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Scheduling Conflicts

  • 1.  Scheduling Conflicts

    Posted 01-21-2018 20:22
    Hi All,

    I am looking to hear from our community on an issue I am facing right now and it would be helpful to hear from you all. 

    1. What are your typical rehearsal start and end times for high school troupes on mainstage productions?
    2. What are your typical rehearsal start and end times for high school troupes during tech week?
    3. What are typical call times on show dates?
    4. What is your typical show run times? (i.e. from 7-9pm or 6-8pm)
    5. What does your production calendar look like for the school year?
    6. if you have a comedysportz team, I would be interested in hearing what times shows start and end as well...

    I am being asked by my site to end all shows and rehearsals by 7PM, no exceptions. 

    Any insight helps. Thanks! 

    In service, 
    Estella


    ------------------------------
    Estella Church
    Theatre Director
    Hawthorne CA
    ------------------------------


  • 2.  RE: Scheduling Conflicts

    Posted 01-22-2018 07:33
    1. What are your typical rehearsal start and end times for high school troupes on mainstage productions?
      1. We rehearse most days from 3-6 pm plus and hour during class time during the day.
    1. What are your typical rehearsal start and end times for high school troupes during tech week?
      1. Tech week usually goes from 3-6 or 3-7, but again, we start setup during class during the day.
      2. Musicals rehearsals start at 6 pm-9pm, but the baton drops at 6 pm, so students need to be responsible to be ready (both actors and techies)  by that time.  Many go home, get something to eat, relax for half an hour and are back to school by 4:30
    1. What are typical call times on show dates?
      1. For straight shows, we call one hour before curtain.  (Curtain is at 7:30 pm) But I ask the kids if they want me at school earlier than that (which usually means call time turns into 6 pm).  We have company meeting at 7 so everything needs to be set up and everyone needs to be dressed by that time. 
      2. for musicals, often it is dependent upon what the student needs.  For mic checks, makeup and costume, vocal warmups call time maybe 4:30 for some, 5:30 for others, those who only need costume and makeup, one hour before curtain (7:30 pm) Techies must have everything checked and set up by 7 pm when we have company meeting
     
    1. What is your typical show run times? (i.e. from 7-9pm or 6-8pm)
      1. Our shows run as long as they take as written.   Curtain is at 7:30 and many/most are done by 9:30-10:00.  Strike is always held after the last performance on that night, so depending on the complexity of the set, we may be at school until 12-12:30 am
     
    1. What does your production calendar look like for the school year?
      1. after school rehearsals for most shows (i.e. tech week) take place two weeks daily after school, but the show is rehearsed during class time during the day.  If I have extras who are not in class (i.e. crowd) we may rehearse for two days a week starting about 4-5 weeks before the show (that includes tech weeks. 
      2. Musicals are a mix of class kids and after school kids, so I work leads/small scenes during class time and large scenes after school.  The class kids understand that they will be needed after school as well, but it does cut down on the amount of time for blocking as we have "pre-blocked" during class and worked out some problems.  After school, we block once or twice a week, choreography is twice a week after school and music is twice a week after school as my choreographer and vocal director are teachers at other schools.
      3. We do not rehearse on weekends or on school holidays, unless we have missed a bunch of rehearsals for some reason (i.e. snow days)
      4. Musical rehearsals are sparse during the month of December(just enough to make the kids aware of the challenges they are facing) and then six to eight weeks daily when we return from Winter break
    1. if you have a comedysportz team, I would be interested in hearing what times shows start and end as well...
      1. We don't have a comedysportz team


    ------------------------------
    Holly Thompson
    Worthington OH
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    Original Message


  • 3.  RE: Scheduling Conflicts

    Posted 01-22-2018 09:42
    1. What are your typical rehearsal start and end times for high school troupes on mainstage productions?
      1. School gets out at 2:30 so we start at 2:45.  We rehearsal for Plays 3 days a week and for musical 5 days a week.  We rehearse until 6:00 because school bus leave at 6:00 (5:55 for those taking the bus)
    2. What are your typical rehearsal start and end times for high school troupes during tech week?
      1. For plays it is the same 2:45 - 6:00 for Musical since we have some pro musicians we go from 5:00 to 10:00.
    3. What are typical call times on show dates?
      1. for plays 6:00 with a 7:00 show time.  For musicals 5:30 with a 7:00 show time - we open up at 5:00 for all shows if they want to start earlier
    4. What is your typical show run times? (i.e. from 7-9pm or 6-8pm)
      1. depends on the written show - but usually 7-9pm or 9:30.  We do Mat. starting at 2:00 on weekends and 3:30 on school days
    5. What does your production calendar look like for the school year?
      1. Fall play in Nov. auditions end of August - rehearse 3 days a week
      2. Musical in April - auditions in Nov and rehearsals start in Jan (with everyone off book)
      3. We do not rehearse on weekends or any school holiday
    6. if you have a comedysportz team, I would be interested in hearing what times shows start and end as well...
      1. all shows for the school start at 7:00pm.  Mat shows start at 1:00, 2:00, 3:00 & 3:30 depending


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    Ted Curry
    Pleasant Hill CA
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    Original Message


  • 4.  RE: Scheduling Conflicts

    Posted 01-22-2018 10:37
    Hello,  We focus most of our main stage efforts in the first half of the year, so we don't conflict with spring sports.
    1. What are your typical rehearsal start and end times for high school troupes on mainstage productions?
      1. We do a mix of 4-6 and 7-9 rehearsals.  Our school day ends at 3:55
    2. What are your typical rehearsal start and end times for high school troupes during tech week?
      1. During Tech week, kids come in between 6 and 6:30 to start at 7.  We go until 9:30-10pm at the ABSOLUTE latest.  
      2. We started doing tech week dinners, as we have a large population of students who live out of district.  This allows them to stay after school, do homework, eat, and then get ready for the show.
    3. What are typical call times on show dates?
      1. 6:00.  We start at 7:30
    4. What is your typical show run times? (i.e. from 7-9pm or 6-8pm)
      1. We go from 7:30-9:30.  I find that this gives the public time to get off of work, eat, and then come to our shows :)
    5. What does your production calendar look like for the school year?
      1. We start musical rehearsals the 3rd week of school and rehearse 5 days/week for 2hrs/day 
      2. The show week is the first full weekend of December.
      3. We start play rehearsals the week we return from winter break and rehearse 5 days/week for 1-2 hrs/daay
      4. The show week is the last weekend of February.
      5. We do a one act festival at the end of May.
      6. Auditions for that are right before spring break and the rehearsals are usually right before or after school for about 45 min 2-3 times/week. Other students rehearse during class time during the month of May
    6. We don't have an improv team.
    7. Also, I might be stepping over boundaries here, but do all activities need to end by 7pm?  Does that include football or basketball?  I feel that programs that rely on ticket sales for revenue should be allowed to hold performances when people will be able to purchase tickets and actually attend.  Not to mention the parents who would want to see their kids, but can't make it to a 4 or 5 pm show??  
    Best of luck!!!


    ------------------------------
    Lisa Dyer
    Henrico VA
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 5.  RE: Scheduling Conflicts

    Posted 01-22-2018 11:01
    JanuaryMarchHi Estella,

    I am uploading picturesFeb of our schedule for this year's production of Legally Blonde.  We sometimes run tech rehearsals late (past 7)  usually til 9 or so but I don't put an ending time during tech week as you can see.  I have some active moms who make dinner for everyone on those nights.  Students are supposed to do their homework on their down time at rehearsal and if dinner is provided usually parents don't complain.

    ------------------------------
    Carol] Siegel
    Certified Theatre Educator
    Island Trees High School
    Levittown, NY
    516-520-2135
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 6.  RE: Scheduling Conflicts

    Posted 01-22-2018 14:09
    1. What are your typical rehearsal start and end times for high school troupes on mainstage productions?  We typically rehearse M-F 2:45-5:00.  School gets out at 2:30 and most weeks are only 4 days because of faculty meetings or other events.
    2. What are your typical rehearsal start and end times for high school troupes during tech week?  During the three evenings prior to opening, we have a 5:00 pm call with a 7:00 curtain.  We have an all day tech on the Saturday prior going from 9:00 am - 5:30 pm.
    3. What are typical call times on show dates?  Thursday, Friday, Saturday show at 7:00 pm with a 5:00 pm call time.
    4. What is your typical show run times? (i.e. from 7-9pm or 6-8pm)  7:00 pm to 9/9:30 depending on length of show.
    5. What does your production calendar look like for the school year?  Auditions late October/early November.  Readthrough and first rehearsal typically between November 7-14.  (Depends on audition dates and district parent-teacher conference dates.)  We lose the week of Thanksgiving and the final school week of December due to other events which use our facility. (Band, choir, middle school, and outside community groups use our stage and greenroom.)
    6. if you have a comedysportz team, I would be interested in hearing what times shows start and end as well...  No comedysportz team.  Regular drama club meets after school on Thursdays from 2:45-3:45.


    ------------------------------
    Melissa Gibson
    Drama teacher
    Oak Harbor High School
    Oak Harbor WA
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 7.  RE: Scheduling Conflicts

    Posted 01-22-2018 14:11
    1. We start at 3:40 after school dismisses at 3:30, and normal rehearsals end by 5:30.  That is a short span of time, but we don't waste time.  
    2. Same start time.  We go to 6:30 or 7:00 p.m., depending on the length of the show.
    3. Our evening shows start at 7:30, the same start time as all the theatres in Asheville, or 2:30 for matinees.  Call time is 1 hour before curtain, and I open up for students who want to come in 1 1/2 hours before the show.
    4. Our normal length show is 1 hour 45 minutes to 2 hours 15 minutes.
    5. Two extracurricular shows in the fall, one in November, one in December.  One curricular show (Theatre II) that travels to our feeder elementary schools.  In the spring, we have an extracurricular show of Thespian-directed short plays we call Quixotica.  That is the first week of March.  Our curricular show in the spring is produced by the Play Production, Theatre III, and Theatre IV classes, which all meet one period.
    6. One of our English teachers with a double-major in Theatre and English does a weekly improv club elsewhere on campus.  
    You didn't ask, but we do three to four performances of each show.  We are trying to consecutive weekends for Quixotica this spring for the first time.

    ------------------------------
    C. J. Breland
    Asheville High School
    Asheville NC
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 8.  RE: Scheduling Conflicts

    Posted 01-22-2018 14:24
    1. What are your typical rehearsal start and end times for high school troupes on mainstage productions?
      1. We rehearse Mon/Wed from 2:30-4 and Fri from 3-4 for about 2 months (minus tech)
    2. What are your typical rehearsal start and end times for high school troupes during tech week?
      1. 2:30-10 with an hour dinner break (this is usually 5 days long b/c I have a fully student run production)
    3. What are typical call times on show dates?
      1. Call times are 2 hours before curtain (House opens 30 minutes to curtain)
      2. House crew is called an hour before curtain
    4. What is your typical show run times? (i.e. from 7-9pm or 6-8pm)
      1. 7-9ish. They run about 2 hours and it's usually about 10 before the kids get out for the night (between meeting people after the show, clean up and notes)
    5. What does your production calendar look like for the school year?
      1. We have 2 main stages and 4 nights of one acts. There are also nights for the improv troupe
    6. if you have a comedy/sportz team, I would be interested in hearing what times shows start and end as well...
      1. These shows usually run about 90 minutes (7-8:30)
    I cannot see how you would be able to finish productions by 7 pm. It's not a possibility in our world. I'd get specifics from other schools in your area. I'd also get curtain times for local and touring theatre performances so you have a strong standpoint to take to your administration. 

    Do football games end at 7pm? Basketball? I'd be surprised if they did...

    ------------------------------
    Shira Schwartz
    Chandler Unified School District
    Chandler AZ
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 9.  RE: Scheduling Conflicts

    Posted 01-22-2018 14:48
    What are your typical rehearsal start and end times for high school troupes on mainstage productions?School is out at 3:14.  We start rehearsal at 4 on Mondays and Thursdays, due to meetings I am in, and at 3:30 on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday.  A typical rehearsal goes for 2 hours; during musical season we rehearse for 3 hours more often than not.

    Keep in mind that not all students are called to all rehearsals.  Only those students in the scenes/songs/dances being rehearsed are called, so some students may not rehearse at all on some days, while others are there for only 30 minutes, and still others are there the entire time.

    What are your typical rehearsal start and end times for high school troupes during tech week?
    We still start at 3:30.  I never go later than 9 pm, and that is very, very rare.Usually we're done by 8:30.  The one exception is final dress, which is done at regular show time (see next question).

    What are typical call times on show dates?
    Call time is usually 5:30 for 7 pm shows.

    What is your typical show run times? (i.e. from 7-9pm or 6-8pm)
    Depends on the show, of course, but generally 2-2.5 hour shows.  Kids are expected to stay and clean up after - we rotate who is cleaning - so the kids are usually out of here 30 minutes after the show ends.

    What does your production calendar look like for the school year?
    Fall Musical:  Rehearsal begins late August, performances are end of October/beginning of November.
    Winter:  Auditions in December for winter mainstage and student directed one acts.  We do not rehearse over winter break.  Student directed one acts perform end of January, winter mainstage performs mid-late Feb.
    Spring: Auditions in March for spring show.  Show performs mid-late May

    We also have a children's theatre company that is a class.  They rehearse during 7th period, until the last two weeks before performance when they stay after school until 4:30 or 5.  Those performances are mid January and mid April.

    ------------------------------
    Laura Steenson
    Theatre Director
    Reynolds High School
    Troutdale OR
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 10.  RE: Scheduling Conflicts

    Posted 01-22-2018 14:35

    Hey Estella, 

    Are they asking that everything is done before 7pm? Like, productions as well? Because that seems a little extreme! Good for you for gathering research to try to educate your administration; trying to have shows end by 7pm could be incredibly limiting in terms of whether parents and the community as a whole have the chance to come out and enjoy the shows you're putting on!

    For what it's worth, answers follow, related to how it was when I was troupe director:

    1. What are your typical rehearsal start and end times for high school troupes on mainstage productions?
      1. School ended at 3. Rehearsal would start at 3:15, and run to 5pm. We would rehearse MainStage shows 3 days a week, increasing it as we got closer to the show.

    1. What are your typical rehearsal start and end times for high school troupes during tech week?
      1. Tech week was split over the two weeks leading up to the opening night, maybe going on to 6pm at the latest following our normal rehearsal schedule. The day before opening night was curtailed, in order to give students time to go home, rest, finish homework, etc. 

    1. What are typical call times on show dates?
      1. All shows were scheduled to start at 7pm. I had a 430 call, and that everybody be on stage show-ready for notes/warmup/student-led prayer for 6pm.

    1. What is your typical show run times? (i.e. from 7-9pm or 6-8pm)
      1. It depended on the show. If a musical, then we're looking at a minimum of 2 hours. Shakespeare evenings were about 2 and a half hours. Night of One Acts ran to just under two hours, as a rule. Improv Nites would be about 90 minutes. Dinner theatre would run up between 2 to 3 hours depending on the interactive section. The only show we did that ran longer was our Individual Events Showcase evening, which could run up to 4 hours (though we managed to streamline over time and trim it down to below 3 hours). (That one was also started earlier at 6pm so we weren't there all night). Awards and induction night kept getting longer and longer, so it was eventually a 2 and a half hour event.

    1. What does your production calendar look like for the school year?
      1. Mostly insane. However, many productions were able to be rehearsed in class. We would have three classes that would perform a one act in the Fall/Winter each (or more, depending on class size), and an abridged Shakespeare in the Spring each. We would have our festival one act rehearsed after school in the Fall, to be presented alongside the class one acts. Our Winter production was usually a full length play (comedy or drama), followed by a musical for the end of the year. Interspersed in all that were 4-6 Improv shows, performed by my Improvisation class, as well as a dinner theatre production. So...yeah. 

    1. if you have a comedysportz team, I would be interested in hearing what times shows start and end as well...
      1. We had an Improv troupe, who performed shows in a 'competitive' setting between 4-6 times a year, depending on the calendar and on the students. 

    I sincerely hope this helps, and helps with the other answers to provide you a pattern of what other troupes generally do! Good luck!

    ------------------------------
    Phillip Goodchild
    Theatre Arts Instructor

    Etobicoke ON
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 11.  RE: Scheduling Conflicts

    Posted 01-22-2018 14:47
    What are your typical rehearsal start and end times for high school troupes on mainstage productions?
    3:45-5:45, M-F
    1:15-4:30 S

    What are your typical rehearsal start and end times for high school troupes during tech week?
    6-10:30 M-F 
    3:30-10:20 S

    What are typical call times on show dates?
    6

    What is your typical show run times? (i.e. from 7-9pm or 6-8pm)
    7:30 until ?

    What does your production calendar look like for the school year?
    Fall Play: September to end of October
    Winter Musical: November until beginning of February
    Spring Play: February until late April.


    ------------------------------
    William Addis
    Chair of Visual and Performing Arts
    Westtown School
    West Chester PA
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 12.  RE: Scheduling Conflicts

    Posted 01-22-2018 14:59
    Hello, 

    1. What are your typical rehearsal start and end times for high school troupes on mainstage productions? Our rehearsals typically go from 3:30-5:30 five days a week (as the activity schedule allows.) There are usually a handful of days that we can't rehearse due to another activity taking the majority of my cast out of school for various contests, meets, etc. We don't rehearse on days that there is no school or there is an early release due to impending weather.
    2. What are your typical rehearsal start and end times for high school troupes during tech week? During tech week, our rehearsal schedule stays the same except that we have a long Saturday dress/tech rehearsal usually from 8:00-3:00, with an hour lunch break. We may schedule two of these Saturday dress/tech rehearsals for a musical or depending on where we are in the production and how many rehearsals we have lost to other activities and snow days.
    3. What are typical call times on show dates? Our actors, crew, and student directors have a 5:30 call for a 7:00 show.
    4. What is your typical show run times? (i.e. from 7-9pm or 6-8pm) We usually begin our performances at 7:00. A musical or full length play would typically end by 9:00.
    5. What does your production calendar look like for the school year? Our one act begins rehearsals in late October (we take a week off to run an elementary theater camp and don't rehearse over Thanksgiving and Christmas breaks) and we compete at regions at the end of January. Our spring full-length play begins rehearsal at the end of February and runs the first weekend of May, also taking a week off to do another theater camp. We tend to lose a lot more rehearsals in the spring due to band/choir competitions and concerts.
    6. if you have a comedysportz team, I would be interested in hearing what times shows start and end as well..


    ------------------------------
    Anne Elisa Brown
    Director of the MHS Drama Department
    Madison Central School District
    Madison SD
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 13.  RE: Scheduling Conflicts

    Posted 01-25-2018 07:48
    1. What are your typical rehearsal start and end times for high school troupes on mainstage productions? We rehearse Mondays-Thursdays, from the end of school (2:45) until the bus leaves 4:45. We do this three times a year - for the fall and spring plays, and the winter middle school play. At the start of rehearsal, I give out the rehearsal schedule and scene breakdown, which generally means students know which days they must be there, with the caveat that things change and we might adjust as we go. I give the speech about not missing rehearsal, and encourage them to schedule doctors/dentists early in the rehearsal period. Older kids model the "I can't... I've got rehearsal" attitude. Works pretty well. In addition, we have two 7-8 hour work days (Columbus Day and the following Friday in the fall, presidents' day and the following Friday in the winter, and Patriots' Day and the following Friday in the spring. These Fridays are teacher work days, so I do my work early and run the show. We also have an 8 hour tech day on a Saturday two weeks before the show. 
    2. What are your typical rehearsal start and end times for high school troupes during tech week? We don't really have a "tech week." The week after our tech day, we run 1/2 the show each day (Monday-Thursday), the week of the show, we run Monday Half Dress, ending around 6-6:30, Tuesday full run-through (no costumes), same end time, and Wednesday Dress Rehearsal - call time 4:00, Start time 5:30, ending when the show ends. We do not stop rehearsals for notes these last two weeks. Instead, I routinely type up notes and hand them out at all school meeting. We rarely do musicals. When we did one, we started rehearsals in December for a May show.
    3. What are typical call times on show dates? Show time is 7 p.m. Call time is 5 p.m.
    4. What is your typical show run times? (i.e. from 7-9pm or 6-8pm) Our shows usually run 7-9. We have to make the last boat (9:45) for our Vineyard students.
    5. What does your production calendar look like for the school year? Fall play is the second week in November, midwinter play is the first week in February, and spring play is the second week in May. 
    6. if you have a comedysportz team, I would be interested in hearing what times shows start and end as well... Nope. But we do mostly improv in our once a week drama classes. 


    ------------------------------
    Elisabeth Ledwell
    Falmouth MA
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 14.  RE: Scheduling Conflicts

    Posted 01-26-2018 10:48
    1. What are your typical rehearsal start and end times for high school troupes on mainstage productions?  We typically rehearse Mon-Fri from 3:00 to 5:30.  From 3:00-3:15 is (mandatory) snack time, then rehearsal and tech production happens from 3:15-5:30.  We reserve the right to go later during the last two weeks of the rehearsal process.  We publish the rehearsal calendar before auditions and put it into our audition/tech application packet.  Because we work on tech after school, we have striven to minimize the number of saturday tech days.  We typically have one, the weekend before performance weekend.  That saturday is a combination of production work and tech-rehearsal, time permitting.

    2. What are your typical rehearsal start and end times for high school troupes during tech week?  We designate the last two weeks of the rehearsal process as "tech week" so that we can integrate tech elements over time.  We generally start by adding finalized set and sound first, then lights, then costumes.  We do not guarantee end times for rehearsals on those days, but we strive to end at a reasonable time.  We start at 3:00 with snack time, and are typically done sometime between 6:00 and 6:30 or 7:00

    3. What are typical call times on show dates? Our curtain is at 7:00 and our call time is usually 5:30. For musicals we have a saturday matinee at 2:00; call time for the matinee is 12:30. Students are not allowed to leave between the matinee and evening show on Saturday.  We have a company dinner.

    4. What is your typical show run times? (i.e. from 7-9pm or 6-8pm) Our shows typically run from 7:00 to 9 or 9:30.

    5.  What does your production calendar look like for the school year?  Our musical typically goes up the second weekend in November.  We produce a one-act for competition the first friday in February, and our Spring show  fluctuates from mid March to mid April, depending on Spring Break and what weekend our sister high school performs (we are a small community and try not to compete for audience).  My senior class performs their practicum the last week of April.

    6. If you have a comedysportz team, I would be interested in hearing what times shows start and end as well.  We don't, but do have an improv class that performs "Whose Line Is It Anyway" style  shows.  We have several shows over the semester, during class time. Teacher bring classes and students that have off-periods.  These shows range from 45 minutes to 75 minutes (we have 90 minute blocks). We also have an evening show at the end of the semester that starts at 7:00 and ends around 8:15 or 8:30.

    Hope this helps.

    ------------------------------
    Josh Belk
    Director of Theatre
    Palmer Ridge High School
    Monument, CO
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


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