White Light makes the Newsies at ArtsEd
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Set in turn-of-the-century New York, Newsies tells the story of Jack Kelly, a charismatic newsboy and leader of a band of teenage ‘newsies’. When titans of publishing raise distribution prices at the newsboys’ expense, Jack rallies the newsies together against the unfair conditions to fight for what’s right.
The show was a smash when it played on Broadway and the lighting designer for the UK premiere is Nic Farman. Nic comments: “I hadn’t seen the original Broadway production but the moment I read the script and listened to the score, I knew it was going to be a great show to work on. The key for the creative team was creating a production that had the high production values associated with a show on a larger scale. It was also incredibly exciting as it’s the first time the show has been done in the UK; so knew the expectations that this carried.”
Having become familiar with the show, Nic began to formulate his design. He comments: “I approached the show in the same way I do with my other work: developing a concept that helps frame the action that’s appropriate to the location and time that the piece is set. I was lucky to be working with Luke Sheppard (director) and David Woodhead (set designer) who had created a beautiful set that was full of texture.
Once Nic knew what he wanted his design to look like, he approached WL to supply him with the fixtures to achieve this. He explains: “Early in the process I sat down with Jonathan Haynes to discuss trying out the VL2600 Profile on the show. I knew having a versatile moving profile overhead was going to be important and I was really pleased with how they performed. These would go on to become the real workhorses in the show. I asked a lot of them, doing live shuttering and tracking the action, which they dealt with consistently. They’re also nice and punchy which gave me good options for impact cues.
“The varied colour palette also called for some flexibility (especially as time was tight for the get in and focus) so Lustr2s and Colorsource Spots gave me options for both set dressing and side light. Completing the rig were Mac TW1s which I love using for their warm tungsten output and soft edge.”
(Jim Evans)
