r/techtheatre

Edited video showing a BTS of a show stop during a youth performance of Hadestown: Teen Edition

We’re planning to tape out our set for rehearsals. If this were a wooden stage I wouldn’t hesitate using spike, however, this is a new(ish) varnished maple floor and I’m not allowed to leave residues when we’re done. I’ve seen spike tape leave adhesive when removed before, which is the only reason I’m being cautious. The other ideas I had were frog or blue painters tape, which won’t be as durable and may tear frequently when removed.

I'm doing the set for a show with my community theatre this summer, and I want to try using wagons in this show. I usually avoid wagons because they can make scene changes very long, having to lock all of the wheels or wagon brakes every time, and they pose a safety risk if not locked. Are there any ways I can make the wagons so that we wouldn't have to lock and unlock them every single time? Keep in mind that I need them to support the weight of 1-2 people, so they need to stay fixed in place when not moving. I don't have a huge budget, so I'd prefer something that doesn't break the bank as well. We don't have a typical stage floor; it's more of the material of a gym floor, so we can't screw into the floor either.

I don't think these are unreasonable asks. I've seen plenty of shows pull this off, but I've never been able to in practice before, and no matter how much research I do, I can't seem to figure it out.

Any help would be appreciated.

I hope it's ok that I'm posting here, and I'm hoping some of you can give me some insight.

TL;DR: Some batten fell during a high school show and I'm a parent freaking out a bit.

Background: I'm not at all familiar with theater rigging, I'm a concerned parent. I'm also an aerospace engineer that deals with safety on airplanes, so I deal with safety engineering on a regular basis.

The story: I have a teen who's a performer in a public high school theater production. This is a pretty large high school, so there's a full music/theater building at the school, we're lucky to have a good facility.

The show was yesterday, and an incident occurred that has me rattled. The production went off without a hitch, until the final scene. They're doing the final song with the whole cast on stage, and the curtains begin to move in. Suddenly, a large pipe (which I've since learned is called batten) comes crashing down from above the cast. It catches on a tall piece of the set to the left and right of the stage. Luckily there were some very tall trees as part of this set. Our teen and several other cast members were directly under the pipe. My wife and I gasp, but the cast barely misses a beat and continues on. My immediate thought is that the pipe will fall further, but the pipe gets immediately reeled back up out of sight. The audience didn't really react, and the show concluded without further incident.

We were in shock, but nobody else seemed to be really talking about it. Our student was freaking out after the show, saying they felt unsafe and the pipe nearly hit her and some other cast members. Once cast member was higher up on the set, so it missed her by 3-4 feet since the pipe bent a lot since it hit the set. It was probably 8-10 feet over the heads of the rest of the cast.

Our student told us that someone accidently pulled the wrong lever, releasing the pipe. Apparently the student stage manager was very upset, but none of the theater staff talked to them addressed the incident afterward. Since I don't know much about stage rigging, and didn't want to make a fuss, I didn't talk to any of the school staff about it that day. They went and did their final performance a few hours later without incident.

Since I'm an engineer, my immediate reaction is to start researching, and the more I read, the more I'm in shock. We got so lucky, that pipe could've injured, maimed, or killed cast members if it had been a different pipe or the set had been slightly different.

Questions:

1. I think that this is grossly negligent stage management. Am I overreacting or exaggerating? What should we do?

2. I haven't heard anything from staff, but I plan to speak with the school staff theater manager today when we go to help strike the stage. What should I say to them?

3. I feel like some sort of safety report needs to be filed so that this doesn't happen in the future. How should this have been prevented, and what should have or be done to address this?

Thank you all so much for your help.

hello! I’m a lighting designer graduating from college next year, and I’ve done theater since I was a child - mostly in theater clubs and student troupes as the like- tech support bc thats where my art lies. i just closed my last show with my friends, and I’m sad that it’s probably not gonna be the same.

I love theater in all shapes and forms, i listen to musicals, i engage w the online fandom ab the characters, hell, i devoted my time in the pandemic to hunting down lost media from a show that i really like. That kind of annoying theater kid energy. Just on a techie not an actor.

i’m really scared of leaving and kind of scared of the professional world; PLEASE correct me if i’m wrong and I do not mean to offend, but it seems like a lot of tech people are not as ‘theater geek’ as I am. Most of my theater friends are actors, and the tech people i know are much less. “RAAA MUSICALS” than i am - so i’m really curious about how passions manifest in the profession.

I really. really love this work, im ready and willing to put in whatever, you don’t have to scare me straight or temper my expectations.

I just want to know what the good parts of the profession are, whether theres a sense of community or palpable sense of love like i see from my actor friends, how i can keep that tight knit feeling within me, and whether that outward passion i have is present in this world.

thank you!

Hi everyone! I'm looking to get into Scenic Carpentry professionally, but I don't have any formal experience. I've got a BA in theatre production, but that didn't offer me a lot of the kind of training that scenic shops are looking for (I also spent most of my college years focusing on costume design before realizing a little too late that I didn't actually like it). I don't really want to go back to school if I can help it, as I don't have that kind of money to spare. I was thinking about applying to a carpentry apprenticeship, but I don't know if that skill set would transfer over, or if it would help me get scenic carpentry jobs. Any suggestions? I live in Chicago (and am not interested in moving to NY or LA, at least for the time being). I already applied for a Steppen Wolf Scenic Carpentry apprenticeship and got rejected :/ any and all suggestions help! Thank you!

Anyone got anything on that console at center waterfront at Disneyland for Fantasmic? Seems to be following timecode.

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I'm not super familiar with all the positions there are in the touring theatre world. Could someone tell me more about dimmer techs?

What are the essential skills to being one?

I've heard some networking stuff often gets rolled into this position, is that true?

In general, what's it like compared to a regular lighting technician?

I’m doing a theatre makeup project for my makeup artistry college course, and would like to show that I’ve tested the look under theatre lighting (as best I can)

Any ways I can create theatre lighting conditions at home without any professional tools etc?

I’m thinking of just turning off the big light and shining a bright white lamp right at my face😭would that maybe work?

Thanks guys☺️

I’m an SM from the UK currently on a US non union broadway tour doing single nights in each venue. We’ve been on the road for about 3 weeks now, we’ve done a stretch of 12 show days in a row with no day off, and every day off we have had has actually been a coach journey between 7 and 9 hours, so we’ve not actually had a clear day off since we started shows. Is this actually legal? I know non union’s kinda the Wild West but it feels sketchy in employment law that there’s straight up no days off ever, or it would be back home! 😅

https://reddit.com/link/1spqso8/video/s653ixjpx4wg1/player

Help! I am an actor with an upcoming role in which smoking is required, and I don't want to ruin my lungs!

I was watching Sabrina Carpenter's weekend 2 Coachella set and noticed that she and her dancers were "smoking" some 'cigarettes'. They look a bit longer than normal cigarettes, but still look realistic and release smoke. After using them, Sabrina and her dancers were also able to tuck these 'cigarettes' away into a pocket in the car and their outfits, respectively.

I know herbal cigarettes exist, but I'd still rather not inhale any smoke during filming. I'm wondering if the 'cigarettes' in Sabrina's set are a new kind of prop I'm not yet aware of. I've attached some pics + video links to the 'cigarettes' in the set. Thanks in advance! 

https://reddit.com/link/1spqso8/video/damhbihqx4wg1/player

https://reddit.com/link/1spqso8/video/9w2h1khqx4wg1/player

https://preview.redd.it/d3h2oiyqx4wg1.png?width=2622&format=png&auto=webp&s=bf190086601686af7233f8aadc1ad4f31c32bb4b

https://preview.redd.it/j4s7tvtqx4wg1.png?width=2622&format=png&auto=webp&s=cab031431a876c1fa1995f736fd2182d84cf3e80

https://preview.redd.it/k5ymuwtqx4wg1.png?width=2622&format=png&auto=webp&s=2fbe1ae266ffcef3d841a0de85bfab8f476d9862

I have two questions about 5 pin dmx cables.

after finishing writing this I came up with and remembered quite a few other questions I had, so apologies and thank you all in advance. going to leave that cause I think its funny.

first, I've been looking at these cables, and they only have three of five pins wired. So this is actually multiple questions just about the same thing. What are the purposes of the five pins (looking at some wiring diagrams it seems to be ground, data 1 +/-, and data 2 +/- (how does two lines of data work and what does it mean/why is there a data + and -)), do all of the five pins need to be wired? If so, where the hell would I find those? Is there somewhere that I could potentially get them cheaper?

Second, what do we think about the afformentioned cables? the reviews seem good, but are they any good and what do you all think? any reccomendations?

Third, how do you all reccomend marking your cables? I am between (colored) gaff and electrical tape, but I can't decide if i should go with gaff + clear shrink wrap/tape, or electrical tape. The reason I am considering gaff over electrical is because of the residue electrical tape leaves. Which, if either should I use and should I put something clear over either?

any and all responses, follow ups, and general comments/suggestions are much appreciated. Thanks everyone!

Hi All.

Hoping someone here might be able to help me. I’ve been working as stage management (as an ASM, CSM and SM on book) professionally since 2022 in Australia and internationally.

I’m now based in the UK and only have a little while left in the UK due to visas and things. I’d really love to work on a west end/ large scale show (even just as a cover or a dep) and would love to do more shadowing (I’ve shadowed two west end shows).

Ove done a lot of small scale and fringe work and whilst I love it, I’d love to be able to work on a much larger scale of work.

Does anyone have any advice on how I could do that? I’ve reached out to companies asking to shadow and not heard back, applied for jobs, written enquiries and even dropped off my CV at stage door.

I've had this knowledge repeated to me for 6 years at my high school, and I honestly have no idea if it's true, I've just been repeating it because it sounds true. I tell my actors, "As long as I'm running this sound board you take that mic tape off slowly." For reference, we use Acacia Audio LIZ Pro Earset Mic element and cables. We put the tape directly on the mic on the cheek, as well as a loop at the base of the neck (no actual tape touching the mic).

I'm really just trying to figure out if the statement above is true for all taped microphones, or if it's just a rule my director made up.