Robe T1s get musical at Leicester’s Curve
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Ben utilised some Robe T1 Profile moving lights for key lighting, which were rigged on two of six trussing pieces on an automation system. These started off almost on the floor looking like part of a pile of abandoned tech kit in a dusty old theatre, shuttered during the lockdowns – part of a minimalist production design by Colin Richmond.
As the show kicked off and came alive, the cast pulled dust sheets off the piles of ‘discarded equipment’ and the trusses rose to form a series of spectacular architectural shapes above the stage - dubbed “the spider rig” by Curve’s head of lighting and technical Jonny Laidlow.
Jonny and Steve Ratcliffe shared production LX duties for this show.
The T1 Profiles were rigged at the most upstage and downstage points of these trussing spokes, in positions that maximised coverage across the stage area, where they provided lighting specifically for the faces.
Ben commented, "The T1 worked well as part of the rig primarily for key lighting. The limited rehearsal time to light this production meant that I was reliant on moving lights to pick performers out quickly and efficiently. The colour mixing allowed me to get skin tones and it packed a great punch for such a compact fixture.”
Curve has two separate venues with a central dividing wall that can be removed, and this is how it was configured to present this show. Seating was added to the back of one stage and along the side wings of the second venue to make it one large in-the-round space, with enough seating for a 550 one-metre-plus socially distanced audience.
It was the first time a show has been set up like this and proved a big success.
Audiences were treated to a collage of Lloyd Webber classics and anthems from blockbusters like The Phantom of the Opera, Starlight Express, Cats an Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.
For Jonny and the Curve team, The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber was a welcome return to ‘almost normal’ and a precursor to the non-socially distanced and full capacity shows which return in the autumn season, running in both 970 and 300-seater auditoriums.
