Think of the worst commercial you’ve ever seen. Now think of the poor jerk that had to be in it. He didn’t want to be there, but he’s got a wife, a baby, a mortgage, and believe it or not—talent. Trouble is he’s also got an agent. Directed by Michael Wipf, Stretch Dog is a [...]
Posts under ‘Theatre’
Guys & Dolls Dulce De Leche Cupcakes
Last night, after a request from our musical director, I tackled the idea of a dulce de leche cupcake. To create my master piece I combined a number of recipes that I found online to create my own unique cupcake. Rum Soaked Vanilla Cupcake (makes 18) 2 cups all purpose flour 1 table spoon baking [...]
The Show Must Go On
Sunday morning. 8:41am. A faint beeping in my ear. Confusion: my alarm is set for 11:32. I look at my phone. It’s a phone call, not my alarm. I should just ignore it and go back to sleep. Wait. That’s the stage manager’s number. “Hey Lois, how fast can you get to the theatre?” “Umm….I [...]
Bios: Personal? All Business?
I’ve written before about the way that a theatrical bio tends to evolve as your career grows. I was recently asked to write & submit a 50 word bio for an upcoming production. And it should be a lot easier than it is. I’ve been working on it for about half an hour (which is [...]
5 Quick Tips for Actor Resumes
I debated whether this post belonged on this site, or over at www.glasscitytheatre.com because it is through getting ready for those auditions that I have had these revelations. I decided to post it here because it is my personal opinion, and not that of the company. In the past two weeks I’ve had about 50 [...]
One Year of LoisBackstage.com!
Today is the first anniversary of me setting up LoisBackstage.com as it’s own website and not a google hosted blog. I couldn’t be prouder of what I’ve accomplished in that time. Since July 27, 2009, I have: Stage Managed/ASMed 9 shows. Worked on the 2010 Olympics. Seen 94 plays. Written 78 blog posts. Started [...]
The SM Prompt Book: Show Bible Pt. 1
Ever since I wrote the post about the SMArts Conference calling a show/prompt book session, my blog has taken a number of hits from people searching “how to call a show” “writing sound & light cues” “prompt book” “calling lighting cues” “how to make a prompt book” and other similar searches. To me that suggests two [...]
Auditions: Jesus Hopped the ‘A’ Train
Remember how I founded that new theatre company, Glass City Theatre? Well, we’re gearing up for the first read of our fringe show AND we’re preparing for auditions for our big first full production happening in March. You should check out the audition posting on the brand new Glass City website!
Job Hunting: Networking
Inspired by Sabrina Evertt’s post “Do You Really Want a Job?“, this post is the second in a series on job hunting in theatre. The first post talked about resumes, cover letters & references. Networking tends to be a bit of a bad word in my circle of friends. I frequently hear friends who can [...]
SMArts: Safety
I know that it has now been a while since the SMArts conference wrapped up in Vancouver, but I thought it was important to still relay this information on Health & Safety for Stage Management. If you have questions about safety practices in theatre, check out www.actsafe.ca for a number of online publications, courses & [...]