Author Topic: CALLING: The Most Qs Ever  (Read 9361 times)

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BalletPSM

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CALLING: The Most Qs Ever
« on: Sep 25, 2007, 12:51 am »
you can tell your story in one or two of four ways:

1) What is the most cues you've ever had to call in a show, total? (If you know it!)
2) What show had the most different KINDS of Qs?  (e.g., lights, audio, projection, rail, deck, actors, video, etc....)
3) What is the most Qs you've had in the shortest number of pages?  
4) What show have you done where Q-to-page #s has been REALLY high, and how high?

Example: The show I'm teching right now is only 61 pages long.

In the first 2.5 pages, I have 22 lighting qs, 1 audio Q (and then the designer mixes the rest), 1 sub up and out Q, 10 video up/out qs, 25 projection up/out Qs, 1 actor q (to send seven actors out on stage)..It's CRAZY.  This is quite possibly the highest q to page ratio show I've ever called. (note, I am counting a Q where I call multiple projectors up and out at the same time as multiple Qs, so even though one q is "p 3/4/5 out go" i am counting that as three separate Qs.  Three separate people are executing those Qs).

I'm going to count up the total number of cues so that I can answer the first question!

So I guess I've answered #s 3 and 4.  What's your favorite Q story?
« Last Edit: Jun 09, 2009, 01:07 am by PSMKay »
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Jessie_K

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Re: The Most Qs Ever
« Reply #1 on: Sep 25, 2007, 12:59 am »
Are you doing Poor Superman?

Hmm.  As for my highest, I will need to ponder and return with an answer.  Does fashion count?  That's a cue every 20-30 seconds for 15 minutes straight.  (But I probably have that beat somewhere else)
« Last Edit: Sep 26, 2007, 12:52 am by Jessie_K »

deletedoldnotanymore

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Re: The Most Qs Ever
« Reply #2 on: Sep 25, 2007, 07:58 am »
A production of Twelfth Night.  There were 50 lighting cues, and 20 sound cues before any lines were spoken, but after the show began.  The cues slowed down significantly after that.

Trevor7

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Re: The Most Qs Ever
« Reply #3 on: Sep 25, 2007, 10:01 am »
I personally have not had a crazy amount of cues in any show, but my professor is doing "Wild party and has somthing like 800 light cues she said.

jspeaker

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Re: The Most Qs Ever
« Reply #4 on: Sep 25, 2007, 12:14 pm »
I had 745 total cues in One Red Flower.  That included LX, Sound, Projections, Deck and Pyro.

It was so much fun!!
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Mac Calder

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Re: The Most Qs Ever
« Reply #5 on: Sep 25, 2007, 12:18 pm »
I had a show a couple of years back, new australian work, with far too much "technical" stuff (IMO it was overcompensating for the poor acting, the cast made up of dancers, acrobats and gymnasts). It averaged 2 CALLS a minute, the average call containing 4 cues and from memory it was a 90 minute show. I was sucking down throat losengers every day for that run (of thankfully only 7 shows). There were 2 LX ops (generics and movers), 3 follow spots, a sound op, 2 vision ops, 2 camera ops for imag, flys, deck crew, automation crew, pyrotechnician and an aerial acrobatics crew. The talent also needed to be called, as they could not enter on time if their life depended on it.

Great fun! Show was crap though.

LiLz

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Re: The Most Qs Ever
« Reply #6 on: Sep 25, 2007, 03:25 pm »
I ran a wild Equity Waiver production of "Dandelion Wine" on which I called 479 cues that included LX, follow spots and sound, plus I had to run Q-Lights for actors and orchestra, a movie projector and a Mopic.  During a 'fever dream' sequence that lasted about 2 minutes, I had 45 called Qs and had to run all of my different manuals - all were taken off of visuals, so I had to memorize the sequence.  It ended up being really fun, but the first few runthroughs, I was terrified someone would see me shaking!

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Aerial

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Re: The Most Qs Ever
« Reply #7 on: Sep 25, 2007, 09:14 pm »
I stage managed a new musical this summer called "Torah! Torah! Torah!" (about bar mitzvahs:) ), where I had around 100 cues in the opening number.  And that was just lights, spots, actors and rail.  I'm sure I called bigger shows than that in college, but it's the biggest I've called in a long time for sure.  I didn't stop talking for the entire song.
« Last Edit: Sep 26, 2007, 12:01 am by Aerial »

stagegal1

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Re: The Most Qs Ever
« Reply #8 on: Sep 25, 2007, 11:56 pm »
I did a production of a show called Laughing Stock in which I said "go" 155 times in under 10 minutes including lights, sound, fog, moving scenery, and flying bats!  A reviewer even mentioned me, and that I had plenty to do!

Allie

philimbesi

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Re: The Most Qs Ever
« Reply #9 on: Sep 26, 2007, 09:14 am »
Suessical The Musical - 170 Cues

Joseph and The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat 25 Cues is 30 Bars of Music.

Tempest

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Re: The Most Qs Ever
« Reply #10 on: Sep 26, 2007, 05:23 pm »
I did a production of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof in an open stage with no walls.  It wasn't TOO bad until the storm scene, which had about 20 LQ and 17SQ, plus special effects over about four or five pages.
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Wandering Ninja

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Re: The Most Qs Ever
« Reply #11 on: Sep 29, 2007, 08:30 am »
  I called a "Holy Spam" which is 7 pages of straight text. It had 80 cues (sound, lights, projection). It does not see so bad looking back at it and hearing other peoples stories. The fun part was I did not have a good idea when call some cues that were after short blue outs and some of them were three sets of cues each a line apart.. Also it was my first time SMing after being an ASM once.
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sourc3

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Re: The Most Qs Ever
« Reply #12 on: Sep 29, 2007, 10:06 am »
I ASM'd Sense & Sensibility and our sound q's went up to XX I think (started a, b, c, etc.) and we had upwards of 200 light q's. It was just nuts because there was also a turntable that was pulled by hand (7 actors + sets + props on the turntable with only a 2:1 mechanical advantage) that had to be timed in perfectly without monitors.

Also, over the summer, I worked on a 'gala' event for a mime show (R.I.P. Marcel Marceau - I'm just bummed because he was going to come see the show I'm SMing in a few months =/) and he had us hang lights, focus them, and write 145 cues in 2 days for a 50 min show. Same guy is directing the show I'm SMing - Alice in Wonderland. I'm not looking forwards to q-write. >.<
-David

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Re: The Most Qs Ever
« Reply #13 on: Sep 29, 2007, 11:24 am »
I regularly work w LDs who program upwards of 300-500 Qs per show (one guy basically adds a Q pretty much any time an actor moves...) - along with Q lights, then adding in rail, sound, media etc - always fun.....but a lot more fun than shows where it's 20 minutes between Qs

Did a show with around 20 Qs per page, spread between slides, video, lights, sound and rail plus the cue lights which I ran - more wild was a show where something like that happened all in very tight sequence of something like 6 lines and 7 minutes of business. that's where I learned to come in early for complex shows and rehearse calling (voice and hands) every day until opening, since that was a combo of voice calls (S/B and go), toggles and cue lights

centaura

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Re: The Most Qs Ever
« Reply #14 on: Sep 29, 2007, 12:11 pm »
The one show that I DSMed in my apprenticeship in London had several hundred cues -  a production of Jane Eyre - I can't remember any more the exact number, but I had three total pages in the 2 hours show that did not have cues on them.  I would actually cue the blank pages in the script for the other ops so that they'd know they could ask me a question in that time, because it was non-stop cueing the rest of the show.  It was the toughest one that I had done, as combined with the cues I was calling from offstage instead of a booth, which was what I was used to.  Keeping it all going while having to constantly monitor my own volume was tough.

-Centaura