Control for the rig as a whole is from an ETC Eos control system, including an Eos 8K desk and RPU backup together with a remote video interface (RVI) complete with X-Keys keyboard, in order to provide video to the lighting designer, Paule Constable. Well known for her work in the fields of opera, drama and musicals, Constable has specified 48 ETC Revolutions among the moving lights in the rig, which also includes 40 ETC Source Fours of varying beam angles.
Commenting on the Eos, she says, "I'm the world's biggest fan; it does everything I want it to do. As well as running the lighting, I also had it running a Hippotizer media server and F:light stage automation software, which allows us to track a chair on stage as a revolve moves it. We push the board quite hard, but it's great in the hands of a brilliant programmer - in this case, Nick Simmons.
"We specified the Source Four Revolutions because we wanted a moving profile fixture with a colour scroller so I could have the exact colour that I wanted, rather than the approximation you sometimes end up with when colour mixing. I like to have absolute control over my colour palette, and there are not many movers which mix well. We were also very tight for space, and Revolutions are relatively small for a moving light. For this show we're using 95% automated fixtures; when it moves to New York in November, that will probably go up to 98%."
Working with Constable and Simmons on the show are associate LD Beky Stoddart, production electrician Gerry Amies and his team including Chris Dunford and Ian Moulds, with David Draude and Michael Scott working on the show's many scenic practicals. The show's production manager is Steve Rebbeck, with lighting and control supplied by White Light.
Produced by The Really Useful Group (RUG), Love Never Dies is at London's Adelphi Theatre. Subsequent productions are already planned for New York, opening in November 2010 and Australia, opening in 2011.
(Jim Evans)
