"I began with the simple plan that the show should look unlike any musical that I had seen before. My background is mainly focused on classical theatre and dance and ballet. As soon as I read the script and the novel that the script was based on, it was clear to me that the show was going to need a tungsten look."
"We had a limited space on the rig so I knew a generic rig wouldn't do. Everything had to move to get the most out of the space we had. That included the tungsten source and I knew the only moving tungsten unit for this was the MAC TW1."
"The show needed to have a strong Californian sunlight as this was a very important element, and you can't create that with anything other than tungsten. We might have used par cans but they would have used up the rig space for just that one effect. For the cold palette I used the MAC 700 Wash to create wonderful moonlight blues for example, and the MAC 700 Profile for spectacular projection effects."
"Aside from movement, the big issue in the choice of units was one of noise. Silence was crucial, there was no overhead masking so the units had to be extremely quiet. The feeling of the show is acoustic - there's one song for instance, with just Zorro alone with a guitarist."
"The MAC TW1 and 700s were perfect for this. Very quiet in operation, dimming and movement. The scrollers on the other lights were the loudest thing in the rig. We used the mechanical dimmer the whole time and that worked very well. The snaps are good and you can get the whole rig synchronised and moving together."
"I am more interested in narrow shafts of lights to illuminate the individual without the rest of stage. This dazzles the audience by the contrast of the lit actor and darker set. So we used the narrow lens option on the TW1's as we were looking for something equivalent to a CP61, but in fact the TW1 was actually narrower and brighter."
The rig was supplied by Stage Electronics and Ben could not sing their praises enough. "Stage electrics have been enormously helpful and provided a very good service. They have really gone out of their way to help."
And for programming? "Andri Davis was the programmer and he is really extraordinary. He can programme a moving rig as fast as others can do generics. There is no way I could have done it without him."
The multi-million pound show has received standing ovations and rave reviews on its tour, and is now heading towards the West End. "I don't know how I would have lit this show a year ago without the TW1 and the MAC 700s," said Ben.(Claire Beeson)
