CONTROL CONSOLES ON A SHIP – HOW MUCH DO YOU NEED TO KNOW

​One of the things you may be curious about is what experience do you need on lighting and sound consoles before you can work in a theatre on a cruise ship.  I have a friend who used to work on cruise ships who mentioned using a GrandMA, which, if you’re not familiar with it, is a concert-grade light board. Most productions on board ships are musicals, so you may or may not run across that level of console control.

Here's what to expect…

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​If you are coming directly from a high school theatre - and many universities and colleges - you are most likely proficient on an ETC Element or Ion, or Strand Neo or Light Palette perhaps, and some sort of digital sound board (there are so many out there).

You’ll be glad to hear that in the Norwegian Bliss theatre the light board was an ETC Gio (in the same Eos family as the Element and Ion) and the sound board was a Yamaha CL5, similar to many of the digital sound boards I’ve come across in high school theatres. The light board for the Atrium was an Ion, and the sound board was a Yamaha QL1.

As Joie mentioned, you need to know at least the basics of how to run a light and/or sound console (if you know both, all the better).  Once you’re on board they can train you how to use a different console than you’re used to, but it’s not school anymore and they’re not going to teach you from scratch.  If you’ve been at a school that has a smaller lighting system and light board, or if you’ve learned sound on an analog board – while I will always maintain that these are the best ways to learn lighting and sound theory(!) – you will need to get some experience on digital boards before applying for a job in a theatre on a cruise ship.