SYDNEY — With a production valued at over $25 million, Kylie Minogue’s Aphrodite-Les Folies Tour 2011 features over a million moving parts, including 30 high impact water jets, rain curtains, fountains and nearly 600 light sources. The custom stage, which by itself cost over $10 million, is designed to be technically advanced, complex and precise.
Lighting for the show, designed by Nick Whitehouse with Steven Douglas touring as lighting director, relies heavily on Vari*Lite fixtures: 84 VL3500 Wash, 84 VL3000 Spot, 4 VL3500 FX and 30 VL500. The VL3500 Washes were chosen for their versatility and brightness.
“With the variety of lenses that we are using – both internal and clear external – we can get everything from two VL3500 Wash fixtures covering the whole stage to really narrow pin spots,” noted Douglas. “The colors are also so rich. It’s pretty much the same with the VL 3000.
The VL500 fixtures are mainly built into the set piece that resembles a Roman amphitheatre. In between the columns are black projection screens and three VL500 inset into the header piece. Another 12 VL500 fixtures are situated on the floor.
“The VL500 fixtures were chosen for their beam angle, said Douglas. “They have a low profile and are small, taking up the least amount of space in front of the projection screens.”
The four VL3500 FX fixtures are housed in a custom-made rack, which can be wheeled in for special backlighting such as when Kylie appears on an upstage center lift, effectively giving her a “God silhouette.”
Douglas noted that all of the Vari*Lite models have been really reliable on the road with no major failings at all.
“If there has been a problem it’s usually something simple like they got bumped in the truck,” he added.
Photos: Troy Constable
For more information, please visit www.jands.com.au and www.solotech.com.
