In the 1980s, I was sent out to fix some moving lights on a tour. I had no experience at all. I had a quick hour-long lesson in the shop and got put on a plane. Once I started opening these things, I realized that they really are pretty simple to fix. You just needed the parts, which I had brought along. After I got them all working, the LD demanded that I stay on the tour for the last two months, to fix this. What I really got out of this was some good “on the job” training. Pretty soon it was time for me to start running moving lights from consoles. I was clueless about this. My first show happened to be a Lionel Richie show with Peter Morse as the LD — just a little pressure there. But Michael Keller explained that it was pretty easy; I just had to focus the lights every day and hit the Go button at the right time. All the same, I was scared out of my mind…Being thrown into the fire may not be a fun experience, but it can be the fastest way to learn.
—Nook Schoenfeld, from “LD-at-Large,” PLSN, March 2009
