MOUNT MASADA, Israel — Blackburn UK based lighting rental company HSL supplied all stage lighting equipment for the Israeli Opera & Les Choragies d’Orange in France’s production of “Aida,” staged in a purpose-built amphitheatre at the foot of Masada Mountain at The Dead Sea in Israel.
It was the second year running that HSL has been involved in the event, working for The Design Group, Israeli based technical production suppliers, who coordinated all production elements. The Design Group also built the massive venue in the middle of the desert for the 2010 launch of the newly-launched Dead Sea & Jerusalem Opera Festival, which featured Verdi’s “Nabucco” in its first year.
Four containers of lighting gear were dispatched by sea freight from the U.K. and one by road for the production, which featured a stage and Mountain lighting design by Avi Yono Bueno (Bambi). HSL’s crew chief on site was Ian Stevens and the project manager was Mike Oates.
The show incorporated nearly 200 moving lights. The majority were Robes, and HSL also purchased 52 new Martin Professional MAC III Profiles with framing shutter modules to fulfill Bambi’s requests. There were nearly 300 ETC Source Four profiles with 10, 19 and 50 degree lenses and over 300 other conventionals including ACL bars, individual PARs and Iris 1 floods.
Challenges included the usual environmental issues of working in a desert, with the sweltering heat, ubiquitous dust and frequent high winds. However, being the second time around, many things were easier. “We became acclimatized a lot quicker, the site was more familiar, and it was a question of knowing what to expect and therefore being better prepared and having the knowledge from last year’s experience,” said Stevens.
He worked alongside HSL crew members Charlotte Stevens and Rob Starksfield, both also veterans of Masada 2010, and they were joined by local lighting crew chief, Tzafrir Dagan (Saffi) from Betty Bam, plus Itay Hafner and Ido Derei. Dagan visited HSL for five days in April to assist with the prep and loading of the containers.
Mount Masada served as a natural backdrop to Emmanuel Favre’s Egyptian set. This year, the mountain – also a World Heritage site – was illuminated with a series of fixtures spread out for about a kilometer along its base, including 18 of HSL’s new MAC III Profiles and 54 bars of 4 600W ACLs. There were also 60 Panther 5K xenon searchlights from Stage Design, all of which were controlled via 12 truss mounting DMX buffers and five Avolites 24-way ART 5K dimmers supplied by HSL.
The mountain appeared out of nowhere when lit, a spectacular effect accentuating it’s imposing craggy face and distinctive shape, sometimes in stark white, at times streaked with color or rippling with delicate movement from the MAC III animation wheels. When it was unlit, it disappeared completely into the pitch black.
Data was sent over five systems of City Theatrical wireless DMX (four and a spare), with power supplied by 11 125 kVA generators.
All the equipment was deployed by farm tractor/trailer and forklift, and during the performance period, it was minded by Ido Derei, working with two technicians from Panther.
Lighting the Stage
Two large gantries were erected each side of the 65-meter-wide stage to facilitate lighting positions, with another at front-of-house behind the uppermost level of the bleacher seating.
The remaining 36 MAC IIIs were stationed on these together with 94 Robe ColorSpot 2500E ATs, 78 of which were on the side gantries and 16 on the front. These were used for all the basic stage washing and illumination of the cast.
Twenty Robe Robin 600 LEDWash fixtures highlighted for set stage right and left, including four scenic sphinxes and a 12 meter high Pharaoh’s head upstage center.
Further set lighting was provided by 12 Robe REDWash 3?192s on the stairs behind the Pharaoh’s head, and below a large trap that opened in the stage during the tomb scene towards the end of the performance.
The Robes all stood up well to the tough operating environment again. The 2500s were fitted with custom reflectors, which boosted the output by about 30 percent – a special request from Bambi. Some also had custom rectangular and square gobos to enable precise focusing on specific areas of the stage. Custom dot gobos in 24 of the Robes were used in the final scene, allowing the stage lighting to be matched to a special LED “Galaxy Effect” that was happening on the Mountain.
The Source Fours were arranged all around the gantries, on the floor, on special stands and under the stage and used for general stage and key lighting. Behind the back of the stage, 16 bars of 250 Watt ACLs added visual interest.
The only PAR cans on the job didn’t light the stage but the audience – with 8-by-6-way bars on the FOH truss and 52 short nose individual cans along the front edge of the stage pointing outwards, augmented with 4 sets of 4-way Moles.
About 200 meters back from the stage in the outfield, four single PAR cans were positioned 200 meters apart to pick up a camel caravan walk-through during the second half.
The runway leading up to the base of the Pharaoh’s head was lit with 76 1K individual cyc units recessed in the ramp walls, strafing the floor.
To enhance nature’s atmospherics, HSL supplied 16 K1 smoke machines and F1 fans. Four were top-mounted on the stage right and left trusses, and the rest dotted around the deck.
Four Robert Juliat Cyrano followspots on truss chairs at FOH saved losing several seats, and two RJ Lancelots were on platforms flanking the FOH lighting control position.
Four ‘Dimmer City’ locations were established – stage right and left, under the stage and FOH, and dimming hardware (for the stage) included eight 48-way Avo ART2000 2K racks, six 72-way Socapex distros, four Type 14 400A switches and six data racks to manage the DMX, of which there were 20 universes.
“This event takes site specific work to new heights of innovation and ambition,” said HSL’s Oates. “It was a real privilege to be onboard again and work with Eyal Lavee and his team at The Design Group”.
Lavee, the show’s technical director, added, “Working with HSL last year was such a great experience that we wanted to keep the same team this year. It was important on a high profile job like this to utilize the very best companies in the industry, and in HSL we have found a great partner.”
Verdi’s “Aida” at Masada was directed by Charles Roubaud, conducted by Daniel Oren and seen by 60,000 people over eight nights. The site also hosted two other shows as part of the entertainment program- a Verona Concert and a performance by Andrea Bocelli.
For more information, please visit www.hslgroup.com.
