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  • 1.  Total rehearsal time

    Posted 07-06-2015 23:32

    I'm struggling with the calendar and facilities use.  Wondering how much rehearsal time you typically allow for a musical?  Thanks!

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    Monica Williams-Mitchell
    Cincinnati OH
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  • 2.  RE: Total rehearsal time

    Posted 07-06-2015 23:50

    I live in a small rural community.  My high school has 720 students this year.  After 17 annual musicals and balancing schedules with students in sports and other clubs, I find that 8 hours a week for 8 weeks (not including play week) is the absolute minimum if everybody is focused and participatory.  We are going to try 10 hours a week this coming year. 


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    Kathy Siler
    Theatre Educator
    Payson Unified Schools
    Payson AZ
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  • 3.  RE:Total rehearsal time

    Posted 07-07-2015 01:13
    I rehearse 6 hours a week for about 8-10 weeks. I bump it up to 4-5 hours a day for tech week. My schedule requires shorter rehearsals because I have young children, but I find I waste less time with such a short amount of time each day. I do double up on things whenever possible to max out the time (ie soloists working vocals while ensemble learns a dance, ensemble works on vocals while leads work on a scene, etc.) This year we did In the Heights and my cast was on it. I never saw kids just sitting around waiting for their parts; they we're constantly running songs, running lines, running choreo. It was amazing and they really inspired each other to work hard.

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    Heather Brandon
    Bakersfield CA
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  • 4.  RE: Total rehearsal time

    Posted 07-07-2015 10:03

    It depends....  Do you mean you've got conflicts with the other events in your school's main stage theatre which eat up your rehearsal time on the stage?  These days many high school theatres are run like road houses, which means you may no longer be able to rehearse on stage for the majority of your rehearsal process.  I've seen one high school theatre that had all three high schools in the district using it for their musicals.  One school would strike after closing night on the Saturday, and the next one would load in their set and re-focus any lights on the Sunday morning, with the dry tech that afternoon and tech week would start on Monday for a Thursday or Friday opening, and then ditto for the third one.  In another school district, they let the set load in on a Sunday, then they had run throughs on the set that week, then tech week would be the next week.  They used to complain about that amount, but it was decadent compared to the other district.  These schools would rehearse in the black box or little theatre, or even a classroom with the chairs and desks all pushed back, and use the weight room or aerobics room for dance rehearsals.  I don't think it's uncommon for a play not to be able to use their theatre until tech week, or close to it.  So you're not alone if that's your struggle with the facility scheduling.  On the other hand - at least in theory - the idea is that the outside events that use your theatre provide some of the funds that make it possible for your students to use the theatre - in theory....

    All the best,

    Beth


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    Elizabeth Rand
    High School Theatre Consultant
    Rand Consulting and Design
    Woodinville WA
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