"This was a new production of the show which joins productions currently appearing on Broadway, in Chicago and Las Vegas, and is now off to Melbourne and on tour around the US," says Binkley. "For the London show, I was pleased to be working with Loz and Alan at PRG Europe once again.
"In addition to some 400 Source Fours, we used L&E and Altman MR11 strip lights under the show deck to illuminate the set pieces and Altman PAR 40 strips specifically to give a period feel to the 1950s scenes. We also used Philips ColorBlast and ColorBlaze LED luminaires for wash lighting, and over 75 ColorBlast 6 luminaires just to light the show portals."
The star of the show, from a lighting point of view, is a giant 'stadium floodlight' made up of 96 ETC Source Fours. PRG Europe had custom donuts fabricated to create an impression of perspective for the luminaires, which were placed upstage, facing the audience. The company also supplied custom built "low profile" front of house truss in order not to spoil the view of the restored architectural features of the theatre.
Associate lighting designer Patricia Nichols adds, "Our goal was to bring the NY version of the show to London and we are very happy with it. We were excited to be able to add a few things to this production that were developed while working on the other companies of Jersey Boys in the US - each company of Jersey Boys has a different lighting rig, so it is quite a challenge to keep them all straight."
PRG Europe supplied almost 100 VL2500 Spot and Wash luminaires and two GrandMA full-size control systems, which were replaced with GrandMA light desks once programming was completed. An ETC Obsession 2 with dual processor tracking was used to program and control the conventionals.
PRG Europe project manager Loz Wilcox says, "It was a pleasure to be working with Howell again - he is also lighting designer for Avenue Q, another PRG-supplied rig which has just entered its third year in the West End and is as popular as ever."
Alistair Grant was the UK assistant lighting designer, and moving light programmer was Hillary Knox. Production managers were Stewart Crosbie and Peter Fulbright, and production electrician was Peter Lambert.
(Jim Evans)
