Walking into a final dress rehearsal with untested cues is a form of professional negligence that is still remarkably common in live event production. Every cue that fails in a dress rehearsal had a high probability of failing in performance — and every cue that fails in performance represents a failure of the testing process that should have caught it hours earlier. Systematic pre-rehearsal cue testing is the discipline that separates production teams that deliver reliable show execution from those that perpetually firefight.
The Cue Audit: Knowing What You Have
Before testing can begin, the production team must have a complete and accurate record of every cue in the show — what triggers it, what it controls, what the expected output is, and what department is responsible for confirming its correct operation. On the MA Lighting grandMA3 platform, the cue list view provides a complete overview of all lighting sequences with timing, fade information, and programmer notes. On ETC Eos systems, the Magic Sheet display allows designers to create custom visual interfaces for rapid cue navigation and status monitoring. The equivalent documentation for video and audio — media server playlist exports, console snapshot lists, and effect patch records — should be consolidated into a single pre-show systems check document.
Departmental Testing Sequence
Systematic cue testing works most efficiently when departments test their systems in parallel during the load-in window, before the technical rehearsal stage where all systems must work together. Audio tests all recall states, effects chains, and monitor mixes against their snapshot library. Lighting tests all moving positions, color states, and timing sequences against the focus chart and cue documentation. Video tests all media playback segments, transition effects, and output routing configurations against the show content manifest. Each department produces a signed-off systems check sheet before the joint technical rehearsal begins.
Transition Testing: Where the Complexity Lives
Individual cue testing verifies that each element works in isolation. Transition testing verifies that the interactions between departments during show transitions work as designed. The most failure-prone moments in live show execution are the transitions — when lighting moves from one state while video changes content and audio crossfades between segments simultaneously. Allocating specific transition rehearsal time — even thirty minutes of focused transition run-throughs before the full dress — catches the inter-departmental timing conflicts, level mismatches, and unexpected interactions between systems that isolated departmental testing cannot reveal.
Pyrotechnic and Practical Effect Verification
Safety-critical effects — pyrotechnics, CO2 cannons, confetti cannons, flame bars, and electrical pratical effects — require a formal pre-show verification procedure that is entirely separate from the general cue testing workflow. Most professional pyrotechnic systems from Pyrotek and Le Maitre require a continuity test of all firing circuits before loading, a fully loaded test fire of each effect at a reduced safe charge level where possible, and a signed-off safety inspection from the licensed pyrotechnic operator before any effect can be declared show-ready. No production schedule pressure justifies compressing pyrotechnic safety verification.
