A Weekly DIGEST for teachers and staff who want to level-up support and funding for MANAGEMENT OF their SCHOOL theatre. | |
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Come backstage, and you'll see:
- Techie Tip of the Week (editorial)
- Leveling-Up (essential online courses)
- Dear Techie (advice column)
- Techie Travesties (funnies)
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Part 1 of an 8-part series on the COUNTERWEIGHT SYSTEM, which will be posted every other week.
(Tip: Even if you don’t have a counterweight system in your theatre, your vocational students will probably work with them in college or in the real world, so a ‘theory’ lesson is always a good idea!)
The Counterweight System (or Fly System or Rigging System as it is interchangeably called) is potentially the most dangerous system in the theatre. Whether you have one or not in your theatre, it’s probable that your vocational students will go on to work in theatres (in college or in a job) which have one, or you yourself may one day change schools and work in a theatre that has one, so it’s good information to tuck under your proverbial tool belt.
There’s far more to it than just walking over to a rope and pulling on it to raise (“fly out”) or lower (“fly in”) a piece of scenery. For a start, consider that you are flying hundreds of pounds of weight above the heads of people – children, in the high school setting - who have no hardhats on. What construction site allows that? Not only that, but during an actual performance, although the movements of the scenery have been choreographed and practiced, no one calls out any warning before hundreds of pounds of set pieces come flying down to the stage deck at a fast rate. The people (your students) below simply cannot be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
This series of articles will fly you through (see what I did there!) training, procedures and the safe management of counterweight systems. Look for Part 2 coming soon!
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This editorial is the express opinion of Beth Rand, and is not intended for substitution for professional advice regarding your specific situation or circumstances. | |
Online courses for school theatre teachers and staff | |
Courses that leave you empowered with actionable strategies to level-up support and funding for your theatre operations and educating your students.
Starting at $29.
Check with your admin - many districts will pay for Professional Development!
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Dear Techie,
I’m trying to keep track of my spending and budgeting from year to year. I get a budget from my school for my shows, which I supplement with ticket sales. But, I'm struggling to figure out how to stretch my budget for my non show needs (such as expenses for other events using the theatre), because they are eating up my show budget. How should I keep track of general theatre items that aren't connected to my shows.
Over-stretched in NE
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Dear Over-stretched,
When your theatre has a lot of events that use the facility it’s important that your admin understands the difference between the budget for your shows and the budget for general theatre operations. Even if you just have school events and no outside events that use your theatre, your theatre is essentially operating as a “roadhouse”. Therefore, it’s important to compartmentalize financially – or else you end up paying for everything out of your show budget, as you are discovering.
The trick is to know what should come out of what budget and to compartmentalize. For instance, if you put R51 gels for area lighting in your lighting rep plot (the general lighting that all events in your theatre use – concerts, awards ceremonies, talent show, dance recital, etc.) then the cost of those gels should come out of a general theatre operating budget. The same goes for wireless mic batteries (although you really should get rechargables!). Your school should be providing you a separate budget for theatre operations.
But… if you wanted to switch out the rep plot area gels for R02 because you are putting on “1984 the Musical” and the R51 areas are a little too happy, then the cost of those gels should come out of your show budget. Likewise, batteries for the body mics for your musical should come out of your budget, while batteries for the handheld and standing mics that all events need to use should come out of the operating budget. Lamps are another item that should come out of the general theatre operating budget (one can’t possibly keep track of how many lamplife hours each event uses!). The point being – compartmentalize. If something is show-specific then it should come out of your budget, but if something is going to be used for most or all events that come into the theatre, then it should come out of the general theatre operating budget.
There is another budget to consider and that’s the building budget. There are some items that neither your budget nor the general theatre operating budget should pay for, and that is items that would be in the facility anyway were it not a theatre. Such as room lighting – in our case we call them house lights and work lights. Fire extinguishers and first aid kids are other items the building budget should pay for.
Most admin are not aware of what it takes to run a theatre facility that is essentially a ‘roadhouse’. So even if you are only given one overall budget, it's important for you(!) to compartmentalize, and keep track of your spending on three separate spreadsheets/registers/templates – your show budget, the theatre operations budget, and the building budget. That way at a later date – it may take a year - you will be able to help your admin understand the difference between these expenses and request separate budgets, and demonstrate to them what they need to do in order to step up to the plate – oops, sports analogy! – step into the spotlight!!!
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I told my friend I was appearing in Hamlet at the Globe Theatre.
He said, "Are you being facetious?"
I said "No, Polonius"
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And finally, always remember....
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Why the name Cue3Go? Because often times (not always, of course) in a show, Cue 1 is house-to-half, Cue 2 is blackout, and Cue 3 is lights up! We hope this newsletter will light you up each week with ideas and actions for managing your high school theatre. | |
It is PRESETT's mission to provide information to assist in endeavors for safe and functional operations of school theatres. However, PRESETT is not a safety consultant or professional, and any information provided or advocated is not intended to supplement, not supersede, industry safety training. Always consult a theatre safety specialist about your specific situation or circumstances. | |
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