# High school stage managers? a quick question....



## Hairkid (Mar 2, 2011)

Do you make your crew take off ear rings durring a show? or tape over their socks if they aren't black?


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## sarahsliefie (Mar 2, 2011)

We have spar black socks that they can use if they do not bring any. They do not want to use them so they usually bring their own. We also threaten to spray paint their shoes if they do not bring black ones. No jewelry is allowed. When they join crew we hand out a sheet with expectations that they must follow. We have a line up to join crew though. If they do not meet the requirements there is someone to replace them.


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## MNicolai (Mar 2, 2011)

Earrings are usually a non-issue unless they're pretty large or hang down. Bracelets, long necklaces, and such are usually frowned up for the running crew as they could get snagged or caught on something.

Brightly-colored socks tend to be non-issue for our crews, but we've taken black gaff to shoes, logos on black hats, and logos on black t-shirts.

Audio/Light Ops can do what they want. We have a few different schools come into our facility and each group has their own policies on dress that they run with. If the audio/lights ops don't wear black, they're usually told to wear something nice.


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## LXPlot (Mar 2, 2011)

You should always have a reserve of spare black shirts, black sweats that do NOT make noise, and black socks. Gaff shoes if needed, I try to text techs before the show to remind them to wear black stuff.

Also, rather than tape over or cover logos, Mike, you should have them turn their shirt inside out, and then tape over the tag. Saves tape and looks less odd. Black leather jackets are also bad because they reflect tons of light, especially when the change is during a blue out (which I hate, by the way)

Booth operators don't have as much of a dress code here, but I do recommend that they wear black or something dark colored to differentiate from audience members.


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## zmb (Mar 2, 2011)

LXPlot said:


> You should always have a reserve of spare black shirts, black sweats that do NOT make noise, and black socks. Gaff shoes if needed, I try to text techs before the show to remind them to wear black stuff.
> 
> Also, rather than tape over or cover logos, Mike, you should have them turn their shirt inside out, and then tape over the tag. Saves tape and looks less odd. Black leather jackets are also bad because they reflect tons of light, especially when the change is during a blue out (which I hate, by the way)
> 
> Booth operators don't have as much of a dress code here, but I do recommend that they wear black or something dark colored to differentiate from audience members.


 
I mainly work in the booth on lighting and my personal dress code unless asked is a black polo or long sleeve shirt with no logo if possible, a nice pair of jeans, and black dress shoes if I feel like it.

Bonus for my black long sleeve shirt is polyester and the color hasn't faded like how cotton would.


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## Hairkid (Mar 2, 2011)

Thanks. Just a question. My crew is more of a free flowing crew. In my opinion, taping socks for a school concert is a little over the top. If it's a major production, black socks are needed. I also feel that ear rings, like studs, aren't an issue. unless you have big jingly things dangling from your lobes. My SM is making some of the techies tape their ears. I feel this is a bit strict.


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## JereNet (Mar 2, 2011)

At my school, we don't usually require any specific dress code. Of course, our school has 400 kids 9-12, and the crew is usually only 3-5 people, and I'm usually doing the jobs of 3 or 4, including Tech director, lighting designer, sound engineer, stage manager, etc. Our group is good enough though that they take care of themselves. I usually suggest all black, but if they don't wear, it's not going to be a problem. The only times we do have a dress code, is for band, we have to wear all black (no additional crew is there so no crew dress code), and for choir they have tuxes and dresses that the school owns (also no crew).


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## ScottT (Mar 2, 2011)

Hairkid said:


> My SM is making some of the techies tape their ears. I feel this is a bit strict.


 
That's a bit more then strict... That's going WAY to far in my opinion.


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## Hairkid (Mar 2, 2011)

my high school has about 2000+ student and faculty. i feel like the more people there are, the more rules there are.


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## cprted (Mar 3, 2011)

When I was the TD at a Highschool, I had one or two students tape their socks. I also taped my own socks one night when I forgot to wear black. Always good to show you aren't above the rules. Earrings, never had an issue in a educational or professional setting.


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## gpq (Mar 3, 2011)

When I was teaching HS, the crew was required to wear black, unless the deck crew had costumes, which we sometimes did. If they didn't wear black, they had to listen to some of my stories about shows when I didn't wear black. Also, we had crew shirts, some of which were black on black. But mainly, the students policed themselves (I tried to make them do as much of the work as possible), so it was never really a problem.


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## kiwitechgirl (Mar 3, 2011)

ScottT said:


> That's a bit more then strict... That's going WAY to far in my opinion.


 
I agree - taping ears up is utterly ridiculous. I can understand and have often enforced the "no dangly earrings" rule, but if they're just studs or sleepers (those small hoops) then it isn't an issue. I couldn't tell you how many shows I've done wearing sleepers and I have never had a single problem. They are too small to reflect any light, and unless you do something REALLY stupid you'll never catch them on anything.


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## nd925a (Mar 3, 2011)

Our crew is so small we take who we can get and we don't have a budget for even one roll of gaff tape. It normally works out that we tell everybody to wear black and if they are not we try to keep them off stage. And again the people at front of house do what they want which is normally dark or black cloth's and/or nice cloth's


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## ScottT (Mar 3, 2011)

nd925a said:


> ...if they are not we try to keep them off stage...


 
Dare I ask how you do this? If you've rehearsed a scene change with people doing specific jobs doesn't keeping them off the stage throw everything off?


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## nd925a (Mar 3, 2011)

ScottT said:


> Dare I ask how you do this? If you've rehearsed a scene change with people doing specific jobs doesn't keeping them off the stage throw everything off?


 
We can normally tell early in the week and being such a small crew we get practice covering for each other.


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## thomasfedb (Mar 4, 2011)

We don't tend to have any problems with Jewellery as it is not permitted at our school.

All crew are encouraged to wear black volleys, and we require black shoes, socks, and trousers, no crew permitted on stage unless they do.

We issues black shirts with "CREW" in red, which is really helpful as it turns almost black under blue light.


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## StewTech (Mar 5, 2011)

Hairkid said:


> Do you make your crew take off ear rings durring a show? or tape over their socks if they aren't black?


 

Tape?! Heck no. If our producer catches anyone wearing non-black socks, he's been known to take a black sharpie to them, just to make the point. 

Needless to say, after one or two people with sharpie-black socks, people tended to not forget.

I've made people turn their shirts inside out before, and taped the tag, but I agree with LXPlot, that it's a waste of tape. 

As for the booth, we usually have them all wear black converse or dress shoes, black dress pants, and a black button down shirt with a black tie. 

Most of the spot ops use a clip on tie, so that they can get rid of it while actually operating the spot.


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## Tex (Mar 6, 2011)

My crew wears black pants and a black polo with our logo in red. They all wear some type of black boot pretty much every day, so socks haven't been a problem. I have been known to spray paint ankles on actors who forget black socks (that's what they've been told anyway...  )


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## LXPlot (Mar 7, 2011)

As for taping earings, I disagree with this being overkill. At my job we've HAVE to tape earings if they're dangling (albeit this job is something else entirely), and danglers can do a lot of damage really quickly. Stew, I'd like to say that I hate converse. They are needlessly noisy, provide no support, and the white bottoms light up more than a gas truck in a firestorm. Even so, maybe that's just me.


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## kiwitechgirl (Mar 7, 2011)

LXPlot said:


> As for taping earings, I disagree with this being overkill. At my job we've HAVE to tape earings if they're dangling (albeit this job is something else entirely), and danglers can do a lot of damage really quickly.



Danglers are one thing, but studs or sleeper rings really don't need taping. I just don't wear dangly earrings to work - simplest solution!


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## Mercedes (Mar 8, 2011)

kiwitechgirl said:


> Danglers are one thing, but studs or sleeper rings really don't need taping. I just don't wear dangly earrings to work - simplest solution!



Same Here. I wear studs all the time to shows, and some sleepers. I've never had an issue. I don't even really have an issue with plugs, as long as said plugs are small, and are the black ones. I've had to tell a tech to tape over his once because they were over 1.5" in diameter, so that was a possible hazard.


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## CSCTech (Mar 8, 2011)

Our stage crew is usually only a max of 4 people, plus 2 board operators and a followspot operator. It is not that strict, but we like to make sure the crew is either wearing a plain black shirt or the t-shirt of the show. (The crew shirts are usually black that say Crew and have the logo for the show). As for shoes, I have never thought of that. But we have little to no set changes that require them to be onstage in the light. Most of our set changes take place in the dark. Assisted by flashlights if needed.


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## FHSTechDir (Mar 8, 2011)

For our shows in our proscenium theatre I require my HS stage crew to wear short sleeved all black shirts (or long depending on the situation), black pants, socks, shoes. Any logos are covered by gaff if small enough. If they don't have a black shirt we provide it. 

Front of house crew (light, sound ops, SM) are seen by the audience all the way through the show and are required to wear dress shirt, pants, and shoes with tie. Color of their choice.

For concerts and other shows performed in gyms or spaces where black outs are not easily possible and the crew is often visible to the audience, I require the crew to wear a polo or dress shirt with dress pants and shoes. Color choice is the crews choice as a group but they must all look the same.

Of course each show requires different needs but typically I do things this way.


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## gafftaper (Mar 9, 2011)

Taping ear rings is ridiculous unless they are danglers potentially creating a safety problem. How far away is the audience. Unless you are in a crazily intimate space with the audience only a few feet away, it's highly unlikely that the audience would be able to even see ear rings during a properly lit set change.


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## chausman (Mar 9, 2011)

Not to mention with ear rings, *You can take them out!!*


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## Clairabelle (May 18, 2011)

I am a high school stage manager and many times I have gaffed my crew's shoes, but never gone farther than that. I have found that if you push them to start wearing blacks long before the show, they are more likely to remember when it's most important. We are also fortunate enough to have what we refer to as a "techie dressing room" in which we throw all of our stuff and keep spare shirts, supplies, and such. It is sooo handy seeing as we have no other space dedicated for our techies' personal items.


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## DuckJordan (May 18, 2011)

Clairabelle said:


> I am a high school stage manager and many times I have gaffed my crew's shoes, but never gone farther than that. I have found that if you push them to start wearing blacks long before the show, they are more likely to remember when it's most important. We are also fortunate enough to have what we refer to as a "techie dressing room" in which we throw all of our stuff and keep spare shirts, supplies, and such. It is sooo handy seeing as we have no other space dedicated for our techies' personal items.


 
Hi clair, I'd be really interested in hearing what else you have for supplies in they "tech Dressing room" you should also swing by the new member board and say a little intro about yourself. 

As far as gaffing clothing, I have seen tech's sent home for not wearing them. We also have a gigantic box (may or may not have been in the pit during flood season) that has old black wear that was donated some time ago. We encourage tech's to bring their own otherwise they get to smell like musk for the rest of the night.


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## techno89 (May 19, 2011)

I persoanly wear usually black jeans with a black dress shirt, sometimes a black tie, or a white dress shirt, black tie, same pants. Mostly to diferentiate from the audience.


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## dude2144 (May 19, 2011)

The crew at my high school is really laid back, running crew wears all black for shows but lighting and sound can wear whatever. We've never had an issue with brightly colored shoes or socks. Most of our crew are girls but I've never heard of an issue with jewelry. Honestly i think crew should b able to wear whatever as long as it doesnt stick out too badly and isnt a safety issue


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## museav (May 21, 2011)

dude2144 said:


> Honestly i think crew should b able to wear whatever as long as it doesnt stick out too badly and isnt a safety issue


One potential challenge with that approach is that without any predefined guidelines then what is acceptable or not becomes a purely subjective determination made at a time when you least want to deal with such issues or the implications of them. SO it seems much better for everyone to have some definition of what is expected and accepted when people first accept the role. This laso seems an area where there is no reason to not employ practices that not only reflect the theatre program but that could also apply if you were to move on in theatre.


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## dude2144 (May 24, 2011)

museav said:


> One potential challenge with that approach is that without any predefined guidelines then what is acceptable or not becomes a purely subjective determination made at a time when you least want to deal with such issues or the implications of them.



I agree that if someone on the running crew showed up the night of a show wearing a bright pink shirt or something similar it would be a problem but teaching newer members of the crew simply by example seems much more simple than doing something like writing out a set of guidelines. And isn't most of what we need to wear common sense


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## MarshallPope (May 24, 2011)

dude2144 said:


> I agree that if someone on the running crew showed up the night of a show wearing a bright pink shirt or something similar it would be a problem but teaching newer members of the crew simply by example seems much more simple than doing something like writing out a set of guidelines. And isn't most of what we need to wear common sense


What is so complicated about saying, "Hey guys, please wear all black for the show. And don't wear anything sparkly." or, for FOH, "Dress nicely. Wear something fairly muted, maybe a button-down and tie or cardigan or similar." It seems to me like people try to over-complicate this.


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## museav (May 25, 2011)

dude2144 said:


> I agree that if someone on the running crew showed up the night of a show wearing a bright pink shirt or something similar it would be a problem but teaching newer members of the crew simply by example seems much more simple than doing something like writing out a set of guidelines. And isn't most of what we need to wear common sense


The reality is that "common sense" is not guaranteed to be applied. And how many lawsuits are there for which common sense seems to be irrelevant? As Marshall said, it doesn't have to be formal written rules as much as establishing general guidelines for what is or is not considered appropriate or acceptable.

I've shown up dressed inappropriately for a performance as a direct result of no one identifying any guidelines. It was my first performance with a group and I guess they assumed that everyone already knew what was expected, thus nobody thought to say anything about it. It wasn't that what I wore was unsafe or a technical issue, it simply didn't fit their practice.


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## dude2144 (May 31, 2011)

MarshallPope said:


> What is so complicated about saying, "Hey guys, please wear all black for the show. And don't wear anything sparkly." or, for FOH, "Dress nicely. Wear something fairly muted, maybe a button-down and tie or cardigan or similar." It seems to me like people try to over-complicate this.



Sorry, I reread my post and realized that I did not say what I ment. I tried to say that it does not need to be over complicated and that besides saying to wear all black, other things would just be decided from common sense. 

Museav, if a particular group has more specific guidelines than just all black then yes they need to tell everyone about that.


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## LXPlot (May 31, 2011)

dude2144 said:


> Sorry, I reread my post and realized that I did not say what I ment. I tried to say that it does not need to be over complicated and that besides saying to wear all black, other things would just be decided from common sense.


 
Funny thing about common sense, it doesn't really work. Dangler earings can do a lot of damage, I've seen studs do damage at my other job. "Common Sense" and what is "reasonable" actually got me a rather nasty injury earlier this year. 

Guidelines, even if they are stringent, are needed, and even if they aren't important, less enforcement of some rules makes others less followed.


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## BHSlighttechie (Jun 30, 2011)

My director tells our crew to wear all black, even if we are the light and sound board ops. We don't really have a booth cause we are in a cafetorium of a very small school. It's okay to wear jeans, but the director prefers all black. And for our competition plays we are required to wear jeans (doesn't matter if they are a light wash or not) and our show shirts. We aren't to strict just have to make sure that crew has at least a black shirt and it's okay.


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## ccm1495 (Jul 3, 2011)

My school has crew shirts that every one gets at the beginning of the year. All they have on them is small dark red writing on them that says WHS crew. Every one is expected to where there shirts if not there are extras. They are also expected to have black pants and dark shoes if they are on run crew or anywhere in the audience. It is not as strict for the techs in the booth. But we still encourage Crew shirts of black polo shirts. Ushers also usually where black polo shirts.


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## JonasA (Aug 18, 2011)

We're pretty slack at my school; I've never asked a tech to take out earrings, or anything else. How they turn up to shows is how they stay for the evening, unless they (stupidly) are wearing a bright red t-shirt or similar, at which point someone will lend them a school jumper (which are dark navy blue).

My rule with my crew has always been "Wear something black, long-sleeved, preferably cotton, without anything objectionable on it. Shoes should preferably be boots, but school shoes also acceptable" past that I'm not too fussed - they wear the school uniform for concerts anyway. One year we tried to make sure everyone was dressed the same, but it became more trouble than it was worth. (I do want crew shirts though!)

As for taping over socks....


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## museav (Aug 18, 2011)

There seem to potentially be two general aspects involved here, one being the aesthetic and the visual presentation considerations and the other being safety. Shirt and slack colors seem to purely be a factor of the visual side where as earrings, footwear, etc. may also be safety related. If somebody shows up wearing red flip flops and your primary concern is that they are red then it may be time to reassess your priorities. That may also extend to determining where relying on common sense may be reasonable and that safety aspects may best not be left to rely on subjective interpretation and someone applying common sense.


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## EustaceM (Aug 20, 2011)

I forbid all of my crew from wearing piercings as it can be a safety hazard, even the studs. As for the sock issue, at the beginning of the production I buy cheep pairs of black socks, and black t-shirts that the crew can have when they forget to wear black. Their outfit must be all blacks, no logos or anything and good shoes. My lighting and Sound ops I usually prefer them to wear blacks as it is more professional. When I'm not working as a SM for a show I wear dressy blacks, collared shirt, black vest, dress pants and black boots for crew/dress shoes for anything else. I love it for my crew to look professional and presentable if capable without ruining their clothing.


"Seeing the crew ruins the illusion of theatre"


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## ProductionSM1 (Oct 17, 2014)

As The Stage Manager at our school, I always have my normal tech crew including ones in the booth to black out. We typically ask any large or dangly earrings to be removed but studs and such have not been an issue. My personal dress code how ever are Nice dress pants or khakis with dress shirt and tie. Because not only do I run things I try to be out in the house greeting people making them feel welcome which I feel like is just as important as calling a show. My ASM wears a nice black dress black flats or heels and does her hair all nice. (For those of us with female ASM's)


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## ProductionSM1 (Oct 19, 2014)

As The Stage Manager at our school, I always have my normal tech crew including ones in the booth to black out. We typically ask any large or dangly earrings to be removed but studs and such have not been an issue. My personal dress code how ever are Nice dress pants or khakis with dress shirt and tie. Because not only do I run things I try to be out in the house greeting people making them feel welcome which I feel like is just as important as calling a show. My ASM wears a nice black dress black flats or heels and does her hair all nice. (For those of us with female ASM's) How do you feel on differentiating SM and ASM from the rest of the crew?


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## Les (Oct 19, 2014)

ProductionSM1 said:


> As The Stage Manager at our school, I always have my normal tech crew including ones in the booth to black out. We typically ask any large or dangly earrings to be removed but studs and such have not been an issue. My personal dress code how ever are Nice dress pants or khakis with dress shirt and tie. Because not only do I run things I try to be out in the house greeting people making them feel welcome which I feel like is just as important as calling a show. My ASM wears a nice black dress black flats or heels and does her hair all nice. (For those of us with female ASM's) How do you feel on differentiating SM and ASM from the rest of the crew?



Do you not have a House Manager? While I feel that the two are important, I have found that Stage Managers are generally pretty busy during that time between house open and curtain. I'd recommend losing the tie while you're backstage as a safety measure. I also feel that the heals are unnecessary and provide an unneeded safety hazard - the ASM (and SM) are part of the crew, as I see it, and should be willing to pull sets and otherwise respond to emergencies at a moment's notice. I do not think there is an operational need to physically differentiate SM/ASM's between normal crew members, and it sounds like more of an ego thing (we've all been there  ). You make yourself stand out in the way you carry yourself and lead others.

Sorry - I don't mean to pick on you. I'm sure you're very good at what you do. These are just my opinions and nothing more. . Welcome to the booth!


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## Fountain Of Euph (Oct 19, 2014)

I think it depends on the event. If I were backstage for a recital, then black dress pants, black dress shirt, and my black leather steel-toes. However, if I am doing lights for the opera or stage managing then black jeans and any black shirt will do, although I usually lean towards a collared shirt if I am SM. When I record or mix for the jazz band then ususaly something nicer, usually with a tie. 

I do have a strange habit of wearing a tie on closing night. Guess its good luck...


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