Operating the show on tour is John Slevin, who is working with Simon 'Piggy' Lynch. The rig features two 56 ft long mid and back trusses and a 40ft front one - all pre-rigged, and slightly randomly loaded with PARs and ACLs. There are seven ETC Source fours on the front truss, six with 26 degree lenses and one with a 19 degree, plus 6 Robe ColorSpot 1200E ATs that provide the razzamatazz.
Ollandini's brief was to create a big, flashy entrance for when Gervais takes the stage, which had to look rock 'n' roll as it is set to a Queen track. The lighting then settles down to a nice looking stand-up state which involves the illumination of five giant letters spelling out R-I-C-K-Y, inlaid with nearly 800 60W clear lightbulbs, filaments glowing.
The Source Fours are used as key lighting for Gervais and a large Emmy Award replica set piece on stage left. The PAR cans are used for three basic colour washes, and the ones on the back truss for top lighting the R-I-C-K-Y sign.
HSL is also supplying two Robert Juliat Manon 2.5k followspots and 12 strings of festoon, suspended from the back truss - between it and the upstage black drape. This was added to lift the general area and eliminate the stage disappearing into a black void at the back.
"It's basically the fusion of a few very simple ideas" explains Ollandini. "I wanted it to be an amalgam of LE (light entertainment) and Las Vegas."
For control, Slevin is using an Avolites Pearl 2004 console. The have two 48-way Avolites ART 2000 touring dimmer racks, one containing a hot power module and 3 dimmers and the other 4 dimmer modules.
(Jim Evans)
