Chitty Chitty Bang Bang flies with Chauvet
- Details
“A lot of the audience coming to see the show are people that know and love the classic Chitty Chitty Bang Bang film, so it was important for us to recreate the feel of the original film,” comments Stafford. “To keep pace with the complex location and set changes during the show, the Ovation and Maverick combination gave us the flexibility and versatility to adjust to all manner of scenes.”
Thanks to the 910FC’s full RGBA-Lime colour mixing and colour temperature pre-sets of 2800 K to 6500 K, Stafford was able to provide a number of effects on stage, including low face light from the proscenium and high-level stage illumination from onstage booms.
“The colours and output were perfect on faces with warm tones to recreate that tungsten look during the family scenes, shifting to colder white during the sinister moments in the show with the ‘Child Catcher’ character,” explains Stafford. “They also provided us with the flexibility to output bright blues and pinks that flooded the stage from the side during the dance breaks in songs.”
Whereas the Ovation fixtures ensured a number of subtle atmospheric changes could be ushered into the developments on stage, the CMY + CTO colour mixing, two 6-position rotating slot and lock gobo wheels and 13º - 37º zoom range of the 440W Maverick MK2 Spot fixtures gave Stafford the possibility to create numerous effects to accentuate key scenes within the show.
“The MK2s became an essential part of the stage design, providing splashes of gobo and deep colour wash to bring the musical numbers to life,” adds Stafford. “Their incredible zoom meant that they could cover the full width of the proscenium from Front of House, which played a big role in creating the illusion of Chitty driving over a cliff and flying live onstage.
“For the big musical numbers, we could be a bit more adventurous with the Mavericks,” concludes Stafford. “Increasing the output gave us some really saturated colors to provide additional atmosphere to singalongs such as Toot Sweets and Bombie Samba. It was a true case of visuals and music coming together to create a rewarding theatrical experience.”
(Jim Evans)
