The Call Board

Hello fellow SM's,

Following the receipt of my Masters degree and subsequently working in the medical field for 5 years, the theatre bug has still got a hold on me.  I used to SM for my alma mater and 2 Off-Broadway theater houses.  Over the years, I have lost contact with those connections.  I'd like to return to my first love, however I'm a lost as to where to start.  I'm in NYC. Any advice?  (I'm non-Equity)

Thank you,
Summer

• C**** has no idea what goes into the backstage machinery of a production, even though she's spent her entire life as a performer. The only tech she seems to be aware of at all are sound and lights. Perhaps this is because those personnel are visible to the performer while onstage performing.
• C**** has her salaried TD, B**, spread too thin with his own schedule and staffing budget. He attempted to get me to be responsible for locking up the venue (for free) so he wouldn't have to stay late or use part of his staffing budget to pay someone else to stay late. Had he asked me this up front, I wouldn't have felt that I was being taken advantage of. He could have traded me something for this added responsibility, like, I don't know, extra help on future shows or something like that. He never mentioned that I was to keep the key thing a secret. That little tidbit would have been useful to know, too.
• C****'s response to my asking to be paid for Props work was met with the response that B** would be saddled with it, rather than coughing up an extra couple of bucks. She seems to believe that Community Theatre should be done for free. Except for herself, whom she pays very well.
• I never did receive a contract from her. But I have my fee in writing, so nyah.
• Adding insult to injury, the Venue Rep for "Blues", L****, who, incidentally, played Lancelot in the just completed run of Camelot, forgot to list me in the damn program for "Blues" for the entire first weekend. Stinker. The Box Office Lady assures me that this was merely an oversight on his part, and does not reflect the Venue's opinion of me. She says that in subsequent meetings since my li'l missive on Stage Management, no one has said any bad thing about me in her earshot, and that I am not put on any "Do Not Hire" list. Not that I was worried. There aren't many SM's in our area that are worth a toot, anyway.
• Of course, I ended up doing the majority of the props myownself anyway, without pay. The show must go on, and all that. I admit, I was torn about doing it. I almost let the show go on without decent proppage, just to make my point. In the end, though, I couldn't do that to my actors or my director. I can either turn in my receipts to B** for reimbursement or I can eat the money and keep those props for my own future props needs. I haven't yet decided. Those 1930s magazines were hard to find, though inexpensive, and it will be nice to not have to drive all over town for them, should I need them again. I even put several of my own personal belongings in the show, for no fee. Anyway.
• The show is a smash hit, selling out for the second weekend (running now) and getting a four star review by the local reviewer. So there. That'll have to do me, I guess.