Planning Your Musical Rehearsal Schedule: A Week-by-Week Example to Help You Plan for Your Production

Putting on a musical can seem overwhelming at first. There are so many things you have to consider - music, choreography, costuming, set design, set construction, set decoration, live accompaniment or track, etc. and we haven't even mentioned the rehearsal schedule. When are we going to work music? How long? What about dance? Who needs to be where and when for blocking rehearsals? How do we maximize rehearsal time and minimize wasted time for actors? How many weeks are we going to rehearse? How many days each week? How many hours each day?

So where is the best place to start when building your rehearsal schedule? Your script.

My first step when creating my rehearsal schedule for a production is reading through the script and creating a character vs. scene breakdown. This helps me quickly see how many scenes are in each act and who is in what scene. I also take this opportunity to create a master list of all song and dance numbers that will require rehearsal. Once these breakdowns are created, I head to my calendar and start writing in my day-by-day rehearsal plan. (Note: Shows I direct typically rehearse four days a week, MTRF, for a three hour block each day).

Day One: I always start with a read/sing-thru. If the show comes with a rehearsal track that includes voices (such as is the case with most Junior shows and MTI shows), we will read through the script and listen to the production numbers as they come up. I like doing this because it gives the cast a wholistic concept of the show from the start. If there is no rehearsal track that accompanies your show package, I still suggest having the cast muddle their way through the music. Again, this is not to rehearse the numbers, but to provide a complete picture for where we are headed in the coming weeks. This is also the rehearsal I use to go through the rules with the cast, how to read the character vs. scene breakdown in conjunction with the rehearsal schedule, and take care of any other necessary paperwork.

Week One: Music. This is where I turn the reigns over to our music director for a few days. I find it is easier to block scenes or teach choreography if the cast is familiar with the music and has had a chance to rehearse it. The more familiar they are with the words, the easier it is for them to make connections between the choreography, blocking, and story they are trying to convey through their character.

Week Two - Week Five: It is throughout these weeks that I teaching blocking and choreography. My rehearsal schedule is written in such a way that the Acts and Scenes we are rehearsing that day are listed. It is up to the actors to determine whether or not they need to be present at rehearsal for a particular day depending on if their character is listed as being in that scene (I provide the same character vs. scene breakdown to them that I use when creating the rehearsal schedule). These three weeks will contain blocking, choreography, and music review. At the beginning of rehearsal, I will have the music director review any songs that will be used in the scenes being blocked or choreographed that day. Next, I will take the actors through the blocking of the scene. If the songs do not require full-out choreography, I will walk the actor(s) through the blocking for that particular song when we get to it in the script. If the number is larger, I will wait until the end of the blocking segment of rehearsal and teach choreography for the last hour or so. Within these four weeks, I may have days that are strictly choreography, especially if the show has larger dance numbers. This also allows time for each scene that is blocked to be rehearsed at least twice before putting the scenes back together.

Week Six: Day one of week six will be stumble through of the show. Here, the cast is permitted to use their scripts on stage and we do full stumble through (rightly named for how rough the first try at putting it all together is) of the show in its entirety. Again, this provides the cast an opportunity to see how the show fits together from beginning to end after so many weeks of having dissected it scene by scene. The rest of the week is comprised of rehearsing each act. Day two will be Act One, day three Act Two, and we will alternate back and forth. I will also use this rehearsal time to clean any major choreography issues or allow my music director to address any music issues.

Week Seven: We continue to rehearse Act One, Act Two, alternating days. This week will also contain our sitzprobe. A sitzprobe is a rehearsal set aside where the orchestra and actors come together to sing through the show. This is not the same as the read/sing thru as the focus at the sitzprobre is placed on rehearsing the song/dance numbers for the show only. Very little dialogue is rehearsed except for when it is dialogue that occurs within the song itself. Even if not using live accompaniment, I highly suggest still working in a sitzprobe style rehearsal for your actors with the accompaniment track so they have a chance to really solidify their delivery with the track and allow your music director one last day dedicated to music to fix any problems that remain.

Double Run Sunday: I reserve the Sunday before Week Eight to rehearse the show twice (though we never really get through the show twice). Rehearsing on a Sunday allows for more flexibility in rehearsal length and provides an opportunity to tackle any major glaring issues with the show such as quick changes, scene changes, messy dance numbers, etc. I will often order pizza and have sodas available and treat it is a kind of pre-tech week cast and crew bonding time.

Week Eight: Putting it together. This week is where all the elements begin to come together. Costumes, microphones, orchestra (if using live accompaniment), lights, sound effects, etc. This is the week where the show is ran at each rehearsal in its entirety as if an audience is present. Notes are taken by the production staff and feedback is given to actors, crew members, and musicians at the end of the rehearsal.

I hope this has helped you begin to organize your own rehearsal schedule for your upcoming musical or provided new ideas for your current rehearsal strategies. I would love to know what you do differently or if you have any new approaches to designing and rehearsal schedule, so please feel free to leave a comment below.

Break legs!