Online Resources

There are so many different resources in existence today, an entire book could be written on just online resources, how to use them, and their purpose. We wanted to give you a brief overview of some resources that we or some close colleagues have used to help keep up with the production process and the ever-changing technological needs of a production. As Apple users we can only give you the briefest of information on PC-based apps and programs, but we encourage you to use sites and apps as a resource for finding or creating things that work best for you and your process.

Theatrical Resources

Actors Equity Association (www.actorsequity.org)
American Guild of Musical Artists (www.musicalartists.org)
American Guild of Variety Artists (www.agvausa.com/)
ArtsJournal (www.artsjournal.com)
Control Booth (www.controlbooth.com)
IATSE (www.iatse-intl.org)
Offstage Jobs (http://offstagejobs.com)
Screen Actors Guild—American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (www.sagaftra.org/)
SM Network (www.smnetwork.org)
SM Toolkit and National Survey (www.sm-sim.com/)
Society of American Fight Directors (www.safd.org/)
Stage Directors and Choreographers Society (www.sdcweb.org)
Stage Managers Association (www.stagemanagers.org)
Theatre Communications Group (www.tcg.org)
United States Institute for Theatre Technology (www.usitt.org)
Virtual Callboard (www.virtualcallboard.com)

Meetings and Scheduling

Doodle (www.Doodle.com): Need to coordinate everyone’s schedule to find a common time to have a meeting? Doodle allows you to send out a list of times and collates everyone’s responses into easy-to-read data noting the time everyone is free.

Free Conference Call (www.FreeConferenceCall.com): A great way to set up a free voice conference call between multiple parties in different locations. New features include video conferencing as well.

Google Calendars (www.google.com/calendar): Online calendars. Create and share a rehearsal schedule, create a schedule for yourself with reminders, or share a tech schedule with the design team. Google makes calendars easy to create and share.

Meeting Wizard (www.Meetingwizard.com): Very similar to Doodle, Meeting Wizard allows you to send out a list of times and collates everyone’s responses into easy-to-read data noting the time everyone is free. Meeting Wizard can also be used to announce a meeting that is already scheduled or send reminders about scheduled meetings.

Cloud Storage

Amazon Cloud Drive (www.amazon.com/clouddrive/home)
Dropbox (www.dropbox.com)
Google Drive (drive.google.com)

Other Productivity

These apps are available online through most Web browsers, allowing you to access the information on almost any computer no matter the operating system as long as you have an Internet connection. Most of these apps also have a mobile version, as well as apps for both iOS and Android.

Checkvist (www.checkvist.com): An online checklist app that allows you to create a list and share it. Any of your shared users can check off things on the list or see what has been checked off, and the program stores when something was checked off and by whom. This app also allows for nesting (the ability to give any item a sub-category). There are some additional features that a monthly or yearly subscription unlocks, but these are not necessary to use this resource very functionally.

Evernote (Evernote.com): A great note-taking and collaboration app to take and share notes.

Google Hangouts (hangouts.google.com): A good way to group video chat with team members no matter their location as long as everyone has a decent Internet connection.

Google Maps (maps.google.com): A great tool that allows you to find your way to any number of things, as well as search for dining options, medical resources, or transit options.

Remind (www.remind.com): A great way to communicate quickly and easily with your entire cast and design team. Set up multiple “classes,” one for your actors and rehearsal contacts and another for your design team, so you can quickly send out information without having to add everyone’s information every time. This is for quick updates and reminders, not long communiqués. This was designed for communication between teachers and classes without needing to give out a personal phone number, but works very well for theatrical purposes.

Skype (www.skype.com): A good way to group chat or group video chat when production meetings need to take place with team members spread out around the country. This does require a decent Internet connection and some features require payment.

Wunderlist (http://wunderlist.com): A checklist app that allows users to create a list and share it with multiple people, and set reminders and deadlines.

IOS Apps

Alarmed ~ Reminders + Timers by Yoctoville: Need to record the time on several different things at once? This app can do that, in addition to setting both time- and location-based reminders.

Amazon Cloud Drive by Amazon: A cloud-based storage app, which also has an online app.

ETC iRFR-Preview by Electronic Theatre Controls Inc.: The iRFR allows you to watch the cue list of any ETC EOS family console. There is a slight delay between the app and the console, so do not depend on it for calling cues.

Evernote by Evernote: A great note-taking and collaboration app to take and share notes.

Dropbox by Dropbox: A cloud-based storage app that has a desktop app and an online app.

Genius Scan by The Grizzly Lab: A quick and easy way to scan a document, whiteboard, receipt, etc. using just your phone’s camera. The free version doesn’t allow all export features, but does allow e-mail. The paid version unlocks all features.

Google Drive by Google: A cloud-based storage app that links with Google’s document suite. This app also has a desktop app and an online app.

Google Maps by Google: A great GPS app that allows you to find your way to any number of things.

*iAnnotate by Branchfire Inc: A very handy PDF annotator that allows for the use of many different annotation tools, Dropbox sync, and sharing.

iRigging by J.R. Clancy, Inc.: An app that gives you rigging information and calculations.

*Qlab Remote by Figure 53: A remote for the Mac app Qlab, which shows the cue stack as well as allowing minor edits of levels and stopping or starting cues.

Remind: Safe Classroom Communication by Remind 101: A great way to communicate quickly and easily with your entire cast and design team. This is for quick updates and reminders, not long communiqués. This was designed for communication between teachers and classes without needing to give out a personal phone number, but works very well for theatrical purposes. It also has an online app.

Scannable by Evernote: A quick and easy way to scan a document, whiteboard, receipt, etc. using just your phone’s camera. You can then sync to Evernote or e-mail it to yourself.

Skype by Microsoft: A free way to group chat or group video chat. This does require a decent Internet connection.

*Stage Write by Open Jar Productions LLC: An app to record blocking and choreography. This app is expensive but is very helpful for creating nice blocking sheets, especially for choreography. It is not the fastest app to work in, so recording blocking by hand first and then inputting the information later may be the way to go.

*Step Timer by West Side Systems: Allows you to count beats per minute as well as calculate the time between each step (the beats or movements in choreography, etc.).

*Take 10! by Wooly: A great app to calculate breaks during rehearsals using Actors’ Equity Association rules.

*time:calc by Watten Earth: An app to help you calculate all those pesky times from rehearsals and performances.

Wunderlist by Wunderlist: A checklist app that allows users to create a list and share that list with multiple people, and set reminders and deadlines.

* = paid app

Mac Apps

multistopwatch.com: An online stopwatch useful for timing individual acts as well as the entire show (lap and split times).

Nocturne: An app that will darken your screen so you can have it open in tech and not distract others.

Wunderlist (www.wunderlist.com/): A checklist app that allows users to create a list and share that list with multiple people, and set reminders and deadlines.

PC Apps

Mega-Watch (www.willpickens.com/megawatch_index.html): A time-keeping and break timer.

multistopwatch.com: An online stopwatch useful for timing individual acts as well as the entire show (lap and split times).

Wunderlist (www.wunderlist.com/): A checklist app that allows users to create a list and share that list with multiple people, and set reminders and deadlines.