"Although the show has come from Broadway," explains lighting designer Alistair Kilbee, "we wanted a design which was defined by Broadway but not copying it. Source Fours are the standard luminaire for theatrical work, and they let me achieve the look I want in this case, a stark, minimalist feel. They're the best profiles on the market, and you know what you're getting when you use one."
Kilbee added ETC SmartPack dimming to complement the house dimming system: although budget was limited, he wanted to make sure that on the luminaires which will be most noticed, he would get a nice, smooth dim.
"This is the first time I've used an ETC Congo," he adds, "and it's been interesting to learn and use it - it's worked really well." Although he hasn't needed it, Kilbee also has a Congo jr on standby at Prosound's offices as backup, just in case.
Originally performed in 1996 at the New York Theatre Workshop, Rent tells the story of a group of impoverished young artists and musicians struggling to survive and create in New York's Alphabet City in the last days of the Bohemian East Village, under the shadow of AIDS.
(Jim Evans)
