Author Topic: PEOPLE: Wish Me Luck! (mandatory warmup?)  (Read 5291 times)

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swood09

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PEOPLE: Wish Me Luck! (mandatory warmup?)
« on: Feb 13, 2007, 12:12 am »
Tech week is here, ladies and gentlemen!
I'm currently working on Move Over, Mrs. Markham, a british sex farce. I've got kind of a chatty cast (and director, for that matter), but everything is going pretty smoothly. The director's brother had a heart attack last night, so I may be running the rest of rehearsals (SCARY!), but we just finished blocking the show. Tech starts Friday (ALSO SCARY!).

Quick question, though:
In my last show, I could not get everyone to warm up, and it showed in their performances. I recently decided that I was going to MAKE my actors warm up at 6:40 every night.
Am I technically allowed to do this? Does this sound like a beneficial action?

Your thoughts are appreciated.

Thanks!
Stephen
« Last Edit: Jun 09, 2009, 12:08 am by PSMKay »

MatthewShiner

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Re: Wish Me Luck!
« Reply #1 on: Feb 13, 2007, 08:02 am »
Making people warm up?  Not in a professional, equity situation.  Half-hour is the call, with 15 minutes allowed for a fight call before hand.  You can make the stage available for a physical/vocal warm up, but it's hard to make them show up to it.

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Anything posted here as in my own personal opinion, and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of my employer - whomever they be at a given moment in time.

Jessie_K

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Re: Wish Me Luck!
« Reply #2 on: Feb 13, 2007, 11:31 am »
In a college or any educational setting you can have mandatory warm up.  If there are fights or a dance number that need to be worked before the performance, you can do that.  (but that is usually decided upon and agreed to up front).  You can suggest group warm up and ask for volunteers to lead it, but you can't make people participate. 

Perhaps, though, if you post a notice with politely mentioning that the stage is available at a certain time, the cast will feel more comfortable using it.

LiLz

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Re: Wish Me Luck!
« Reply #3 on: Feb 13, 2007, 04:25 pm »
You can't force actors to do a warm-up and if you try you might damage your relationship with them.  Asking if they'd like to make time to do one and asking for volunteers to lead one is a great idea - maybe it's a discussion you can have with the director so they can support you.  You know, I've had problems on many shows getting the actors to leave the stage and STOP warming up.  Who knows - maybe you'll hit that end of the spectrum this time.

MileHighSM

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Re: Wish Me Luck!
« Reply #4 on: Feb 13, 2007, 09:49 pm »
I think forcing actors to warm up probably isn't the best idea.  A fight call and all that is important, but even student actors need to learn to work what tools work best for them to prep for a performance, whether it's onstage warm up, doing it at home, etc.  I don't think it's a bad thing to suggest that everyone meet onstage right before you open the house (or half hour, whichever comes first) for a moment of "pep talk" or a brief little group exercise like Zip Zap Zop.  Just something that pulls everyone together, ya' know? 

TheaterTek

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Re: Wish Me Luck!
« Reply #5 on: Feb 15, 2007, 10:34 am »
I'm not the only one who plays Zip Zap Zop? SCORE!

j-la

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Re: Wish Me Luck!
« Reply #6 on: Feb 15, 2007, 01:17 pm »

Oh- break a leg....I am headed into tech on Seussical in 3 days so I understand ...
Re: warm-ups-
I have always provided small blocks of time for warm-ups (in non professional shows- of course) onstage before the house opens. The theatres I work in do not generally have seperate spaces for these activities. I post the schedule after consulting with director- musical director and choreographer as necessary and then it's up to the actors to avail themselves of the time. Fight calls (if required) are mandatory.
A sample schedule for a play would be as follows:
7:00pm- Fight call
7:15pm- Physical warmup
8:00pm - Curtain
For a musical:
7:00pm - Fight call
7:10pm - Dance Warm-up (led by Dance captains)
7:25pm - vocal warm-ups as necessary
8:00pm - Curtain
This has generally worked pretty well. Most of my casts appreciate the structure and the voluntary nature of the warm-ups. Hope this helps.