Hadestown hits the road with Martin Pro
- Details
Written by singer-songwriter Anaïs Mitchell and directed by Rachel Chavkin, Hadestown is an American blues and folk-infused version of the Ancient Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice. Mitchell first premiered Hadestown in 2006 with a DIY theatre group in Vermont and recorded a concept album based on the show in 2010 before the final version debuted on Broadway in 2019 at the Walter Kerr Theatre.
This year, Hadestown embarks on a national theatre tour that debuted at the Kennedy Centre in Washington, D.C. Lighting designer Bradley King, who won a Tony for his work on the Broadway production of Hadestown, wanted a rig that translated the Walter Kerr’s natural and intimate lighting to venues of all sizes while accommodating the limited gear capacity and setup times inherent to touring Broadway productions. To meet these requirements, King implemented versatile and powerful Martin solutions including the MAC Ultra Performance, ERA 800 Performance, and MAC Encore Performance and Wash fixtures.
“On a very practical level, the task at hand was to figure out how to take a show that barely fits in the Walter Kerr and then squeeze it into six or seven trucks and be able to set it up and take it down in 14 hours,” said King.
“The Broadway production is nearly all Martin MAC Encore Performance CLD fixtures and MAC Viper DX washes. We knew we wanted to try and stay away from lamps on the road, just because introducing lamp changes can be a pain and LEDs are at a point now where we don't really need lamps, so we were definitely looking for an all-LED rig. We were interested in a fixture that could double as a profile and a wash, and the Ultra is as close to that as any other fixture I've seen.”
Built to illuminate everything from stage shows to stadium concerts, the Martin MAC Ultra Performance features a 46,500-lumen LED light engine with over 50,000 hours of life. The abundant headroom ensured that King and the lighting team could successfully create the dark, moody world of Hadestown in venues of all sizes while still keeping the stage visible for audiences in any section. Additionally, the Ultra Performance’s dual frost effects and innovative Extended Framing System gave the touring rig the versatility needed to emulate the original production’s soft and natural lighting aesthetics.
With the Ultra Performance filling out most of the rig, the Martin ERA 800 Performance provided additional output and effects downstage.
Finally, King equipped the touring rig with Martin MAC Encore Performance CLD and Wash fixtures.
