Tag Archive: Vic Brennan

1. White Light Supplies Evita at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre

   9 September 2019 14:07 Leave a Comment

   

   White Light has once again supplied the lighting equipment for the entire Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre season, which recently culminated in a revival of Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s iconic musical Evita.

   Established in 1932, Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre is one of the largest theatres in London. Situated in the beautiful surroundings of a Royal Park, both its stage and auditorium are entirely uncovered and every year it hosts a season of bold and dynamic productions. This year was no exception, with productions of Our Town, Hansel and Gretel and A Midsummer Night’s Dream all achieving critical acclaim. The final show of the season was Evita which was directed by Jamie Lloyd, designed by Soutra Gilmour and lit by Oliver Award-winner Jon Clark.

   Jon explains: “Soutra and Jamie chose to set Evita on a dilapidated seating bleacher, which to all intents and purposes looks as though it may have been sat in Regent’s Park for the past eighty years! We wanted to make a direct connection between the outdoor environment and the production; one being informed by the other. The suggestion of a sports stadium echoes the environment of dictatorial political rallies of the past, which has a resonance with themes of Peronism highlighted in the production.

   

   He continues: “Jamie was keen that the production and lighting design harnessed the dynamism and energy of an outdoor music festival. We were particularly drawn to Beyonce’s iconic performance at Coachella last year. Contrasting with the music festival aesthetic is a starker, directional lighting language, more synonymous with contemporary European opera”.

   To achieve his design, Jon approached the WL Hires team, who have looked after the Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre all season.

   The lighting in the show plays with the tension between open white tungsten Par Cans and colder LED and Arc sources. The set comprises of eight wide steps rising from the front of stage which is unapologetically rectangular in its form. The key lighting positions are informed by this and much of the functional light is delivered as uplight, travelling up the rake of steps. 

   Jon explains: “We utilised the new GLP Fusion Stick 10s as the cold uplight source, which provides an intense controllable light in a very discreet sized unit and contrasts with a line of Par 64s in the same position. Upstage, nestled into the roof of the band structure are more Par 64s, arranged into clusters, which run the width of the set. This time the Pars contrast with two continuous runs of GLP Impression X-BAR 20s which describe the architectural form of the set and provide a colder, more dynamic look. Built into the risers between each step are 56 2-Cell Molefays, which act as blinders and are intended as rock n’ roll inspired abstraction of the classic Broadway 42nd Street aesthetic. They’re also used to evoke the feel of Evita arriving in a big city for the first time in the Buenos Aires number and create energy at other times. Under the set, the tungsten Molefays contrast with two banks of Martin Atomic LED Strobes and SGM X5 LED Strobes, which are used as intense and constant flood sources.

   

   Jon continues: “From the outset, I wanted to create a much higher backlight position than is normally achievable at the Park. Adam Squires and Andy Beardmore at the Theatre did a fantastic job of sourcing two 14m high truss towers, which enabled us to create two key backlight positions upstage of the set, nestled amongst the trees. Each tower supports a solitary MAC Viper Wash DX, utilised at various moments as a pseudo backlight follow spot, to suggest the scale of a stadium and to heighten the dictatorial protagonists. These are all key to delivering the final image of Evita, extracted from all that has gone before”.

   The show has now opened to critical acclaim and marks yet another successful season at Regent’s Park. It also marks a very busy summer for Jon who is currently working on the Broadway transfers of Pinter’s Betrayal (also directed by Jamie Lloyd) and The Inheritance, on which WL has supplied some of the equipment.

   Jon concludes: “I’m really proud of what we achieved with Evita. I’d like to thank Head of Lighting Adam Squire, programmer Vic Brennan, Assistant LD Tamykha Patterson, Charlie Jones and the whole lighting team at Regent’s Park. As ever, the support from WL has been first class.

   – End –

   Photos courtesy of Marc Brenner.

2. White Light Opens a Little Shop of Horrors at Regent’s Park

   17 August 2018 09:31 Leave a Comment

   

   First performed Off-Broadway in 1982, Little Shop of Horrors has gone on to become one of the most performed musicals of all time. Composed by Alan Menken and written by Howard Ashman, it tells the story of Seymour, a hapless florist shop worker who raises a plant that feeds on humans. Following numerous West End and Broadway runs, the musical is now the final show in the current Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre Season; a season for which White Light has supplied the entire lighting equipment.

   The Lighting Designer for this production is Howard Hudson, who also lit last season’s On the Town. He comments: “I’ve never seen Little Shop before but have absolutely loved the now iconic soundtrack for years. Having not seen any of the many previous versions meant that I was able to approach the show with a completely fresh perspective. In the build up to the show, we went to visit the Ben Kelly exhibition ‘Ruin’ at 180 The Strand which was a great source of visual ideas. I also watched quite a few B movies from the 50s and 60s which were helpful as another visual key into the world in which the musical is set”.

   Part of Howard’s brief was to work closely with Designer Tom Scutt’s set. Howard comments: “The set is very monochromatic, with most of its surfaces being a black and white print of New York buildings jumbled together at all different scales. So this was our ‘base’ world referencing a more monochromatic filmic visual language. As the plant starts to grow and take over the story and the space, the world gets more and more green – ultimately arriving at a highly saturated, more angular, green environment (a little like pouring a can of green paint over everything). The cinema billboard at the back was hugely useful to introduce a block of colour as a background for particular moments acting like a cyc. And, of course, the trees which surround the stage were also useful as a backdrop to suggest ‘Somewhere That’s Green’ which Audrey yearns for and sings about”.

   Howard liaised with WL to draw on the fixtures needed for his design. The rig consisted of VL3500 Washes, Martin MAC Viper Performances, Clay Paky Mythos 2s, Martin MAC IIIs and a range of LED tape. Howard comments: “The actual little shop itself has a mini lighting rig in its roof, complete with DJ-style LED spinning balls, smoke, fans, lots of LED fixtures and LED tape. This took some lengthy planning as it is required to track up and downstage, revolve as well as be stood on top of and house the plant. The show also had a huge amount of LED tape for the set elements; all of which had to withstand the frequent torrential downpour(s)”.

   As the Open Air Theatre is a completely outdoor space, this meant that Howard’s approach to Little Shop of Horrors differed to how he’d traditionally light a show. He explains: “The most vital part I’ve found with working outside is having your cue structure worked out in as much detail as possible prior to tech. So even if you’re teching in incorrect day light conditions (as is most often the case), you can rough in cues to at least have some lights you hope pointing in the right place. And then the tech sessions themselves are often like putting a blindfold on: you concentrate more on working with the DSM who is calling imaginary cues that don’t do anything with lights that aren’t on! It’s only when you have the first dress rehearsal that you see all your guesswork for the first time in the right light – and you spend most of that praying the lights come up in the right places at the right time in the right colour and at the right level! After each tech and preview, we will work until 2:30am in order to take advantage of the darkness. So we also work live over the previews which is gold-dust in terms of lighting time”.

   The show has now opened to critical acclaim achieving five stars from the Financial Times, WhatsOnStage, The Times and the Daily Express, with other critics claiming ‘You’d be mad to miss this uplifting revival’ (The Independent) and ‘a triumphant production’ (The Evening Standard). It has also announced an extension until September 22nd.

   Howard concludes: “It’s been amazing returning to Regent’s Park and working with WL once again on what’s an incredibly loud and fun show. I also want to thank Adam Squire, Joe Kirk and their utterly brilliant team along with Vic Brennan who programmed expertly as ever”.

   Photos courtesy of Johan Persson.

3. 42nd Street – Exclusive Interview with Peter Mumford

   27 April 2017 08:26 Comments Off on 42nd Street – Exclusive Interview with Peter Mumford

   Considered by many to be one of the biggest Broadway musicals of all time, 42^nd Street has now arrived in London where it has received rave reviews from audiences and critics alike. Starring Grammy Award winner Sheena Easton, this all singing, high-kicking spectacle is currently playing at Theatre Royal Drury Lane – London’s biggest stage.  The show tells the story of young Peggy Sawyer who is fresh off the bus from small-town America and just another face in the chorus line on Broadway’s newest show. Yet when the leading lady gets injured, Peggy might just have the shot at stardom which she’s always dreamed off… The lighting design is by Olivier Award winner Peter Mumford and White Light has supplied the equipment. We sat down with Peter who told us about his approach to the show and how he achieved his design:

   42^nd Street is obviously an iconic show. Have you lit it before? If not, how do you approach a show as renowned as this?

   No, I’ve not lit 42nd Street previously or indeed seen it. You’re right – it is an iconic show with a long history since the early eighties. In this instance, I’d say that not having seen it was probably an advantage as I didn’t have too many preconceptions. There are some images that date right back to the original Gower Champion concept that ‘travel’ with the show, such as the dressing room scene at the start of Act Two which are unchangeable so just there to be reconstructed rather that re-imagined. Having said that, that particular scene is quite brilliant so one wouldn’t want to change it but rather reproduce it as beautifully as possible. Those instances aside,  there are plenty of opportunities to reinvent the look of much of the rest of the piece and I relished that opportunity and hopefully was able to bring new looks to lots of the show.

    What was your brief when working on the production?

   As I said above, some parts are sacrosanct – Gower Champion died concurrent with the opening production on Broadway so these scenes remain as a tribute to his genius but much of the work has (in this production) been updated with more recent technology and there was plenty of space for invention as well. I’m pleased to say that Doug Schmidt, the designer, said that he’d never seen it sharper or more detailed in terms of both the lighting and the way his scenery looked. So, although the piece has a history which had to be respected, and I was working alongside much of the original creative team, it never felt too restricted creatively.

    How much preparation did you do? What did this entail?

   Obviously a good look at early pictures of the scenic designs which are quite complex – there’s a lot of scenery in this show. There is also a huge number of beautifully painted cloths and structures (all repainted brilliantly by Andrew Greenfield). These cloths are painted in a variety of ways and on different material surfaces, so some are painted to be back lit and some front whereas some could be lit from both front and back. It was important to understand this and also get a clear idea of the rapid fire order of scenes. Studying the ground plans was pretty crucial as the grid is absolutely packed. This also meant that onstage lighting positions were very much defined by the hanging and order of scenery. My spot bar one was forced to be further upstage than I would normally have liked; hung under the large dressing room structure because that was the only place it would fit!

   There are also around five thousand light bulbs built into the design which feature heavily in some of the numbers – here we kept to the original design but updated the technology of the realisation.It was important not to lose the period feel of the piece which, of course, is set in the 1930’s.

   I had quite a bit of pre-communication with set designer Doug Schmidt and the writer and director Mark Bramble. Pre-production meetings involved quite a lot of conference calls between London, New York and the West Coast. It was quite a relief when we finally all got on the same stage at Drury Lane.

    

   What kit did you draw on to achieve your design?

   In the end I went for a pretty much automated overhead rig comprised of Martin MAC Vipers, ETC Source 4 Lustr 2 Profiles and GLP Impression X4 Bar 20s. Out front, there were a lot of regular ETC Source Fours alogn with Philips Vari*Lite VL3500Qs  on the distant truss.

    Did any fixture prove particularly useful for this production?

   I was very impressed with the GLP Bars which we pixel mapped, meaning that each individual cell was available. I used complete bars of them on almost each onstage bar and they were very useful to both light cloths and, because of the tilt and flood facility, create a good punchy backlight wash too.

   The Vipers proved to be a versatile and constantly useful workhorse and created great flexibility in the many big numbers. It was a great combination.

    Where there any obstacles with the show?

   I suppose the trickiest thing was the downstage lighting bar being quite a bit further upstage than I would have chosen. This is because there is simply so much scenery downstage there wasn’t room. Using an advance truss downstage of the proscenium did prove to be a way around this and, in the end, it worked well. We had to make quite a busy ‘track’ for some of the side booms which have to be frequently moved out of place during the show to allow scenery to get on stage. As a result, I was quite often asking ‘is bay 2 in position?’ and looking for ways to light a scene if it wasn’t. Ultimately, we created quite a complex system of pathways for scenery and all was resolved, but all credit to the onstage LX crew for managing this so well.

    Any other comments?

   Generally speaking I’m not a huge user of follow spots but my team at Drury Lane are the best you could wish for. That also goes for the entire in-house crew under the leadership of Steve McAndrew – great support and work throughout the five weeks of production. Special thanks too to my team: Declan Randall, my Associate, John Tapster, Production LX and Vic Brennan, my Programmer – all of them are just brilliant!

   Photos courtesy of Brinkhoff/Moegenburg.

4. White Light Gets the Gaslight for New Theatre Tour

   19 January 2017 10:08 Comments Off on White Light Gets the Gaslight for New Theatre Tour

   Now considered to be a theatrical classic, Patrick Hamilton’s Gaslight is currently being revived for a UK tour. The Victorian thriller opened last week at Birmingham’s New Alexandra Theatre and is now visiting venues across the UK. As one of the leading lighting suppliers to UK touring theatre, White Light was called upon to provide the lighting equipment for this production.

   This latest revival of Gaslight stars Kara Tointon (Pygmalion, Mr Selfridge, Eastenders) and the lighting designer is the award-winning Howard Hudson. Howard comments: “Somewhat fittingly for this particular show, the actual gaslight used throughout plays an important role in the overall narrative; largely as it signals the movements of the main character as he journeys to the various spaces throughout the play. The conceit is that, as he turns up the gaslight to move around, the other lighting within the space dims. Therefore, achieving that genuine feel of gaslighting was vital for the piece”.

   Howard experimented with various palettes to ensure that what he picked perfectly captured this feel. He comments: “When you actually see a gas lamp in operation, you’ll notice they emit a grey, almost dullish green glow. Therefore, we decided to use a colour palette with a slightly green tint”.

   Alongside creating this gaslighting effect, Howard had to create a rig that was suitable for touring. To do this, he drew on a range of predominantly LED equipment taken from WL’s extensive inventory. This included ETC Source 4 Series 2 Lustrs, ETC Revolutions, a host of ETC Source Fours and an ETC Ion 1K Console.

   Howard states: “The rig mostly consists of the Series 2 Lustrs, supplemented by Revolutions which allow a steeper overhead shot in restricted positions; offering vital flexibility in what can often be extremely tight spaces. The Lustrs were also able to do very subtle colour shifts throughout the play which you just wouldn’t be able to achieve with any other conventional unit. There are some strobed moments in the production which these were also hugely helpful with, being able to focus and colour the look of certain sections”.

   As with any touring production, Howard not only had to create a tourable rig but also ensure that this worked alongside a tourable set. He comments: “The set designer David Woodhead designed a space with a flown ceiling piece so one of the biggest challenges was having to cross light the space in order to sculpt the company, but also contain the light to such a degree that the cast weren’t in competition with the scenery in what is a very confined space. That said, we addressed this several times in our pre-production meetings, meaning that when the set came, it was nicely broken down and suitably smoky”.

   Gaslight has now opened and already received four and five star reviews from The Telegraph, The Times and WhatsOnStage to name but a few. The play is currently playing at the Aylesbury Waterside Theatre before visiting Woking’s New Victoria Theatre (23 – 28 Jan), York’s Grand Opera House (30 Jan – 4 Feb), Brighton’s Theatre Royal (6 – 11 Feb) and Richmond Theatre (6 – 11 March).

   Howard comments: “I am really pleased with what we’ve managed to achieve on this show and how we’ve used contemporary equipment to create a very Victorian feel. I was lucky enough to work with a fantastic Production Electrician in Stu Meech and an equally brilliant Programmer in Vic Brennan. I also want to thank WL for their support and providing such great equipment”.

   Photos courtesy of Manuel Harlan.