A failed lamp in a follow spot prior to dress rehearsal is about the worst problem I’ve encountered over the years, and with a spare bulb on hand, it wasn’t really a problem. [My activities are with the recitals and shows for the dance studio at which my daughter dances; the recession has been tough and the enrollment is about half of what it was a few years ago.]
But the next day, a few hours before the recital, a windstorm barreled through the township and knocked out the power at the venue and the general neighborhood. (Ghost lights, apparently, only have a limited radius of influence.) But the venue we are using is a hall at a church (rather than a school auditorium that we’ve used in better times), so we are able to open the curtains to bring natural light into the room. Our sound system (such that it is, but again, not an auditorium system) is a large boom box with the headphone output to a PA amplifier and a couple vintage Shure VA301-S speakers. So we were able to put batteries in the boom box and used that through its own speakers. We asked the parents brought flashlights and camping lamps. By intermission, someone arrived with a borrowed generator and a garage work light, and by dusk we have the room pretty well illuminated for the second half of the recital.
In retrospect, the show went off pretty well. Had we been using an auditorium under the same circumstances, we’d have been SOL.
Joe
But the next day, a few hours before the recital, a windstorm barreled through the township and knocked out the power at the venue and the general neighborhood. (Ghost lights, apparently, only have a limited radius of influence.) But the venue we are using is a hall at a church (rather than a school auditorium that we’ve used in better times), so we are able to open the curtains to bring natural light into the room. Our sound system (such that it is, but again, not an auditorium system) is a large boom box with the headphone output to a PA amplifier and a couple vintage Shure VA301-S speakers. So we were able to put batteries in the boom box and used that through its own speakers. We asked the parents brought flashlights and camping lamps. By intermission, someone arrived with a borrowed generator and a garage work light, and by dusk we have the room pretty well illuminated for the second half of the recital.
In retrospect, the show went off pretty well. Had we been using an auditorium under the same circumstances, we’d have been SOL.
Joe
