Cue-to-Cues and Tech Runs

~what they are and how to survive them~





Cue-to-Cue: occurs before the tech run and dress rehearsal of a production. This is when the director (with the light and sound crew) set light and sound levels. Actors or 'bodies' may be asked to stand in certain areas onstage to ensure that they are properly lit, not standing in dark spots as well as delivering some of their lines to ensure any background noises (ie. thunder) does not overpower the actor's voice.

Tech Run: occurs after the cue-to-cue and before the dress rehearsal. This is when the actors go through the entire play with full energy, volume and at the proper speed for the benefit of the tech crew (commonly known as the 'techies' or 'techs'). The crew will ensure (or try to ensure) all light and sound cues are timed properly to coincide with the actions of the performers. Tech runs will include all light, sound effects, atmospheric effects (like fog) and music.

More often than not, a cue-to-cue will take hours to prepare for and sometimes days to get through. All set pieces need to be placed in their proper places to ensure they are properly lit and if the people at the back of the theatre setting the light levels are the same people moving the furniture around on stage, it can be a grueling task.

All actors can assume that a cue-to-cue will mean a lot of starting their lines or a scene and stopping, starting over, jumping ahead and skipping lines, a lot of standing around, moving around and waiting until the director wants you to do something or needs you to do something else. A cue-to-cue is similar to a traffic jam or a 30-car pile-up.

In order to get through a cue-to-cue and a tech run, the best advice I can give to actors is to SHUT-UP, LISTEN and do exactly what you're told to do WHEN you're told to do it. Do that, and you'll be fine :)

We all know how actors can get excited, carried away and lost in the magical world of the play they are in. During cue-to-cues and tech runs, it is imparative that all actors are patient and listen carefully to instructions in order to ensure a smooth and drama-free time.

It is also imortant to have fun! I can't say it enough! You can have fun and still listen for instructions from your director or the stage manager. If you have, for example, 30 actors onstage acting as pirates, the stage manager has informed them that they need to reset gunfire sound effects and it could take 5 minutes, the actors should have the freedom to laugh, giggle, make jokes and maybe sing some pirate songs in the meantime. I tip my hat to any director who can relax, laugh and encourage their cast to bond even if it's during a 5 minute black-out during a tech run.

Jokes always seem to come up during cue-to-cues and tech runs whether it's someone in the booth forgetting to let the actors know that the stage is about to be plunged into pitch darkness OR fail to warn them that a sound effect for a large explosion is about to go off, fun happens. As long as the techies, actors, crew and director can work together to communicate, express concerns and laugh; cue-to-cues and tech runs can be a wonderful experience during a production for all to remember.

*NOTE: Speaking from experience, if you are planning on holding or attending a cue-to-cue or tech run that will last longer than 3 hours - please organize a potluck lunch/dinner with all attending. This will ensure everyone is fed, no one gets cranky and forces everyone to take a break around the 3-hour mark when the brain begins to slow down. Everyone knows an actor with an empty stomache can only play "the dead guy".

Theatre Stress

So, you have an interest in Community, Professional or Alternative Theatre. You may have a full-time, part-time job or even no job. You may still be in public school or high school or maybe even College or University. You might live with a husband, kids or you might live with your parents or on your own. Maybe you volunteer at a home, with a festival or special events.
Now, let's see how we're going to balance these AND theatre.
Rehearsals in Community Theatre usually last three months from the first read-thru to opening night. Out of seven days every week for those three months, there are usually rehearsals 3-4 evenings and often an afternoon rehearsal on the Saturday or Sunday.
SO, hopefully  we are in a  job that we can book the time off ahead of time for evening rehearsals and that management is understanding of our needs.
Let's assume that your place of work (or school and after school activities) have been lenient enough to give you the evening AND weekend time off that you require to attend rehearsals. Now you're rehearsing Monday, Tuesday and Thursday evenings and Sunday afternoons. You're working (or attending school activities) Wednesday and Friday evenings and most likely Saturday during the day. This leaves you the time between work (or school) and rehearsals to spend with your family, clean the house and/or cook - that is unless you have someone else who can help you out in those departments.
So far so good. You work (or attend school) Monday and Tuesday during the day and attend rehearsal in the evening.
Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, you work (or attend school) during the day giving you the evening to either work or spend at home with your family or friends.
This leaves Sunday mornings free to spend with the family, maybe even enjoy warm breakfast (assuming you're not called into work for the morning shift). It leaves the afternoon free to attend rehearsals and the evenings open to enjoy dinner. Hopefully.
We are on a roll! We are on fire and so far everything is fitting nicely into place like a puzzle. Nothing is over-lapping. Everyone is happy. Your family is getting their time with you and you're not missing any shifts at work (or practices at school). Your director is happy, your family is happy and your boss (or teacher) is happy.
Now, since everything is working so well, you do the unthinkable.
You audition for another play...and you get the part.
So now, because you just couldn't help yourself, this is what your schedule turns into:
Monday and Tuesday: work/school from 9-5, dinner/snack 5-5:45 and rehearsal from 6:30-10pm
Wednesday: work/school from 9-5, dinner/snack 5-5:30 and rehearsal from 6:30-10pm
Thursday: work/school from 9-5, dinner/snack 5-5:45 and rehearsal from 6:30-10pm
Friday: work/school from 9-5, dinner/snack 5-5:45 and rehearsals from 6:30-10pm
Saturday: work/school stuff from 9-2, lunch/snack 2-2:45, rehearsal from 3-7pm and the evening to chill
Sunday: work/school stuff from 9-2, lunch/snack 2-2:45, rehearsal from 4-8pm and the evening to chill.
At this point, your schedule is slightly hectic and maybe the stress is starting to be felt.
But, we're not done yet.
I've left out the little fact that you don't drive, because you can't afford wheels, so you take the bus and it takes you anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour to get to any place in London, Ontario because we ALL know how effective the transit system is in this city.
I also left out that you don't only attend school and have projects, exams and homework BUT you also work 2 part-time jobs because in this economy, no one can get enough hours at only one job AND with 2 jobs you're guarunteed to have at least 1 job when either place of employment decides to "let you go" because your position is "no longer required with the company".
We can only hope that nothing "comes up" in our work or private lives like a surprise visit from the in-laws, a broken arm, buses running late (because that never happens) or a call from work asking you to come in to cover someone's shift. AH!
So yes, theatre can be stressful BUT it is not the time at rehearsals or the time needed to be put aside to memorize your lines. The stress comes from life around rehearsals. Theatre is a world all on it's own and as long as you dedicate enough time for loved ones, time to love and be loved, time to relax, breathe, eat and sleep - the rewards of theatre will be endless. The payback of hearing the applause of an audience or seeing a standing ovation after a performance makes the journey you took to get there, and the stress you endured simply dissapear.
The stress is similar to the situation of a woman who went through the hours of pain and heavy breathing during labour screaming their head off and calling the nurses and their spouse every bad word known to man, only to be handed their child and be so overwhelmed with joy that they istantly forget all the pain they went through to get there.
Remember: "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy" ;)
It's worth it.

ACTING - it's not just about 'PLAYING'

Many people think acting is either really easy because all actors do is prance around a stage in silly costumes speaking with silly voices, OR, people think acting is really hard because you have to do and say things in front of other people.  There is so much more to Actors and the world of Acting.
Actors don't just 'play'.   "[Actors] remind people that things can change, wounds can heal, people can be forgiven, and closed hearts can be open again." - Larry Moss

Acting is about making people feel, think and question themselves, others and the world.
Acting is a means of expression.
Acting is an outlet for individuals to show others deep emotions and thoughts that are experienced.
Acting is a way to pretend to be someone else, live in someone else's shoes, have someone else's family, have someone else's dreams and go through someone else's experiences.
Acting is a vehicle to be used as a way of expressing ideas, concepts and physicality that would otherwise be "socially unacceptable".
Actors take nothing from an audience except for applause, tears and laughter.


It is hard work.  Rehearsing twice a week, every week for 3 months to put on only 5 or 8 shows.  It's a lot of lines to memorize.  It means a lot of research into people, places, societies and times in history in order to develop a character.  

There are people who do not understand why actors do what they do. Especially actors in community & alternative theatre as they do not get paid for their time or hard work.  To people who ask "why do you do it?" or "wouldn't you rather do something that pays?" I simply reply by asking them whether or not they have ever volunteered.  

Acting is volunteering and it is rewarding.  Though we do not usually get paid, though we sometimes must endure critics, notes from directors, ridicule from adjudicators and snickers from an audience, we as actors dedicate ourselves to the art of becoming someone else.  We live someone else's life, go through their trials and tribulations.  We survive the torment of thoughts in their mind, sometimes die as them or worse, experience a loss far greater than any death.  We do this so that YOU as an audience member can experience these, through us, from the safety of your seat.

This is the gift actors give to us all for the mere price of an applause.

Respect for Acting...AND your fellow Actors

Actors involved with Community Theatre are usually involved as a volunteer and are offering their time, experience and abilities as such for free. Having said this, one would assume that anyone and everyone who is involved as an actor would be doing it for the passion and love of acting.  How is it then that so many actors quit, don't show up to rehearsals, arrive late and don't apologize to their director and fellow actors when they have inconvenienced them all?

I must admit that I do not honestly know how professional theatre is run or what the expectations are of their paid actors.  I do however know that they expect their actors to show-up or they will be replaced by someone else.  In Community Theatre, actors cannot always be simply replaced because of time restrictions, deadlines, etc.  Most directors will choose to continue working with someone who continuously arrives late to rehearsals or isn't learning their lines or doing their homework because it's easier or because there's only a few rehearsals left before opening night. I am NOT one of those directors.

I am appalled and infuriated when an actor in MY show decides to simply "not come" to rehearsal.  I consider myself an understanding individual however, I cannot understand how an actor can NOT show up for a rehearsal, NOT call me to inform me that they won't be there AND NOT apologize to their fellow actors for not being there! The whole purpose of rehearsals is to become familiar and comfortable with your fellow actors so that when it comes to show time - you've got each others' backs.  A rehearsal cannot proceed when only half of a cast shows up.  The actors that DO show up cannot rehearse and practice acting and reacting to someone who is not there.  These missing actors are not just letting their director down - they are letting the entire production down.

People who know me as an actor or director know that I'm always saying "don't shoot yourself in the foot".  I cannot seem to say it enough and still, the meaning is lost on people.  What I mean by this is simple - if you don't do the work, if you don't show up, if you let down a single director, if you abandon your fellow actors in a single production, people WILL NOT work with you again.  Theatre is a close community (here in London, Ontario) and everyone quickly gets to know of and about EVERYONE.  If you have one actor or one director who won't work with you again, you can bet your life that they will convince someone else not to work with you as well.

I understand that things come up with work and personal life and, sometimes, an actor won't be able to make it to rehearsal or make it on time.  THIS is why each actor is given a contact sheet at the onset of rehearsals so that they can give the director or stage manager a call and inform them of the situation.  By not calling, you are disrespecting your director and your fellow actors who are depending on your being there. 

In Community and Alternative Theatre, the most important thing you can bring to a production as an actor is your dependability. NOT your acting ability. People can be taught and trained on how to express emotions, feelings and thoughts - they CANNOT be trained to show up.

As an actor in Theatre, whether it be professional or amateur, you WILL gain a reputation.  

The type of reputation you acquire - is YOUR choice.