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Archive for February 24th, 2009

Set Lists

 

2009-02-24Where in the world am I today?: La Romana, Dominican Republic

 

I bring up set lists today because I’ve been working on cruise ships a lot lately. Being able to walk into a rehearsal and hand the sound man a set list, the lighting tech a set list and the stage manager a set list just makes everything run more smoothly and makes you look professional. Especially when working on ships where the technicians may have never seen your show and have no real sense of what they can do to make you look your best, handing them a clear road map that they can follow can make all the difference in the world. 

On your set list you should have a point by point break down of your show routine by routine and include any special sound or lighting cues. The clearer and simpler you can make things the better. During your rehearsal you’ll have a chance to go over everything step by step, but making the set list as clear as possible is a very good idea. 

I learned an interesting lesson recently when I got to a rehearsal on the ship and had the sound technician take out a sharpie marker and make the track numbers that were required for each routine much bigger so he didn’t have to search for them. I went back to my cabin and redid my set lists with much larger track numbers listed as a result.

Big, bold, easy-to-read instructions will give everyone the best possible chance of nailing the cues and making your show ROCK! 

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