Two recent major productions - the Willy Russell classic Blood Brothers at the Beit Lessin Theatre and I Gave You My Life which is ongoing, detailing the life and music of singing star Danny Sanderson at the Rubina venue of the Habima (National) Theatre, both in Tel Aviv - have utilised Robes as key elements of the lighting design.
The show's lighting designers are Meir Alon (I Gave You My Life) and Uri Morag (Blood Brothers), and the Robes were supplied by the busy Israeli distributor, Danor Theatre & Studio Systems, based in Hod Hashron.
The Habima Theatre is the oldest theatre in Israel. It has four different venues of which the Rubina Theatre is the largest with a capacity of 900. In the last four years, the whole theatre has been undergoing a major refit and upgrade throughout, including a substantial investment in new lighting technology.
For their new moving lights, Habima Theatre's house LD Meir Alon chose 18 Robe MMX Spots and 18 LEDWash 600s.
I Gave You My Life is the first production to utilise the Habima Theatre's new Robes - with six MMX Spots and 12 LEDWash 600s included in the design for the show which is playing an initial run of 50 performances.
The MMXs are positioned overhead at centre stage and to the front sides of the stage each side, with the LEDWashes dotted around the overhead rig, and used to generally flood the whole stage area with different colours.
Lights for the production are being operated by Yaron Shosh and Alon Cohen using Compulite Vector Red and Vector Violet consoles.
For Blood Brothers, LD Uri Morag specified eight Robe MMX Spots and 12 Robin 600 LEDWashes, having used them previously, and knowing what creative value they would bring to this production.
The LEDWash 600s were rigged in two separate positions, six were upstage and used to wash the back wall of the set, while the other six were overhead centre-stage, to flood the area directly below with a variety of unique colours.
The MMX Spots were also rigged in the central area and used for key lighting actors and for special effects and spot-cues for some of the songs. The lighting was controlled by a Compulite Spark 4D desk.
(Jim Evans)
