A Practical Guide to Stage Lighting, 2nd Edition

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A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO STAGE LIGHTING

comprises one scene. The “Act & Scene” column lists

only abbreviated song titles, while the “Systems” and

“Specials” columns list general images as well as spe-

cific washes. Once the look for each song or scene

becomes clearer, it will then be possible to first list

the specific washes and colors used for the big looks

or changes for each scene. Then it will be possible to

compare all of the colors and systems used over the

course of the entire production. The final column for

Hokey is “Backing,” used to list the different colors that

are, right now, imagined for the translucency. Once the

looks needed on the translucency for the entire show

are more defined, the number of color washes can be

totaled up over the course of the show. In this version,

the cyc appears to need blue, green, and “day.”

At this point, these are the only two core design doc-

uments that exist. Until more information is provided,

it is not possible to make more defined decisions about

systems or colors. Until that information is coalesced,

the preliminary magic sheet can’t yet be constructed.

Meetings

Webster’s dictionary defines the word collaborate as

“the act of working or laboring together, or to act

jointly in works of art.” To be able to collaborate,

however, requires communication and cooperation.

Communication is certainly one topic; all members

of the design team must “speak the same language,”

i.e., know the piece, the structure, the style, and the

overall objective. Cooperation is another matter alto-

gether and it can often be traced directly back to indi-

vidual psychology. Sometimes egos and theatre don’t

make for the healthiest of combinations.

In theatre, meetings are organizational tools that,

on paper, provide both those goals. In reality, like any

other organization, they’re often viewed as both a boon

and a bane. They’re useful to distribute information;

instructions and directions are stated only once, and

everyone hears the same thing. They’re sometimes useful

as a forum for exchanging ideas and making decisions.

And sometimes they turn into private discussions held in

a public forum that preclude the ability to get anything

accomplished. Any meeting can easily turn into any or all

three of these scenarios. Meetings that are quick, to the

point, and allow mutual conclusions or decisions to be

made, are the ones considered the most successful.

Meetings can be classified into three different

types, based mainly on the number of participants or

the agenda: production meetings with the entire pro-

duction team, conceptual meetings with members of

the creative staff, or individual one-on-one meetings,

held only between two members of the team.

Most designers feel it’s smart for the produc-

tion stage manager to attend most of the meetings,

while other designers insist that the stage manager

attends every one of them. Most of the time, in pro-

fessional situations, it’s the stage manager who calls

the meeting in the first place.

Production Meetings

At some point there’s hopefully, at least, one produc-

tion meeting when the entire production team con-

venes in order to be introduced, review the production

schedule, coordinate or address potential outside

conflicts, and address any cross-departmental issues.

Ideally, there are many meetings to check that sched-

ules are being met, and make sure that potential prob-

lems are addressed before they become issues. On the

other hand, meetings about the show may be delayed

until all of the creative team has been hired. If that

doesn’t happen until the last minute, there may be

only one meeting, and its first order of business may

be to quickly create a production schedule. In those

cases, the initial production schedule presented at the

Act & Scene Systems Specials Backing

Act 1 scene 1Warm sunny day; wedding intros Cyc day

"Welcome" Amber backs Haze Warmth

"Wedding" Color floor wedding couple CC?Rainbows; stripes?

"Cookie" Muppets?

Act 1 scene 2Blue? Cloudy? More down-y?Cyc blue

"more evil" FOH shadows for chorus Tornado skies?

Tee-boo enter Tee-boo enter? Green porriage?

Blue sides?Lightning?Cyc get ugly

Swirl; movement?

Act 1 scene 3Cool when Tee-boo gone Cyc partial restore

"Tee-boo gone" Then warm to partial restore back to wedding CC with Te e-boo depart

of A1sc1 but no pookie?Desolation

Blue sides?a "hole" in her placebare trees

Cool FOH Cemetery

Figure 3.3 The Systems & Specials Sheet for Hokey, version 1