All role cheat sheets

Cheat sheet: board operator

Your first week as a board operator

Learn the desk, follow the call, keep the booth clean and quiet.

What the job is, in the glossary

If you're new

  • You run the lighting or sound desk. Your first week on the show is usually the week before tech, not the first week of rehearsals.
  • You press go when the stage manager says go. Never before.UCF

If you're a pro

  • Booth rules and headset habits to hand a new op on their first call.UCFLangham Court

Talk to these people first

  • The stage manager. Call times, booth rules, the calling words and exactly how to answer a standby.Langham CourtUCF
  • The lighting designer and electrician, if you run lights. Desk training before focus, start-up and shut-down, and who to call in an emergency.UCF
  • The sound designer and engineer, if you run sound. Playback files, speaker and mic checks, and how much mixing you will do.UCFDavidson

Do

  • Read the desk manual and get hands-on training before your first work call.UCF
  • Come to focus, cueing and the dry and wet techs, following along on your cue sheets.UCFDavidson
  • Do the full pre-show check and the post-show shutdown, every time.UCFDavidsonLangham Court
  • Headset mic off unless you are talking. Answer standbys by your position. Report blown lamps or dropped focus to the stage manager.UCFLangham Court

Don't

  • Never fire a cue on your own.UCF
  • No food, drink or vapes in the booth.UCF
  • Do not fiddle with cues or try to fix the desk alone. Call the electrician or sound supervisor.UCF
  • Nothing on headset between standby and go unless it is an emergency, and never leave your mic live when you take the headset off.UCFLangham Court

What to bring

  • Your cue sheets (and the lighting magic sheet), pencils, highlighters and a notepad.UCF
  • The desk manual and the electrician's or sound supervisor's number.UCF
  • Dark clothes and quiet shoes.Langham CourtDavidson

Other roles

How-tos for the same show

Tech week, hour by hourPaper tech to previews: who comes, what gets done, how long, and when to move on.Build a prompt bookWhat goes in the book, in what order, and how it runs tech and every show.School, community, pro and UK theatreWho calls the show, what the rules are and what everything is called, side by side.

Sources

Written in my own words from handbooks, guides and rulebooks I read for this suite. Tags beside each point show where it comes from.

Made by Kate Makrigiannis, a theatre-trained product manager who directs and teaches.

Photos: Pexels