The Festspielhaus was built by STABAG (the general contractor) and designed by Delugan Meissl Associated Architects, Vienna. It seats over 862 people (there are 732 seats in the galleries and 130 removable seats in the orchestra pit area) and has the largest orchestra pit in the world (160 sq.m / 190 sq.yd.). The building covers no less than 7000 sq.m / 8372 sq.yd. Johannes Laugwitz (CA GmbH) from Königsbrunn was called in as technical lighting manager and grandMA2 operator for El Juez.
During his task, he was able to count on Clay Paky A.leda Wash K10s, A.leda Wash K20s and Alpha Wash 1500s.
Laugwitz faced a real challenge owing to budget and rigging limitations: the lighting technicians, led by Andrea Steiner, Ludwig Sigel and Roger Irman, only had three nights to change the existing lights and install the technical equipment. Laugwitz was able to program a show that would normally have required much longer in only three days, with the help of lighting designer Eduardo Bravo. Besides a full-size grandMA2, an MA onPC command wing and five MA 2Port Nodes were also built into the system.
Johannes Laugwitz explained, "The project was a significant challenge for both the lighting crew and the team at the Festspielhaus. Working with Eduardo Bravo and the Spanish production team was wonderful and even essential to adapt the original project so substantially in so little time. The grandMA2 was of great help to me for this."
(Jim Evans)
