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Friday, September 19, 2025
Crisis Or Strategy? What To Do When The Show Hits The Fan...
ProSoundWeb: In the midst of a fairly frantic load-in for a show in San Antonio, we made a horrible discovery. The lighting rig, the sound system, the entire show was dead.
Because the trunk full of feeder cable was missing.
12 comments:
DogBlog
said...
I really appreciated the balance of humor and practical advice in this article. I for one have definitely been in similar situations where because of one mistake everything just goes to absolute shit. Looking back at my early times doing theater as a high school student, I often cringe at how I handled certain situations. To say freshman/sophomore year me was a bumbling mess might be the understatement of the century. I think this article makes a lot of super important points about how to go about identifying, verifying, finding answers, moving forward, and reporting back all the things that go wrong. I love how the author orders out the steps of addressing problems. One that really stood out to me was the second step, which is verifying you actually have a problem. It sounds so basic but in the heat of the moment, something that is there but just in the wrong place causes the same panic as something left thousands of miles away so it's always a good idea to check everything before jumping to solve a problem that might not even need to be solved.
a. This article was short, sweet, and to the point and I really appreciate that. So many “self-help” and “advice” articles tend to have this long-winded winding road to still sometimes never find the point. I will say as someone who’s had to unexpectedly be the person in charge on load-in day, being calm can be the biggest hurdle. The second is knowing which direction to start down and committing to it. The show where I unexpectedly became the lead, ran into several problems on load-in day including our scenic designer/production lead falling gravely ill and unable to communicate more than a couple times throughout the day. The set relied on playing in a space that we didn’t have accurate measurements for, so the scenic designer had a couple of plans ready to go and implement once we got into the space. With both the scenic designer and some of the plans gone, I was forced to step in and start making decisions to keep progress moving forward. We were able to get the set loaded in and the show did go off without a hitch, but getting there was a test of patience, perseverance, skill, and leadership.
I have been a part of a lot of shows, productions, or live events that have to work on very tight time schedules and have seen my fair share of catastrophes unfold due to miscommunication or misplaced gear. In all of these situations, the only ones that have really resulted in the show “going badly” were the ones where the crew didn’t keep a cool head. Untimely panic attacks, yelling at hapless underclassmen, and crashouts galore have led to some of the worst shows I’ve ever had the displeasure of being a part of. I think what this article gets exactly right is the importance of keeping a cool head and making a plan. The article makes a point of taking a minute to explain the situation to the rest of the crew so that everyone is on the same page and no one is left in the dark (and so hopefully no one panics). I really like the humorous tone of this article to explain what, for many, is a nightmare situation. Sometimes you need to sit back and laugh at just how screwed you are before buckling down to try to fix it. Calling the boss last is a great touch.
I really enjoyed this article and its storytelling. I really appreciated its concept because I’ve worked with many people who don’t know how to handle any stress in live entertainment, and honestly, it’s really unpleasant. I find a lot of value in the advice to verify your problem first. I’ve also experienced people panicking while all they’ve done was jump to a conclusion towards a nonexistent issue. If I ever think something’s missing or broken, I’ll definitely double check before I start scrambling for a solution. Removing unnecessary panic is extremely helpful, and even if the problem is verified, it gives the person realizing it time to process and consider how to approach a solution. I really like the idea of “work[ing] through the steps that lead to survival.” I think it can be interpreted many ways, in that you should prioritize everyone’s safety and wellbeing, and if you can, keep the performance alive. Make it through to the end, but if you can’t, that’s alright, as long as everyone’s okay.
This article was great! It is super important for these skills to be in everyone's tool box not only for theatre applications, but for life in general. The author listed the 5 steps to do when something goes wrong: 1. Bring the crew in and explain the situation. 2. Send the crew back to work. Keep them on schedule as much as possible and work around the problem. 3. Find the venue manager or someone who knows the area to get help in finding a local rental house. Then start making calls to track down a replacement. Stay calm on the phone. 4. Arrange for the missing gear to arrive ASAP. Do anything to express your extreme gratitude. 5. Call the boss once all the other steps are covered. Following these steps will help you to stay calm and diffuse the situation in the best possible way. I can think of countless scenarios where it would have been very helpful to have these steps in mind when issues have arisen. I enjoy thinking on my feet, and I feel even more prepared for when problems come up now!
I like this article a lot. The writer has clearly seen a few things and his advice somehow seems obvious but also genius. I used to work at a company that would do rental stuff like this, though not nearly on such a big scale, and somehow we would, at least for a while, forget things in our orders surprisingly frequently. I don’t know if it was the pull sheets we got or our own stupidity, but we would often get to a venue and find we were missing something as simple as an IEC adapter or a PowerCon cable. I guess things like that are the easiest to overlook. When I read the article, I thought that his saying not to call the boss until afterwards was crazy, but I kind of get it now that I think about it. I always defaulted to calling my boss immediately, but either he isn’t able to help or I wind up thinking of a solution anyways, making the phone call seem like a waste of time.
I relate to this article so much it's absurd. The way it's written is probably how I would write out or explain a situation like this, too. So, overall, I can really connect with the subject matter hear. While not fun in the present moment, the incident is happening, I always love the stories I get and laugh, looking back at situations such as these. It may honestly be one of my favorite things about this career (though if you ask me while one of these incidents is happening, I’d probably give you a very different answer). I enjoy the rush of adrenaline I get while trying to quickly put together something to resolve the issue in time, and it’s actually super rewarding when your team’s solution works and the show continues smoothly despite the bump in the road. Also, its a great learning experience, I’ve noticed that I’ve gotten a lot better at just spontaneous, outside-of-the-box problem-solving since I started doing theater tech. Having those skills is extremely useful even outside of theater and so I’m very happy that I’m able to hone and learn these skills in a way that also gives me a lot of funny stories.
Everyone who’s had anything to do with live entertainment has at least one load-in gone terribly wrong story but in many cases the panic about the problem only causes it to get bigger. This article conveys the strategy for dealing with problems as they arise better than any others I’ve seen. It’s easy while you’re looking back on a situation that it would have been better to just stay calm and work systematically through it but when you’re in the situation where the box of cables is missing and the show seems ruined it is often tempting to immediately spring into action rather than stopping to think of how to spring into action because there’s no time to waste. In a way this article works as a general checklist, while there's a near infinite number of ways that shows can go wrong sticking to these general ideas is a good way to get any show back on track.
I found this article really interesting because it really speaks to the reality of what happens in live sound when things go wrong. Anyone who has ever worked a show knows that something unexpected is always going to happen, and I think the way the author broke down the steps was really smart. What stood out to me was how much of the focus was not just on gear but on people. Keeping the crew calm and making sure the energy doesn’t spiral into panic is honestly one of the most important skills in this field. The idea of checking what’s missing, looking for local rentals, and only escalating once you’ve got a plan in motion makes so much sense. I think that’s the type of leadership that separates a good tech from a great one. I also liked how the author admitted that a lot of this comes from messing up before. It feels more real when advice comes from actual experience. I could really picture myself in that situation, thinking through what I would do to make sure the show goes on.
Reading *“Crisis Or Strategy? What To Do When The Show Hits The Fan…”* from ProSoundWeb really struck me as a theatre design and production student at CMU, especially because live performance is such a tightrope walk—so many things can go wrong, but how you react makes all the difference. What I appreciated most is the emphasis on staying calm, taking control, and acting methodically rather than just panicking. In the anecdote, when they find out the feeder cable is missing, the crew doesn’t collapse—they stop, double-check, work out what’s possible without the gear, start sourcing replacements, and only after that tell the boss. Those are lessons that apply to every discipline: lighting, sound, set, costumes—design or technical. Crisis management becomes collaborative rather than an individual failure. The piece also highlights something often under-emphasized in schooling: the human element. How you communicate with your team matters. Keeping people informed, not blaming them, and staying calm on the phone so costs don’t spiral all reflect a kind of leadership that builds trust and makes recovery possible. Finally, the article reminded me that strategy in a crisis is often built from past failures. The author admits to having messed up before, and that’s how the right approach was shaped. As students, that’s both comforting and motivating: we will mess up, but if we reflect, build structures, and develop habits, then when the show *does* “hit the fan,” maybe it won’t become a disaster.
Honestly I really hate the way this was written, especially the first couple paragraphs were not my favorite thing to read. This little how-to guide is helpful though, I feel like especially having so much experience in educational theater the solution to a problem is typically to just go nag the adult in the room which doesn’t help anybody learn enough to go troubleshoot for themselves. I had this one teacher in high school, I spent my underclassman years thinking he was evil just to change my mind as I grew up. He would teach us how to solve a problem in class, but wouldn’t help us with the showtime panic. I assumed he was probably scheming to see our downfall, until I started working outside of the school. Doing work at different theaters was eye opening to how much troubleshooting has to happen on your own before it’s worth reaching out to someone else. This lesson is definitely best learned through experience, but my younger self would not have wanted to admit that.
One of the most important skills for a leader to have is to be able to stay calm under pressure and while everything is going to shit. I appreciate how the author walked us through each step and that the first step was not to call his boss for this situation. Coming up with solutions to problems that you never thought you would have on the spot can be quite hard, but when handled by someone with a lot of grace and patience, sometimes you would never even realize how big the problem is. I also appreciated that the author included the step of talking with his crew and explaining the situation to them. It is usually best for your crew to be on the same page as you with situations like that one, in case they have ideas on how to fix the problem or just for them to adjust their thinking of how the day is going to go from there.
12 comments:
I really appreciated the balance of humor and practical advice in this article. I for one have definitely been in similar situations where because of one mistake everything just goes to absolute shit. Looking back at my early times doing theater as a high school student, I often cringe at how I handled certain situations. To say freshman/sophomore year me was a bumbling mess might be the understatement of the century. I think this article makes a lot of super important points about how to go about identifying, verifying, finding answers, moving forward, and reporting back all the things that go wrong. I love how the author orders out the steps of addressing problems. One that really stood out to me was the second step, which is verifying you actually have a problem. It sounds so basic but in the heat of the moment, something that is there but just in the wrong place causes the same panic as something left thousands of miles away so it's always a good idea to check everything before jumping to solve a problem that might not even need to be solved.
a. This article was short, sweet, and to the point and I really appreciate that. So many “self-help” and “advice” articles tend to have this long-winded winding road to still sometimes never find the point. I will say as someone who’s had to unexpectedly be the person in charge on load-in day, being calm can be the biggest hurdle. The second is knowing which direction to start down and committing to it. The show where I unexpectedly became the lead, ran into several problems on load-in day including our scenic designer/production lead falling gravely ill and unable to communicate more than a couple times throughout the day. The set relied on playing in a space that we didn’t have accurate measurements for, so the scenic designer had a couple of plans ready to go and implement once we got into the space. With both the scenic designer and some of the plans gone, I was forced to step in and start making decisions to keep progress moving forward. We were able to get the set loaded in and the show did go off without a hitch, but getting there was a test of patience, perseverance, skill, and leadership.
I have been a part of a lot of shows, productions, or live events that have to work on very tight time schedules and have seen my fair share of catastrophes unfold due to miscommunication or misplaced gear. In all of these situations, the only ones that have really resulted in the show “going badly” were the ones where the crew didn’t keep a cool head. Untimely panic attacks, yelling at hapless underclassmen, and crashouts galore have led to some of the worst shows I’ve ever had the displeasure of being a part of. I think what this article gets exactly right is the importance of keeping a cool head and making a plan. The article makes a point of taking a minute to explain the situation to the rest of the crew so that everyone is on the same page and no one is left in the dark (and so hopefully no one panics). I really like the humorous tone of this article to explain what, for many, is a nightmare situation. Sometimes you need to sit back and laugh at just how screwed you are before buckling down to try to fix it. Calling the boss last is a great touch.
I really enjoyed this article and its storytelling. I really appreciated its concept because I’ve worked with many people who don’t know how to handle any stress in live entertainment, and honestly, it’s really unpleasant. I find a lot of value in the advice to verify your problem first. I’ve also experienced people panicking while all they’ve done was jump to a conclusion towards a nonexistent issue. If I ever think something’s missing or broken, I’ll definitely double check before I start scrambling for a solution. Removing unnecessary panic is extremely helpful, and even if the problem is verified, it gives the person realizing it time to process and consider how to approach a solution. I really like the idea of “work[ing] through the steps that lead to survival.” I think it can be interpreted many ways, in that you should prioritize everyone’s safety and wellbeing, and if you can, keep the performance alive. Make it through to the end, but if you can’t, that’s alright, as long as everyone’s okay.
This article was great! It is super important for these skills to be in everyone's tool box not only for theatre applications, but for life in general. The author listed the 5 steps to do when something goes wrong: 1. Bring the crew in and explain the situation. 2. Send the crew back to work. Keep them on schedule as much as possible and work around the problem. 3. Find the venue manager or someone who knows the area to get help in finding a local rental house. Then start making calls to track down a replacement. Stay calm on the phone. 4. Arrange for the missing gear to arrive ASAP. Do anything to express your extreme gratitude. 5. Call the boss once all the other steps are covered. Following these steps will help you to stay calm and diffuse the situation in the best possible way. I can think of countless scenarios where it would have been very helpful to have these steps in mind when issues have arisen. I enjoy thinking on my feet, and I feel even more prepared for when problems come up now!
I like this article a lot. The writer has clearly seen a few things and his advice somehow seems obvious but also genius. I used to work at a company that would do rental stuff like this, though not nearly on such a big scale, and somehow we would, at least for a while, forget things in our orders surprisingly frequently. I don’t know if it was the pull sheets we got or our own stupidity, but we would often get to a venue and find we were missing something as simple as an IEC adapter or a PowerCon cable. I guess things like that are the easiest to overlook. When I read the article, I thought that his saying not to call the boss until afterwards was crazy, but I kind of get it now that I think about it. I always defaulted to calling my boss immediately, but either he isn’t able to help or I wind up thinking of a solution anyways, making the phone call seem like a waste of time.
I relate to this article so much it's absurd. The way it's written is probably how I would write out or explain a situation like this, too. So, overall, I can really connect with the subject matter hear. While not fun in the present moment, the incident is happening, I always love the stories I get and laugh, looking back at situations such as these. It may honestly be one of my favorite things about this career (though if you ask me while one of these incidents is happening, I’d probably give you a very different answer). I enjoy the rush of adrenaline I get while trying to quickly put together something to resolve the issue in time, and it’s actually super rewarding when your team’s solution works and the show continues smoothly despite the bump in the road. Also, its a great learning experience, I’ve noticed that I’ve gotten a lot better at just spontaneous, outside-of-the-box problem-solving since I started doing theater tech. Having those skills is extremely useful even outside of theater and so I’m very happy that I’m able to hone and learn these skills in a way that also gives me a lot of funny stories.
Everyone who’s had anything to do with live entertainment has at least one load-in gone terribly wrong story but in many cases the panic about the problem only causes it to get bigger. This article conveys the strategy for dealing with problems as they arise better than any others I’ve seen. It’s easy while you’re looking back on a situation that it would have been better to just stay calm and work systematically through it but when you’re in the situation where the box of cables is missing and the show seems ruined it is often tempting to immediately spring into action rather than stopping to think of how to spring into action because there’s no time to waste. In a way this article works as a general checklist, while there's a near infinite number of ways that shows can go wrong sticking to these general ideas is a good way to get any show back on track.
I found this article really interesting because it really speaks to the reality of what happens in live sound when things go wrong. Anyone who has ever worked a show knows that something unexpected is always going to happen, and I think the way the author broke down the steps was really smart. What stood out to me was how much of the focus was not just on gear but on people. Keeping the crew calm and making sure the energy doesn’t spiral into panic is honestly one of the most important skills in this field. The idea of checking what’s missing, looking for local rentals, and only escalating once you’ve got a plan in motion makes so much sense. I think that’s the type of leadership that separates a good tech from a great one. I also liked how the author admitted that a lot of this comes from messing up before. It feels more real when advice comes from actual experience. I could really picture myself in that situation, thinking through what I would do to make sure the show goes on.
Reading *“Crisis Or Strategy? What To Do When The Show Hits The Fan…”* from ProSoundWeb really struck me as a theatre design and production student at CMU, especially because live performance is such a tightrope walk—so many things can go wrong, but how you react makes all the difference. What I appreciated most is the emphasis on staying calm, taking control, and acting methodically rather than just panicking. In the anecdote, when they find out the feeder cable is missing, the crew doesn’t collapse—they stop, double-check, work out what’s possible without the gear, start sourcing replacements, and only after that tell the boss. Those are lessons that apply to every discipline: lighting, sound, set, costumes—design or technical. Crisis management becomes collaborative rather than an individual failure. The piece also highlights something often under-emphasized in schooling: the human element. How you communicate with your team matters. Keeping people informed, not blaming them, and staying calm on the phone so costs don’t spiral all reflect a kind of leadership that builds trust and makes recovery possible. Finally, the article reminded me that strategy in a crisis is often built from past failures. The author admits to having messed up before, and that’s how the right approach was shaped. As students, that’s both comforting and motivating: we will mess up, but if we reflect, build structures, and develop habits, then when the show *does* “hit the fan,” maybe it won’t become a disaster.
Honestly I really hate the way this was written, especially the first couple paragraphs were not my favorite thing to read. This little how-to guide is helpful though, I feel like especially having so much experience in educational theater the solution to a problem is typically to just go nag the adult in the room which doesn’t help anybody learn enough to go troubleshoot for themselves. I had this one teacher in high school, I spent my underclassman years thinking he was evil just to change my mind as I grew up. He would teach us how to solve a problem in class, but wouldn’t help us with the showtime panic. I assumed he was probably scheming to see our downfall, until I started working outside of the school. Doing work at different theaters was eye opening to how much troubleshooting has to happen on your own before it’s worth reaching out to someone else. This lesson is definitely best learned through experience, but my younger self would not have wanted to admit that.
One of the most important skills for a leader to have is to be able to stay calm under pressure and while everything is going to shit. I appreciate how the author walked us through each step and that the first step was not to call his boss for this situation. Coming up with solutions to problems that you never thought you would have on the spot can be quite hard, but when handled by someone with a lot of grace and patience, sometimes you would never even realize how big the problem is. I also appreciated that the author included the step of talking with his crew and explaining the situation to them. It is usually best for your crew to be on the same page as you with situations like that one, in case they have ideas on how to fix the problem or just for them to adjust their thinking of how the day is going to go from there.
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