PTT Program 5 Day 7 Video 1.txt

While you will use a lot of the same basic rehearsal prep and techniques in your rehearsal process, there are a lot of added duties and people when you work on a musical or opera production. First off, you will normally have a lot more players. You now have added a musical director, a choreographer,...

While you will use a lot of the same basic rehearsal prep and techniques in your rehearsal process, there are a lot of added duties and people when you work on a musical or opera production. First off, you will normally have a lot more players. You now have added a musical director, a choreographer, sometimes a conductor, orchestra members, and a larger cast than typically comes with a straight play. Sets are bigger, and there are often many set changes, more lighting cues, wardrobe, wigs, sound, follow spots. The list goes on. The rehearsal process is much more about time management and who needs what when. It's very difficult to teach the choreography to an ensemble of dancers who haven't learned the music yet. Scheduling and time management are key in large scale musical productions. You've also lengthened your technical rehearsal time as you set microphone levels, add the orchestra to the production, rehearse scenery and prop changes, practice costumes and wig changes, set lighting cues. Detailed production meetings and a detailed calendar with deadlines are crucial for a musical since there are so many additional crews, musicians, and technicians you need to keep on the same page. Look at this production calendar from a wonderful regional theater that only produces musicals, Stages St. Louis. I have done many productions at Stages, and they're wonderful to work with. You can see that the actors have 2 weeks to learn the performance aspect of the show, while the technical aspects are prepared in other areas. Finally, the show loads into the performance space, has technical rehearsals, and then opens. The production manager, the stage manager, and the company manager work closely with each other to make sure everything is on schedule and within budget. And while one production is running, the next production is preparing. Some of the stage managers' added roles in a large scale musical will include working with a musical director who is responsible for teaching all the music to the company and also dealing directly with the orchestra. The SMs will also be integral in discussions with the sound department as to what is needed to be able to hear the show, both for the cast on stage, the musicians in the orchestra pit, and, of course, the audience in the house. The choreographer is going to come up with the dance steps for the musical numbers and may also occasionally assist with choreographing scene changes or also smaller numbers with principal players, what is referred to as musical staging. The choreographer will have dance captains who are in the company as ensemble members and are responsible for notating the dance sections and numbers in the show. The choreographer works very closely with the director to assist in the overall vision and will have numerous conversations with the costume designer in regards to footwear and also costume styles and lengths. Earlier, Tom talked about blocking and how you can notate it in your book. You use the same principles for a musical with some added elements. Largely, I'm not notating the entire dance number as the dance captains will be responsible for notating the counts and the movements. However, I will notate large pictures and important sections of musical numbers so I can better assist when it comes to the technical rehearsals and the lighting designer has questions. The stage management team is also furiously tracking all the props and costume pieces in these dance rehearsals as it is rare in a musical that a production number would only have actors involved. Your assistant stage managers are crucial with a large musical or opera. You're corralling and organizing a lot of people, and time is always important. It would be very rare that everyone would be in the same rehearsal room other than for a run through. Typically, you will have multiple rehearsal rooms going at one time in order to accomplish all that you have to get done in time for the show. The leads may be working with the director, and the chorus is learning a dance number. The carpenters are working in a shop, while the scenic artists are painting in another shop, and the costume crew is working somewhere else. Communication amongst the stage management team is integral to a successful process. You have to establish a way to communicate all the different details of the day as you cannot be in all the locations at one time. Trust, delegation, and organization will make for a successful team. If you are a musical person and can read music, this will be a help. Lighting cues, scene changes, and dealing with automation will use the music, and the more knowledge you have in this area will only benefit your process. Depending on the show, you may want to call the show from a musical score. If you are dealing with an opera, the production will not have any spoken words because, typically, it is all sung, and, usually, it is sung in a foreign language. So being able to read a musical score is essential. Knowing a foreign language would also be helpful. In opera, during technical rehearsals, there will be 1 or 2 rehearsals where no one sings to conserve their voices, so reading the score is the only way you will be able to run the rehearsal. Musicals and operas are a lot of fun, but there is definitely an added stress that comes with them and all of the added elements.