Comments on: Another Great Journey Begins http://someenchantedevening.wordpress.com/2008/05/12/another-great-journey-begins/ Behind the scenes of the Rodgers & Hammerstein Musical Revue by Geoff Short Thu, 23 Jul 2009 03:56:41 +0000 http://wordpress.com/ hourly 1 By: Geoff http://someenchantedevening.wordpress.com/2008/05/12/another-great-journey-begins/#comment-4 Geoff Wed, 21 May 2008 12:47:04 +0000 http://geoffshort.wordpress.com/?p=9#comment-4 I agree with you that the longer you go between rehearsals, the longer you take catching up - maddening. I try to go with something like 3 times a week on a Tuesday, Thursday, Sunday type of rotation so that not too much time passes. Of course all of us try to expect that our casts will come prepared - knowing lines, songs, choreo, etc. - so that more can get accomplished...but of course that doesn't always happen. I can also see the challenges of the Sunday only model you mentioned. Seems like a month or two of tech Sundays! Grueling. Again that may work with a small cast and a smaller scale show. I just don't feel like a large scale community production can be done like that. In the interest of this Theatre Tribe and trying to do things in new ways, I think we need to continue to get creative about this increasingly challenging hurdle to get more people involved. I agree with you that the longer you go between rehearsals, the longer you take catching up – maddening. I try to go with something like 3 times a week on a Tuesday, Thursday, Sunday type of rotation so that not too much time passes. Of course all of us try to expect that our casts will come prepared – knowing lines, songs, choreo, etc. – so that more can get accomplished…but of course that doesn’t always happen.

I can also see the challenges of the Sunday only model you mentioned. Seems like a month or two of tech Sundays! Grueling. Again that may work with a small cast and a smaller scale show. I just don’t feel like a large scale community production can be done like that.

In the interest of this Theatre Tribe and trying to do things in new ways, I think we need to continue to get creative about this increasingly challenging hurdle to get more people involved.

]]> By: Geoff http://someenchantedevening.wordpress.com/2008/05/12/another-great-journey-begins/#comment-3 Geoff Wed, 21 May 2008 12:46:38 +0000 http://geoffshort.wordpress.com/?p=9#comment-3 Laura from Theatre Tribe Responded: I have to say that although it can be exhausting, I prefer the multiple rehearsals each week, fewer week setup, even when coming into a rehearsal at the end of a day job. I feel like the longer you go in between rehearsals, the more is lost in the off-time, and then you have to invest a significant amount of time each rehearsal building back up to where you were before. With the short but intensive process, as long as the director, stage manager and actors are all willing to respect the schedule and focus in the short time they're there, you can get a lot done and the commitment is over in a month. I recently worked with a company that rehearsed only Sundays. Depending on the size of your role, an actor might be at the rehearsal space from noon until 9PM on Sunday, but most people were only called for a few hours within that timeframe. It was convenient in that it left us all free to have outside lives the rest of the week and even audition for other projects at the same time, but the director was always exhausted by these rehearsals and probably not able to give his fullest attention by the end of the day. Also, the actors that were there for long portions of the day started to lose focus, too. And it never felt like we were getting a lot of new things accomplished at rehearsals, because we spent so much time just getting back up to speed. This schedule may have worked if everyone had been more organized and focused, but they weren't. Eventually, the actors started requesting additional rehearsals during the week so we could stay more on top of the show. Just my two cents... Laura from Theatre Tribe Responded:

I have to say that although it can be exhausting, I prefer the multiple rehearsals each week, fewer week setup, even when coming into a rehearsal at the end of a day job. I feel like the longer you go in between rehearsals, the more is lost in the off-time, and then you have to invest a significant amount of time each rehearsal building back up to where you were before. With the short but intensive process, as long as the director, stage manager and actors are all willing to respect the schedule and focus in the short time they’re there, you can get a lot done and the commitment is over in a month.

I recently worked with a company that rehearsed only Sundays. Depending on the size of your role, an actor might be at the rehearsal space from noon until 9PM on Sunday, but most people were only called for a few hours within that timeframe. It was convenient in that it left us all free to have outside lives the rest of the week and even audition for other projects at the same time, but the director was always exhausted by these rehearsals and probably not able to give his fullest attention by the end of the day. Also, the actors that were there for long portions of the day started to lose focus, too. And it never felt like we were getting a lot of new things accomplished at rehearsals, because we spent so much time just getting back up to speed. This schedule may have worked if everyone had been more organized and focused, but they weren’t. Eventually, the actors started requesting additional rehearsals during the week so we could stay more on top of the show.

Just my two cents…

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