Its a touring life 1

Grace of AVL times.

My very first tour in the UK was with “The Full Monty”. We toured for 10 months, starting out in Wimbledon and ending in Glasgow. Known as a “two weeker”, we moved every two weeks. To me. It was always a new city to explore, and a fully paid holiday around the British isles.

As with most theatre shows in the United Kingdom, we started out from the Greater London area. The time we spent in this first venue was considerably long. Of course some tours do start out in other cities too.

In the first ever set up you would do a few things that need to be sorted out (at this first venue) before the tour starts proper:-
 Staging
 Anti Rake (If any)
 Sound System
 Lighting System
 Wardrobe
 Costumes
 Management
 Final Artistic Directions

Staging
The set must be able to fit into the smallest theatre on tour and also the largest. Wimbledon might have a large stage area, but the planning must be done taking into

account the very smallest theatre the show will go into. There could be a “full” floor put down in certain venues, with smaller parts made and used when needed.
Props, moving scenery, sliders, flown items all will go through their final “fittings’, taking into account that most of the set will be made somewhere else beforehand. Once done, there would not be much changes anymore, and maybe only very minor changes in the next two moves and than just the normal maintenance during the tour after that.

Anti Rake
Some theatres are “raked” meaning there is a slight slope to the stage surface. Down stage being lower than upstage. Some shows are performed on level surfaces, so an anti-rake must be made. It tours with the show. Set designer will take into account the ease of installing of anti rakes too. 

Sound System
Every new show that goes out will be using a new sound design, usually from different designers. The system might be prepped at the rental house, but it needs to be put into the theatre. So many days of setups will narrow down what is going on tour. The bulk of the “non used” items is returned to the rental house, and spares are taken on tour. If speakers need to be hung independently from any structure in any of the coming venues, a flying structure must tour with the show. All this is made and measured during the set up, extras go back to the warehouse.
Lighting System
Basically the same as sound, the fixtures are prepped in the rental house, then its the setup at the first venue, and unwanted items returned. The lighting designer would be present everyday to make it look right.
Wardrobe
London (or other large cities) has everything - allowing the wardrobe department to get everything right before the tour. The costume designer would have readied all items by the time cast is on stage. Being in a large city allows you to do “last minute” errands for something that needs to be bought. And this applies to wigs too.
Management
The production company will have sorted out the personnel going on the tour and they might visit the tour somewhere on the road, wherever the show is at.
Final Artistic Directions
Rehearsals would have been going on for many weeks at some venue prior to moving to Wimbledon. Many parts of the show

would have been sorted out at this rehearsal location. When the company moves to that first venue, its more of a “getting used to” the new venue other than what they have been in for however long it was. Now the artistic team can gel all different aspects of the show together. Many days of rehearsals will continue here - getting it all right before press night and still working and changing after press night until opening night.
Once on tour (leaving this first venue), the tech team touring with the show comprises of the just the bare minimal.
Below is just an example of the touring crew on a medium to large scale show:-

•   Snd: Three persons. Snd Number 1, 2, 3.
  Less if it’s a smaller show, or if the DSM is
  op’ping the show from backstage.
  
•   LX: Two persons. Lx Number 1 and 2.
  At times only one.
  
•   SM Team: Four persons. SM, DSM (show
  caller), ASM L and ASM R.
  
•   Wardrobe: Two persons or more if it’s
  a show with a large costume change
  scenario.
  
•   Wigs: (if any) One person, or two or
  three, depending if it’s a wig heavy show. If it’s not that ‘wig heavy’, the wardrobe department might do wigs as well.
  
•   Production Team: Two, maybe more. Company Manager and Resident Director.
  
•   Tech ASM: (swing) One. Multiple roles, covering Snd, Lx, Wardrobe and Stage. This post is rare, but it happens.
  
  
  
  So excluding the cast, the team is already 15 bare minimal for a show. The creative team does not go with the tour. They might follow the tour for the next 2 to 3 venues or they might “visit” the show (maybe) in 3 months, but every so often they will pop up and say hi!
  So, back at Wimbledon, a sound point of view of the first venue set up. Pretty much a basic setup. Location of amps, Power distros, FOH cable run, Main incoming power, Speaker positions, Radio antenna positions, Cross stage cable runs, Band in pit, DSM desk position, video runs, intercom rings, follow spot comms, positions of video monitors for offstage viewing, storage of flight cases, planning of spare cables, spare PSUs, spare batteries, spare drivers, spare truss for large venues, flying equipment....
  Everything in Wimbledon will be done according to what that will happen on tour. For example, the amp racks; They would all be housed in one large rack called the “daddy rack”.

  
  Inputs and amp outputs will be hard patched, incoming power too. So at the next venue, it will be a case of plug-n-play. No fiddling around wasting time. All interlinking cables between all sound gear goes into one large case, not mixed into different cases.
  FOH cables to be “loomed” together - living in its own case. FOH stuff in another case. Those are just some examples to make the ins and outs fast, easy and manageable. Every case will be labeled as to where they will go once its unloaded off the truck. All one has to do is glance at it and know where it must go to. And also the God mic system. Just for the Director to converse with every- one during tech runs and such. This gear does not go on tour (whew!).
  As the days go by, things will get finalized. More and more things fall into place, in all departments. Things that are not needed will be sent back to the rental company. The items left in that venue will all go on tour, including your spares.
  In next month’s Soundtrap feature, Nicholas will give you his in-depth take on what happens when the tour starts proper. Don’t miss Part 2 in our November issue! 
  

cheers to clarence of AVL times, link on the right side list.