Can a creative team member be fired after the show is open?

[Call_me_jorge]

Posted: 5/23/18 at 3:50pm

I know there was the julie Taymor situation with Spider-Man, but that was prior to the official opening. Is possible for a show to fire a director or coreographer after the show opens? Has it ever happened before?

Updated On: 5/23/18 at 03:50 PM

[The Distinctive Baritone]

Posted: 5/23/18 at 3:56pm

The Scarlet Pimpernel, which had been directed by Peter Hunt, opened to mixed to negative reviews. It then closed, was redirected by Robert Longbottom, and re-opened (to more positive, if still lukewarm reviews).

[TheGingerBreadMan]

Posted: 5/23/18 at 3:59pm

I don’t know if it’s happened, but it seems pretty unlikely - once a show is open, a director/choreographer/etc has done all of their work and have little involvement beyond occasional returns for brush-ups/notes. Firing and hiring a new director or choreographer would mean revamping the show pretty heavily, and most shows tend to be “frozen” once they open - meaning that new major changes no longer happen.

[HogansHero]

Posted: 5/23/18 at 4:14pm

This is one of those questions for which it would be helpful to know the prompt. In general, the answers above cover the landscape. Aside from the oddball 2.0 situations, the creative work is done, and the ongoing compensation is not tethered to the maintenance function. A production could attempt to ban a director from that function and the creative could resist, but without knowing what the OP has in mind, a deeper exploration of the possible issues would be a waste of time. If there is an actual question, ask it. 

[trpguyy]

Posted: 5/23/18 at 4:33pm

Tony Meola used to be the sound designer of Lion King, now it's Steve Kennedy -- a change that was made long before the move to the Minskoff.

[Tag]

Posted: 5/23/18 at 5:27pm

I still can't understand how Randy Houston Mercer's make-up designs for Kinky Boots haven't been thrown out and redesigned.  It's baffling to me.

[Call_me_jorge]

Posted: 5/23/18 at 5:35pm

^yeah. I’m kind of referring to a situation like this. Where the production is trying to get itself away from a certain person. Not necessarily they did a bad job, but their private life has made it irresponsible to keep paying them. Like does Randy still get residual checks from kinky boots?

[Fosse76]

Posted: 5/23/18 at 6:12pm

The answer is yes. I assume that the real question being asked is whether or not the "original" would still receive residuals. There is unquestionably contractual language to address this. Whether or not anyone here knows what it is might be an entirely different question.

The term "frozen" is used mainly to address the fact that at some point they have to stop tinkering with the show, but shows are never carved in stone. The longer they run, the more likely they will experience changes (save for Chicago, almost every single long running show has had modifications of some kind since originally opening).

[HogansHero]

Posted: 5/23/18 at 6:27pm

"irresponsible to keep paying them"

I think this has been answered at least twice now, but to be clear, "firing" a creative post-opening would not relieve the production of the full liability to that person for the remainder of the run. The more interesting question is what happens if you want someone else to "fix" something, which is more often than not a credits issue, and far from relieving the production of liability, solving that usually entails paying the original creative MORE than the contract, to (in essence) buy out their right either to a credit or to have their design/direction/etc honored.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 5/24/18 at 8:37am

Are they still using his work/designs?    Yes, they are still paying him.  They have a contract and are legally bound to it.   Do they ever have to hire him again?  No.