Avoiding Oversaturation

A lot of writers think that the trick to a longer musical is a longer script. This may seem like the obvious solution, but there are lots of wrong ways to do it (In fact, some people may find that the stuff you don't write in the script, AKA all of the song and dance parts, take up most of the time). There are lots of proper things you can do to fill out a script, like filling it with more dialogue and actual content. Then there are the things to avoid. Here are some rules to follow to make sure you don't fall into their traps.

1. AVOID UNNECESSARY STAGE DIRECTIONS
The rule of stage directions is that you shouldn't put them in, unless they are important and something that wouldn't naturally be done. Or exits/entrances. Firstly, directors don't necessarily care about following the script. They will work around the set and the physical demands and staging that they feel like. Twenty pages worth of (CHARACTER crosses stage) (CHARACTER walks to his left) is worthless. Secondly, your estimate has been thrown off. Your two hour work is now at a questionable hour and a half.

2.AVOID IN DEPTH CHARACTER DESCRIPTIONS
Guess what the character page is for? Describing your characters. Guess what the PLOT and DIALOGUE is for? Characterizing your characters. If the need for your character to wear a redd dress has no plot significance, symbolism, or anything of that nature, cut it. Don't take half a page the first time the character is mentioned saying what they are like. You are being redundant and your script length to quality ratio will suffer.

3.AVOID UNIMPORTANT SCENE DESCRIPTIONS
You can include diagrams if you want. You don't need to describe every inch of your town scenery, if over half of it is just unnamed vendors and buildings that don't have any significance. Sets are EXPENSIVE and you certainly don't want to limit theatres on a budget by making them think that everything you mention is necessary.

4.DON'T SPLIT YOUR LYRICS INTO MULTIPLE LINES
...while you are writing the paper draft of your musical. Certainly, when you type up your masterpiece, space them out as another reference for phrase breaks and things of that nature. But when you write out your work, you will fool yourself into thinking that you have written more than you have. And it's ten times harder to write more material after you have finished than during the process.

The general rule of thumb is that a musical is about two hours long. That's two hours of dialogue, music, and "action". So anything you write in the body of your musical must be essential. Otherwise you can count your script amongst all those submitted that are too short for consideration.