Author Topic: unusual rehearsal spaces  (Read 4786 times)

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missliz

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unusual rehearsal spaces
« on: Jul 14, 2010, 12:02 am »
I'm currently rehearsing in an armory museum. It's great, because there are large open rooms with giant noise-blocking doors. We have loads of space and it's generally very quiet. Though I occasionally have to remind actors to NOT use the Civil War-era china for rehearsal props. :) This is actually the THIRD time I've rehearsed a show in a museum.

So this post's purpose is twofold....just to hear the interesting places you've rehearsed AND to enlighten folks to some potential rehearsal spaces that they may not have thought about before.
I personally would like to bring a tortoise onto the stage, turn it into a racehorse, then into a hat, a song, a dragon and a fountain of water. One can dare anything in the theatre and it is the place where one dares the least. -Ionesco

dewitt

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Re: unusual rehearsal spaces
« Reply #1 on: Jul 14, 2010, 10:45 pm »
When I was doing summer theatre in Mass. we rehearsed in an officially recognized historical train depot. Naturally there were a lot of rules about what we could put tape on, what we couldn't touch etc. It was pretty and quiet but it was fairly small with no
air conditioning. Kind of a wash but at least we weren't outside!

loebtmc

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Re: unusual rehearsal spaces
« Reply #2 on: Jul 15, 2010, 02:18 am »
I have rehearsed in empty office spaces in buildings awaiting rental or destruction, and outdoor sidewalk/communal areas where we used sidewalk chalk to "tape" the stage daily. And these were for normal plays, so this doesn't count the environmental productions where we actually were using nontraditional spaces to perform.

bex

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Re: unusual rehearsal spaces
« Reply #3 on: Aug 12, 2010, 08:35 pm »
This summer I worked for a company that did 5 productions in 12 weeks (heyyyy summerstock!). In those 10 weeks of rehearsal, we had 5 rehearsal spaces, not including the theatre itself.
- A church fellowship hall
- A ballet academy
- The still-under-construction children's theatre belonging to our company
- A banquet hall
- (my personal favorite) The gym of an abandoned elementary school purchased by an architectural firm.

I had worked at another professional theatre before this summer, but they had a rehearsal hall on-site, and all of my college productions rehearsed either on-stage, in the black-box, or in our dance studio. Needless to say, it was a brand new experience for me carting rehearsal props back and forth and not having keys to all of the rehearsal spaces, etc.

Has anybody ever had any run-ins with non-theatre people in your non-traditional rehearsal spaces?  We had a couple of issues this summer rehearsing The Producers next door to/above the offices of a law firm, a florist, etc. They were not fans of 20 people tap dancing overhead, nor the frequent heil Hitler's.  Rehearsing "Keep it Gay" in a church fellowship hall was also fun.
You will have to sing for your supper & your mortgage, your dental coverage & your children's shoes, over & over again while people in desk jobs roll their eyes the minute you start to complain. So it's a good thing you like to sing.

loebtmc

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Re: unusual rehearsal spaces
« Reply #4 on: Aug 12, 2010, 09:30 pm »
welcome to small theater.....

Rebbe

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Re: unusual rehearsal spaces
« Reply #5 on: Aug 12, 2010, 09:50 pm »
I rehearsed a show in an old church gymnasium.  It was on the third floor of the church (no elevator).  It had an elevated track that we weren’t supposed to go up to running around the room about 15 feet off the ground.   It was a huge space, which was great for all of our props, set pieces, costumes, etc, but tended to swallow up sound.  No matter how well the actors were projecting, it was sometimes hard for everyone to hear each other.   
"...allow me to explain about the theatre business. The natural condition is one of insurmountable obstacles on the road to imminent disaster."  (Philip Henslowe, Shakespeare In Love)

michaw

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Re: unusual rehearsal spaces
« Reply #6 on: Sep 02, 2010, 12:38 pm »
-church fellowship hall ;)
-director's living room ::)

clurston

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Re: unusual rehearsal spaces
« Reply #7 on: Sep 03, 2010, 10:16 am »
I spent a good 3 months of rehersals in a psychiatric hospital that is now used as part of the university campus. Not too bad in the main rehersal space as it had been made into a lecture theatre, but if we used any of the smaller rooms, they were creeeeepy! And considering rehersals started in January, I spent a lot of time arriving/leaving in the dark, usually on my own! We're there again this year, I'll be bringing my nightlight....

 

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