The creative team for Daddy Yankee’s final La Meta shows in Puerto Rico had a clear goal in mind: to give the artist and his fans the ultimate show experience as a send-off. Everyone on the creative team had their own favorite moments, from the top of the show where Daddy Yankee performs on his lighting platform and is floating back and forth to the beginning of Act III where the full scale of this 1,000-fixture production was presented to the reveal, in Act IV, of the giant inflatable statue of the artist that appears to cry golden tears. But the most memorable aspect of the production for Lighting Programmer/Operator Will Flavin was the behind-the-scenes teamwork that was required to stage this enormous production in the first place. “We had a great lighting crew on this one,” he said. “There was a tight turnaround between load-in, rehearsals, and the first show. We had roughly 1,000 fixtures, none of which were on pre rig truss. None of the crew had a lack of things to do throughout the day but were always checking in to make sure we had what we needed.” Pulling off such a massive show brought the team close together, noted Flavin, who added “we definitely made some new friends for life after this one.” In the process they also created some magical moments that will last a lifetime too.
From “Inside the Design” by Bobby Boyer, PLSN, February 2024, page 34
