# Help!



## lptheatrenerd2010 (Dec 1, 2009)

Hi, I am currently a high school senior and Stage Manager for my school theatre. What are some ways to motivate your company and get them energized?

~ Keith


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## Les (Dec 1, 2009)

A large, blunt object usually does the trick 

In all seriousness, I believe that professionalism, courtesy, appreciation and refusal to partake in favoritism goes a long way.

...Or were you looking for something more along the lines of a preshow pep rally?


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## lptheatrenerd2010 (Dec 2, 2009)

well just getting them excited in the morning is hard enough.


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## kiwitechgirl (Dec 2, 2009)

Maybe start the day with some high-energy theatre games to get the blood flowing - improv games can be a good idea.


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## shiben (Dec 2, 2009)

One thing to note: you said company, and I am assuming that you mean the actors. As a tech, when someone tries to get me to do improv games, I am not a happy camper. Most techs I work with feel the same. For actors, games are fun, for techs, they are a waste of time.


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## erosing (Dec 2, 2009)

A 15-20 minute coffee clatch to finish waking up, get adjusted to the building temerature, and have something in their stomachs since they overslept.


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## lptheatrenerd2010 (Dec 3, 2009)

Thanks to everyone for their input so far!


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## dcollins (Dec 3, 2009)

At a college, I have the benefit of having to deal with them in the evening, because while they did oversleep, it's their classes they missed, not their rehearsal.

Our actors this season always did pre-rehearsal and pre-show warmups, and reported that they felt their performance was improved and the audience was more involved with the show. These range from vocal warmups to improv games to all sorts of absurd things that google can explain better than I.

Techies would much rather sit down with a warm cup of coffee and something that needs fixing.


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## shiben (Dec 4, 2009)

dcollins said:


> Techies would much rather sit down with a warm cup of coffee and something that needs fixing.



Just dont give them something too interesting, they might spend the entire show trying to figure out why ML 1 might be acting that way...


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## DuckJordan (Dec 5, 2009)

no kidding just got done with a crew call today, learned our light board a very old analog mtx style board and we had channel 1 on the top half not working but it was working in the bottom, well i spent most of the day trying to figure out why it was doing that then when i think i got it it starts working then channel 4 stops working this is all getting confusing but i am now thinking it may be the dimmer pack so to end the almost derail of this thread. Techies would rather sit down with a project and a drink and figure it out...


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## Les (Dec 5, 2009)

DuckJordan said:


> no kidding just got done with a crew call today, learned our light board a very old analog mtx style board and we had channel 1 on the top half not working but it was working in the bottom, well i spent most of the day trying to figure out why it was doing that then when i think i got it it starts working then channel 4 stops working this is all getting confusing but i am now thinking it may be the dimmer pack so to end the almost derail of this thread. Techies would rather sit down with a project and a drink and figure it out...



Periods 'Duck, periods. I got out of breath reading your post 

Personally, I only like working on a project if I have all the supplies to finish it. I'm really bad about not following my own rule though!


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## DuckJordan (Dec 5, 2009)

yeah, sorry i had a lot of information to spill out in a short amount of time.


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## Soxred93 (Dec 5, 2009)

Periods are cheap. Brain cells are not.


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## ReiRei (Dec 6, 2009)

Someone already said courtesy and professionalism which is definitely true. When you ask someone to do something you should always say please. After you ask them once though it's okay to beat them a little and not say please. 

Set the bar for professionalism, if you act professional so will your crew.

DO NOT act like you have all the power and can get everything done by yourself, always treat your crew with the respect that they deserve. As soon as they feel you're overstepping your bounds they'll riot and it won't be any fun anymore. 

Also, always try to be positive when interacting with them. Coffee is a good motivator as well, never thought of that but I know that I would have been a lot happier and a lot more energized to work with people if I would have had coffee in mah belly.


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## lptheatrenerd2010 (Dec 8, 2009)

ReiRei said:


> Someone already said courtesy and professionalism which is definitely true. When you ask someone to do something you should always say please. After you ask them once though it's okay to beat them a little and not say please.
> 
> Set the bar for professionalism, if you act professional so will your crew.
> 
> ...


 
Thank You!!! This has been the most helpful info so far.


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