Ok, so bigger isn’t necessarily better every time, but there are those occasions when a massive rig can transform a stage in unimaginable ways, especially when it’s designed and controlled with the artistry and precision that Designer Jimmy Yeret demonstrated recently at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center.
Working for his client, the Pivot Group, Yeret of Dynamic Vision tapped into a massive rig at the venue to create a transformative stage that morphed into an array of different looks for the 2025 HASC A Time For Music concert with timecode automation, a stunning motorized sun structure, extensive staggered video walls, and a supportive lighting rig supplied by 4Wall Entertainment and Eagle Productions that featured 183 CHAUVET Professional fixtures.
“Our stage rig dimensions were 72′ at their widest point downstage and 35′ and their narrowest point upstage with a rig depth of 32′,” said Yeret. ” The venue’s steel reached 100′, exceeding the standard 80′ motor chain length. This extra height enabled a mother grid, crucial for automating hoists and rigging flexibility. This ensured smooth operation of all moving elements, including the motorized trusses.”
This rig ‘s size and depth allowed Yeret to take full advantage of one of his show’s most dynamic elements, a motorized sun structure consisting of multiple independent moving trusses run on time-coded hoists that gave him the ability to make real time shape adjustments for seamless visual transitions.
Having this level of dynamic motion reinforced the overarching themes of growth and sunrise, for the event, which is a celebration of Jewish music, culture, and resilience. Given the overall shape of the deep rig, with its wide downstage and narrow upstage dimensions, Yeret was able to add an extra level of compelling power to his automations with depth.
“Creating deep, varied looks was essential to our vision,” said Yeret. “Key to making this happen was the seamless interplay of lighting with video and special effects. Since our first design concepts, we have always ensured a strong relationship between video and lighting elements. Our design philosophy dictates that these components should never feel like separate entities but instead function as a cohesive, immersive environment. A core element of the design was ensuring that lighting, video, and automation worked together as a single, unified system.”
Looking at the role of specific fixtures, Yeret discussed how his rig’s 31 COLORado PXL Curve 12 motorized battens contributed to the synergy on stage. “The COLORado PXL Curve Twelve was used on each side to frame the LED video wall. The battens broke up the square shape of the walls and defined their contour, so they blended into the overall stage architecture. The flexible curved nature of the PXL fixtures allowed us to create unique beam patterns that could be blended with the video content.”
The flexibility of the rig’s 32 Maverick MK3 Profiles and 61 Color STRIKE M units greatly aided Yeret in creating a sense of cohesiveness in the production as it moved through its many iterations. For example, he notes that the profile fixtures adaptable gobos worked with the overhead sun structure to give each song in the concert its unique look. “We were especially impressed by the ‘radial dot’ we created with Gobo Number 2 in Wheel 1,” he observed.
Describing his Color STRIKE M fixtures as “a game-changer due to their punch, pixel control, and ability to run in 97-channel mode,” Yeret relied on them not only as wash and strobe (along with his rig’s 59 STRIKE 1 units), but also to create pixel-mapped effects across the entire stage. “Their pixel effects worked exceptionally well with the video content and timecode programming,” he said of the motorized strobe-wash.
“This production was highly demanding due to its complex automation, large-scale rigging, and integration of multiple elements, all running in sync via timecode,” said Jimmy. “We had a great team led by Dynamic Vision President: Yan Vainblat, Project Manager: Vasily Burakov, Lighting & Pre-Vis Programmer: Sahar Gavrielov, Master Electrician: Anthony Fiorillo, Production Rigger: Alex Giotis, and Head of Video as well as VWX Mastermind: Moshe Baskin, who came up with an ingenious solution for rigging our staggered LED video wall.”
Baskin’s rigging was just one example of resourcefulness in this production. “To reduce the number of DMX lines required for numerous universes, all network-capable fixtures were configured to run on sACN instead of physical DMX,” said Yeret. “This allowed multiple universes over a single network cable and a fail-safe backup system, where a secondary signal routed directly to the last fixture in the chain could automatically take over if the primary signal failed. Resourceful thinking, careful planning and a lot of creativity… with qualities like that any big rig can indeed be made even better.
Further information about CHAUVET Professional: www.chauvetprofessional.com
