Dealing with a bad design - help?

[cutlunch]

I would hang his plot.
But like other people say if you have the inventory then just hang some extra's like a colour wash and some general area.

Then when you start plotting he might realise that he has a few problems. Then you could quietly mention that you have a few lights of a general rig he could use. If he asks why they are still up just tell him that been a school you don't know from day to day when someones going to ask you to do something in a hurry so it's quicker leaving them up.

As for the students just give it to them as a class project to critque, in a what I liked / didn't like kind of way. Are you the only LD whose work they get to see? If so just tell them different LD's have different styles and his is another way of doing things.

I just had a thought maybe he want's to have a go at designing because when he was working in New York he didn't get much say on his lighting for his choreography.
Maybe he is learning and after this one he may listen to you more in the future.

[icewolf08]

If the choreographer/director wants the lights a certain way, fine. If they think that they can design the show, let them. As others have said, make sure that it isn't your name under the header of Lighting Designer. You voiced your opinion, it was discarded, and thus there is no reason for you to have the title.

I am not sure that I would go and hang anything extra through. Mostly because if it isn't going to be my name as LD then I would not take it into my hands to design the show, even if I was supposed to be the LD. This stems a lot from the fact that I wouldn't want to do the extra work. Now that could come back and bite me, but there is always a point in tech where you can't change anything anymore. So if the director/choreographer's design fails and you have maid it to the point of no return, you have saved yourself a lot of work, and the director/choreographer gets to deal with his failure.

If the director/choreographer realizes that the design is failing before the point of no return, you still have bargaining chips. You can only work when there isn't a rehearsal going on or classes in the space (I am assuming this), so you can only get X, Y, and Z done, but maybe not A, B, and C. So you may still save some work. Or, if you only have the inventory to hang the original plot or a "working" plot, rehanging the entire show is probably not an option.

Here's the thing, as long as the parents can see their kids, they are going to be happy. You could just blast while light on stage and the parents would still be kvelling at their kids. So, if the lighting is lousy, but you can still see the kids, no worries. If you can't see the kids, that is a whole different story. What is my point? Well when i was in college, my professors didn't have a problem letting us fail designing a show (not in the grading sense). Now, they wouldn't let a failed design kill a show, but as long as there was performance quality, they would let a not-so-great lighting design go up, it is a learning experience, you can't succeed every time! So if there is no harm in letting your director/choreographer design the show and fail, there is no reason not to do it.

[Sayen]

I let my crew fail when designing theater shows - nicely, of course, and with support - under the assumption that if you can't screw up and experiment in educational theater, when can you? For other groups I view it more as a professional responsibility to give them a solid show, from audio to lighting and everything backstage.

Thank you all for the advice, it put my conscience at ease at least. We closed the performance tonight, and rehearsals this week answered the debate - the guy is so ignorant of lighting and wrapped up in his dancers that he didn't realize how bad things looked. I'm talking splotches, mismatched colors, clashes with costumes, and big holes all over the stage. I had my crew gently ask about lighting, and he thought it looked great. While I love my principal, the man has no clue about technical work, and even he was able to come up and ask what was wrong with the lights. Oh well - less work for me in the future I suppose, since we do three or four dance concerts a year using his design.

[elite1trek]

The meeting ended with him telling me he'd bring in professionals to teach me to do dance lighting, and me just agreeing with what he wants and storming out.

This makes me laugh a little.

Anyway, I have worked with outside groups that come into my theatre and tell me how to do things. Dance Groups, Cirque Groups, even Corporate events. You would be surprised how many Corporate event planners think they can design lights better than your designer can.

It's their show...let them frack it up if they want to.


Just a funny little side story:
I had a Corporate Gig come in once and demand that I rehang my entire plot.

I told her OK, but told her that doing that would require a crew of 12 for 6 hours, and that since it was a weekend, it would be double-time.

She agreed to use the house hang.