LJ Idol 5.15 Resolute!

[puppetmaker]

Once upon a time in the time before I lived in the North, I was the stage manager for a small ensemble theater which had set up residence in a township north of Atlanta. Now when we had started the company, the town had provided the auditorium and rehearsal space with a coffee service. About six months into our first season, the town was doing its yearly budget and came to realize exactly how much coffee a theatrical company drinks along with the associated cost. Of course they yanked the coffee service.

I talked to the general manager of the theater company and we worked out a way to stretch the budget, which was pretty thin at this point, to cover the coffee consumption for the rest of the season. We both agreed that next season it would have to be different.

So during our break, I looked at how much we spend on coffee and worked out a weekly fee for hot beverages. I presented it to management and they agreed that this would be the only really fair way of doing it. The theater bought a coffee makers and a bunch of plastic mugs mostly in the orange, green, and brown end of the spectrum due to a sale and I presented how this was now going to work to the company. If they wanted to partake in the coffee and tea service, there would now be a fee involved that they could pay in total up front (cheapest alternative), a weekly fee (not terrible but more than the show fee), or by the cup (which was less than Starbucks but still a little on the high side of things). The howls of injustice from the company probably scared any and all wildlife in a five-mile radius.

One actor came to me afterward and informed me that the management of the theater had to provide coffee. He was very resolute in his conviction that it said in the Equity Rule Book that the theater had to provide coffee.

Now the Equity rulebook is a strange beast. There are regulations in there that make total sense like the theater has to provide potable water for the actors during rehearsal. Others seem like knee jerk reactions of some rather childish moves on both management and the cast's side like 30 inches of dressing table space with mirrors near for each actor (and believe me when I tell you I have had to tape that out precisely more than once in a dressing room) and an adequate light source. I studied all the rulebooks when I was at Yale and I can tell you that coffee service is not in any of them. The only place where coffee is even mentioned is if you are providing housing for actors and then you only need to provide when they arrive and after that they are on their own and that is in the LoRT (League of Resident Theaters) contract not the one we were working under.

But my actor knew he was right and by gum he was going to prove it. So as per the rules of the AEA handbook, I provided him a copy of the current rules and any memos that had been added to the rulebook at the time. He ran off triumphantly with the book to find the section where management was to provide coffee. He was resolute that he was going to find this mysterious clause that was not in the rules.

The next day he came to me and sheepishly handed me the fee for the entire run of rehearsal and the show. He also gave me back the rulebook that he had read through and dog-eared a number of pages which he then discussed with me at length as to what was expected on management's part. He was rather resolute that management was going to follow the rules which they had been so there really wasn't a problem just a problem in perspective.

This has been my entry for this week's LJ Idol. I hope you enjoyed it.

Comments

[chris-walsh.livejournal.com]

Ah, the overwhelming urge to be right. It can be hard to overcome. "I know this, this is true, and you are a poopybutt for not admitting its true-ness. Ooooo!"

I like to think that the phrase "When you assume, you make an ass out of u and me" doesn't give enough weight to how embarrassed the assumer should be. The assume-ee shouldn't be so burdened! It's not the assume-ee's fault!

But it's good the run-in led to an actual discussion and straightening-out of the rules, instead of staying at the "Oooo, poopybutt" level of discourse.

[puppetmaker40.livejournal.com]

I was actually waiting for it to reach the "poopbutt" level of discourse since the actor in question had a bit of a reputation for these sorts of stunts but I learned at an early age as a stage manager from a wise ol' stage manager that people tend to respond better when they KNOW that you have listen and HEARD what they have had to say and taken it into consideration rather than listen and ignore what they are saying.

[jenandbronze.livejournal.com]

I never thought of that! assume = ass out of u and me! I love it!

[puppetmaker40.livejournal.com]

Yeah I heard that one back in college from a professor I didn't really get along with that well but he was right and the phrase stuck in my head.

[readinggeek451]

The first time I heard that phrase, I thought it was mildly amusing. By now, it just makes me want to scream. (sorry)

[wonderbink.livejournal.com]

I remember Mom telling me that one when I was young. She even illustrated it by writing the word ASSUME on a sheet of paper and putting little lines to break it into ASS/U/ME. It stuck.

[thenodrin.livejournal.com]

That is an old Benny Hill joke that was also done by Gallagher.

Actually, now that I think about it, it might be older than both of them. Neither was really "above" using old jokes. ;-)

Theno

[jenandbronze.livejournal.com]

I am too young to know many oldies and all that. LOL

[rosepurr.livejournal.com]

You've lead a very fascinating life!!

[puppetmaker40.livejournal.com]

Thanks.

I have had a number of friends who have urged me to write what I have done so far up since they think it would make a good book. I am dubious personally but I do think that I have been involved in a number of interesting things.

[puppetmaker40.livejournal.com]

Then you might have worked with this actor since it was at G.E.T. up in Roswell about 13 years ago (maybe 14 by now) *grin*

[baxaphobia.livejournal.com]

hahahaha. Too funny!

[puppetmaker40.livejournal.com]

Thank you.

I'll be here all week....try the veal *grin*

[brightflashes.livejournal.com]

This is great!

[imafarmgirl.livejournal.com]

That is hilarious. People get really bitchy over their coffee.

[beeker121.livejournal.com]

Ah yes. I've run into that myself, the belief that it is in the rule book that the company must supply coffee. It's kind of like the idea that if the professor is more than 10 minutes late the class can leave. No one knows where it came from, but everyone has heard of it.

(When I first started at my current company they sprung for Folgers. The actors would voluntarily take up donations to get better coffee. Heh.

[shadowwolf13]

At least he was willing to go with what you gave him rather than continuing to make a fuss about it. :)

Great entry.

[walkertxkitty.livejournal.com]

I love your entries which give insight into stage management and the management of actors. You did pretty well; I'd have simply killed him.

[alycewilson.livejournal.com]

::giggle:: Coffee can do strange things to a man!

[theafaye.livejournal.com]

Love this insight into the theatre world!