Alice In Wonderland Jr

[damobarrowafc]

I'm currently 'teching' a 'Alice in Wonderland Jr' performance, is there anyway of getting a directors script online? possibly free?

 

The school have given me a student's edition and the directors one has all the cues in and well the school wont even photocopy.

 

Pain in the a**e I know.

 

But is there a online copy? pdf?

Anything that is the broadway jr edition

 

Cheers

Damo

Bluebird Tech North West

[Bryson]

Usual scripts don't come with where all the cues are*, so I suspect the reason you have the student version, is because one of the things you're supposed to be learning is how to write cues into your script, by finding out from the director/designer where they want them! Also, the director may choose to ignore the "written-in" cues and do something else entirely.

 

 

*=How could they? In most cases, that's up to you to decide!

[Aaron-Hill07]

Damo,

 

The directors script will only have the cues in it, because the director has put them in there. I'm not sure what your job role is, but I'm guessing your Sound Op or Lighting Op so it's down to you to discuss with the director what changes happen where. That way, you write in your own cues into your script, thats generally the way it works!

 

HTH,

Aaron

[damobarrowafc]

Cheers Guys,

Its the sound im doing for this show and all the 'director' told me was use the sound cues in the script because thats how we've rehersed it.

But even if possible I would like a electronic copy of the script.

 

Cheers

Damo

[Aaron-Hill07]

In that case, I'd speak to the director and have a look through his/her's script and write them into yours. If they have no sound effects, a lot of it will be '' Well Alice speaks in this one, so turn her mic up at this point'' etc..

 

I haven't seen an electronic copy but I'm sure if there is one you can find it on a good google search!

 

Thanks,

Aaron

[damobarrowafc]

In that case, I'd speak to the director and have a look through his/her's script and write them into yours. If they have no sound effects, a lot of it will be '' Well Alice speaks in this one, so turn her mic up at this point'' etc..

 

I haven't seen an electronic copy but I'm sure if there is one you can find it on a good google search!

 

well theres 44 tracks and were using 20 wireless, 2 guns, 2 overhead mics. (Long story why this many! has caused a feedback nightmare!)

 

and ive searched all over and cant seem to find a copy

 

Cheers tho

[pisquee]

I worked on this show.

The scripts have to be bought in, as does the CD of the backing tracks and SFX. I doubt very much that you'll find a copy of either for for free online.

 

What I did to cut down on mics, was to have recording sessions with the cast, to record backing vocals onto a new backing track CD - backing vocals on left, and the original stereo backing track mixed down to mono onto the right. I even got away with also having the 'flower girls' (can't remember their proper collective name) lead vocal lines on the track too. Also a good idea to chop off the silence from the beginning of each of the CD tracks so they play instantly - I also found that quite a few of the sound effects and songs actually ran into each other, and so you can record them as one song on the CD. Although when I mixed it, I used an LS9, and so put all the tracks onto a USB stick, and programmed them into scenes,

 

The way the director (drama teacher) staged the version I worked on, they had of the cast on stage all of the time, so there was no chance of swapping over mics. I hope your version is not like this, then you can have someone backstage in charge of making sure the right person has the correct mic on throughout the show. Make a mic plot - a grid of scenes/songs along one side, and the available mics along the other axis, and then work out by going through the script, who needs a mic at any one point. Then look through and work out where the best places are to swap them (where there is time) Try to keep you main character on the same mic all the way through as they will be on stage a lot.

 

You need to borrow the director's script and copy out any sound cues. and talk through anything that isn't clear, and sit through as many rehearsals as you can.

 

Edit to add: If you do re-record the tracks and join some tracks together to give you less cues to worry about, make sure this is reflected in your script, so you play the right number track!

[tommulliner]

Tell the school you wont do it without a photocoppied script, or just copy out the cues in the directors script??

Here is a place where I get scripts that I can print off and scribble all over... Linky Although, I dont think the show you want is on there, but they do update it every so oftern so...

[Bobbsy]

Frankly, I wouldn't want "printed out" copies of cues anyway. I much prefer to write in the thing that I need to know.

 

For example, "director's script" might say "Music Track 3" but mine would say "CD-2 Track 3 Tea Party Dance. Start -10, gradual fade up" where CD-2 refers to the deck to be used and so on. I also print LARGE (in pencil) in a standard part of the script with a line drawn to the EXACT cue point in terms of the text. Finally, I also write in "Stand By" cues, especially where a cue might be near the top of the next page. Oh, and I also do "Dip" and "Mute" cues for mics, music, etc.

 

In busy places, I put a mic channel number next to every line of dialogue (though I hope that, by the opening, these are just an "aide memoir" with me knowing the show sufficiently.

 

So...as others have said...borrow the director's script then translate it to your own version of cues in your copy.

 

Bob

[paulears]

I think we've missed something.

 

I think the problem is he wants a word or .txt version of the script, and I'll guess the plan is then to put the thing on a laptop or PC so it's paperless.

 

There are two options. You use paper, probably the ones the cast have been working from, or you type it up yourself. I've done it many, many times and it's a real pain, but probably 4 or 5 hours worth if you're a quick typist!

 

Personally, I'd use the paper script and scribble all over it. If you have sfx and radios to control, then you MUST be planned properly - marking the script up is a personal adjustment of everyone else's method.

 

I'm not sure that it's the thing we should attempt to do on a forum, because so much depends on the scale, complexity and quality level the director wants. If you need to do it as part of the course, then you should have been taught the basics - if it's just that you don't like acting, so got given sound, then the director's one of those who thinks sound (and lighting) is easy, so what's the fuss about?

 

To help - we'd need to know an awful lot more info. Most people would by now have taken the script, gone though it marking up which actors with radios are on stage and active for each page of the script, so they can plan. They'd also have identified sound effects, sourced them, edited them and got them ready to play.

 

This is more complex than your posts suggest, I think?

[Bobbsy]

Count me as another one who much rather work from paper than off a screen. When the cast accidentally drop three and half pages of dialogue, it's much easier to turn pages with your left hand and pull down 12 faders with the right than it is to mess with a mouse!

 

However, if the OP really does want a computer version, the was discussion over on the Theatre Sound list a while back about scanning the script and using OCR to end up with a .txt file which can then be marked up. If you don't care about having it in a text format, then just scan and mark up in paint or whatever.

 

Bob

[boswell]

Tell the school you wont do it without a photocoppied script, or just copy out the cues in the directors script??

Here is a place where I get scripts that I can print off and scribble all over... Linky Although, I dont think the show you want is on there, but they do update it every so oftern so...

 

Some have been deleted from that site!!

[GridGirl]

However, if the OP really does want a computer version, the was discussion over on the Theatre Sound list a while back about scanning the script and using OCR to end up with a .txt file which can then be marked up. If you don't care about having it in a text format, then just scan and mark up in paint or whatever.

 

Scanning the script and feeding it through an OCR engine is definitely the best way to end up with a Word or txt file of the script - if I'm stage managing a musical I always create an electronic copy of the script for a few reasons! I call from score where I can, so if I have an electronic version I can scan in the music as pictures and insert them into the script at the appropriate places, and I also hate having stage directions in a calling script, particularly as usually they're totally redundant anyway!

 

However, as Paul and Bobbsy have said, I wouldn't even consider using the electronic version of the script in performance - too much can go wrong. It's simply a tool to allow me to format my script the way I want it, and then print it out and put it in a file to call from.

 

Having said that, even with a decent OCR package it's still not flawless - much depends on the original that you're scanning from; I did Anything Goes last year and the original script was such a mess that it was quicker to type it from scratch than to scan (and our photocopier is on the network and scans, so I just dump the original in the document feeder, select my folder and hit START), OCR and then sort out the formatting blips which always occur. I've got Cabaret coming up and have just finished my electronic copy; it's not just as simple as scanning and importing, you do end up having to do a fair whack of re-formatting as some things just don't come out right. I've got quicker at it as I've discovered tricks to it, but it's still quite a slow process.

[damobarrowafc]

Cheers for all the answers guys,

yes I was looking for a electronic copy

I've been away this weekend and I had a email waiting for me once I returned now saying that she wanted 24 wireless instead of 20 and 3 guns and 2 overheads. Plus most of the cast are on at the same time so its a pain to swap mics all the time with costumes getting in the way etc.

And all the director told me was to follow the cues on the script. As shes following it word by word (which hopefully the actors will)

The recording idea would of worked but seen as tho the cast all in school (its a school production) and not able to get out of lessons and the dress is on mon night and first show tuesday afternoon there just isnt the time to record but ill keep that in mind for future reference.

 

Cheers

Damo

Bluebird Tech North West

[pisquee]

Recording of the cast for backing vocals is possible for future productions (the production I did it for was a school show.) You just need the school and staff onboard with the idea, and then it can be planned into the rehearsal schedule.

 

 

For the cast that aren't on all the time, these are the ones where you need to look at how to share mics - you need a mic tech backstage to do this, you can't do it and mix the show obviously, and someone who isn't also doing something else, so they don't get distracted ... if you can have comms between the two of you (not shared by other depts) then even better.