The star of the show, from a lighting point of view, is a giant 'stadium with six lighting towers' made up of 144 ETC Source FourPARs. These hold custom donuts (gel frames that limit the size of the aperture of the light after the lens) fabricated to create an impression of perspective for the luminaires, which were placed upstage, facing the audience.
"The bank of 144 Source FourPARs, along with some strobes, looks amazing and is an epic look in the show. It comes at the end of the first act, as The Four Seasons, at the top of their popularity, are performing a live concert on stage. For this look, the stage has been transformed 180° so that the back of the actors are to the audience, but they're facing what looks like an entire stadium filled with people."
The holes in the donuts get increasingly smaller, and combined with the placement of the Source Four PARs, give the illusion that the lights get farther away. With a painted backdrop, the effect produces a very convincing look of a huge space in front of the actors, as though the audience of the show was looking directly into the audience of the stage concert. The effect is further enhanced with the use of star strobes to simulate flashbulbs in the crowd.
"We also have 38 VL2500 wash and 38 VL2500 spots in the rig and they work pretty hard throughout the show," added Hugh. "It's really a nice looking design using the colour temperature of the Source Fours against the Vari-Lites quite a lot.
An ETC Obsession 2 with dual processor tracking is used to program and control the conventional lighting.
(Lee Baldock)
