To take a cue or not take a cue, that is the question

[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.

[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.

[Grog12]

Originally Posted by gafftaper

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.

I know of at least 2 big budget (multi-million) shows that if you waited for the SM to call a light cue nothing would ever happen because the SM is too busy playing online poker.

[gafftaper]

Originally Posted by Grog12

I know of at least 2 big budget (multi-million) shows that if you waited for the SM to call a light cue nothing would ever happen because the SM is too busy playing online poker.

So much for me teaching my students to do it the right way like the pros.

[Hughesie]

yeah gaff, i wouldn't tell your students that part........

[David Ashton]

We had a similar discussion with regard to manual fades, now on a major choreographed production there is no choice but to follow exactly as called but when running a play or touring a show it is a team effort to give the paying public the best product possible and in most situations I have worked in, the lighting op has the best real view of the action[not video].
I personally watch the entire show, boring or not, in case I lose a light or see a problem and if something goes wrong I will take whatever action to try and ameliorate the problem.
If the actors lose 2 pages and bring on a cue before time or if some catastrophe happens backstage I will carry on doing cues.
The "I'm only following orders" mentality may be all well and good at the Bolshoi Ballet, but on tour I'd rather have someone with a bit of initiative thank you.
In my chequered career I have been truck driver, board op, lighting designer, stage manager and producer and have managed to make mistakes in most of them and I appreciate when someone uses a bit of common sense to salvage a situation.
Actors are not the only ones to ad-lib when things go wrong.
Briefly what some consider to be "professionalism" I consider to be rank amateurism.
Cliche as it is I believe the show should go on and everyone in the team should work together and cover each others problems.

[icewolf08]

I have worked some shows where there were points in the show where the SM had too many other cues going on simultaneously that the board OP would take a series of cues on his own. BUT this was only after a hand off from the SM, and control of the show was returned after that sequence.

Originally Posted by allthingstheatre

If the actors lose 2 pages and bring on a cue before time or if some catastrophe happens backstage I will carry on doing cues.
The "I'm only following orders" mentality may be all well and good at the Bolshoi Ballet, but on tour I'd rather have someone with a bit of initiative thank you.

Every SM that I have worked for would rather their board ops and flymen, and deck crew not take initiative. It is one thing if a light cue is misplaced, but if the motion control operator goes "Oh crap they just skipped 4 pages, better take the next cue" people could get seriously injured. It isn't up to the operator to figure out what to do, for all you know the actors could jump back those four pages and fix things, then you are hosed if you have started taking cues.

In a situation where the SM is not sitting in the booth with a full stage view, they usually end up with a fairly comprehensive CCTV setup. Many theatres will provide standard and IR full stage cameras, and often they will provide cameras for danger areas. Even in the booth many SMs have all of these video angles.

Sure, there are situations where someone has to make a decision, and everyone involved in the production of a show should have common sense. But while everyone common sense may lead to a valid solution to a problem, if there is not one unified voice the problem will just be aggravated.

Any scripted show that has been teched, cued, and so forth has a way that it is supposed to run. Live theatre is a hierarchy, and it has to be that way or you run into chaos. Shows would never work if every department operated autonomously.

This is not to say that there are not some parts of the entertainment industry where different departments do operate more independently, but for live theatre the SM is the law. If the SM isn't doing his or her job then I would take it up with their supervisor, no questions asked. The SM is in charge of making sure the show happens the way the director and designers envisioned it and if they are not doing that then you have big problems.

[Diarmuid]

Personally, I work most of the time as a Stage Manager, and I will always prefer an operator to wait, or ask me instead of just second guessing my calls. For example, in the last show I did, during one of the performances we had to call a doctor twice, due to first a crew member and then a cast member having fainted. In those circumstances, you don't always have the time to explain what is going on to the operators, because you are busy trying to check that everything is ok, with the people who have fainted. At the same time you are still there to remain on the book, and thus it is the job of people around you to look after the 'casualty'.
Basically, I would say that if you think you should be standing-by for a cue, then ask the SM, however in emergency circumstances, things do have to change during a show, and that is why you shouldn't take a cue unless its called. Also the key thing to remember is that a designer may have changed the placement of a cue, and there is no obligation to tell you this..

[David Ashton]

We don't see "Icewolfs" palaces on tour, the SM is generally in prompt corner with a limited view and at best a single video monitor, now pulling quotes out of context does little to further an argument, the suggestion that I am saying everyone should do their own thing is preposterous, however if a board operator working for me had missed a lamp blowing while playing a game and left an actor in the dark when he could easily have filled in with another circuit, would certainly get a 'go' from me, permanently.
If I couldn't get an operator to take an interest in doing the job right I might as well replace him with a voice recognition device and save the wages.
Students reading this, think for yourselves, if you knowingly stuff up a show when a little common sense could avoid it, most reasonable SM's and directors will appreciate a little intelligent initiative.
As a rule you should always do as the SM says, and rules are made to be broken when the need arises.

[soundlight]

Originally Posted by allthingstheatre

however if a board operator working for me had missed a lamp blowing while playing a game and left an actor in the dark when he could easily have filled in with another circuit, would certainly get a 'go' from me, permanently.

All of the places that I work/have worked in college, in summer stock, and on work calls, even these sorts of things are at the discretion of the SM. The SM tells you when or when not fo fix something. Many places that I've been, it's the board op that has the craptastic view, and the SM who is staring out the window from the booth or looking right onstage and at a video monitor from an FOH feed and sitting off stage left or right.

Originally Posted by icewolf08

for live theatre the SM is the law. If the SM isn't doing his or her job then I would take it up with their supervisor, no questions asked. The SM is in charge of making sure the show happens the way the director and designers envisioned it and if they are not doing that then you have big problems.

Exactly. The SM is the person that is in control. If the SM is not in control, dozens of things could go wrong. Say that there are a few critical cues in different departments that happen during a line messup on stage. If board ops were to fix the cues on their own, some might take the cue and some might not. This is a huge error. This is why the SM should correct all cues and not the board ops.