Amos has been designing shows for Hurtwood House for several years, working with resident director Miles Russell and guest West End choreographers to create. This year, the designer decided to try a different approach to the show. "I persuaded Miles that rather than using the theatre in its standard end-on format, we should do the show side-on, using the full width of the theatre," he explains.
"This presented the production with many challenges in terms of audience seating, which had to be built from scratch, and the close proximity of the band to the audience. Luckily they have a great sound team at Hurtwood, headed up by Dave Parsons; they solved the sound issues and we squeezed in enough seats to make the gig viable."
The new approach allowed Amos to build a widescreen set with a variety of screens and trusses. "With 34 numbers to light, I needed the flexibility a large rig gives to make each song feel unique. Our schedule from build to opening night was also very tight, so I needed a rig that would work first time. White Light did not fail to deliver; the kit was in excellent condition, and Jedd Hamilton could not have been more helpful both in the planning and with support during the show."
The rig White Light supplied to the show drew on the company's extensive hire stock and included 12 Vari-Lite VL2000 Spots, 12 Martin MAC 600s, 17 MAC 250s, 12 MAC 300s, 12 PixellLines, 24 ChromaStrips, 30 ColorBlocks, six Atomic strobes, six PixelPars and two followspots, along with truss, cabling and mains distribution. The rig was controlled by a Chamsys MagicQ100 console, which also ran three Arkaos media servers driving five screens. The video content was designed by John Sims. "With so much video to programme into the desk, it was great to have a lighting rig that you just had to hang, turn on and have it do what it's supposed to do," adds Amos.
For more on the Hurtwood House event, see the April 2007 issue of Lighting&Sound International magazine.(Jim Evans)
