Dear Constant Reader,
Happy Friday! Here’s your tip:
Creating the order of acts for a show is an art and a science.
When creating a show’s running order, there are artistic decisions and practical ones.
On the artistic side: Creating a show that flows smoothly and is interesting. Spacing out acts of a similar mood or tempo. Also, spacing out variety acts. Placing particularly strong/exciting/crowd-pleasing acts to start and end the show. If there’s a story line, making sure the acts tell the story clearly.
On the practical side: Making sure everyone doing multiple numbers has time to change costumes. Keeping acts with a lot of set up and/or clean up separated. Trying to accommodate performer’s preferences about the order of their acts (e.g. the one with the complicated costume goes first). If there’s a story line, making sure the acts tell the story clearly.
Scratch tends to use spreadsheets, like the one above, for a clear picture of the show.
Like this tip? There are lots more in Miss Mina Murray’s Little Book of Better Burlesque.
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