Cameron Mackintosh's acclaimed production of Les Misérables played at London's Palace Theatre from 1985 until 27 March this year, however it has now moved along Shaftesbury Avenue to make way for The Woman in White, the new musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber.
Though outwardly appearing as a straight transfer, the new production features an entirely new version of John Napier's acclaimed set designed to fit within the Queen's smaller stage. Given the chance to re-think and update his Tony-award winning design for the show, lighting designer David Hersey has taken the opportunity to incorporate some of the latest lighting technology.
Hersey has replaced the StudioColors with Vari-Lite VL2000 Wash units, he has also added six VL2000 Spot units and two VL3000Q Spot units, chosen for their brightness, wide zoom range, optical effects and low running noise. The rig features two DHA Digital Beamlight 2s, as well as the DHA Digital Light Curtains (DLC's), which have long been a mainstay of the design. However, here Hersey has opted to add sideways movement, with 10 of the 17 DLCs being replaced with Pitching DLCs!Originally created by DHA in 1991 for the New York production of Miss Saigon, the DLC is an intense sheet of light made up of strips of narrow-angle lamps. The unit features accurate movement plus a built-in colour scroller. Since 1991 the DLC has been seen on a huge range of shows world-wide and were retro-fitted to the London and New York productions of Les Misérables some years ago.
The Pitching Digital Light Curtain (PDLC) adds side-to-side movement and was created in 1993 for the Canadian production of Showboat lit by Richard Pilbrow. In addition DHA Lighting has supplied Les Misérables with numerous metal gobos, as well as the Pani slide used to project the show's logo.
The remainder of the rig consists mainly of ETC Source Fours (replacing the CCT Silhouettes which have seen long service at the Palace) and Par 64s along with Cantata Fresnels and PCs, White Light VSFX cloud projectors, R&V and Pani 24V 1000W Beamlight followspots and twenty-eight Rainbow Pro colour scrollers as well as six Artistic Licence Colour-Pipe LED units. The entire rig is controlled from a Strand 520i console as on the UK tour and, latterly, at the Palace after White Light Sales supplied a new console to the show following the failure of the earlier Light Palette 90.
Les Misérables opened at the Queen's Theatre on 3 April, designed by John Napier with lighting by David Hersey, directed by Trevor Nunn and John Caird and produced by Cameron Mackintosh.
(Sarah Rushton-Read)
