Calling all pro actors
Fri, 19 Apr 2002, 08:21 pmWalter Plinge3 posts in thread
Calling all pro actors
Fri, 19 Apr 2002, 08:21 pmHI,
Im an Arts Management student of WAAP and need some info for a dummy budget Im putting together.
Could any pro actors out there answer the following.
How many weeks would you rehearse a professional show (theatre play not musical)?
How many days per week and hours per day would you rehearse? Would this increase leading up to production?
How many weeks before would you start rehearsing in the actual venue?
How many rehearsals in total would you be expected to attend for an average size play?
Would you be paid per hour or per week for the rehearsal period?
Could anyone who can help post a response or email me directly.
The reason I ask only pros to answer, is not discrimination but something more valid. In community theatre we tend to reahearse twice a week in the beginning and then build up to three times per week (adding in a Sunday), and we spread it out over about 8-10 weeks. We can do this because we're not PAYING our actors, for starters pro actors get paid double time on a Sunday. In community theatre sunday rehearsals come under something like 'recreation'.
In pro theatre i tend to think they would have a shorter time frame with more rehearsals per week, but I may be wrong.
Any help appreciated.
Thanks
Catherine
Im an Arts Management student of WAAP and need some info for a dummy budget Im putting together.
Could any pro actors out there answer the following.
How many weeks would you rehearse a professional show (theatre play not musical)?
How many days per week and hours per day would you rehearse? Would this increase leading up to production?
How many weeks before would you start rehearsing in the actual venue?
How many rehearsals in total would you be expected to attend for an average size play?
Would you be paid per hour or per week for the rehearsal period?
Could anyone who can help post a response or email me directly.
The reason I ask only pros to answer, is not discrimination but something more valid. In community theatre we tend to reahearse twice a week in the beginning and then build up to three times per week (adding in a Sunday), and we spread it out over about 8-10 weeks. We can do this because we're not PAYING our actors, for starters pro actors get paid double time on a Sunday. In community theatre sunday rehearsals come under something like 'recreation'.
In pro theatre i tend to think they would have a shorter time frame with more rehearsals per week, but I may be wrong.
Any help appreciated.
Thanks
Catherine
Re: Calling all pro actors
Sat, 20 Apr 2002, 03:21 amToby, you know me too well.....
(Also, you're pretty accurate with all your answers.)
3 to 4 weeks is pretty standard, including production week. Sometimes less, hardly ever more.
Full time rehearsals can be held between Mon-Sat (Sundays are time-and-a-half).
Maximum 8 hours a day, up to 40 hours a week.
Production week (tech rehearsal in the theatre) can extend to 48 hours.
Usually, you'll get on the set (actual venue) during production week (the last week before opening). If you're lucky it could be earlier. I've been in a few shows where the first time I saw the venue was the day of the first performance!
Most Barking Gecko shows (one act, approx 1 hr) we've rehearsed Mon-Fri for 4 weeks. But very often that has included DEVISING and writing the script!
When I did the Shakespeare in the Park, we rehearsed Mon-Sat for just over two and a half weeks.
The show I'm doing now (2 acts, 1 hr 40 total) took 4 weeks Mon-Fri to rehearse, but we spent virtually the whole first week on character development and getting the group to work well together as an ensemble...and by the 4th week we were desperate for an audience - there was almost nothing more we could do to the show until we were scheduled to perform.
Minimum professional fee is (from memory) about $630 per week.
Once the season is under way, this weekly wage will allow 8 shows a week (Mon-Sat plus a matinee).
Cheers
Craig
<8>-/====/-------
(Also, you're pretty accurate with all your answers.)
3 to 4 weeks is pretty standard, including production week. Sometimes less, hardly ever more.
Full time rehearsals can be held between Mon-Sat (Sundays are time-and-a-half).
Maximum 8 hours a day, up to 40 hours a week.
Production week (tech rehearsal in the theatre) can extend to 48 hours.
Usually, you'll get on the set (actual venue) during production week (the last week before opening). If you're lucky it could be earlier. I've been in a few shows where the first time I saw the venue was the day of the first performance!
Most Barking Gecko shows (one act, approx 1 hr) we've rehearsed Mon-Fri for 4 weeks. But very often that has included DEVISING and writing the script!
When I did the Shakespeare in the Park, we rehearsed Mon-Sat for just over two and a half weeks.
The show I'm doing now (2 acts, 1 hr 40 total) took 4 weeks Mon-Fri to rehearse, but we spent virtually the whole first week on character development and getting the group to work well together as an ensemble...and by the 4th week we were desperate for an audience - there was almost nothing more we could do to the show until we were scheduled to perform.
Minimum professional fee is (from memory) about $630 per week.
Once the season is under way, this weekly wage will allow 8 shows a week (Mon-Sat plus a matinee).
Cheers
Craig
<8>-/====/-------