QLab is truly one of those "how did I ever get along without it" items. I am the production coordinator and sound designer for my wife's Pulitzer Prize-nominated solo show "Now That She's Gone," which we've been doing theatrically for the last 3 years all over the world.

Since this was my first foray into theater (my primary field of expertise is music for film and TV), I was using my MacBook Pro and a portable sub-mixer (for added control) to run the sound cues via iTunes; with my other hand I was pushing the pause button on a DVD player. And I would be cueing the lighting operator at the same time, typically sitting next to me.

It worked, I got by with it … but it was not an elegant solution. And if we were in a particularly cramped booth (aren't they all?) it was even more unwieldy.

NOW… thanks to QLab? All I need is my MacBook Pro. Everything is handled through the software, we never see a little "play" or "pause" graphic on the screen (all DVD players do them), and I can hit visual and audio cues with laser-sharp accuracy… even down to a SYLLABLE inside a word my wife is saying! It's everything I always wanted, and didn't realize it.

As we are about to do the show for a solid month, every day at 5:30 pm at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival — and I've already been informed the booth barely holds one person — you can see what a relief QLab is going to be. Having the greatest accuracy and flexibility imagineable, and at the same time the smallest equipment footprint I've ever had, is truly a lifesaver. I also told my wife, Ellen Snortland, that it is my desire to one day do a show with her that takes advantage of at least HALF of everything QLab can do. Right now we're running at about 1/4th! :-)