Black Violin is comprised of a viola player and a violinist, who have combined their classical string training with hip-hop beat influences to create “classical boom.” Production designer/LD Eric Cathcart designed and programmed for their “Classical Boom Tour” of theaters and performing arts centers.
Read More »There was a bright buzz reverberating around this year’s NAMM show, considering this was the first year of live production panels at this musical instrument-focused event…Sprinkled throughout this month’s column are familiar faces Designer Watch caught around the NAMM show. Top picture – LD Bryan Hartley (center) visits with LDs Susan Rose and Celine Royer during the Parnelli Awards. Middle picture – LDs Seth Jackson and Howard Ungerleider at the 17th Annual Parnelli Awards reception. Bottom picture – LDs Matt Guminski and Gurn Kaniski catch up at NAMM.
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An avid reader of PLSN magazine, the recently-turned-16-year-old Christopher Da Silva, wanted to share his story and lighting success. So, the Toronto teen had a publicist spread his news. His biggest project to date? Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. He was commissioned to create a new lighting plot for the musical, and directed the lighting. The set included LED drapes, lit staircases, and more lights than the previous production. The September event was the biggest multimedia production of Toronto’s CPA Centre, with an audience of more than 8,000.
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Within the Gaylord National Resort at National Harbor, MD, LD Chris Werner and his Los Angeles-based design team installed a holiday light show for the venue’s “Christmas On The Potomac event. The team created a centerpiece using a 55-foot tall tree enhanced with 19 double-sided video stars, each measuring 12 feet.
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Russian-German EDM artist Zedd is on tour until Nov. 4 in Mexico with a creative team headed by show and production designer Travis Shirley. Longtime LD and lighting director Steven Hernandez and tour director Ken Floyd are also on board for the trek. “Zedd and his team were looking to get a bit more theatrical with the ‘Echo’ tour,” Shirley says. “We created a unique LED configuration along with a custom floating DJ riser and table and several projection moments throughout the show.”
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Ryan Adams described the look he was going for on his current tour as “a 1980’s dystopian Star Wars junkyard.” LD Heather Cossette has been out with Ryan Adams’ tour as designer/director since March, supporting his new album, Prisoners. The tour ends Oct. 17.
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Lighting designer Greg Ellis, out with Pretty Lights, says a lot has changed in the band’s live show on this tour. While he’s simplified the lighting a bit from past designs, he has expanded the visual production “way beyond anything we’ve ever done before,” he observes. “I am currently running all aspects of the show including one of the most advanced laser shows out there. Also, I’ve got live analog video synthesis along with live camera feeds and a custom built touch designer server.” The U.S. tour started in early August.
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Liighting designer Mikki Kunttu emailed us from Andorra, a principality nestled in the high mountains of the Pyrenees between France and Spain, where he’s been working under a large tent on Cirque du Soleil’s poetic and acrobatic production, Scalada: Stelar, the Attraction of the Sky.
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Lighting designer Martin Thomas and LD Don Weeks joined creative forces on the production design for the Yestival tour featuring Yes, Todd Rundgren and Carl Palmer’s ELP Experience. For Rundgren’s digital media content, Thomas literally sought graphic art services in-house — from his 17-year-old son, Avery. “My youngest son Avery has been doing digital graphic art for a couple of years now,” says Thomas, “and I found many of his pieces worked well with Todd’s music. Lots of compliments from the audience and the press about the look of the show; a lot of it was because of his art.”
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Robb Jibson put Train on its tracks with their new “Play That Song” tour, which kicked off May 12 and runs to July 15 in the U.S. before heading to Australia. Along with his creative company So Midwest Inc., Jibson designed the production and media content; Brent Sandrock designed the lighting and programmed, while Brandon J. Clark takes it on the road as director.
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Lighting designer Tom Kenny filled us in on The Who’s two special dates at the Royal Albert Hall recently, saying it was the first time The Who have played the iconic rock opera Tommy in its entirety in 28 years. Though the band originally billed it as an acoustic performance, they decided in the end to plug in to be more faithful to the 1969 version. On The Who’s website, it was noted: “Our own Tommy (Tom Kenny, lighting designer) made the room look amazing, using every surface as a screen and bouncing light everywhere, not just onstage. What an environment.”
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Lighting designer/programmer Paul Dexter of Masterworks Lighting has gone back to the “vault” — designing the production, lighting and programming for the new edition of Raiding the Rock Vault, now at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.
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