Re: True Role of an ALD
I also thought an associate could provide design input, where as an assistant generally would not.
While a little oversimplified, I think that's a pretty accurate interpretation. I know that there is a very large difference in pay scale between Assistant and Associate. However, I'm not sure if this is a USA-stipulated pay increase, or if designers just pay their associate somewhat of a 'retainer fee' or 'salary' in addition to the USA fee, or a combination of the two. Also, being a repeat assistant does not automatically make you an associate. I am friends with and have worked with a few broadway LDs, Associates, and Assistants, and my information comes from having observed them and talked to them - but by no means does it apply to all LDs. In the rest of the world, designers will spend time training a new assistant and talking him through the show. But on Broadway, the Associate takes on many of the duties of the Assistant in the regional world, and the Assistant is quite a
bit less important.
In one particular instance, I stopped in to tech for a broadway show recently where a friend was the LD, and he introduced the Assistant to me as "This is Jeff - oh wait, Derek - oh, sorry, it's James - the assistant for the show. He's responsible for
tracking spotlights." So clearly not a long-standing relationship, and I'd hate to think what would happen if the assistant had walked over (from his far end of the table) and said "maybe you should try this."
On the other
hand, 90% of the work that gets done before tech was done by the Associate. An associate who I know pretty well has been working for the same LD for 5 years, and he's been an associate for other designers for a longer time than that. Many broadway LD's have their own associates who do every one of their shows, and these people are as crucial to the success of a show as the designer themselves. Yael Lubetzky works for Natasha all the time, Craig Stelzenmuller for Paul Gallo, Joel Silver for Kevin Adams, Vivien Leone for Don Holder, Paul Toben, Aaron Spivey, just to name a few. Many of these people move on to become successful broadway designers on their own, and others remain happy as associates for their entire careers.
Because of the sheer volume of shows the LDs are doing, and the availability of large rental budgets, most LDs have a pretty rigid recipe for a standard
light plot, in terms of the way they want frontlight channeled, what colors to use, where to put scrollers, how many areas of 45 sidelight, and lots of stuff like that. A great associate will learn this
system, and then he can put it into a show without ever talking to the designer about it. He also has the freedom to add specials and other particulars as he sees fit. But you can walk into nearly any show designed by Natasha and turn on
Channel 103, and every time, the two units she has two-fered together for her DSC
scroller backlight will come on. There are some broadway designers who literally walk into a show and have no idea what model of Moving Light they have in the air, or sometimes even how many or where they're hung. They just tell the
programmer what to make it do, and it happens. It's not that they're stupid or ignorant, they just have no need to know - the associate has already decided what quantity and features they will need for this particular show and drafted the
plot accordingly, and that's all they need to know.
In the
theatre, the associate is constantly talking to the designer, giving suggestions on what to try next or reminding him of what color is in a light or anything like that. Lots of designers don't even show up to focus before tech starts, just leaving it all for the Associate (with the assistant recording focus charts), and it's not uncommon for the Associate to be doing minor
cue notes with the programmers in the morning before the designer shows up throughout tech. As one associate described it to me, the goal of the Associate is to never force the designer to think about anything other than how the
stage looks in front of him.
Obviously, every LD will operate very differently. I have mostly worked with more relaxed, hands-off designers at that
level, but I'm sure there are others who are much more involved than I described here. Sorry for the long post.