Open Forum

Hi.

After much discussion and consideration, we have decided to limit the running time of our high school productions. Our goal is two hours with a half hour buffer, putting the ceiling at two and half hours. I think this seems more than reasonable. We do Thursday, Friday and Saturday evening performances. I worry about the school work for students who perform on a Thursday and are in class on Friday. My personal goal will always be a two hour run. Thoughts?

------------------------------
Donnie Bryan
Department Chair for Visual and Performing Arts
Nashville TN
------------------------------

Hello Ms. Bryan!  At my high school, there isn't a set time limit on performances, although I don't believe we ran shows longer than three and a half hours in the past, simply because we do not have the audience size to support them.  I think our standard performance time is anywhere from two to three hours, though more recently we've produced less-lengthy shows that cap our time at two hours (including intermission.)  Finding the balance between too long and too short is tricky, but those are just thoughts on what my school does.  I hope this helps! 

------------------------------
Grace Alt
ITO Vice Chair
Wyndmoor PA
------------------------------

We have given ourselves a little more leeway on this by standardizing our curtain times for chorus, orchestra, band and theater at 7:30 pm.  

Just like the general public assumes 2:00 or 8:00 as the curtain times, our public learns to expect to be there by 7:30.   Even with our long musicals, kids are generally out of the building around eleven at the latest.  And we start on time--really on time.  We rarely hold the house, unless there is a weather event.  People who arrive late wait to be seated between the first break in rows we reserve in the back.  We double check with the athletic department to make sure there are no parking conflicts.   You may be able to earn  back some performance time by making sure your front of house staff is well trained and organized.  Pre show and intermission is where I witness a lot of inefficiency in time at most amateur productions. Tighten those up and you can do a three hour show on a Thursday night. --------------------------

Hope Love

------------------------------

My philosophy was always to leave them wanting more - hence, I tried never to do a show longer than 2 hours (non-musical). 

------------------------------
Kristie Bach
Retired Theatre Teacher
Traverse City MI
------------------------------

Once you get north of 2:30, it can make for a long evening, and bravo for your concern for those Thursday to Friday transitions. When I worked in a private school setting, it amplified the problem, just due to the geographic spread of the student body.

Additionally, my students also knew no one left after closing Saturday until the set was completely struck. So, a super-long show could well lead into a seriously late night. I think two to two-and-a-half hours is a great guideline. Another factor: Audiences tend to feel "cheated" if the evening runs under 90 minutes. (Notable exception: Elementary school. There's a reason Broadway Jr.-type shows clock in at 70 min.)

But, to echo what Hope said: The best way to tighten up the evening is with a superstar house manager. I'm an ex-radio guy, and my folks knew the clock ruled the roost. (Trust me. In radio there is no "holding" anything.) My audiences knew my shows started on time. My curtain speeches would never exceed 3 minutes. Intermission was 15 minutes. I've seen educational and community productions grind to a halt thanks to a lackadaisical attitude toward house management. 

This is all about being a good steward of the time of others. Sounds like you've made a thoughtful decision!

------------------------------
Scott Piehler
Director
SUWANEE GA
------------------------------

Hi Donnie,

Here at Jefferson, we share in your practice and thought of keeping performance run times of our full length productions to the two hour target. We also produce a Children's show every fall and have found that the best run time for a young audience is 45-50 minutes.

------------------------------
Lynn Jensen
Language Arts Faculty, Director of Theater
Cedar Rapids Community Schools
Cedar Rapids IA
------------------------------

I've been wanting to chime in on this, but that pesky national conference kept me pretty busy all weekend. In addition to my work with young people, I also am a voter for LA's theatre awards, the Ovations, which are nearly unique (and were entirely unique until some imitations spawned) as 100% peer reviewed. While NY tends to get more of the notoriety, and people think all we do out here is film, LA is a substantial launch pad for new plays, with shows like Bare and Rock of Ages beginning here. One major trend in the last few years in new plays is the 90-105 minute intermissionless play.

Obviously, at the school level, there are certain factors that come into play:
1. The need to have an intermission to sell concessions.
2. The ability of a mixed age audience to sit through up to 105 minutes straight.

But for an audience, it means the play doesn't lose its momentum at intermission, and many of us prefer that intense, undiluted experience. Personally, if I'm in a theatre for much longer than two hours, there'd better be a good reason.

Part of the reason why school shows are still quite long in general (thus creating a corresponding audience expectation for a longer play) is that, as has been pointed out by some (can't remember if it was on this board or another), the average age of the school mainstage show is rather, er...advanced in years--from a time when shows were longer. More contemporary shows like Almost, Maine stick to that two hour max, and I think audiences will adjust as more school theatremakers perform works from the contemporary canon.

As for children's shows, I think that 45-50 minutes is just right for tours of largely child audiences, though the larger sit-down TYA theatres performing for mixed-age audiences will often do shows that are over an hour with great success.

Cheers,
Jonathan

------------------------------
Jonathan Dorf
Playwright/ Co-founder of YouthPLAYS/ Co-chair of The Alliance Of Los Angeles Playwrights
Los Angeles CA
------------------------------

As others have already posted, running time considerations include both Troupe members and audience.  We need to be sure our students are able to maintain the academic standards we expect of them as members of an honor society.  Our audiences will have an expectation of both minimum and maximum running times, which can vary by age and the norm of shows in your region.

Another audience consideration that seemed to make a difference in attendance last year was remembering that parents have to work.  Sometimes, they need to arrange child care for our students' younger siblings that aren't quite ready to be audience members.  In some communities (like mine) educating the audience is needed in addition to educating the Troupe.

We experimented with having our Saturday curtain in the mid-afternoon rather than evening.  The feedback was entirely positive.

- Cast and crew were done with strike in time for a family dinner.

- Younger children were able to see the bigger kids in a performance, which generated interest.  (As in the size of our extracurricular only program doubled in a single year, primarily from incoming freshman.)

- Many of the parents who work in service industries were finally able to attend.

- Our gate for the Saturday afternoon show was quadruple the Friday evening show.

------------------------------
Jym Kinney
Troupe Director
Tacoma WA
------------------------------

Thank you for the previous posts on this. Have been guilty of sloppy house management and wanting to hold the door. I think what has been said is spot on, and I shall repent of my ways!

We try to limit it to under 2 hours 15 minutes including the intermission. Musicals are trickier as Mr. Dorf intimated, but if the transitions between scenes are tight and zippy, then that 2 and a half hour show can swing by a lot quicker. I saw one show where the transitions took what seemed like forever and made a 100 minute show seem like 3 hours...

------------------------------
Phillip Goodchild
Theatre Arts Instructor/Assistant Department Head of English
Hillsborough County Schools
Ruskin FL
------------------------------