theatres charging a rerigging charge

[tivoliproduction]

I have been speaking to one of my production staff tonight who is tour managing a show which is touring at the moment. apparently some venues apply a re-rigging charge for apparently "taking the rig down after a show" surely in venues where it is just in house kit used this would be a waste of everyone's time!! How many venues actually have to de rig after each show? (theatres) and is the charge just something to get extra money? I hate to say but there are some crooks out there. and they really shouldn't be adding charges for work which doesn't have to be done!! is doesnt take long for them to get a bad reputation. All the particular rider asks for is basic rig!! nothing special about that. especially venues in Scotland area!! (not all of them I'm sure but there is 1 in particular!!) :blink:

[mac.calder]

Most theatres have a standard rig. A re-rigging or de-rigging fee is charged when you alter the standard rig in any way.

 

Of course the fact that they often charge a re-rig fee even after you have restored and re-focused the rig back to their standard rig does not matter to them (a bit of money grubbing IMO).

 

Most theatres have a standard show file on their desk designed for their standard rig which contains a bunch of scenes they use on every-day run of the mill, nothing special shows or presentation, so having the standard rig restored is usually a necessity. I think charging a re-rigging fee is fair if you dont do it yourself - after all, why should they waste their time restoring the theatre back to it's orrigional state?

[tivoliproduction]

the thing is that the show that is touring at the moment, requires a bright state and thats basically it!! I think one of the venues wanted to charge £80-£100 to apparently "take all of the lights down once finished"!! having worked in the industry for a fair few years now this is the first I have really heard about it!! :blink:

[gareth]

Most theatres have a standard rig. A re-rigging or de-rigging fee is charged when you alter the standard rig in any way.

Not in the UK they don't. Other than some of the very small 'civic hall' type venues (which don't really count!), I only know of one venue on the touring circuit in this country which has a 'standard' rig.

[mac.calder]

Not in the UK they don't. Other than some of the very small 'civic hall' type venues (which don't really count!), I only know of one venue on the touring circuit in this country which has a 'standard' rig.

 

I have not worked in any major touring venues before (1200 seats is the largest hired space I have used, and they had a standard rig). The other ones have usually been owned by a company and as such we cleared the rig on bump-out anyway or were a multipurpose venue/not primarily theatrical (hence no venue technicians etc)

[PhilT]

I once relit a studio space tour, which went to the studios of a few fairly major theatres. In one London venue I modified the standard rig a bit and added a few lanterns from out touring stock. This was all actioned by a venue technician. Come the get-out (a week down the line) there were no venue staff to assist (this wasn't too much of a problem really, I just thought it odd). So I simply removed the lanterns I had put into the rig and left (obviously leaving everything nice and tidy).

 

A few days later my management received a phone call and a bill from the receiving house for several hundred pounds. This was apparently for the venue to hire some staff to come in on a sunday and reinstate their fixed rig. It emerges I was expected to have memorised the position of each of their lanterns and replug, patch etc their entire fixed rig, alone, before I left. This was without any access to dimmer rooms, patch panels etc which were locked away (again I found it weird that there was no venue technician present during performances).

 

Obviously this bill wasn't paid, and the receiving house management eventually conceeded that it might have been wise to at least have told me that they expected the rig returned to the way it was, and provided me with a plan of some kind. Suffice to say the venue was removed from any future tours.

 

Phil

[robloxley]

Some venues have a 'fixed' FOH rig & will charge you extra for the time taken to move it if you want to bring in your FOH rig.

[themadhippy]

we have a standard rig that covers a muliutude of sins as the majoriy of our shows are 1 nighters ,however it gets changed if the rider requires it. who pays depends upon the contract.As for putting the house rig back again it depends on the contract,but I cant recall anybody being charged for it.

At my previous venue however it was part of the hire agreement that the house rig would be restored if it was moved and the company would pay for any cost incurred, a rather stupid idea as the rig got changed for almost every show anyway

[paulears]

Pretty well the one-offs supply a rider that normally states fairly common stuff, colours, focus etc. At my venue which is primarily a non-major league receiving house, we only charge extra when extra staff time in major amounts is involved. A good example of work considered 'normal' would be when the incoming show wants all open white fresnels, rather than the normally permanent colour Parcans, on the FOH truss - removing them, and putting them back doesn't get charged for. On the other hand, removing all installed overstage lighting, and then re-installing it after the show had gone, did get charged for - and complained about, and this particular show hasn't been back.

 

From the venue perspective, 20% of a medium house doesn't generate much money, spending more than this on two days crew time is a bit daft.

[gareth]

Some venues have a 'fixed' FOH rig & will charge you extra for the time taken to move it if you want to bring in your FOH rig.

True - perhaps I should have clarified this in my earlier post. FOH is a very different matter to overheads. Many older theatres in the UK have FOH positions that are a real b!tch to rig, and for this reason they have fixed FOH rigs in place. But this actually works to the benefit of touring productions, anyway - it would take so long to re-rig FOH in venues like this that it would take up far too much time during the fit-up, so it's actually a plus to have lanterns already rigged in most of the useful FOH positions.

[tivoliproduction]

the rig that was asked for in this particular show was just basic front of house colour (i.e. reds ambers and some blues not very demanding!!) so the act could be seen!! I think it is disgusting that "professional venues" think they can get away with effectively charging "money for nothing" I think the next time a venue use the excuse then we may have to sit in and watch to make sure it is all taken down properly!! :blink:

[bright spark]

In my experience I have found that the last production leaves their rig up, usually in terms of FOH, this is usually salvageable, therefore after a couple of refocussed profiles for the right specials etc it reduces rigging time.; more time to program!!

 

Venues taking the lights down one night just to be ready for the next production to put them (probably in the same place) is as you say, a complete waste of money and a pointless exercise.

 

I agree with what Gareth says about FOH rigs, usually they require Genies, which subsequently means that 300 odd seats need to be moved it. Or it requires dragging lanterns over several metres of catwalk 5ft high. But in my opinion, if theatres are going to have a standard FOH rig, it should have a basic four colour wash (straw, red, blue and green).

 

I could almost put money on the fact that the next production would probably have a very simular FOH rig to yours.

[tivoliproduction]

I just think that thay are a bunch of b@st@rds!! money grabbing b@st@rds at that. :blink: sorry if I offend anyone but this shouldnt be allowed to happen, why should people cough up money for laziness?

[richard]

Pretty much all major theatres have a 'clear rig' policy overhead, unless they know the next show will want to use the same or similar rig. This is so that they can always start from a fresh perspective as most 'proper' touring theatre has a specific lighting plan which needs to be rigged for them.

 

The cost of the de-rig is usually just part of the get-out cost, so you just pay for the time that the staff have spent doing it.

[paulears]

I did some work for Beach Boys tribute band who went to one theatre and were asked on arrival if they'd like to use the outside lift to get the kit up to stage level, rather than up a short flight of stairs. They said yes. They were met and asked if they'd need follow spots - a couple were available if required. They said yes. Somebody stuck their head into the dressing rtoom and said that if they went through a pass door into the bar, said they were the band, they'd be fixed up with drinks. They said yes. Another bod asked if they'd like some bottled water in the dressing room? They said yes.

 

After the gig, the house manager presented the returns.

 

Outside lift - 2 people from get in to get out.

Follow spots - 2 people from 6 till 10

Bar bill

Water bill

 

Net result - the gig cost them money to do!

 

The two follow spot people were also the lift people, so charged for the same people twice!

 

This venue is part of a well known chain, who don't, as far as I know, do this everywhere - but this was all done very cleverly. Nobody said, the bar was free, just say you are the band, and the drinks are provided.

 

Fair enough, they were a bit green but what a scam!