The play was adapted and directed by Dr. Cecilia J. Pang, known for the critically acclaimed Alice in Wonderland - Or Not! Pang, who studied the Kabuki style of theatre in Japan, introduces cultural themes in the form of vibrant costumes and colourful scenery representing locales from Japan to the American Wild West. The superhuman-sized, spectacularly lavish style of Japanese Kabuki theatre required imaginative stage lighting. Robert J. Shannon, senior instructor and lighting supervisor at CU's Department of Theatre & Dance, explains his choice of Wybron Nexeras to compliment the rich hues of the costumes and the variety of scenery: "I decided to light the show in the manner of a dance production, except that I did not have good positions available for low angle sidelight. But I gave myself total control of my top, highside, and front washes, using a channel-per-light hook-up. The final piece of the puzzle, however, was the Nexera washlights. I instantly had bright, soft edged, re-focusable, colour-changing units, which gave me exactly the flexibility I needed for this 36-scene, two-act production."
He continues: "About three weeks before the show opened, the number of painted drops in the show was going down from seven to three. I was asked to do something with our light grey leno filled scrim to make the missing drops not so missed. The answer for me was to mount three Nexera Profile lamps in the only position available that would not cast the actor's shadows onto the scrim, load them with a template, and "paint" the scrim. The beautiful rich colour provided by the Nexeras enabled me to give each of those scenes with the missing drops a unique look. It frankly just would not have happened if I had not had those units."
(Lee Baldock)
