Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Props Person Problem

Okay world, help me out.  I have a situation I'm not entirely sure what to do with.

On my last show, I worked with a props designer.  I was asm and thus in charge of props.  We talked briefly about how to deal with props as we went into tech and then she left me to my own devices.

I'm working my current show with the same props designer, only this time as an sm.  And I'm receiving a minimum of five emails a day from her (something I know the stage manager on the last show didn't get because she always sends it to the entire production team).  And many of the emails are: "Can you rename your rehearsal report file names in _____ manner.  They're not convenient this way."  or "You should be pulling rehearsal props and them having your asms set them out on a table."

Maybe this doesn't seem like a big deal to you if you're not a stage manager.  But those are kind of intensely not things she should be interfering with and I'm just not sure what to do.  I'm trying not to take it personally because she is the type of person who always has to have a say about everything.  When we gave her the heads up notice: "We padded the bottom of the garbage can so Johnny could sit up higher in it during Musical Number on page#" she asked "What color padding?"  I would like to point out that the cushions could not be seen at all by the audience.  I understand she's always going to have questions like that, and I've accepted that; I understand that's just how she is.

However, the notes about how I can stage manage better are entirely inappropriate, especially since I am not some high school student stage manager.  I majored in it in college and have been working professionally for the better part of a year.  And I'm trying not to take it personally, but it's just extra frustrating because I know for a fact that she didn't give this type of crap to the stage manager on my last show (who is a high school stage manager).  And the things she's trying to "correct" me on are things that she didn't object to last show when we did things the same exact way.

It's just beyond frustrating.  And I can sit and grit my teeth and be nice to her anyway.  But I honestly thing she also needs to understand that it is thoroughly not her place to be giving me stage management "corrections".

Thoughts?

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