Tag Archive: Martin Viper Performances

1. White Light Keeps Its HAIR on UK Tour

   4 April 2019 14:52 Leave a Comment

   

   White Light is supplying the lighting equipment for the iconic musical HAIR which is currently touring the UK.

   Having first debuted Off-Broadway in 1967, HAIR has gone on to become one of the theatre’s most iconic musicals, following a group of youngsters in New York’s East Village as they begin to question the world, authority and the American flag. Having been revived several times on both Broadway and in the West End, this is the 50^th anniversary production and has already received a WhatsOnStage Award.

   The lighting designer is Ben M Rogers, who comments: “I previously lit this production for its immersive incarnation at The Vaults, Waterloo so this is an evolution of that design into a proscenium format for a national tour. The key design choices and looks remain but are expanded to fill these larger spaces and the enhanced scenic elements”.

   

   Ben worked closely with director Jonathan O’Boyle to discuss the aesthetic he wanted to create for the show. He explains: “Jonathan first described the show as ‘a trip from start to finish’ and that has stayed with me. Although it continually breaks the fourth wall, the show mainly alternates between the more naturalistic environment that the tribe inhabit and the abstracted, often drug-infused hyper-reality moments. As such, I looked at how to layer the design to allow these dramatic shifts of tone and focus”.

   Ben approached WL to supply him with the fixtures to achieve his design. He comments: “I was very conscious of the era in which the show is set and the lighting instruments of the time. That said, I had to ensure the show remained a dynamic music and visual experience. The visible sources in the rig are generally tungsten sources with the LED sources hidden or masked. Although the majority of sources are automated fixtures, the programming and design steers away from live moves and copious colour chases or similar, more contemporary effects preferring the animation to be more period friendly dimmer chases.

   

   He continues: “Wash fixtures dominate the rig but the Martin Viper Performances are perhaps the hardest working units with four front of house providing gobo washes and tight shutter cut focuses throughout the show. The rig is a balance of LED sources including MAC Auras, Pixel Battens, Lustr 2 and the new (and awesome) ETC Coloursource Cyc units. The Martin TW1s are the key visible sources to maintain the period tungsten “par” looks with the Viper Performances reliving the highlights and gobo toning”.

   As this was a touring production of the show, Ben had to adapt his design so that it could visit venues of varying sizes up and down the country. He states: “I’m always conscious when developing a touring design of the practicalities of system design and layout. As a result, the bar weights, power allocations and fit-up practicalities were all considered; taking advice from Production Electrician Stephen Andrews to ensure the show could be delivered without compromise on the road. The prep resources and rack builds at WL also helped with this process”.

   

   HAIR has now opened and is playing at the Cheltenham Everyman Theatre this week.

   Ben concludes: “This is a big bold production with a powerful message of peace and love that still resonates today. Not only are we touring the UK but we will also be visiting Germany later this year to invite more audiences to join the tribe and let the sunshine in…”

   Photos courtesy of Johan Persson.

   Credits:

   Lighting Design: Ben M Rogers
   Set and Costume Design: Maeve Black
   Sound Design: Calum Robinson
   Director: Jonathan O’Boyle
   Choreographer: William Whelton
   Musical Director: Gareth Bretherton

2. White Light Supplies Tree of Codes at Sadler’s Wells

   16 March 2017 11:59 Comments Off on White Light Supplies Tree of Codes at Sadler’s Wells

   Following its critically-acclaimed premiere at the Manchester International Festival in 2015, Tree of Codes arrived in London last week for a sell-out run at Sadler’s Wells. The show is a collaboration between Wayne McGregor, Jamie xx and artist Olafur Eliasson and is based upon Jonathan Safran Foer’s book of the same name. Having supplied the original show two years ago, as well as elements of the rig for the show’s run at the Garnier Opera House in Paris this January, White Light supplied the lighting for the latest performances at Sadler’s Wells.

   Tree of Codes sees 15 dancers, formed of both Wayne McGregor’s Company along with the Paris Opera Ballet, explore Eliasson’s visual concept which mirrors the spiritual aspects of the book; reflecting the audience’s gaze back at themselves as they are immersed into this strange world. The Lighting Realiser on the production is Rob Halliday. He comments: “My role on the show was to work closely with Wayne and Olafur, taking their ideas, creating a lighting rig which could achieve all that was required, and then working to deliver those ideas, and more, on stage. I’ve subsequently adapted the design for the show’s runs in quite different venues in New York (at the remarkable Park Avenue Armory), in Paris (at the Garnier Opera House) and most recently at Sadler’s Wells.”

   The practical side of the show’s lighting is it’s need to work around and support the visually striking set. He comments: “The set includes an upstage mirror which has two arched doors that open, along with a giant half mirror that tilts backwards and forwards, and then an enormous dichroic screen with two rotating discs within it. All of these required great care, often to not light them directly while lighting performers immediately adjacent to them.”

   For the rig, Rob drew on a range of fixtures including ETC Source Four Lustr 2s, EvenLED LED cyc-lighting units, Martin Viper Performances, Vari*Lite VL1000AS and ETC Revolutions. Rob states: “We opted for the Lustr2s as they allow us to achieve a wide colour range that works wonderfully for the show, particularly simulating the colour shift of low pressure sodium lights (which we have a line of) as they warm up. I opted to use the EvenLED LED tile, in an 11×7 array, partly because in Manchester we had very little room behind the cyc, but also because of its great colour range and fade quality, and ability to create dynamic transitions across the cyc.

   “Overheard, we have a core rig of Martin Viper Performance moving lights as I needed a bright, discharge moving light with framing capabilities both to create shapes on stage and to keep light off the mirrored surface of the set. The entire rig is controlled via an ETC Eos, making use of the console’s colour fade path functionality particularly with the Lustr2s.”

   The show sold out during its London run and achieved critical acclaim, with many commenting on its unique style and extraordinary aesthetics. Rob adds: “The lighting on the show is what links everything together: the dancers to the scenery to the music, in ways that are visually quite stunning.”

   Followings its successful London run, the show will now visit Musikhuset Aarhus in Denmark, with White Light once again supplying elements of the rig including the Lustr2s, EvenLED and Eos control system.

   Rob comments: “Tree of Codes is a fantastic show and one I am very proud of. It was a delight to work with Wayne and Olafur and everyone at the Manchester Festival, a tremendously supportive organisation and a wonderful place to create new work.”

   Photos courtesy of  Joel Chester Fildes and Ravi Deprees.