Fortunately for both the show's male vocal group Human Nature and Cohen they did; but since the group wanted to come up with a whole new look for their show, the designer had to choose his fixtures carefully to compensate for the limitations of the room and budget, as well as the existing lighting infrastructure. So he selected six impression Wash One, 12 impression Spot One and 16 impression X4 from GLP's award-winning portfolio to help create the dynamic.
The designer found himself challenged with the technical infrastructure of The Venetian Sands Showroom, which takes its name from the legendary showroom of the 'rat pack' era, and has a capacity of 750 seats. With a low trim height (18ft), thrust stage but no side lights and "a roof populated by 40 older moving heads in various states of repair, with stock gobos and lenses only suited for a much higher trim", Cohen knew he needed some unique fixtures to fulfil his creative intentions. And GLP came to the rescue.
Within a matter of weeks Cohen was integrating his design into a complex set, including a rolling video wall and a huge lit 'Motown' logo, and with the house system on a slim budget, he knew, "It was going to be a challenging gig the whole way." With the inherent realities as they were, Cohen also knew he could still provide this show with the unique creative looks which are the hallmarks of all Steven Cohen Productions' work.
And so, working with Creative Director Rudder, the direct involvement of Human Nature and Cohen's team of video expert, Curtis Cox and lighting programmer Mark Foffano, he set out on his quest to deliver a high end design to complement the music and story this Motown show delivers.
"Once I realized it would take some unique instruments to make this environment really work for the show, I approached [GLP Inc president] Mark Ravenhill to see if the new Impression X4 was in full production, as I knew I wanted those, as well as the Wash One and Spot Ones, which I had a chance to test in a real world situation, having never used either type previously.
"One of the added benefits of these fixtures was that I was able to install the Impressions right on the set as part of the design look, and utilize the wash and spots as 'shin buster' floor lights and under-scenery lights which gave the metallic and LED screens set design real dimension. This, plus the 'in your face' looks from the set gave the show some real lighting dynamics that you could never have achieved from any house hung system. These GLP's really make this show work!"
(Jim Evans)
