How Do You Cue The Lights During Stage Productions?
Stage lighting involves a lot more than turning the lights up and down when the show begins. Lighting not only makes the actors visible but also sets the mood for a scene and changes when the mood or setting of the play changes. If you’re stage-managing or assistant stage-managing a play, it’s up to you to give the lighting operators their cues. Become familiar with the play. Read the script, then show up at rehearsals to develop a feel for the show. Mark the cues in the script where the stage lighting changes based on what the director or lighting designer tells you. A cue may be a line of dialog, an actor walking offstage or the end of a scene. Record the lighting plan for each scene, and all changes, on a cue sheet. The cue sheet spells out, in detail, which stage lights are on at any given time, how bright they are, and when they change. Program the same cues into the computerized lighting controls, if your theater company uses them. Keep a hard-copy record, so if the computer cras
