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Jackie Gleason preferred his actors to have less rehearsal time on The Honeymooners
Gleason's rehearsal method might have seemed unconventional, but it definitely worked well.
If you grew up performing in any capacity, chances are you've had a stress dream in your adulthood where you're forced to put on a play without any rehearsal. You can't remember your blocking or your lines, and the entire audience is staring, waiting for you to say something.
This incredibly stressful scenario doesn't require you to fall asleep in order to achieve; you just need a complete and total lack of preparation and you're well on your way!
Well, it turns out that for some people, a lack of preparation is actually essential to the quality of their work.
The Honeymooners was decidedly Jackie Gleason's project. Not only was Gleason the starring role as Ralph Kramden, but Gleason also had a hand in the creation, casting, and direction of the series. This also meant that Gleason had day-to-day control of The Honeymooners as well. The actor decided when and what the group rehearsed.
Art Carney served as Gleason's right-hand man in The Honeymooners. The actor called working for Gleason, "an experience" in an interview with The Los Angeles Times and highlighted the fact that Gleason preferred less rehearsal time than other directors he'd worked with. Gleason seemed to believe that the lack of rehearsal was actually to the actors' benefit.
"He [Jackie] has his own method of putting a show together and judging from the ratings and new contracts it must be one of the best," he said. "We might have a new script reading on Thursday or Friday before the Saturday Night show, but all the hard work is concentrated on show day. Jack figures we won't lose our punch as much as we would with several days of rehearsals."
Gleason also insisted on performing in front of a live audience, which he believed only brought out the best in his performers. While Gleason's directing method sounds stressful enough to make us break out into a rash, it's important to note that, as a man of many successes, we're still willing to trust that Gleason knows best in this case.
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