Rehearsal Hours
Is your schedule long enough?
Running time and calendar in. Hours, extra calls and full runs out.
Your calendar is short
49.5 of 90 hours
For a show of an hour or more, most guides land between 75 and 100 hours.
165 min
Working time per call
18
Calls planned
15
Extra calls needed
6
Full runs before tech
- You're about 40.5 hours short. Add 15 more calls of 3 hours, or start rehearsals earlier.
A play usually gets about 4 weeks of rehearsal before tech. Date every milestone for a 6-week rehearsal.
The rules of thumb behind the numbers
- Plan about one hour of rehearsal for every minute the show runs (or two hours per script page). (How To Direct a Play in 10 Steps (Part 1))
- A show of an hour or more needs roughly 75 to 100 hours in total, tech and dress included. (Director's Guide: Rehearsals)
- Get six or more full runs in before tech, with 15 to 30 minutes of notes after each. (Play Direction 101 Part 2)
- With minors or a community cast, keep calls to three hours and finish by 9:30pm. (Pull-Tight Production Packet)
- Equity: five minutes off for every 55 worked, and a meal break after five hours. (Emerson SM Handbook)
- Everyone else: a five-minute break each hour, and a 30-minute meal in any call over four hours. (Intro to Directing)
- Plays usually get about four weeks of rehearsal before tech, musicals about five. (EMU Stage Managers Resources)
Working time takes the breaks out of each call before counting, so a 3-hour evening is about 2 hours 45 of rehearsal. Full runs are counted between three weeks out and load-in, with 15 minutes of notes after each.