Things that went wrong with your technical equipment?

[Trinity]

Anyone had to use two sets of headsets to run a show? Or had to use cell phones? What about the computer in charge of the motion lights deciding to crash and having to restart? Or the sound system decides to have a coffee break just as you call standby?

I've dealt with all of these... Luckily for the sound system it was operational by the cue.  Unluckily we momentarily forgot that when the computer comes on the motion lights get reset, they tend to do this whole move-on-their-own thing.  Cell phones we've used as back up for head sets with attitudes(set to vibrate of course).  And after one show where we had to change the battery of one of our new wireless headsets more then once, we opted to run the old reliable comset to my ASM so that we had a reliable source of communication.

Any stories of equipment going wrong during the show? What did you do to fix it/prevent it in the future?  Based on your experiences what is the one thing you insist on having?  I'll now be ensuring I have everyone's cell phone number and that they have it on vibrate Just in case, especially if there's only one headset system in the house.  My communication is Way too precious to loose contact with anyone.

[sievep]

I've had light boards fail, sounds systems fail . . . my favorite comes from my community theatre days where we had ancient wireless mics, and as they went out during the course of the run I had to quickly decide who could switch mics with who and for how long, etc.  Fun times.

[Jessie_K]

I have had to call a show on cell phone when the headsets died as soon as the show started. I was on the phone to the light op who relayed cues to sound. And I used hand signals to give deck cues across the stage. It was guerrilla theater at its finest.

[zayit shachor]

I've had to deal with a few crappy headset systems - all wireless - and I've had to resort to cell phones more than once.  The other stage manager at my theater had the light board and sound system shut down on her at the same time once this season.

[loebtmc]

I had a sound system glitch several times out during the run of a show - the board op had to reboot at least twice each time (that was fun) - had a light board blow at places for a ballet, and go out several times during a show at three different theaters - and used cell phones for cues in a couple of houses where headsets were either really sucky or had no reception or just plain died.

Nice to know we know how to handle emergencies, tho - calm, logical, and keep the show running!

[Mac Calder]

Work with any equipment for long enough and it will fail. Work in a venue without a proper PMS (and no, that is not referring to "Womens Troubles", but rather Preventative Maintenance System) and you will have problems. Even with a proper PMS, you should still expect problems.

Large shows which cannot afford to fail will often run tracking backup systems - basically they have 2 lighting desks, 2 FOH mixers, 2 foldback mixers etc. These systems will be kept fully synchronized with each other, and if one fails, the backup takes over.

As far as comms - a wired system will always be more reliable than a wireless system. Which is why you will find most shows will have wired to 90% of the people on comms, then wireless for those that really need it (ie Deck managers etc). They will also have a wired comms system sitting in the wings waiting, with a bloody long XLR.

Such is life.

Basically, you can plan a system which is almost impossible to have fail (full power backup yadda yadda yadda) provided you are willing to foot the cost.

Or, you can run a show in such a way that you can work around failures easily - ie I always run tracking backup of my lighting desk (when I have the facilities to do so), if I am TD of a show, I will always make sure that I have enough two way radios on site that they can be distributed if needed. I will always spec cue lights as well as cans, and I will always ensure that LX, Sound and Vision can run the shows from cue lights. If I am sound, I will always have two versions of my wireless mic sheet - the "All good" list and the "Make sure at least these people are mic'ed" list. Plan for the worst, hope for the best.

[Cheever]

the funny thing is, we have no backups. all we have is the light board and one backstage. so if the board fails we don't have to go to full lights on everything (almost happened once and yours truly had to fix it).
our sound has no backup unless we decide to run music on a cd player.

i really envy those people in high school who have headsets. we use some really tempramental walkies set to about as low as they can go. oh well, you work with what you're given. we've put some great shows together like that though so i can only complain so much. 

[KMC]

Very well put, Mac.

[silvonus]

One day, the stage lights flickered all at once very slightly, it was hardly noticeable. Over the next 6 months it got worse and worse. The problem was that it was sporadic, and just happened at random. This was the theater at my high school, so we weren't doing a show all of the time, and the lights stay dark most of the year. So when the next show came around, we were in trouble. Eventually the lights flickered (and would nearly go black) when I was by the dimmer rack. I pulled out some modules to look at the CEM (an ETC rack), and then it starting going haywire, the lights on stage would flicker like crazy (someone was shouting this to me), and the rack seemed to turn itself off. Did some research, found out that the problem was the airflow sensor. Called ETC, they sent a part. A little plastic part no bigger than the tip of your thumb to sit over the sensor. Never had the problem again. Luckily we managed to fix it before the next show.

[Cheever]

the same thing happened to us! it was caused by a lightining strike though. it was good that it never happened during a show but if we were in the theatre for a class or what not they would go almost black. eventually we had the district electricians come in and fix it (oh how i wish i had the training to fix it myself)

[BLee]

The last show I SMed that had the most trouble was the dance production. LCD Projection constantly failed or went to blue screen without warning and was particular about the type of files and order they must be played in to work. That same show had sound issues and level checks had to be redone every night because it would change constantly. Plus the speakers in the house would only work every other night on average so we had to troubleshoot constantly. And some of the choreographers I dealt with did not understand that I do not have divine control over technology and when they rent new systems to work with our old equipment no matter how many tests we do before the audience comes will not guarantee a perfect show.

[keypalsman]

Our light system has been messed up for at least 2 years and it decides to be spontaneous. Whenever you least expect it to (ex. during a show, when another school uses it, dance recitals, etc.) it decides to freeze up and shut off (it has a cheap dell hooked up to it for no stinkin reason). So we always have to stand by the dimmer racks and turn the lights off by hand (flip the switch and hope it works). It is funny because it is only 2 years old and that is when it started having trouble. Oh well, I sure hope lightning strikes it, then insurance will fix it.

[Cheever]

our light board was 9 years old when we got it. in 2001 (that's right Lehigh 1991) it works even though it needs a major overhaul (people who don't know what they are doing mess with it. i swear if i walk into that booth one more time and see some ignorant fool playing with that board, telling me he/she knows what they are doing. there will be violence)

our sound system is the same way. it buzzes. but its in better shape than alot of the other equipment. i hate it that our theatre (in my HS) wasn't designed by a theatre person. if it were we would be able to control the house lights from the booth. on a slightly off topic question: have any of you had problems with people (who didn't know how to work them) messing with your equipment? especially in a highly public or HS theatre?

[wheatwheat9]

ugh. i am in high school. most of the time there is something going wrong.
our theatre club puts on a talent show every year and since we didn't have our own comm system at the time, we had to rent one for anything we did.
well, our director forgot to rent them for the talent show, so we had walky-talkies. ugh. it was terrible.
when we aren't doing theatrical performance, i usually run the light board. during a band concert at my school (i'm in band, so it's the only kind of performance at the school where i can't be behind the light board), someone was leaning on our amp stand which has backstage controls for the lights that override the board.
in the middle of our song, the lights go out. i sit there for a second, knowing exactly what the problem was, deciding whether to get up or not. after a few seconds i got out of my chair and turned the lights back on. my first standing ovation!
another time, a local elementary school was performing in our theatre and needed some of my school's students to do tech. i wasn't able to attend because of SAT's (ugh) so my director had some actors do it. i came in later in the day to discover the light board was in something called "park mode" and i couldnt turn off any of the lights on the stage. turns out, they didnt turn on the monitor and were just pushing random buttons.
long story short, don't let high schoolers who happen to be actors around your technical equipment.

[Cheever]

agreed. unfortunatly, we don't have as much control over who gets to use the board and equipment. for instance when the band (no offense) decides they want to have a concert in the theatre they get one of their own to do it. unfortunatly their expertise on our equipment is from hooking up a stereo at their house. the worst people are student government. they are the ones who do the talent show. i was going to do their tech for them. i went to the first rehearsal (which started about an hour late. you can bet i was wishing i was the SM) and found a guy in the booth just pushing random buttons. i said "what are you doing?" and he replied something to the effect of "working the lights, don't worry i know what i'm doing." needless to say he ddin't saty in the booth for that performance.