The decision to change was made by head of lighting, Karl Jenkins. He says: "I think MA offers the best current solution for this type of show which is run live and changes every night". They also needed to change the consoles they were using, which had been onboard since the show first started touring seven years ago, so it was high time for an update and an upgrade. "The grandMA2 is an international control standard," confirms Jenkins, "And the idea is to introduce this platform across other Cirque shows".
Much of the show had to be re-programmed and re-built from scratch on the grandMA2 light. It was transferred during their run in Cologne, Germany, with just three intense days in which to achieve their objective and be up and running seamlessly on the new console, for which they received technical support from Callum Howie out of MA Lighting's UK office.
Jenkins has been using grandMA consoles for the last six years, and so knows the architecture and philosophy well, which also underlined his confidence in recommending the change. He likes many features of the grandMA2 including the way it deals with presets. Each time the Varekai show's big top venue changes location, the preset focuses - which have to be extremely accurate to ensure the artists have the correct light in which to work - need updating.
Jenkins thinks the tracking functions and the fact that channels can be tracked right through the show are "extremely good", as well as the auto-update facility, whereby any cue change is updated immediately across the network.
The show is operated in rotation by Jenkins, Istvan Fazekas and Jon Vivash, all of whom received training on the new console in-situ in Cologne from Callum Howie. Jenkins describes MA's service and support as "phenomenal".
(Claire Beeson)
