I've noticed what seems to be sort of a growing trend among some community theatre groups in regard to making abbreviated rehearsal schedules. I've been thinkign a lot about this recenly especially because I just announced auditions for S.E.E. and indeed posted the entire (albeit an early draft) rehearsal schedule on the S.E.E. website. I've definitely found it helpful to give potential cast members and audience members for that matter as much information ahead of time as possible. But rehearsal schedules - which often take participating cast, crew and orchestra members away from "real life" obligations for long periods of time - have often been one of themain roadblocks to attracting new and higher quality talent to our productions.
So what are some options? I've noticed here in the Cleveland area, some directors putting together skeds with fewer weeks, but more rehearsals in the week. Instead of two or three times a week, five or six. Can your cast handle that kind of intensive rehearsal period for three weeks? Although I've considered similar models with the shows I've put together, I'm still a believer that at the community theatre level it takes more than that. A three week rehearsal schedule works with casts that can rehearse during the day, for instance, and who may be getting paid for their work. These performers also may need less guidance and direction because they are "professionals" (which purposes here only means when one does something for 8 or 10 hours a day, one is bound to be a little more adept at it). A community theatre cast has full time day jobs, families, other obligations that interfere with the production process (or is that the other way around?). 3 hour rehearsals can be productive if organized correctly, but to launch a musical or some other large-scale production in that time seems to me almost impossible.
Now add things like the cost of gas to the mix and directors have to ask, "How in the hell am I going to get people to audition for my show?". What do you do if you need large numbers of men (who are few and far between in the best conditions). As a person of color, I ask what if you need large numbers of black, asian or hispanic men - an even smaller subset? More to come on that subject in another blog. Performers now not only have to sacrifice huge chunks of time, but pay $4 a gallon to do it!! I'm anxious to hear what you - my colleagues - think. There are solutions though.
Smaller casts can rehearse in various convenient locations, closer to individuals' homes on a rotating basis. One theatre here in the area - Mighty Goliath Players - only rehearses on Friday nights - one of the nights the rest of us don't rehearse. Their schedule requires little time, but also a lot of time, meaning with that kind of schedules, there can be no "conflicts". We also need to create carpools, publicize public transportation routes, utilize shuttles, etc. If small gas stipends can be afforded - especially for smaller casts - great. If these things are available and are promoted with just as much enthusiasm as the actual production, we may be able to attract more people.
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…
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.
Bryan also responded:
Personally, I prefer more weeks of fewer rehearsals, if only because it allows more flexibility when it comes to conflicts. And for those of us who enjoy torture, it even makes it a little easier to do two shows back-to-back or slightly overlapping.
My ideal rehearsal schedule would be 4 nights a week for 8 weeks, rather than 5 nights a week for 7; that extra night off makes a big difference. Monday through Thursday avoids weekends entirely, which is handy when planning weekend trips in the summer (something I’ve basically given up on for 2008). But when I did Forever Plaid we rehearsed Sun-Mon/Wed-Thu, and it was nice being able to schedule real life for Tuesdays.
Gas is a sticky issue. Or an oily one, if you will. One of the (several) reasons I’m moving to Cuyahoga County is because that’s where I spend most of my time outside of work. My Civic gets great mileage, but the time commitment of the commute can be a bear when doing a show.
Ironically, right after I move I’ll be playing for Little Shop in Elyria, so… there’s that. But in the fall, I’ll be doing Company at Cassidy, and I’m looking forward to chopping 20 minutes off the commute I would have had from E-town.
Scott from Theatre Tribe had a really interesting take on the rehearsal process. I've read about similar approaches to Scott's and would be interested in trying it.
Scott writes:
One thing I believe is that the more work you do outside of rehearsal, the less is necessary in rehearsal. For instance, the amount of time spent blocking a show and learning the lines is a waste of time -- we all know that nothing really starts until the actors are off book and on their feet. To that end, I have begun scanning my scripts, breaking them into rehearsal chunks, and inserting all of my blocking into the script, along with my overall interpretation of the chunk (climax, moment of engagement, etc) and also including Suzan-Lori Parks' indications of pauses and such. Then in the first rehearsals, they run each scene following the stage directions three times in a row without my commenting on anything except if they get confused about the blocking. This is absolutely crucial -- the actors need to know they should focus only on the movement, and that they can try any interpretation of the part out without comment from me. In this way, I can block the show in 3 rehearsals. The next three rehearsals are devoted solely to learning the lines: run each scene three times, with the third being off book and calling for lines. Scary? You bet. And after three times, the actors usually have about 75% of the lines down. So after six rehearsals, we are blocked an off book.
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