Blitz is providing a full range of services for the show, supplying AV equipment including video control systems and two Panasonic projectors, as well as complete sound solution and extensive technical staging direction. Working alongside well-known director Paul Kerryson, Blitz's project manager Mark Lewis will be offering innovative technical advice from the outset of the project to help create maximum impact from the stage production. This is a proposition which Blitz is continuing to expand as it extends its relationship with the theatre industry, moving from a fundamentally transactional relationship with the West End, into one which provides innovative technical consultancy.
Blitz's Mark Lewis explains: "Working on The Wizard of Oz is an exciting project, as we are extending the scope of what we can do, working alongside the director and production manager advising on the most innovative utilisation of the equipment - we are pushing the boundaries of the way this technology can be used. Whilst we of course continue to offer the best technical equipment and expertise available, we are also able to provide a further service offering for the theatre industry which is achieved via our in-house video design unit. We continue to expand this team to further our work in the West End and other national theatres."
Blitz's experience of theatre has seen it work on many productions ranging from The Blue Man Group to Mary Poppins, and its involvement with the Haymarket Theatre is extremely significant. The Wizard of Oz will be the final production to take place at the theatre which opened in 1974, before it re-locates in 2008.
(Lee Baldock)