Foreword In a theater or auditorium somewhere, there is an audience seated before a dark stage. On stage, a single performer appears, lit by a stark white light. Offstage, in the bowels of the the- ater, a technician views the stage on a video monitor and listens for the stage manager's voice over the intercom headset. With a finger poised over the space bar, the technician is about to put a flood of electrons into action. In the preceding weeks, a team of system designers and programmers worked ferociously to complete the control system connected to that space bar. If they've done their work effectively, that flood of electrons will kick a host of electronic equipment to life and that dark stage will come alive with scenery, detailed images, and thundering sound. If the show control team has not, the result could be a dark stage with a performer improvising desperately in front of a quizzical audience. Ahh, the excitement of a live show! Having been a beneficiary and occasionally a victim of the concept known as show control during the past fifteen years, I cannot overstate my reliance on the previous editions of this book, nor my anticipation in advance of the publication of this latest version. If for no other