Author Topic: Rehearsals: Be quiet!  (Read 18508 times)

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Melugin

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Rehearsals: Be quiet!
« on: Mar 21, 2006, 03:03 am »
how do you help people be silent during rehearsals instead of talking and not focusing? (i'm dealing with high school seniors here. :roll: ) I have started to duck tape a sucker into their mouth, but when they're dancing, that's totally dangerous, and this also doesn't work on the people who have speaking roles. Does anybody have any suggestions? :?  8O  :?:
« Last Edit: Feb 11, 2008, 12:31 pm by PSMKay »
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Debo123

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Be quiet!
« Reply #1 on: Mar 21, 2006, 04:50 am »
just say it!
even if you are cutting off whomever is talking at the moment (such as the director), there is a chance they also are aware of the noise in the room and will be happy to have you nip it in the bud, as is your job
a succinct shout of "quiet please" or "focus, please" through the din should take care of it. You don't have to sound jerky about it either (I know the SMing your peers thing can be difficult)-- you can just say it-- it needs to be done in order for rehearsal to happen effectively, and it's your job to enable that process. Just say it!
Also you may repeat yourself- just start doing it during rehearsal every time the volume rises. At the end of that rehearsal or the begining of the next, let them know, "I'm sure it's annoying to hear my voice every time the volume rises, but it's also very difficult to get good work done with all the talking that's been going on. please be respectful of the others who are trying to work, or go outside to talk" etc, etc.
As high schoolers they should be used to quieting down when somone yells at them... you'd think.

ESM_John

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Be quiet!
« Reply #2 on: Mar 21, 2006, 07:34 am »
Exactly. At my high school we have had that problem lately, and as much as our director is an amazing person, he'll yell if he has to. So usually the SM or I (ASM) will eventually get fed up and just  say really loud.. "QUIET, PLEASE". Its nice to add the please in there as it shows ur not speaking above them yet ur message still commands respect.

Mac Calder

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Be quiet!
« Reply #3 on: Mar 21, 2006, 09:33 am »
It depends on how vital they are. Chorus members, I have been known to kick out if they don't listen after the first warning. If there is a group that is talking, I split them up. That said, "Quiet!" usually works, followed by a lecture along the lines of "Are you so demanding of attention that you cannot keep your mouth shut whilst vital information is being distributed. Have you recently suffered amnesia, or did you never learn common curtisy and basic manners. If you were speaking, you would expect everyone to listen to you, so is it so inconcievable that other people would ask the same courtisy. Next time, before you open your mouth, look around at all the people here giving up their free time to put this show, and ask yourself, 'Is it fair that I am ruining this for them?'."

ERK

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Be quiet!
« Reply #4 on: Mar 21, 2006, 06:36 pm »
I think lecturing people on their inability to keep quiet is a bit extreme.  Sometimes people simply don't realize that their volume is climbing.

Mac Calder

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Be quiet!
« Reply #5 on: Mar 21, 2006, 07:07 pm »
Quote from: "ERK"
I think lecturing people on their inability to keep quiet is a bit extreme.  Sometimes people simply don't realize that their volume is climbing.


Well I have been raised not to talk whilst other people are talking - and as such it is my policy in the rehearsal room that whilst the director (or other member of staff) is talking to a cast member about an issue during the rehearsal, that everyone stays quiet and pays attention. I warn them first of course, but after the second warning, I am usually annoyed enough to go into rant mode, I have been giving them Glare #152 (If you don't shut up soon, I may do something I will regret) for a fairly long time by then, and a good, quiet lecture on their lack of manners and proximity to the missing link in the evolutionary chain is usually a good way to get them to behave.

isha

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Be quiet!
« Reply #6 on: Mar 21, 2006, 09:58 pm »
Wow....my last show absolutely nothing worked...it got to a point where even when I yelled it several times in a row they wouldn't stop...sometimes you run up against a group (highschool) that are blatantly talking, and won't stop(as in, they know they are talking, they hear me, and then keep talking because they don't want to listen to what a junior has to say..)..

it could have been in part because my director wasn't strong enough (personality wise) to enforce a lot of things, and if he excused things away I wasn't able to enforce them.

Oh well....I think sometimes you just have to mesh to the directors style..and if he/she isn't going to enforce it, and if they won't help you enforce it, there's nothing you can do...
~isha

Melugin

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Be quiet!
« Reply #7 on: Mar 22, 2006, 03:03 am »
Quote
"Are you so demanding of attention that you cannot keep your mouth shut whilst vital information is being distributed. Have you recently suffered amnesia, or did you never learn common curtisy and basic manners. If you were speaking, you would expect everyone to listen to you, so is it so inconcievable that other people would ask the same courtisy. Next time, before you open your mouth, look around at all the people here giving up their free time to put this show, and ask yourself, 'Is it fair that I am ruining this for them?'."


wow. that would take guts for me, but because i wouldn't say it THAT way, they might listen!!! :o
If All the World's a Stage, i want to operate the Trap Door!

Melugin

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Be quiet!
« Reply #8 on: Mar 22, 2006, 04:13 am »
Quote
Wow....my last show absolutely nothing worked...it got to a point where even when I yelled it several times in a row they wouldn't stop...sometimes you run up against a group (highschool) that are blatantly talking, and won't stop(as in, they know they are talking, they hear me, and then keep talking because they don't want to listen to what a junior has to say..)..


yeah. exactly. wow. we can relate. um, i really think that they don't realize that they are talking, and that even when they are whispering, 71 people whispering creates a thundercloud of bolting loudness.  :roll:  anyway, do you still like the lolipop thing? when the ensemble are just sitting backstage, hey! they get food so they're happy (until they pull it off), they're quiet so you're happy, and it almost works. :wink:
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isha

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« Reply #9 on: Mar 23, 2006, 02:48 pm »
I do! with a cast that big I would run out of money to pay for lollipops in an hour... :D

for the on-time thing I started baking cookies or bringing stickers if you were on time...that worked great for a while....until the director got into a habit of starting half an hour late....( I always prodded and pushed, but it would always take 30 min. for him to finish whatever he was doing...grrrr...)

I don't know..sometimes you just have to give up and wait for the director to get mad enough to do something (again this is highschool) sometimes no matter how hard you try the cast will purposely ignore you, because your not an adult.
~isha

amylee

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Be quiet!
« Reply #10 on: Mar 23, 2006, 03:23 pm »
one very effective method (although it is kind of passive-agressive) is to stop talking and calmly wait for them to finish

be willing for this to take however long it takes

when they finally stop, apologize for interrupting them and ask politely if they're finished

when they answer "yes", double-check that it's ok for you to give notes, make announcements, etc.

then apologize again for interrupting them while they were talking

keep a straight face, avoid a sarcastic tone if at all possible (you'll probably need to draw on any acting training you have) and BE WILLING for this process to potentially take a LONG time - it might even completely trash the rehearsal that day.

but, you'll never have to do it a second time with the same group, especially if it takes a long time. even if the noise becomes an issue again, if you simply stop - it will take at most 30 seconds for them to "shush" each other.

life is too short to ruin your voice or your blood pressure for inconsiderate people.
amy lee
:)  :(

Mac Calder

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Be quiet!
« Reply #11 on: Mar 23, 2006, 07:26 pm »
Not worked with teens often enough, obviously. I have observed (I am not the sort of person to use tactics like that, they don't suit me) both as a young teen and as a 'responsible adult' many a stand off like this. However a lot of the inconsiderate ones are also smart alecs. So when you ask if they are finished, they are the ones that answer "I guess so, you can speek now if you want". That and I really don't believe the average show has the time to waste an entire rehearsal. In case you had not noticed above, I like to take the self riteous full blown rant mode when things get bad, and like to work on the principal that if I have told you once, a second time is too often. It works for me (may have something to do with me being male, who knows) and it keeps things running.

amylee

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Be quiet!
« Reply #12 on: Mar 24, 2006, 09:02 am »
when the above-described method was suggested to me, i, too, rejected it. thought it was "beneath me" and all that....

what i've learned, however, is that a rant does nothing but harm your voice, raise your blood pressure, and destroy the respect your cast had for you.

any production can afford to lose one rehearsal when it means that the remaining ones will run smoothly. think about it - would you rather lose part or all of one rehearsal and make a huge point or would you rather be nickled and dimed to death, losing 5 and 10 minutes over and over and over again.

i had a professor who used this method - no sarcasm at all and absolutely no tolerance for misbehavior. if someone's behavior disrupted class, class stopped. period. then asked permission to continue class when the disruption ended. the message got through.

the other major lesson i learned from him is that rehearsal or class starts on time, no matter what. even if there are only two people in the room - work begins at the appointed time, and nothing is repeated. if someone asked, he would answer (very matter-of-factly) "i'm sorry, but i won't be able to do that".

when i started using these two techniques, suddenly people were on time, prepared and focused on a much more regular basis. also - my blood pressure dropped, general mood elevated, and i haven't had laryngitis even once since.
amy lee
:)  :(

Mac Calder

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Be quiet!
« Reply #13 on: Mar 24, 2006, 03:11 pm »
Quote from: "amylee"
when the above-described method was suggested to me, i, too, rejected it. thought it was "beneath me" and all that....

what i've learned, however, is that a rant does nothing but harm your voice, raise your blood pressure, and destroy the respect your cast had for you.


I find so long as you rant in private to the people in the wrong, things work fine. It is when you grand stand that respect lessens. A whisper can be just as good as a yell, and in many times a lot more effective.

Quote
any production can afford to lose one rehearsal when it means that the remaining ones will run smoothly. think about it - would you rather lose part or all of one rehearsal and make a huge point or would you rather be nickled and dimed to death, losing 5 and 10 minutes over and over and over again.


Personally, I would rather my cast behaved, and god help them if they don't. I have never seen the silence thing work properly with teens between 12 and 16, that is my personal experiance, and hence why I am loath to try it. That said, if it works for you, great. Maybe it is just the places I work and have attended, or it could be something about aussies... whatever works for you.

Quote
the other major lesson i learned from him is that rehearsal or class starts on time, no matter what. even if there are only two people in the room - work begins at the appointed time, and nothing is repeated. if someone asked, he would answer (very matter-of-factly) "i'm sorry, but i won't be able to do that".

when i started using these two techniques, suddenly people were on time, prepared and focused on a much more regular basis. also - my blood pressure dropped, general mood elevated, and i haven't had laryngitis even once since.


The never late thing I do use. I have a rule - My mobile is on until 15 minutes before rehearsal. If you are going to be late, you call me before 15 minutes to. My whole cast was late one winter because they decided to go to coffee before the rehearsal and something made them 15 minutes late, I don't know what. I had the director, 1 chorus member, a pianist and an ASM with me, so we started rehearsal right on time, and you know what - my cast was early from then on (they also decided to tell me when they were going out to coffee pre-rehearsal so that I could get them to grab me one whilst they were at it, but that is another story).

ljh007

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shushing
« Reply #14 on: May 12, 2006, 02:38 pm »
Usually, I stick with "Quiet, please" or "Silence, please". Every now and then there is the need for a longer rant ("Your excessive chatter is hindering the progress of rehearsals and is just plain rude. Please stop, etc."). But I have an alternative that catches them off-guard every time - when folks are chattering backstage, I rush over and with a very concerned voice make sure nothing is wrong... because I saw them talking and knew that there must be a problem if people were talking and not paying attention backstage... are they sure no one needs first-aid or anything? It's a little passive-aggressive, but very effective. An abbreviated version: "Is something wrong?" -No "Then please stop talking." This is also nice because sometimes (ok, rarely) folks are going over blocking together or something productive. I might then thank them for their diligence and ask them to proceed a little more quietly.