One of the many jobs of a Production Stage Manager (and trust me, she’s got many) is to send out “production notes,” which communicate all the things that happened that day with the many different production departments (set, costumes, sound, lights, props). Basically, if it weren’t for the production notes, each department would have to attend every rehearsal to identify any changes that were made or adjustments that were needed.

Often, production notes are very fun reading. Stick Fly, it turns out, is a prop-heavy show. They spend lots of time eating, shopping, moving things around, and just generally dealing with props. So Stick Fly’s Production Stage Manager, Cheryl, and Stage Manager, Alison, have been sending out some dizzyingly comprehensive props notes that will help the prop department figure out what to buy, what to make, and what needs to be able to do what. With permission, I have posted some of the excerpts from last nights production notes. Enjoy! (Note - there is a character in Stick Fly named Cheryl, and that is who Production Stage Manager Cheryl is referring to in some of these notes.)

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4] At one point, Cheryl took a pencil and added some items off the “To Do List” [#1.338] on the fridge. So the list will probably need to be replaced wither every show or periodically.

7] Let’s talk trash……We will need the following garbage scenario in II-1:

• 1 large 30 gallon bag….full of trash, looks cumbersome, tied at top, never opened.
• 1 large 30 gallon bag….1/2 full of trash [other bags get added to it], Kent ties it, consumable.
• 1 small trash from study….full, tied at top, never gets opened. [already mentioned in past notes]
• 1 small trash from DL hall….full, tied at top, never gets opened.
• 2 small trash from upstairs…full, tied at top, never gets opened.
• 1 trash under kitchen sink….in the kitchen trash can, open, gets tied. New trash should be set in here at intermission so that Cheryl does not throw out the Act I props that end up in the trash can.

The small trash bags can be slightly different sizes, colors etc. [i.e.: kitchen bag different from a bedroom bag]

9] The shopping bags [#2.314] will have some of the contents taken out of them for the ladies hold up. Each lady has 3 shopping bags. Lingerie nighty for Taylor and espadrilles for Kimbur, from a swanky boutique, are among the items. Please coordinate with costumes. If possible, there is a home décor store in Martha’s Vineyard that Lydia says the girls would have shopped at called Midnight Farm [midnightfarm.net]. Lydia would love if they could each have a bag from there.

10] Just a reminder regarding lobsters [I’m sure you are aware but…]: The lobsters in the cardboard box [#1.132] cannot be the same lobsters as the ones on the tray [#1.150] because the first lobsters are unable to be tracked once they hit the stage. Depending on how deep the box is, audience won’t see the lobsters inside.

11] As confirmed at the production meeting, the stove does not need to cook food. However, during our afternoon rehearsal it was determined that real hot water should be poured from the tea kettle that is on a burner on pg 107/40:00 into Act Two. Thoughts for a hot plate or other solution?

13] Please ADD: Chocolate cake on pg 107 for Kimber and Taylor to eat with their tea. This can be the same cake as Flip eats in I-6. The ladies are eating directly out of the cake with forks, instead of making slices. What should the cake plan be…to either make one or get one from a store each show?

Posted by Adam Immerwahr, Producing Associate at McCarter Theatre

This entry was posted on Thursday, August 23rd, 2007 at 2:49 pm and is filed under Out of the Box, Stick Fly. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.