Headquarters
Robe Subsidiaries
Business Development
Lighting Designer Declan Randall wove Robe moving lights into his intricate lighting design for the epic roller-skating Andrew Lloyd Webber musical “Starlight Express” staged in The Mandela venue at the Joburg Theatre complex in downtown Johannesburg.
Randall was part of a Johannesburg Theatre production team including Director Janice Honeyman, Producer Bernard Jay, Designer James MacNamara, Choreographer Karen Bruce and Musical Director Clinton Zerf, who were given creative license to produce a new and exhilarating version of this classic hi-energy piece.
It was the first ever non-replica interpretation of ‘Starlight Express’ ever licenced by Lloyd Webber’s Really Useful Theatre Company since the show’s inception in 1984, which brought an additional edge and frission of excitement to the production.
In the overhead lighting rig were 18 x Robe ROBIN MMX Spots and 18 x Robe ColorWash 700E ATs. The majority of the fixtures – which also included other moving lights, generic and LED fixtures - had to be rigged here due to the construction of the set design.
However there was room on the set’s scaffolding framework to create some individual side light positions, which were eagerly seized and rigged with 12 x Robe ColorSpot 700E ATs and 18 x Robe LEDWash 600s. These high side positions ensured that they could be kept out of the performers’ eyes – dealing with an adrenalized skating cast they adopted the same approach as if lighting circus performers.
One of the starting points for the lighting design was to make it big, bold, spectacular and rocktastically true to this genre of rock musicals.
The MMX Spots and ColorWash 700s are owned by the theatre and form the core of their house rig. The additional 30 Robes were rented in from Johannesburg based theatre specialists, Splitbeam.
Randall explains that although at the Joburg Theatre having Robe’s in house partly dictated the choice of moving light fixture, he has always liked Robe’s range and was “Very confident” they would be able to help him “Achieve the specific visuality I wanted for the show”.
He was impressed with the output and performance of the MMX Spots, which were rigged at a 9.5 metre trim – much higher than the standard 7 metres for the venue - necessary due to the way the set was constructed. It was the first time he’d used MMXs on a show, although he’d ‘test-driven’ one in London beforehand.
Randall - now UK based - first used Robe products on an opera at the SA State Theatre in Pretoria around eight years ago. The SA State Theatre also has Robe moving lights integral to their house systems and continually upgrade their stock.
In this instance his choice to add extra Robes for Starlight was simple - it made sense to have ‘family’ related fixtures which in turn accelerates the programming process as all the fixtures share the same basic characteristics and parameters.
Randall admits that he’s often been a vocal sceptic about the whole LED phenomena, “But in spite of that and myself .. I DO like the LEDWashes,” he insists, saying “They are quick, with good colour options and a very usable zoom - powerful tools that I would not hesitate to use again”.
The biggest creative challenge – of many – on ‘Starlight Express’ was the sheer scale of the production. In total there were over 600 lights and 8 x DMX universes running into the ETC EOS console that was programmed by Glenn Duncan.
Declan’s lighting certainly also attracted the attention of the critics:
“… with spectacular effects including a multi-layered set, characters appearing in mid-air, skaters whizzing up, down and around and superb lighting to stoke the power-packed atmosphere…” enthuses Lesley Stones in Artslink.co.za; “Declan Randall’s lighting sparkles from beginning to end” states Diane de Beer in Star Tonight; and “Declan Randall’s lighting is up to his usual dazzling standard...” affirms Christina Kennedy in Business Day.
For more info on Declan Randall’s work, please check www.declanrandall.com.
Previous
Next
The action-packed 1500-capacity Showtime Theatre show lounge and central entertainment hub of the 306-metre long Carnival Magic cruise ship has been recently upgraded with the installation of 30 x new Robe PAINTE, 30 x LEDBeam 350 and 12 x miniPointe moving lights, which were installed while the ship was still in operation around Miami.
Brigada Tech is a new Spanish TV series presented by Luján Argüelles, directed by Eva Castillejo, and lit by Manuel Ricoy, broadcast on prime time LA1 the first TVE (Spanish Television) channel of RTVE (Radio y Televisión Española, S.A.). The format sees ‘digital mentors’ and popular SoMe influencers assisting people with limited access to the information superhighway in tackling assorted digital challenges that can benefit their day-to-day living.
De Goudse Schouwburg (Gouda Schouwburg) is a busy municipal theatre and hub of the arts community in the city of Gouda in the Netherlands – also world famous for its cheese!
As the cornerstone of its 50th Anniversary Season, the Orlando Ballet commissioned a spectacular new production of The Nutcracker, one of the world’s most popular and most performed ballets, which debuted last December.
All rights reserved. Created by Appio
ROBE Lighting uses cookies. We use cookies to personalise content and ads and to analyse our traffic. Please see “More about cookies” to learn more about how they are used on our website. Click “I agree” to activate them or “Close and just use cookies not requiring consent” if you do not want them. You can change your settings on "Cookies" in the footer at any time.