Show Calling

[Bryson]

I have a bit of an odd show coming into one of our venues. It's a promenade performance in a multi-purpose space, which intends to use all of the space as performance area. It also needs full lighting, visuals repeated to lots of monitors dotted around the space, live camera, and sound panning around the space.

 

Now, I have most of the kit I need to do this. What I don't have is anywhere to put the bloody things (the entire room is a performance space.) So my question is this:

 

Do you think it would be too dangerous to put the Lighting, Sound and AV control positions in a different room (maybe with a monitor) and in the space just put one discreet stage manager type :) who calls the whole thing via cans to "blind" operators? I know the noise boys aren't gonna like it.

[owen_mcauley]

Did the same for a promenade contemporary dance show last year, used two different closely located venues, I was backstage in one operating sound, lx and AV for the whole show, all called over cans from mobile SM :) type person. Went very well.

 

Put microphones in so us noise boys can monitor our outputs, they shouldn't change in level from tech to show anyway :huh:

 

Couple of cctv cameras for lx,

 

AV guys should have enough monitors anyway!

 

Job's a good'n

 

Good luck with the show

[Kevin Robertson]

Have done this kind of show a lot.

The SM :) , mics, monitor idea works well if it is teched (and the don't change the show AFTER the dress... but that's a whole different story)

Another way which I have used a lot is to put the LX, Sound etc in the middle of the space and include it in the performance. I know that this depends on the show but if it is contempary arty stuff they will probably go for it.

Just another option that may have not been considered.

Good luck.

Kev

[David]

It happens every day in the conference world. I have lost count of the times I have been told ‘we don’t want to see the crew’

 

Plot the show with the crew in the space, and then move into your cubbyhole for the last dress. The SM will soon tell you if it’s not working (they all seem to get pleasure from that bit) :)

[PeterT]

I agree, no reason it shouldn't work, I've done several musicals with the band up in the rehearsal room due to lack of space on Stage and it has never been a problem. The only thing I would add is to make sure you have backups of both leads and cameras just in case someone decides to remove 'that cable that doesn't need to be there...' :)

[Bryson]

A little update on this one: The show was this week (get-out yesterday) and it all went very nicely. Crammed our 430, Large sound desk, rack and a 8-way vision setup into the tech store, blued the lights and ran the cans into there. We christened it "the Submarine." The crew loved it as it meant they were free to read the paper/eat/argue in peace, with the occasional interruption from myself. :(

 

Anyway, apart from a vigourously enforced "No Flatulence" rule, and a video artist/op who was a bit hazy on why you shouldnt add kit 5 minutes before the doors open, it was a marvellous sucess.