The art director and writer was Moneer Al Quatani, while the scenography was by the International Theatre of Dubai. Other major suppliers included Tony Shembish's Avolites Middle East, supplying lighting consultancy, Avolites lighting desks and High End moving head fixtures; Sound & Light Show (Belgium), providing Xenon hardware projection and moving screen; Pibiesse (Italy) supplying video projection and editing, and Magical Water (Dubai), supplying water effects.
Production manager was Franco Comanducci, technical advisor and lighting designer was Pablo Nofri, lighting director was Adriano Sanson and the set designer was Giovanni Ravagnani.
As opposed to the previous year, the 2006 Janadriya opening ceremony was entirely dedicated to the ascent to the throne of the new King, Abdullah. The show, a crescendo of tribal rhythms, with music specially written for the event by one of the Arab world's top composers (Abdurab Idris), ended with the Arda, a traditional dance usually performed in ancient times in honour of the king when he won a battle.
The dance was performed by 1,200 extras, armed with traditional Arab swords, and singers on stage were among the most famous in the Arab world and included Mohammed Abdu, Rashid Al Majid and Abdul Majid Abdullah.
The Outline system was supplied by Riyadh's Rhythm Media Production, and consisted of 12 Butterfly Hi-packs and eight Victor Live twin 18" subwoofers, driven by twelve Outline T6.5 PWM power amplifiers and a pair of Genius 26 DSP processors, plus eight HARD 212 SP wedges. Outline engineer Francesco Ferretti trained the sound crew and FOH engineer in the use of the V.I.P. simulation/pointing software, specially designed for Butterfly. Outline say: "All the crew were personally congratulated by the King's staff for the amazing results achieved, which surpassed any show ever done previously for such an event."
(Lee Baldock)
