entertainments with a series of musical acts but no plot

-helped develop musicals

Musical Pioneers

Showboat; Oklahoma!

-lyricist Oscar Hammerstien combined operettas and vaudeville

Showboat

about miscegenation

sad show

Important Musicals

My Fair Lady, Guys and Dolls, Merman Gypsies, West Side Story, Fiddler on the Roof, Hello Dolly

High Button Shoes

A musical that takes place at Rutgers University

Compelling Need

must have a character who has a compelling need or want that they have to overcome obstacles or take risks

Writing a Musical

-original vs. adaption

-Does the material sing their emotions?

-Stakes (risks)

Stephen Sondheim

"Musical comedies aren't written, they are rewritten"

Musical Elements

-seed: upcoming struggles

-Story: what it is about

-Spirit: essence

-Sound and Look

-POV

-Style

libretto

-makes or breaks a show

-dialogue

-plays vs. Libretto (needs to have musical numbers)

-structure of show

-clock

Song Types in Musicals

-Delineate character

-"I want"

-ballads (love songs)

-narrative songs

-list or series song

-comedy songs

Broadway Today

(About 80) of the seasons attendance is at musicals. -77% of the shows currently running on broadway are musicals.

At beginning, Shakespeare plays...

have speech to get attention and talk directly to audience

Where does the word rehearsal come from?

hear: the idea that an actor has to rehear the play in order to understand it

How does Shakespeare engage with the audience?

asides (brief comments to the audience) and soliloquies (thoughts spoken out loud but not heard by other characters)

Shakespeare wrote in...

Early Modern English (Elizabethan English)

*not Old or Middle English

The word goodbye originates from...

"God be with you"; the word became shortened because humans like convenience

*significant to Shakespeare because, rather than speeding up, he extended his words to tell a story

Shakespeare's impact

Though born in April 23, 1564, he is still relevant

-arts inspired by Shakespeare: West Side story; The Lion King; 10 Things I Hate About You; She's the Man

-made over 2000+ words we still use today: eyeball, puking, gossip, moonbeams

Scantion

the process of analyzing (and sometimes marking) verse to determine its meter, line by line

-done usually at second read through

iambic pentameter

a poetic meter that is made up of 5 stressed syllables each followed by an unstressed syllable

*sounds like a heartbeat, which is significant to how Shakespeare wrote about the human experience, showing why his plays are still relevant

Reasons to appreciate Shakespeare's works

-asks to use imagination

-engages directly to audience

-transports audience through speech

-made impact on language

-wrote about the human experience as he wrote in the beat of a heart

"willful suspension of disbelief"

when something unrealistic happens, the audience is okay with it because they realize that it's fiction; needs to maintain an illusion

Why do characters fight?

extreme emotions

How stage combat works?

-safety first

-design process: rehearsal, pre-rehearsals; casting

-fight captain

-fight call (two runs: first being half speed and second being 3/4 speed or "show speed")

Types of stage violence

armed violence, unarmed violence, intimacy coordination

Perry positions

5 positions of where to attack; usually for swords

knap

sounds that make a hit seem real

"Tragedy is when I cut my finger. Comedy is when you fall into an open sewer and die"

said by Mel Brooks; means that something funny happens to other people and not yourself