Working with MB Productions, Pete's Big TVs is providing the main set of the show, comprised of 400 digiLED MC15 (15 mm) LED video panels in three screens, which all track and fly in different configurations. They are also supplying two d3s from d3 Technologies. More than a media server, the d3s serve as a 3D stage simulator, combining a timeline based sequencer, video playback and video mapper all in one.
Howard Werner of Lightswitch designed the media content and the show system in 2009 when an older production of Dreamgirls began an eight-month run in Seoul, Korea. This new production features the same content, but was readjusted to fit the new LED screen configuration and the use of the d3 media servers, according to Werner.
Dreamgirls tells the rags to riches story of a 1960s girl singing group as they make their way to fame and fortune.
"The dream starts out as the girls from Chicago go to the Apollo in New York to expand their careers. The concept is how the media, TV and film exploited them into making them stars, so the cameras, IMAG and other images are there to support the idea," Werner explains.
There is no other set besides the MC15 LED screens and they are used in 90 percent of the show. It is not "virtual scenery" but a device to move the story along.
Says Werner, "Content is always a storytelling tool. It sets the location of scenes in stylized ways and is also used to support the timing and energy of the 'on stage' numbers in the show. There are two types of content: one is supportive of the stage production numbers; at other times it is a storytelling device. The images suggest a backstage or a recording studio and it sets the location for the audience."
Live action also helps create the content. "We use three cameras - there is a live camera feed through the d3 system and it is used in two numbers in the show," Werner says.
(Jim Evans)
