June also proved to be a busy month with the manufacture of a stage set for the present Robbie Williams stadium tour. The set involved the manufacture of a 17m x 5m stage with decks rising from ground level up to a height of 3m. Most tricky was the need to provide a quick-opening deck on the highest level for a hydraulic dragon to emerge from, without any crew or mechanics being seen by the audience. Also provided by Tomcat are the 7m tall silver opera gauze dragon wings that unfold from the back of the stage when the dragon makes its appearance.
Tomcat UK’s production manager, Phil Williams, commented: "Obviously most of our work is done in aluminium or sometimes steel. These jobs enabled us to work with a number of different materials - especially plastics and timber - that normally only our sister company, Brilliant Stages, gets to play with!" Charlie Kail, technical advisor for both projects, offered both jobs to Tomcat UK after Brilliant Stages, his first choice, were already heavily involved in other projects. Kail commented: "It’s been really pleasing for Tomcat UK to produce these two projects. Normally they are only associated with producing truss-type products, but the past few months have shown that they are certainly capable of completing more challenging orders."
