Who needs which sheet
- Stage manager and the booth: the running order with start times and breaks, so the show keeps to time and sound and lights know what is next.
- Wings and backstage helpers: the calls: which routine to bring up while which routine is on.
- Dressers: the quick change list and the costume list, with where each dancer goes next.
- Dressing room parents: their room's routines and dancers, in order.
- Families: a "your numbers" sheet per dancer, with times to be ready.
The layouts here are our own. No studio body publishes a standard form for these, and recital software presents the same fields its own way: a drag and drop show order with a costume change cushion warning, or a generator that flags routines that are still too close together (sources read on the date below).
Worked example: the first numbers of the sample recital
This is the top of the backstage sheet the planner prints for its built sample recital, which runs from 18:00 to about 19:04. Dancers are called 3 numbers ahead, so the first three numbers are called before the show starts.
| No. | Start | Routine | Room | Call to wings | Dancers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 18:00 | Opening Number | Room A | Before the show | 4 |
| 2 | 18:03 | Junior Ballet | Room B | Before the show | 3 |
| 3 | 18:06 | Teen Lyrical | Room B | Before the show | 2 |
| 4 | 18:10 | Tiny Tap | Room C | During 1 | 4 |
| 5 | 18:13 | Senior Lyrical | Room A | During 2 | 3 |
| 6 | 18:17 | Junior Tap | Room B | During 3 | 3 |
In the built order there are no quick changes, so the quick change column reads None all the way down. In the order the classes were typed in, the same sheet flags eleven, each with the dancer named and the minutes they have; the no quick changes guide shows both orders side by side.
Calls, clocks and breaks
Start times come from the running clock: each routine's length, the changeover after it (30 seconds by default, longer for a routine with props), and the breaks. An act break with no interval adds only the changeover; an intermission adds its minutes. The call for each number is the routine that is on stage when its dancers should leave the dressing room. Set how many numbers ahead on the Rules tab.
Common mistakes
- Printing before the last move. Every sheet is a snapshot. Print after the order is final, and print the date on it.
- One sheet for everyone. The program has no times and no rooms; the backstage sheet has no songs. Print each audience its own sheet.
- No time for changeovers. A show of 3 minute routines with no changeover time runs late by the interval. Set a realistic changeover and the clock stays honest.
- Leaving quick changes to memory. The dresser at the stage door needs the list in hand, with minutes, not a reminder shouted across the wings.