Described as "one of the great treats of the summer" by the Sunday Times, the show opened at London's Hampstead Theatre before transferring to the Gielgud Theatre in the West End. It is adapted from Colin Welland's original screenplay by writer Mike Bartlett, features Vangelis' original music from the film, is directed by Edward Hall with designs by Miriam Buether and has lighting by Olivier- and Tony Award-winning lighting designer Rick Fisher.
To supply the lighting for the show, Rick Fisher turned to his regular collaborator White Light, which supplies his award-winning design for Billy Elliot in London and has regularly supplied the touring rigs for his designs for both Swan Lake and An Inspector Calls.
Fisher specified, and White Light supplied, a lighting rig that included a mixture of tungsten and discharge moving lights - Clay Paky Alpha Wash Halo washlights and Vari-Lite VL1000TS spotlights plus VL3500Q Spots and one Martin MacIII Spot - as well as ETC Source Fours and Source Four Pars, Par Cans, Cantata PCs, Birdies, Atomic Strobes and Rainbow colour scrollers. In contrast to the technology of the moving lights, Fisher's rig also includes an exposed ring of Par lamps that delineate the show's racing tracks. All of the lighting, plus Atmosphere haze machines, are controlled from an ETC Ion lighting console.
In addition to supplying the show itself, White Light also supplied external lighting to the Gielgud Theatre for a performance by Vangelis of his Chariots of Fire theme as the Olympic Torch passed the theatre. White Light used Core Lighting battery-powered, wireless uplighters, a system that could be quickly and easily set-up even as crowds thronged past the building.
(Jim Evans)
