Two years ago, a teacher at one of my workshops asked what cue software runs on a district Chromebook. As best I knew, the answer was "nothing." AI was still fairly new. Vibe coding was really new.  I was a double major in Theatre and Computer Science (dropped that to a minor because...math...), and while I understand the LOGIC, I could never have coded this on my own.

It's been a year since I first developed the single-file HTML-only local-first Theatre Cue Player.  It's got a new website, [www.TheatreCuePlayer.app](https://www.theatrecueplayer.app/?fbclid=IwcGRvZgFleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFPb1E1Y2V2ejVJVWUzd1FXc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHoL89-F3BdKH_U0IE0LjdkWrHTjZWlgY-Sc6ctv0ytTUgQenUH5bPFpGdDjE_aem_Z0mI0P5o8CE9k3znea6ZYA), and some major updates.

I was teaching a workshop on audio cue playback software options, and several teachers asked about Chromebooks.  There wasn't an option that worked for locked-down ISD provided laptops unless you could get to the Linux OS.

We developed a single-file HTML-only, local-first audio cue player that could be run in Chrome from a thumbdrive, no internet access needed.  It uses the audio packages that Chrome already includes.

The point was never to compete with QLab. It was to let a teacher walk a classroom full of Chromebooks through the terminology, the logic, and the experience of building a show — so that when a student gets to QLab or Show Cue Systems, they already know what they're looking at. The help text is written for students, not seasoned professionals.  Made for education, powerful enough to run the show.

Over this past year, we've been working on a Chrome extension.  Once installed, it no longer needs internet access to run locally.  The audio-only layout is identical to the HTML version and remains just as simple.  Still all free for at least this season; projections might require a subscription for '27-'28.  

What the extension adds is:

1. Google Drive access (if a District restricts this, it still runs with a local folder/usb drive)

2. A sound editor that provides effects that should work on most Chromebooks (reverb, pitch and tempo change, noise reduction, etc).  You can get to the audio editor from the edit-screen of the cue list, and then send the edited copy right back into your cue list.  

3. Video and Projection, with surfaces, projection mapping, fades, trims, playback rate, basic text cues. (Rotations and rescaling are in the pipeline).

Direct link in the Chrome Web Store: [https://chromewebstore.google.com/.../meanilaokadjkgoflfl...](https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/theatre-cue-player/meanilaokadjkgoflflcbpgpgcebamdm?authuser=0&hl=en)

On the website, there's a bug report form. I just can't test every single possible situation.  If you can break it, please tell me how you did and we'll try and fix it.  If there's something you'd like to add or see handled differently, let me know.  

There's also a growing list of tools on the website. These run on your computer. Nothing gets uploaded. My favorite is probably the loop-maker.  It does in the browser what takes me five or six steps to do in a video editor, and was in response to a high school teacher who asked in a projections workshop how to loop a video without it jumping.  They all use open-source ffmpeg and Google fonts.

TL;DR I used Gemini and Claude Code to build a Chromebook-friendly audio and video cue player to help teachers prepare students for professional software.