Phantom has a myriad of slow fade cues, so this was essential. Mike has been impressed with the dimmer curves on all Robe’s equipment and the lack of colour shift during dimming – something that was fine-tuned precisely for the DL series. Having these six Pointes on the balcony rail in Moscow saved several hours and the substantial hassle associated with physically having to focus a load of conventional profiles.Ĭirkus in Stockholm is a challenging venue as it was originally built for circus performance, so there is no balcony and very limited lighting positions which all have low weight loadings.Īpart from one front truss which accommodates all their general front washes, all the other FOH positions are now Robe moving lights that replace multiple booms rigged with standard profiles and an assortment of lenses. These were used to highlight the detail on the proscenium arch, a major set piece based on that in the Paris Opera House during the 19th century which had inspired Gaston Leroux to write the original Phantom novel first published in 1909.
#THEATRE STAGE LIGHTING DESIGN PHANTOM SERIES#
Last year, he had the chance to evaluate some of their latest technologies which were designed especially for theatre, specifically the DL series of LED luminaires, and after liking what he saw and chatting to Andy (Bridge) was waiting for an opportunity to come up to spec some of these and other Robe elements.īefore this, six Pointes had actually made an appearance at the Mogador Theatre for the Moscow version of the show in 2015. Mike has visited the Robe factory in the Czech Republic and was impressed with the set up. Moving lights now make up the bulk of the lights on the show, and this has reduced focussing time considerably, along with the amount of fixtures needed. While the lightshows are still completely faithful to Andrew’s classic emotive design in appearance and style, the technology has changed dramatically in 30 years! As Mike recalls they delivered that first production without moving lights, scrollers even … DMX, smartphones or laptops – a feat completely unthinkable in 2016! He co-ordinates and oversees lighting and re-lights of new and current RUG productions of the show which has become a massive commercial success and a global musical theatre phenomena. Stockholm was Mike’s 58th Phantom project!
Mike’s history with Phantom dates back to 1986 … when he was the production LX on the original stage adaptation in London along with Howard Eaton, and they helped facilitate Andy Bridge’s highly memorable Tony Award winning lighting design for the show’s opening at Her Majesty’s Theatre. The Really Useful Group (RUG) licensed production of the legendary Andrew Lloyd-Webber blockbusting musical has just opened and is scheduled to play the 1650 capacity Cirkusteatern arena for a year, for which the Robe lights were specified by associate lighting designer, Mike Odam.