Robe lights Funny Girl at the Malmö Opera
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Fredrik used Robe’s little LEDBeam 150 luminaires to provide an ingenious solution to a complex staging requirement
Recognising the critical social and cultural value of live entertainment, especially during the pandemic, Funny Girl, which runs through until mid-December, is part of the Opera’s autumn / winter repertory programme. It was planned over two years in advance and completely sold out many months in advance, So Malmö Opera thought laterally and decided to push ahead in delivering all their acclaimed seasonal main house productions as budgets were already allocated and spent.
The venue is in the fortunate position of receiving state and regional funding rather than being fully reliant on ticket revenue to sustain, a situation making this model a viable option.
The first 50 to book their tickets for the shows on each of the days it is running were allocated the 50 available seats in the massive 1232 seat auditorium, while everyone else who had booked for that show could have the option of a live stream – via the Malmö Opera website – https://www.malmoopera.se for free.
Fredrik was initially approached in 2018 by the show’s director Ronny Danielsson having worked with him before on the popular Kinky Boots also at Malmö Opera, and on “Shakespeare In Love” at the Stockholm’s Stadsteater. He’s also worked with Czech Republic-based set designer Martin Chocholousek before on Kinky Boots, so as a creative team, the three already enjoyed synergy and understanding in creating visually exciting environments.
Malmö Opera has an excellent and very large house lighting system, explained Fredrik, so he knew he’d be well covered there, however the ambitious set posed some real challenges to lighting!
With a full live orchestra onstage and the venue’s orchestra pit covered up and used as a downstage extension to the performance area and the show now having to look great on camera as well as live, Fredrik combined his vast experiences as both a television and theatrical LD to sculpt spectacular results.
The Opera’s main stage has a large revolve which is used extensively during Funny Girl, and an absolutely key part to the show’s scenography is a mobile sub-stage complete with pros arch, side walls, multiple backdrops and masking drapes plus detachable sides so the whole shape can be changed.
This sub-stage is moved on two motorized wagons underneath which truck upstage / downstage, all built and constructed in house at the Opera together with a bespoke remote controller. The stage is also rotated on the revolving stage at certain moments, all these various moves presenting a set of completely different views and angles, so it needed lighting just like any properly independent stage area with multiple positions, looks and scenes. For lighting this sub-stage, Fredrik chose Robe’s LEDBeam 150.
“The LEDBeam 150s solved the entire sub-stage scenario,” enthuses Fredrik, who frequently uses Robe products in his work.
Fredrik loves working at Malmö Opera, one of the foremost producing houses in Sweden. “They have a fantastic lighting department,” he commented, citing his two “brilliant” lighting operators Katarina Hansson and Anna Björklund who are running Funny Girl’s lightshow on their grandMA control system.
