Grease, opening at the Piccadilly Theatre in August, is the latest version of the production that first appeared at the Dominion Theatre in 1993 and was one of the earliest moving light rigs supplied by White Light; the show has been playing in London or touring ever since.
For its latest West End outing, which had its leading actors cast by the public on ITV's Grease Is The Word, lighting designer Mark Henderson has updated his rig to include Martin MAC 300, MAC 550 and MAC 700s, High End StudioBeams and StudioColors, Vari-Lite VL2000 Spots as well as Par Cans, ETC Source Fours, Rainbow colour scrollers and L&E MiniStrips plus Robert Juliat Aramis followspots and haze and smoke machines from Look Solutions. Control for the rig is from a Whole Hog 2 with a Hog PC backup programmed by Stuart Porter. The show's production electrician is Simon Needle, with Simon Gooding the production manager.
Footloose, moving in to the Playhouse Theatre during August, is making its second West End appearance. Lighting designer James Whiteside uses a compact but versatile rig including Martin MAC 600 Washlights and Mac 2000 Profiles, VL1000s, Source Fours, Rainbow scrollers, 5kW frensles, L&E battens and more. The rig is controlled by a Strand 520i console programmed by Rob Halliday; Steve Sherriff is the show's production electrician, with Simon Gooding again the production manager.
(Jim Evans)
