Les Feluettes, with a book by Michel Marc Bouchard and music by Kevin March, is a play within a play. It begins as a prison confessional and unfolds as a love story spanning 1912-1957, a time when same-gender relationships were conducted largely in secret.
The opera marked Labrecque's first use of Scenius Spots. He frequently deploys other Clay Paky fixtures using them on Cirque du Soleil productions and the Pan American Games' opening ceremonies last summer.
For Les Feluettes, Labrecque lit eight tableaux showing different locations and time periods in monochromatic palettes of amber or blue. The orchestra sat upstage, behind a black scrim, instead of in the pit.
"Because the orchestra was on stage, all the action took place downstage. So we created four FOH positions for the primary Scenius fixtures, which were mostly used as general ambience and gobo washes, mostly in white or full CTO," Labrecque explains. Three additional Scenius were positioned on stage as backlights.
For the big fire sequence projections of the blaze were mixed with Scenius lighting effects on a giant white sheet suspended over the stage.
Francesco Romagnoli, Clay Paky area manager for North and Latin America, added, "We're very excited about our newest fixture and glad to see such a creative individual as Mr. Labrecque using it."
(Jim Evans)
