Rehearsals & Build

Everyone can pitch in to help with this prior to rehearsal. There is a more detailed list in the "Daily Schedule" section but setting up needs to happen before actors arrive.

This can be delegated to an ASM. Actors should sign themselves in, but someone needs to keep track of who is missing and call actors who have not yet arrived. Whoever runs sign in may want to add every person in the cast to their contacts for easy access (this is also a helpful tip for the SM).

See below for document examples.

This is your job as the SM, and it just means making sure someone is taking care of each responsibility. If a room is doing choreo, they need music, someone to play it, someone to record the final video, etc. Think about what will need to happen in a room and make sure you or the ASM running the room is prepared. You also need to let them know when breaks are.

When actors are off book, someone should be on book telling them their lines when they ask for them and possibly taking line notes. You can find line notes formats online if you choose to do them.

Although you may want some "backup blockers," the SM should always be taking blocking. After all, if something happens to you, your book is the one that will be used. Your blocking notes need to make sense to you and be easy to interpret. That means all blocking should have a blocking key.

Here are some tips:

• Not every little move needs to be documented––just important moments and where everyone is standing at all times. Actors or the director may ask for this later!

• When recording choreo notes, you do blocking formations, not individual choreography. You may want to print choreo charts of the groundplan to draw your notes on.

• You can choose to use blocking sheets or write freehand in your script. Your script should be printed single-sided.

• ALWAYS USE PENCIL! Blocking will frequently change!

More specific tips on blocking notation linked here.

See below for document examples.

Videos of final choreography for each song must be uploaded to the Cast Folder for actors, as well as vocal recordings for each separate vocal part. An ASM can take videos when the actors run through a final song, and vocal captains generally upload their own recordings. Make sure all of this happens and everyone has access to upload correctly.

This may seem super easy, but is one of the most stressful jobs! An ASM will be playing tracks for choreography or run purposes. This may be either the vocal recordings for the actors to sing to, or the actual soundtrack. Make sure sound is set up so it will work. **Note: ALL TRACKS should be downloaded to your device to prevent buffering!!

Timestamps

You will need to make a timestamps sheet! The choreographer or director may ask you to play from a certain point, so record the following:

• Moments where a character starts talking

• Moments where a character stops talking

• Important lyrics (in 10- or 20-second intervals)

• Key words of important actions in the dance, such as "actors circle"

That way you will always be ready. This job takes a lot of paying attention and taking subtle cues on where to start from, and can be stressful but is a great learning experience for new ASMs.

Editing Tracks

If there are a lot of pause and play spots in a song, e.g. when dialogue happens, you may want to edit the tracks so you can just hit play. To do this, first download all tracks to iTunes on your device.

• To change the start and stop times of a track, double click on it and go to Song Info > Options > and adjust the timestamps as needed

• Once you change the start and stop time, go to File > Convert > Create AAC Version

• Once an AAC version is created, restore the original start and stop time of the original track

• The AAC version is a copy of the song that has been added to your library. Add all new tracks to a playlist and label them. These should start and stop at the right times for you to just hit play

• You can connect your computer to your phone via a charge cord and drag that playlist onto your phone for easy playing as well!!

See below for document examples.

The SM should ALWAYS take notes on technical updates for the Rehearsal Report, either on the document or in their notebook. Someone (usually an ASM) needs to record minutes and other details on the RR for the SM to review, add their notes, and send out. Additionally, an ASM can make the daily call for the next day based on the rehearsal schedule.

SM, remember to check with the director for anything else they want to add before sending these out!