Martin MACs light Mamma Mia! The Musical
- Details
Mamma Mia! The Musical is playing at the Princess Theatre in Melbourne, with future dates scheduled across the country. In order to create a lighting display that captures the detailed expressions of actors on stage and simultaneously conveys the energy and emotion of a rock show, lighting designer Gavan Swift needed a powerful, versatile lighting system.
Swift worked with Chameleon Touring Systems and Show Technology to develop an LED moving light system comprised of Martin by Harman MAC Quantum Wash, MAC 101 CT and all-new MAC Encore Performance CLD fixtures.
“I have firmly embraced LED technology in moving lights,” says Swift. “The brightness, colour fidelity and consistency of LEDs are quickly making the old arc-based moving lights obsolete. I didn’t purposely choose all Martin fixtures - I just picked the best LED lights for the job and they all happened to be Martin products.”
Swift specified the MAC Quantum Wash fixtures for their high output, powerful white LED and their built-in spill ring for minimising lens flare. He chose the MAC 101 CT moving head wash lights for their narrow, soft beam of light and variable colour temperature, which makes them ideal for highlighting skin tones, textiles or set pieces.
“The MAC 101 CTs are one of my favourite fixtures - they produce a narrow, soft beam of light with variable colour temperature,” says Swift. “They’re perfect as re-locatable specials and work well in large musicals and small plays. They’re extremely quiet and fast, and with the optional top hat there’s no extraneous spill.”
He continues: “I love the frost effect for gobos on the MAC Encore Performance CLD fixtures. It’s the closest equivalent to Roscolux 132 frost gel that I’ve seen in a moving light. The ability to sharply focus a gobo on a surface, and then wheel in the frost to soften the edge is incredibly useful.”
(Jim Evans)
