Cue sheets — the paperwork that runs the show.

How a cue is named

Every cue on the show paperwork has four identifiers: the cue number (e.g. CUE 47), the cue line for that number from the script or from the stage manager’s book, the position at which the cue is called from (FOH = front of house, USL = upstage left, DSR = downstage right, SR2 = stage right second portal, SL3 = stage left third portal), and the card-holder responsible for the action. The stage manager calls the cue over comms; the responsible card-holder responds with standing by, then with go on the call.

A power-relevant cue is one that triggers a switching event on the electrical infrastructure. The most common forms: house lights to half (a dimmer-rack ramp), a motor-bank trim (a chain-motor controller switching), a follow-spot strike (a 20 A circuit closing), an isolated-bus check (an audio iso transformer reading), or a backup-generator warm-up (a Woodward easYgen sequence). Every power-relevant cue is logged on our copy of the cue sheet and time-stamped against the wall clock.

Sample cue sheet — Brooks & Mavericks · Southern Pavement Tour

From PRD-2026-058 at Bridgestone Arena, 22 May 2026. Eight power-relevant cues from a 142-cue show file.

Sample cue sheet — The Crucible

From PRD-2026-055 at Andrew Jackson Hall, 02 May 2026. Three power-relevant cues from an 86-cue show file.

Sample cue sheet — NPR Music Tiny Desk Field Recording

From PRD-2026-056 at Eastside Bowl, 09 May 2026. Two cues — a broadcast remote is mostly hand-off and standby; the cues are few but the readings are many.

The standing-by / go / hold cadence

Every cue follows a stage-manager call cadence:

1. STAND BY CUE [n]. Called by SM at T-30 to T-15 seconds before the cue. Card-holders respond standing by on the comms in cue-number sequence (so SM hears all responses before the cue).
2. GO on CUE [n]. Called by SM at the moment. Card-holders execute the cue.
3. CUE [n] COMPLETE. Called by the executing card-holder when the action is done. The SM checks the cue off and moves to the next stand-by.

The cadence comes from theater stage-management practice, codified in the USITT Stage Management Handbook and adapted for arena and festival work over the past four decades. We use it because it works; because every member of every touring crew in this industry already knows it; and because the comms discipline catches errors before they propagate.

Comms — Clear-Com or RTS, headsets at every position

For arena work and most theater work, comms is a Clear-Com two-channel matrix with Channel A as the production talkback (SM, crew, FOH) and Channel B as the spotlight/follow-spot circuit. We carry six PIC-1 wired beltpacks and two MS-704 master stations in the truck; for venues without house comms we add a HelixNet wireless setup.

For broadcast remote work, the broadcast vendor (NEP, Game Creek) typically brings its own RTS matrix; we tap into their Channel C as the power channel and check in at T-60 with a tactical roll-call.

How to read this department

The cue sheets above are samples — they represent the power-relevant cues from longer show files. Full cue files live with the production manager and are not ours to publish; we keep our column (the power-relevant slice) in the daily-log book and in the bound issue. For the cue-by-cue power log on a specific tour, see the corresponding tour-case page: PRD-2026-058, PRD-2026-055, PRD-2026-053, PRD-2026-051.