CALLING: Calling Spot Light Cues

[Rhynn]

Usually I provide scripts for my spots and have them call their own cues.  We write the cues in at Paper Tech, and firm them up during Tech Week.  When we rent a comm system, it never extends to Spots, and they're too far away for the SM to cue anyway.

[SMrobyn]

Im currently working as a Spot Op on a Equity musical (gotta pay the bills, right?) and the calling goes like this :

During tech week, each Op got a sheet with all the cues written out, nice and detailed, with the cue number as well as with "LX GO" it went with.

For the opening night run, just to refresh us a bit, we'd get such calls as "Standby for Spot Cue 34 on Frankie" and we would generally remember, and peek at our sheet, before getting in position.

After opening night and all through the run, we've now only been receiving the cue-number and have pretty much memorized all 70 of our cues.

Its a good system, I like it, and I will probably use it if I SM a show and the lighting designer agrees to it.

[VSM]

I call each and every spot cue.
Each and every show.
This way, if someone new has to step in, the flow of my show doesn't change.
Because sometimes, things go wrong and I need to make the decisions for all.
This way, everybody is on the same page.

[RuthNY]

I also call each and every spot cue, as stated, months ago, earlier, in this thread.  Many spot cues DON'T happen with numbered light cues, and as the conductor of the technical "orchestra," our calling keeps everyone in the same rhythm, and on the same beats. SMs are conducting, just as the Maestro in the orchestra pit is, and the Maestro would never tell the string section that they are on their own!

[loebtmc]

Most of the time I also call spot cues, but I remember one of the first tours I ever did where the ME who traveled with us called the spot cues while I called everything else.