How many pages are in the script for a musical?

Answer 1

That depends on how long you think it should play... what time the audience should be able to get out of the theatre. There's a standard format, with standard font and spacing, for typing musical scripts (you can find reproductions of sample pages in Aaron Frankel's WRITING THE BROADWAY MUSICAL), according to which each page is deemed to be roughly about 1.5 minutes of stage time. The first act of Sondheim/Furth's COMPANY in this format is 58 pages, which would mean the first act would play in a little less than an hour and a half (87 minutes). Add a ten minute intermission, and the audience will have been in the theatre for 97 minutes at the beginning of your second act. Assuming your curtain went up at 8PM, it is now 9:37. If you want the curtain to come down at 10PM, you have less than a half hour for your second act. More realistically, figure that the curtain comes down sometime between 10 and 11. Conventionally, you want the second act to be a big shorter than the first act. If the second act were, say, 48 pages, that would bring the curtain down at 11:09, so if you want them to get out before 11, you have to shorten one act or the other. Of course, you don't HAVE to have an intermission. Some shows don't. But those are usually much shorter shows. After 97 minutes, a lot of people want a crack at the restroom. So how long should your show be in the theatre? Phantom of the Opera on Broadway is two and a half hours, including a fifteen minute intermission. ONCE is two hours and fifteen minutes, including a fifteen minute intermission. KINKY BOOTS is two hours and twenty minutes, including a fifteen minute intermission. A GENTLEMAN'S GUIDE TO LOVE AND MURDER is the same. FIRST DATE is ninety minutes, with NO intermission.

Answer 2

There is no minimum number of pages required, but generally one page of script equals one minute of movie/play. A good target would be instead, enough pages to develop and complete a good story as well as fill any time-related requirements.

Answer 3

A screenplay in English usually means every page equals one to one and a half minute on screen. Most movies are about an hour and a half or more. So shoot for 100 pages.

Another Answer

Depending on the genre, you may want fewer or more than 100 pages. The range is about 90 pages to about 120 pages, the absolute maximum. Films with more action require fewer pages; pages with more dialog require more pages.

Answer 4

A TV script can have a varying amount of pages depending on which show it is, and it can also depend on whether it is comedy or drama. Usually shows can average about one page per minute of the show.

Answer 5

It is difficult to say the exact number of pages a film script would produce. By taking an estimate we could imagine that it would fill 50 - 200 pages. Unless of course you are watching a silent film!

Answer 6

A stage play script length isn't as fine-tuned a document insofar as time is concerned as a film script, where one minute of film time equals one page.

A director can expand or contract the time a stage play lasts -- to some degree. A short play can be 35-45 pages. The run time will approximate that number of minutes.

You can start with 60 pages, and then work with the director to modify the script as necessary to run in the time alloted. (Usually stage plays last as long as necessary to tell the whole story, and are not constrained by the clock.)

Answer 7

As a general rule its about one page of script to one minute of TV

Answer 8

A short film should be about 15 pages

A feature film should be about 90 pages

Answer 9

Half-hour shows range from 30-40 pages, hourlong shows from 60-70 pages.