A Practical Guide to Stage Lighting, 2nd Edition

Prior to the Load-In

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297

Some ideas to consider when the

stage time clock runs out:

•Cananyworkbeaccomplishedpriortothe

beginning of the load-in? Is it possible to pre-

hang masking, other soft goods? Install the

deck? Is it possible to bring any other trucks in

before the load-in begins?

•Howmanyhoursoftimeexistpriortothefirst

performance? If the call is departmentalized,

how many people are allocated per department?

• Istheretimeallocatedforthebasiclightingtasks:

a hang session, a hot test session, a focus session, a

cue level setting session, a technical rehearsal, and

a dress rehearsal? Can any tasks be combined?

•Howmuchlightingequipmentisbeingsupplied

by the show? How is the rental gear packaged?

Any chance to change that, and speed the hang?

Can any house gear be pre-hung that might save

time? Or might it instead lose time?

•Istheshowcarryingitsownlightingconsole?Is

it possible to pre-write any cues prior to load-in,

either in the shop, on another console, or using

off-line editing software?

When all is said and done, no matter how badly other

departments’ bone-headed choices may negatively

impact the lighting department’s schedule, everyone

hastoworktogether.(Forthepurposesofthisficti-

tious text, lighting would never make any scheduling

gaffs.*ahem*).Thelightscan’tbefocuseduntilthe

main components of the scenery are in place. Do all

of them need to be in place before any focus can take

place? Is it possible to focus some other area of the

light plot while the final portion of the scenery gets

installed? That’s when experience and the ability to

adapt come in to play.

While added events or left curves can significantly

impact a production schedule, more often than not

the overall number of days and work calls, once estab-

lished back in the production meetings, often remain

the same. The actual activities that take place during

those work calls may eventually have absolutely noth-

ing to do with what was originally scheduled. And no

matter how far ahead the production may seem to be,

relative to the original objectives laid out in the sched-

ule, it is rare that a work call is ever cancelled. The

work always seems to expand to fill the schedule.

The production schedule may be turned on its

head, but that typically doesn’t really start happening

until all the “unforeseens” start to show themselves.

More often than not, they remain concealed until the

stage time clock starts, when the old adage “time is

money” becomes painfully true.

While there are many important dates and

meetings on the production schedule, one of the

more important time periods prior to the load-

in is the run-though. Or, if you’re lucky, the run

throughs.

WATCHING THE RUN THROUGH

The run-through is often the final scheduled work

session for the cast in the rehearsal space. While more

than one run-through may appear on the schedule,

after the final one, the rehearsal hall is cleared of the

production’s equipment. The show gear and all the

personnel then move into the theatre in order to start

the technical rehearsals onstage. There are multiple

reasons for a run-though.

From the director’s perspective, the run-though

may be the first and last time to see the overall rhythm

and flow of the show, without getting slowed down

by the technical elements like transitions, costume

changes, or light cues. It’s also the director’s only

shot to see if, as the show runs, the overall produc-

tion concept succeeds. For the performers, the run-

though is the first chance to consider where they’ll

need to be both on and offstage during each moment

of the show. For the rest of the creative team, the run-

through allows them to see how the individual scenes

willfit(ornot)intotheenvironmentwaitingforthem

at the theatre.

For the lighting designer, on the other hand, the

run-through is a big deal. A huge deal. On a complex

show with a tight tech schedule, most designers con-

sider attending the run-though critical. As opposed to

all the meetings and descriptions and diagrams, the run-

through shows the lighting designer the actual planned

placement of every scene. It shows the designer all the

transitions. It shows where everyone who isn’t talk-

ing in the script or score has actually been blocked on

the stage. It allows the lighting designer to place each

lighting change, have a sense of the amount of time

required for each change, and may allow the lighting

designer to understand what needs to change for all

those incomplete cues listed in the cue master. Finally

the run-through will show the lighting designer all the

10-minute dance sequences that, up till now, have been

indicated in the script as “Group Dance.”

On top of that, the run-though might be the first

and only time that the lighting designer ever gets to

see anything about the show before the whole thing

drops into his or her lap onstage. For that matter,

this might be the first time the designer’s seen any-

thing, even though the plot’s been approved and get-

ting prepped while we speak.