Stagehand 101: Followspotting

If you can follow instructions you can followspot.

One of my first theatre gigs was operating a followspot on a production of the musical, “Best Little Whorehouse in Texas.” It was a nightmare, at least in the beginning. On the first day of rehearsals, the director ran the cast through the opening scene without giving the followspot operators any information about which actor was playing which part. In …