To prove the point, Vocal Futures recently created their first production, a staged version of Bach's St Matthew Passion performed in Ambika P3 - an old concrete laboratory in the University of Westminster on the Marylebone Road in Central London - featuring actors, singers including opera star Sir Willard White, the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment plus 300 young Londoners aged between 16 and 22 who not only attended performances but also recorded a 'virtual choir' for the production.
Tasked with bringing those LadyGaga-style production values to the classical music field was award-winning lighting designer Mark Henderson, who had to juggle the challenges of a complex show, an unusual venue, a challenging schedule and a tight budget all while working towards a spectacular result.
Typically, Henderson took all of those challenges in his stride and added one more: "I knew that the over-riding factor was sound. From our very first visit to the venue it seemed obvious to me that the acoustics were going to be difficult, that this was a delicate choral/orchestral piece, and that the lighting rig could not emit any extraneous noise."
"I knew it was a beautiful piece, but I didn't really know what we needed to achieve artistically," he adds. "We had to light the orchestra, three choirs in different locations, the auditorium, and then a staged aspect to be played out in the centre of the space, but at that point we didn't really know what the staged element was! Clearly with the piece nearly three hours long we would need many options to shift and change the spirit and atmosphere, though."
An initial approach was to use entirely conventional lights rigged from truss for access, but the cost and time consideration soon ruled this out. Henderson did discover two large beams running down the side walls of the room, which would provide good and accessible lighting positions. This meant that the overhead trusses could be reduced, and the access problems solved by the use of moving lights.
At this point, Henderson turned to White Light, his collaborators on countless previous projects. "Working with the excellent Jedd Hamilton at White Light, we pieced together a rig that managed to satisfy the potential noise issue, the artistic requirements and the budget, using a combination of Vari-Lite VL1000TS and ETC Revolutions - both quiet." The rig also featured Source Four Pars, 1kW Fresnels, 5kW Fresnels, LED battens and Atomic strobes, with White Light supplying trussing and chain hoists in addition to the rig itself.
White Light also handled the practical aspects of the production, supplying a team led by new White Light recruit Richard Saunders to get the rig in and working in just a day and a half and focused in one session ready to programme and light over the two stage rehearsals - all while the theatre and set were being constructed. "The team were heroic," Henderson notes. "Against all the odds they got everything in and focused in an impossible time and with the best spirit and good humour.
"This meant we started rehearsals on time, and with the super fast John McGarrigle on the Eos we were able to plot close on 100 cues in those two stage sessions, moving and shifting the mood to match director-designer Patrick Kinmonth's intricate and delicate staging. Our 5k keylights could punch through, with the VL1000s thenpicking things out and providing emphasis while the Revolutions provided any number of specials. I think we were all pleased with and proud of what we presented. I am in no doubt that the White Light team played a huge par
