[gafftaper]

Originally Posted by Unmanedpilot

Found this really interesting, my experience consists of working at my church for the service, no SM, and the community theater. When I'm doing either I'm responsible for all the cues. If I miss something its my fault. The SM will remind me if I somehow missed a major cue or took too long but I call the shots on when to go.
I don't have the same experience as most of you and a lot of it makes sense (like the prolonged blackout to fix something) but I usually have to control when things go or don't in the show when it comes to light and sound. It certainly depends on where you are working, and going off the original post, I would defiantly wait for the go, its the SM's fault if its wrong, your just doing your job.

This and bikingtechie's post both bring up the important point of local custom and the question "how professional is the theater you are working in"? In a big budget very professional show you absolutely wait for the SM. However when it comes to "Theater in a Vermont barn"... the rules are different. If you think that the local custom is less than professional then by all means have a polite conversation with the SM and ask if they just want you to take the cue on your own. It won't fly on Broadway, but there are lots of places that play by different house rules.