Sharon High School Theatre CompanyThe Rehearsals Here are some important hints about the rehearsal process at SHS. The rehearsals will take place in the auditorium. Rehearsals begin at 3:00 and will end at 5:15. That is our allotted time. Will we stay that long? It depends on how much work gets done during a rehearsal. We start at 3:00 because many students have other obligations they must attend to before rehearsal, such as chorus classes, make-up work, and other clubs. If you have no obligations, this time should be spent doing some of your homework. Use the time wisely. Perhaps you need to get some air: take a walk around the track or walk up to one of the stores and get a snack. But what ever you do, make sure you are back for rehearsal at 3:00. A lot of time is wasted because students meander in and rehearsal can not get started until a full cast is present. Attendance is essential! You will be given a specific schedule as to when you will have to be at rehearsals. You must be there or else the rehearsal will be wasted. Please make sure you notify your parents of these dates and schedule doctors appointments etc. around your rehearsal schedule. It is imperative that we have full cast members at appointed rehearsal times. That will allow for optimum use of our time rehearsing. Of course sickness can't be helped, but as Mrs. Dennis always says, "I refuse to get sick!" If you are sick and can't make a rehearsal, let the stage manager or the director know. Parents can call Mrs. Dennis and leave a message in the office. That is the only unexcused kind of absence! Wear comfortable clothes and shoes. Once you are familiar with your character and you know the costumes your character will be wearing, you should start to wear clothes that are similar to the character. For example girls might want to wear long skirts and character shoes. Boys might want to wear pants other than jeans and non-sneaker type shoes. Always bring writing utensils (not eating utensils). Pencils are usually what is needed. If you are writing stage directions in a rented scrip, you must use pencil and erase before you hand in your script at the end of the production. Always bring your script! How can you rehearse if you don't have a script? That is very frustrating for the director or musical director! So...bring your script. Stay focused during rehearsals. Don't fool around back stage or out in the house. It is very distracting to other actors on stage and to the directors. The directors take note of who is fooling around and you might not be asked to be in the next play. So...cool it and focus!! The director is the main person in charge. She has stage managers and technical directors that work with her on each show. If you have a question or a problem and can't get to the director, ask the stage manager or tech director and he will see that your question or problem is answered promptly. Musical rehearsals: for the first 3-5 weeks of rehearsals we will strictly be going over the songs in the show. It is your job to rehearse and memorize your parts as soon as possible. Once that is done, choreography or staging of the musical numbers will happen. This can work smoothly if the actors have their songs memorized. So...don't procrastinate-get it done! Once the music is learned and the choreography rehearsals are under way, the director will start to block the scenes. The director will have worked with the art director and the set designer to finalize the set for the show. You will be given the general lay out of the set including set pieces, staging areas and light cues. You must make note of this information in your script so that you know where you must be on stage and how you will exit. The stage is set in 9 different playing areas. Check this page out if you are not familiar with where down stage left is. You must know this before rehearsals begin. You must begin to memorize your part immediately. There will be a specific date as to when lines must be memorized. But don't put that off. The sooner you are "off book" the sooner you can start developing a character. And that is the most important thing about the play. Are the characters believable? That can only happen when you are comfortable with the part because you have the lines memorized, and you can start trying to use your creativity in developing an interesting character. You should also take into consideration Uta Hagen's 9 Questions about characters and try to answer those questions in relationship to the character you are playing. You will in fact be asked to do that at some point in the rehearsal schedule so, start thinking about this ASAP. Once you are comfortable with your part and with the other characters, then you can try adding new ideas to the play. Now you can begin to play and have some fun. Two or three weeks before the show goes up, the director will give you notes after the rehearsals. These are important for the director's comments will address problems that she sees on stage and recommendations as to how to correct those problems. You should take notes that are addressed to you and make sure you incorporate those corrections at the next rehearsal. It is frustrating to cast and directors if you consistently make the same mistakes and receive the same notes. If you don't understand the note, ask for help!!! Hell week is the last full week of rehearsals. Plan on a Sunday rehearsal that will last from 12:00-6:00. At this rehearsal the sets, props, costumes and lighting should be ready, and we will be trying to get everything coordinated so that the show runs smoothly. You must have patience during this rehearsal because it is really the technical directors rehearsal. Bring homework and snacks. During this last week, rehearsals will last longer than the 3-6 time. Plan on rehearsals going until 7:00. Make sure your parents know that these rehearsals will last longer and that you must stay until the rehearsal is completed. Home| News| Directors| Officers| The Audition Process| The Rehearsals| The Performances| The Thespian Society| One Act Fine Arts Festival Week| The Fine Arts Festival Week| The History| Technical Positions Available| Links to Theatre Resources |
