REHEARSAL NOTES AND MEETING MINUTES STYLE GUIDE

All successful productions have at their core a clear, concise, and traceable method of distributing written material to all members of the company. Outlined above are the many types of paperwork deemed essential to any production; listed here are the style tips for producing those documents.

REHEARSAL NOTES (also called Rehearsal Reports)

• Numbered and dated, these are the primary, written documents informing all departments of notes coming from rehearsal.
• Example:

Friday, September 8, 2022             Rehearsal Report # 1

Saturday, September 9, 2022        Rehearsal Report # 2

• Every rehearsal day will have its own report, numbered sequentially

• For days when no notes come out of rehearsal, a notice must be posted on the callboard stating that there are no notes for that day; the next set of notes will include a notation at the top of the page explaining the gap in dates; but the numbering will remain sequential
• Requests for each department shall be categorized and listed under the appropriate headings, and should contain enough information to alert the Department Head to potential problems and solutions
• Each request or information point will be numbered, sequentially through the entire document, for future tracking and reference; the rehearsal note number shall precede each individual number.

Example:

SOUND

1.1      There will be a live saxophone in Act I, Scene 3, played by Kurt Weill

1.2      A recording of chicken noises is needed for Act II, Scene 8. See Stage Management for further details

PROPS

1.3      A tray of 8 wine glasses will be required for Act III, Scene 2. Three must have drinkable “red wine” in removable glasses; the rest   must appear full, but be fixed to the tray to avoid spillage

Note: in the above, the first 1 in 1.2 indicates Rehearsal Report # 1; the second number, 2, indicates that the request is the second of many on that report. 1.3 is the third point, and so on. There is no limit to the number of points contained in a completed Rehearsal Report. The rule is that each numbered point is a stand alone item, and does not contain information for other departments.

• Each new daily Rehearsal Report will begin with a section devoted to unanswered, or unresolved items from past Reports. These items should be of a substantive nature, and not mere reminders.

Example:

OUTSTANDING ITEMS

2.5          Rehearsal pistols are still required, in order to complete the blocking for Act III, Scene 4

7.24Padding is still needed on the USR doorway

Note: In the above, the pistols were originally requested in Rehearsal Report # 2, item 5, and are crucial to the blocking of the scene; the door padding was originally requested in Rehearsal Report 7, item number 24, and is a safety issue.

• all Rehearsal Reports/notes will have a distribution list on the document

Although rehearsal notes/reports are the primary, written method of communicating requests from the rehearsal hall to the company, they are not designed to be read in a vacuum. FACE TO FACE explanations and responses are required in all cases. The notes/reports are for tracking purposes and follow up.

MEETING NOTES and MINUTES

• Numbered and dated, these are the primary, written records of all meetings where 2 or more people discuss show related issues.

Example:

Friday, September 24, 2022    Production Meeting # 4 Minutes

Saturday, September 11, 2022   Preliminary Lighting Design Meeting # 1

• A non participant (ASM or ATD, etc) should take the minutes
• The minutes will indicate who is present, and, where applicable, who is absent and who sends regrets (official absences are approved by the Production Manager or Technical Director)
• Requests, points of reference and informational items for each department shall be categorized and listed under the appropriate headings, and should contain enough information to accurately reflect the meeting
• Each request or information point will be numbered, sequentially through the entire document, for future tracking and reference; the meeting number shall precede each individual item number.

Example:

SOUND

1.1      The budget may need to be increased to accommodate the live saxophone added in Act I, Scene 3

1.2      Five different recordings of chicken noises, for Act II, Scene 8, are ready for the Director’s approval. A listening date needs to be set ASAP.

PROPS

1.3      The recipe for the “red wine” is ready for testing. Props would like to visit rehearsal on Thursday, prior to the start of rehearsal, to taste test the “wine” with the actors

Note: in the above, the first 1 in 1.2 indicates Rehearsal Report # 1; the second number, 2, indicates that the request is the second of many on that report. There is no limit to the number of points contained in completed Meeting Minutes or notes. The rule is that each numbered point is a stand alone item, and does not contain information for other departments.

• each new Meeting minutes/notes, where applicable, will begin with a section devoted to unanswered, or unresolved items from past minutes.

Example:

OUTSTANDING ITEMS

2.5Rehearsal pistols are on the way from the rental house; a copy of the Firearms Policy will be given to Stage management to pass to the Director

7.24Carps is still waiting on the shipment of padding needed on the USR doorway; a stop gap measure is being investigated

Note: In the above, the pistols were originally requested in Rehearsal Report 2, item 5, and are crucial to the blocking of the scene; the door padding was originally requested in Rehearsal Report 7, item number 24, and is a safety issue.

• all Meeting Minutes and Notes will have a distribution list on the document

Although Meeting Minutes and Notes are the primary, written record of meetings, they are not designed to be read in a vacuum. FACE TO FACE explanations and responses are required in all cases. The minutes/notes are for tracking purposes and follow up.

E-MAIL COMMUNICATION

E-mail and other forms of social media have become the primary method of creating a wide- reaching network of contacts and of ensuring timely communication. They also have the potential to cause huge problems on any production due to incomplete information and context, and lack of emotional connection with the sender and reader.

It is also impractical to archive Twitter, Tik Tok, Instagram, Facebook and other platforms.

At Performance, only University email accounts will be used for show purposes.

Due to the huge numbers of e-mails involved on any production, Performance requires all senders to following convention:

All Subject Lines must begin with the name of the production, the area/department of concern and a tagline distilling the essence of the body content. An example might be:

Subject: NEW VOICES: Lighting Design: Prelim Mtg March 10, 2019 or Subject: DANCES: All Departments: Revised Casting for Piece 4