Why are preview shows at 8 and why Monday night?
Why are preview shows at 8 and why Monday night?
sondmon
Stand-by Joined: 5/17/15
#1Why are preview shows at 8 and why Monday night?
Posted: 3/10/17 at 12:27pm
Just curious if there is any reason for this.
#2Why are preview shows at 8 and why Monday night?
Posted: 3/10/17 at 1:41pm
Preview shows are often at 8 instead of 7 because they are incorporating changes and need rehearsal time. Not sure about Mondays.
CZJ at opening night party for A Little Night Music, Dec 13, 2009.
JustAnotherNewYorker
Broadway Star Joined: 12/20/16
#3Why are preview shows at 8 and why Monday night?
Posted: 3/10/17 at 1:43pm
No idea if this is why, but Mondays do have the benefit that other Broadway professionals (who may be otherwise engaged with their own shows) can attend on a Monday.
Updated On: 3/10/17 at 01:43 PM
Theater3232
Featured Actor Joined: 10/16/10
#4Why are preview shows at 8 and why Monday night?
Posted: 3/10/17 at 1:53pm
I guess they don't care if the paying audience finds Monday 8pm to be inconvenient, which is why they need to heavily discount these performances. Just start the rehearsals an hour earlier to match the hours of most working professionals. If Wall Street can start by 8am, so can theater rehearsals.
KKeller6
Stand-by Joined: 3/10/17
#5Why are preview shows at 8 and why Monday night?
Posted: 3/10/17 at 1:59pm
Preview shows on Monday are at 8 because the cast and crew are rehearsing. So, they would incur a pay penalty for the crew if the show were at 7. The extra hour between 7 and 8 allows for the meal break for the crew. For the same reason the show is on Monday, instead of Sunday. During previews that is a rehearsal/work day, whereas they couldn't get in a full day's rehearsal on a Sunday matinee.
Updated On: 3/10/17 at 01:59 PM
dramamama611
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/4/07
#6Why are preview shows at 8 and why Monday night?
Posted: 3/10/17 at 1:59pm
Or, you don't have to buy tickets that don't fit into your personal life.
If we're not having fun, then why are we doing it?
These are DISCUSSION boards, not mutual admiration boards. Discussion only occurs when we are willing to hear what others are thinking, regardless of whether it is alignment to our own thoughts.
broadwayrocks2
Stand-by Joined: 1/10/08
#7Why are preview shows at 8 and why Monday night?
Posted: 3/10/17 at 2:01pm
Sundays cost more for crew and running crew .Usually during previews there are extra crew involved not just running crew . 8 pm shows during previews also afford extra time for the striking of tech tables that are in the house and also a quick clean up of the house prior to the audience .
#8Why are preview shows at 8 and why Monday night?
Posted: 3/10/17 at 2:01pm
If Wall Street can start by 8am, so can theater rehearsals.
Yes, because it's exactly the same thing.
"You travel alone because other people are only there to remind you how much that hook hurts that we all bit down on. Wait for that one day we can bite free and get back out there in space where we belong, sail back over water, over skies, into space, the hook finally out of our mouths and we wander back out there in space spawning to other planets never to return hurrah to earth and we'll look back and can't even see these lives here anymore. Only the taste of blood to remind us we ever existed. The earth is small. We're gone. We're dead. We're safe."
-John Guare, Landscape of the Body
#9Why are preview shows at 8 and why Monday night?
Posted: 3/10/17 at 2:39pm
Theater3232 said: "I guess they don't care if the paying audience finds Monday 8pm to be inconvenient, which is why they need to heavily discount these performances. Just start the rehearsals an hour earlier to match the hours of most working professionals. If Wall Street can start by 8am, so can theater rehearsals."
There are seven other performances you can choose to attend ...
I like a good rhyme more than a good time
ntrackbar
Stand-by Joined: 5/19/14
#10Why are preview shows at 8 and why Monday night?
Posted: 3/10/17 at 2:41pm
I always heard the Mondays were to make it easier for industry folks with their own shows to come on their night off.
MinnieFay
Stand-by Joined: 5/19/16
#11Why are preview shows at 8 and why Monday night?
Posted: 3/10/17 at 3:35pm
ntrackbar said: "I always heard the Mondays were to make it easier for industry folks with their own shows to come on their night off."
You heard wrong. See above.
ntrackbar
Stand-by Joined: 5/19/14
#12Why are preview shows at 8 and why Monday night?
Posted: 3/10/17 at 3:47pm
OK. Well, then I guess it is just an added bonus for those of us with shows every other day.
SueBee06
Stand-by Joined: 1/12/16
#13Why are preview shows at 8 and why Monday night?
Posted: 3/10/17 at 3:54pm
Theater3232 said: "I guess they don't care if the paying audience finds Monday 8pm to be inconvenient, which is why they need to heavily discount these performances. Just start the rehearsals an hour earlier to match the hours of most working professionals. If Wall Street can start by 8am, so can theater rehearsals.
Actually, no. They can't. First of all, there are often tech things that are taken care of in the morning that require having the stage clear of actors. There are also union rules about how much time off is needed between breaking the night before and starting the next day. And I think, if I remember correctly, there is a cap on the number of hours of rehearsal can be done on a performance day (this is Equity specific). So you have tech work in the morning, then hopefully a lunch break, then a rehearsal with the cast to implement any changes, dinner break, and then the show.
Schedules can get a bit weird during previews for a variety of reasons, so sometimes performing on Monday is the way to get an 8 show week in (or 7 show - depending on schedule).
As for not caring about an audience attending, getting an additional performance in before opening can be worthwhile even if sales aren't as high as other nights. Many GMs budget for "Preview Losses" in their production budget to cover this kind of thing.
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